Target iPad Trade In

[smokeyblue]

Last weeks Target flyer advertised at least a $150 trade in for iPad 2 towards a new iPad and above with an annotation symbol. Looked for the symbol on the page and it said see page 2. Looked at page 2 and it said "see targettradeinprogram.com for details. Ipad must power on and be in working condition the day of trade". We couldn't get the website to work; it told us to go to a store with Target mobile. We subsequently brought the iPad to the store.

As a disclaimer, we know there is a condition issue with our iPad. It was dropped a week after we got it and has small cracks on the sides. We've had it for nearly 3 years and haven't had a problem with it. So we take it in knowing full well that the answer may be that we can't get the deal. The Target Mobile manager inspects our iPad, puts the info into the system and tells us that we would get $150 for the trade in. We ask them to hold the iPad Air since there is only 2 left, that we would be back the next day after we back it up, clear it off and unpair it.

So we go back to make the purchase as promised. The system will no longer allow the Target Mobile manager to give us $150, they can only give us $53. He called the 3rd party vendor to tell them what happened, they say no, they won't honor it. We stay in store and make phone calls to target guest services. We were on the phone for a very long time. The supervisor tells us that she will call the mobile manager and call us right back. We walked around the store for 40 minutes no call. We call back and I talk to someone who won't transfer me to a manager, then tells me he is a manager and then tells me that he isn't! At this point we've been there nearly 2 hours and it was 8pm and were ready to go to dinner so we left.

Called back to the 800 number in the morning and they said there was no supervisors on, that we would have to deal with this on Monday. The problem is that the deal was ending that day. I called the store and spoke to the manager and she said they could offer me an extra $25 off.

What really frosts my cookie is the fact that they were fully aware that we were going home to wipe the iPad clean. It did take us a bit of time to research how to do it safely and back-up our info on the icloud. We also took our time to come back to the store to do the transaction and left losing 2 hours of our time and walking away empty handed. The way I look at this is that they made they offer and they knew what our intentions were; they should honor it! Am I being unreasonable?

BTW we did get it in writing from the Mobile Kiosk manager that the offer was $150 the first day we came in.

 

[Marionnette]

Last weeks Target flyer advertised at least a $150 trade in for iPad 2 towards a new iPad and above with an annotation symbol. Looked for the symbol on the page and it said see page 2. Looked at page 2 and it said "see targettradeinprogram.com for details. Ipad must power on and be in working condition the day of trade". We couldn't get the website to work; it told us to go to a store with Target mobile. We subsequently brought the iPad to the store.

As a disclaimer, we know there is a condition issue with our iPad. It was dropped a week after we got it and has small cracks on the sides. We've had it for nearly 3 years and haven't had a problem with it. So we take it in knowing full well that the answer may be that we can't get the deal. The Target Mobile manager inspects our iPad, puts the info into the system and tells us that we would get $150 for the trade in. We ask them to hold the iPad Air since there is only 2 left, that we would be back the next day after we back it up, clear it off and unpair it.

So we go back to make the purchase as promised. The system will no longer allow the Target Mobile manager to give us $150, they can only give us $53. He called the 3rd party vendor to tell them what happened, they say no, they won't honor it. We stay in store and make phone calls to target guest services. We were on the phone for a very long time. The supervisor tells us that she will call the mobile manager and call us right back. We walked around the store for 40 minutes no call. We call back and I talk to someone who won't transfer me to a manager, then tells me he is a manager and then tells me that he isn't! At this point we've been there nearly 2 hours and it was 8pm and were ready to go to dinner so we left.

Called back to the 800 number in the morning and they said there was no supervisors on, that we would have to deal with this on Monday. The problem is that the deal was ending that day. I called the store and spoke to the manager and she said they could offer me an extra $25 off.

What really frosts my cookie is the fact that they were fully aware that we were going home to wipe the iPad clean. It did take us a bit of time to research how to do it safely and back-up our info on the icloud. We also took our time to come back to the store to do the transaction and left losing 2 hours of our time and walking away empty handed. The way I look at this is that they made they offer and they knew what our intentions were; they should honor it! Am I being unreasonable?

BTW we did get it in writing from the Mobile Kiosk manager that the offer was $150 the first day we came in.

