Apple iPhone 13 / Pro, Apple Watch Series 7 subsidies are large

During this year’s holiday shopping season, major wireless operators such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all provided rebates for purchases of Apple devices, but some buyers found that they wanted to get rebates. The purchase of the machine is not easy.

About 8 years ago, the mobile service industry changed drastically. Since then, US wireless operators have begun to cancel purchase subsidies, forcing those new iPhone users to face the real price of the device.

This made the era when the iPhone sold for US$199 was gone, and the price of mobile phones quickly soared to more than US$999. This has changed the user's view of upgrading the equipment in hand. For tech enthusiasts, spending $200 on a new iPhone every two years is not a problem, but paying $1,000 is another matter altogether.

Despite this, Apple and wireless operators have developed a marketing plan to allow users to pay in monthly installments. All wireless operators have begun to promote such plans, and Apple has vigorously promoted the benefits of its iPhone’s annual upgrade plan and the monthly installment of Apple’s credit card.

Recently, Apple and operators have switched back to their usual retail strategy of rebate on purchases. This year’s rebate for purchases is particularly strong, perhaps because the iPhone 13 and Apple Watch Series 7 have both ushered in major upgrades.

If users have an iPhone 12 Pro Max, they can even upgrade to iPhone 13 Pro Max for free by taking advantage of the purchase discounts offered by Apple and T-Mobile US. Because when the iPhone 13 was released, Apple and T-Mobile offered a discount that the iPhone 12 Pro Max in the user’s hands could be deducted from Apple for US$790, and there was also a US$500 rebate for purchases from wireless operators. There is a total of $1,290, which is enough to offset the price of the iPhone 13 phone and most of the sales tax.

AT&T and Verizon also launched similar promotions for the latest iPhone. In addition, all wireless operators offer discounts of US$100 and US$200 for the cellular version of the Apple Watch and iPad respectively.

However, many consumers find that Apple's refund is relatively timely, but it is not easy to get the refund from the wireless operator. Many consumers' applications for rebates are initially rejected, and it seems that all major wireless operators have more or less such problems.

Some users bought the Apple Watch Series 7, which went on sale in October this year, and applied for a $100 rebate to T-Mobile. However, a few weeks after submitting the application, the T-Mobile marketing website informed the user that the application was rejected on the grounds that the relevant product was not activated during the marketing campaign.

The user talked with T-Mobile's customer service department for several hours, but the problem was not resolved. In the end, the problem was resolved after communicating with T-Mobile at the company level. The user's application for rebate was rejected because the rules in the agreement required the user to register and activate a new mobile phone number. However, T-Mobile’s customer service informed that even if the user opens a new card, the rebate agreement also requires the user’s old card to remain online for 90 days. This means that users must pay the relevant service fees for three consecutive months in order to enjoy the rebate service.

All of this is much more complicated than described in Apple's advertisement.

Some users who were blocked from applying for the rebate complained that they had a long phone call with the wireless carrier's customer service, and then somehow they were transferred to Apple's customer service department. Some users have even been told that Apple Watch promotions do not exist.

Many users find that iPhone 13 will also be rejected for some reason. Although there are corresponding models of mobile phones in the marketing campaign, many people have been told that their devices are not eligible for rebates.

After calling customer service, some users stated that they had received a refund of $500. But some people think that wireless operators seem to be wasting the patience of users, so they simply give up the rebate.

Verizon stated that it has investigated complaints about iPad rebates and found that "marketing activities have played a due role in eligible Verizon users."

T-Mobile said that the iPhone rebate problem was caused by a loophole, and the company is in the process of fixing it.

T-Mobile said in a statement: "It is never a good thing to hear that our customers have a bad experience." "We will work with our partners to do a better job, and strive to make any necessary improvements in the overall experience. ."

The company added, “Although there are various eligibility requirements and terms for each type of rebate, we don’t want anyone to feel that these terms are misleading, confusing or hidden.”

Apple and related operators are not the first companies to encounter problems with the rebate program. In 2005, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement with the now-defunct computer retailer CompUSA because the latter did not pay consumers back. The FTC stated that CompUSA and its distributor suppliers did not issue rebates to users on time within the specified time, or did not rebate at all.

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