William Gallagher
Carrier T-Mobile appears to be rejecting legitimate claims for rebates on Apple Watch Series 7, with support emails saying there is no such promotion.
On the Apple Watch Series 7 "Buy" pages in the US, Apple promotes a rebate where customers of either T-Mobile or Verizon can get a $100 rebate off the purchase price. It only applies to those two carriers, and specific carrier plans, plus it requires a user to buy the GPS + Cellular version.
However, it appears that at least some T-Mobile customers are being denied the rebate, and told by support staff that it's because there is no such promotion.
FYI for @tmobile customers buying a Watch Series 7: The carrier is wrongly denying the rebate advertised on Apple's website, with phone support saying the promotion doesn't exist. Would hold off on buying for this deal unless it works for others. pic.twitter.com/K07S3B2or8
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) November 18, 2021
As first spotted by Apple Watch Series 7's Mark Gurman, T-Mobile customers are being rejected because "no activation found within the promotion window."
In response to Gurman's tweet, Verizon users are reporting having the same problem. It's not clear whether either carrier is denying all users, or whether it's a temporary issue.
Reportedly, customer support staff from both carriers are investigating complaints.
The terms and conditions on Apple's site regarding the T-Mobile and Verizon rebate deals does say, "offer subject to change."
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
6 Comments
Always always always save documentation for things like this. It’s quick and easy to print/save websites as pdfs and take screen captures, on iOS and macOS, of advertised promotions, customer support chat transcripts, and submission forms. Call me paranoid, but when a CSR promises me anything I want a hard copy of said text in case they try and renege later on. This anal retentive-ness has saved me many times in the past. For example: I always snap a pic of my rental car’s fuel gauge (with odometer reading in frame) before driving off the lot and when I return just before handing the keys back over. Seriously, had three separate instances (2 different companies) over the years improperly charge me for fuel and got out of it each time I emailed them my pics lol. I know I sound crazy, but always CYA!! Keeping this documentation will also prove most helpful should you ever need to dispute a charge on your credit card too (been there a few times as well!). The Photos app allows you to sort by screenshots which makes it easy to clear all this crap out of iCloud every few months when no longer needed lol. In this case there is plenty of public proof of this deal being advertised and either T- Mobile or Apple should (and likely will) eventually make good on what was advertised. Everything has to be a struggle with these companies the past two years living in “the new normal” it seems.
Verizon denied mine when I used my cell phone #. I saw on my bill they assigned a different # to my cellular apple watch. I have not been denied yet for that and should know by end of the month.
As long as you can prove it with documentation and they still don't come around -- this is what small claims court is for.
If you didn't get it in writing it doesn't exist.