Is the iPad's serial number included in that written offer? If not, you really don't have much of a leg to stand on. It would be very easy to bring in a pristine iPad to get an offer and then say that you'll be back after you've wiped your data off of the device, only to return with a well-used iPad with a cracked case and expect the store to honor the quote. I'm not say that is what you did. I'm saying that you have no proof that you did not do this if you don't have the serial number of the device included in the offer.

But let's say that the written offer does include the serial number. Who is to say that the device wasn't in pristine condition when you brought it in the first time and it was subsequently dropped afterwards? Does the written offer also include an evaluation of the condition of the device on it? From what you described, most trade-in places would consider that iPad to be in "poor to acceptable" condition.

For the most part, those trade-in offers are good for the point of sale and not meant to be valid after you walk away. I've seen devices go for a considerable amount on trade-in one week and then plummet in value the following week when the company making the offer has met its quota for the device.

It really stinks, but you knew that your iPad was not in perfect condition before you started all of this. It's surprising that they offered you the full $150 for the trade-in on your first visit. Too bad that you were not prepared to turn it in then.

 

[Marionnette]

Oh, and just to clarify, the Target ad from last week actually reads "To be eligible for trade in and to receive the promotional value, the device must power on and be in working condition without any broken components." The fine print spans across the bottoms of both page 2 and page 3 of the circular. It's very confusing the way that the caveats read back and forth across the two pages and I can see where there is a big possibility that customers might read the text on page 2 without ever reading across page 3. But if you were to read just page 3, it wouldn't make sense all.

 

[smokeyblue]

Oh, and just to clarify, the Target ad from last week actually reads "To be eligible for trade in and to receive the promotional value, the device must power on and be in working condition without any broken components." The fine print spans across the bottoms of both page 2 and page 3 of the circular. It's very confusing the way that the caveats read back and forth across the two pages and I can see where there is a big possibility that customers might read the text on page 2 without ever reading across page 3. But if you were to read just page 3, it wouldn't make sense all.

I never looked at page 3; in our local ad there was no reference to pg 3 in regards to this offer. It's besides the point, the manager told us that the offer would still be good if we returned the next day. Honestly, I would have never thought they would give us that much for it; but they said they would and we proceeded accordingly. To clarify, the manager wrote up a paragraph about what happened documenting that we brought back the same iPad and that the 3rd party system said $150 and that is what he told us. Is this legally binding? I don't know. Does it matter? Probably not, it's not like we are going to hire an attorney over $150. Plus, I don't want this manager to get in trouble for being nice enough to write this up. He shouldn't, but in corporate America it always seems like the lowest man on the totem pole is the one who gets the blame.

The dumb thing about all of this is that we didn't even care to get a new one. We only inquired on the slim chance that they would do it. When they said they would it was a no brainer to take the offer. Now we're just frustrated and angry that we spent all this time for nothing.

 

[Marionnette]

I never looked at page 3; in our local ad there was no reference to pg 3 in regards to this offer. It's besides the point, the manager told us that the offer would still be good if we returned the next day. Honestly, I would have never thought they would give us that much for it; but they said they would and we proceeded accordingly. To clarify, the manager wrote up a paragraph about what happened documenting that we brought back the same iPad and that the 3rd party system said $150 and that is what he told us. Is this legally binding? I don't know. Does it matter? Probably not, it's not like we are going to hire an attorney over $150. Plus, I don't want this manager to get in trouble for being nice enough to write this up. He shouldn't, but in corporate America it always seems like the lowest man on the totem pole is the one who gets the blame.

The dumb thing about all of this is that we didn't even care to get a new one. We only inquired on the slim chance that they would do it. When they said they would it was a no brainer to take the offer. Now we're just frustrated and angry that we spent all this time for nothing.

Don't let this issue take up residence in your head. You already wasted 2 trips to Target over it and now you're allowing it to take up more of your life here on the disboards. Buying a new iPad wasn't even on your radar prior to this sale. Pretend that the sale never happened and move on. Yes, I know that the experience has been frustrating. You have my sympathy in that regard. But since you're not going to pursue it further with Target, it is now time to let it go.

 

[powellrj]

Am I being unreasonable?

Yes, I think you are being unreasonable. If you were really interested, you should have let them erase the ipad at the store and taken care of it right then, Once you walked away, I feel like you pretty much lost whatever.

Being that it was already broken before you took it in and they only had 2 left in the store, I would never have left the store. You can go over and over how you feel you were wronged, but the bottom line is you left the store and while you were gone, how does the saying go, you snoze, you lose.