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Cant Redeem my 100 dollar credit

I Get This Message:

You may not be eligible.

We're sorry, but we can't locate a record of your iPhone. It could be that you've entered the requested information incorrectly. If so, please try entering it again. If the information is correct, there are several reasons why you could have received this message: 1. Your iPhone was purchased at the new, reduced price and is not eligible for a $100 Apple Store credit. 2. You have not activated your iPhone. You must activate your iPhone before we can process your credit. 3. You recently activated your iPhone. It may take up to 24 hours after you register your iPhone before we can process your request. After activating your phone and receiving your activation confirmation, please return to this site to receive your Apple Store credit. For questions, please email Apple at iPhonestorecredit@apple.com. Be sure to include your name, iPhone serial number, the place of purchase (AT&T, Apple Retail Store, or Apple Online Store), the date of purchase and a copy of this entire message. Please see the terms and conditions for more details about eligibility.
Try again

I have an activated iphone and bought it before august 22.
And I sent and email to the link provided

Posted on Sep 14, 2007 12:08 PM

30 replies

Uzul

Level 1

1 points

Sep 14, 2007 2:14 PM in response to Mr. Snap

no i didnt have to send email, just dont pay attention to the "u are not elegible" try again, all lower case and if u dont get the SMS then there is another issue

Sep 14, 2007 2:14 PM in response to SeeBee

I've tried everything and i still just get that message.
so I'll wait out the 48 to 72 hours to see if I get any where .
Thank you all for the suggestions

Mr. Snap

Level 1

35 points

Sep 14, 2007 2:14 PM in response to SeeBee

SeeBee wrote:
Ok that's the IME number on my ATT receipt.

Yeah, I'm thinking this has to be related to AT&T using the IMEI as the serial number. From what I can gather, folks who bought from the Apple Store have the true serial number listed on their receipt.

Looks like people with this problem are starting to see results. Apple must be hand adjusting the records to match. Sounds like fun...

Mr. Snap

Level 1

35 points

Sep 14, 2007 3:59 PM in response to Cynthia McCarvel

I did get a response from Apple via email just now. They now believe that my phone is a replacement and to enter in my "original" iPhone serial number into the web site.

Gee, that should be handy if I had ever gotten a replacement. How could my phone have been replaced when the IMEI number on my original receipt and the IMEI on my iPhone match? /boggle

SeeBee

Level 1

105 points

Sep 14, 2007 4:46 PM in response to Mr. Snap

I think Apples records are kinda screwed up. in my previous post I said that my phone( which is a replacement) was showing up as a Apple owned iphone like a employee phone. Thanks god I have all of my emails documenting the replacement, with my original phones serial # in case I run into trouble in the future.

Sep 14, 2007 5:00 PM in response to Mr. Snap

You folks need to foget the IMEI number. Nowhere does Apple ask for the IMEI number. The Serial Number from the iPhone is best obtained from Settings/General/About and scroll down to Serial Number. That is the number to enter. I think it's important to enter the at&t phone number without dashes, eg 9993335566, not 999-333-5566. Hope this helps.

Mr. Snap

Level 1

35 points

Sep 14, 2007 5:15 PM in response to Evangelist

Evangelist wrote:
You folks need to foget the IMEI number. Nowhere does Apple ask for the IMEI number. The Serial Number from the iPhone is best obtained from Settings/General/About and scroll down to Serial Number. That is the number to enter. I think it's important to enter the at&t phone number without dashes, eg 9993335566, not 999-333-5566. Hope this helps.

In case you don't realize how cell phone technology works, I'll give you a quick refresher.

AT&T communicates with any cell phone device be it an iPhone or Blackberry or a crappy $10 phone via it's IMEI number. Each phone as a UNIQUE IMEI number. These are the same numbers that phone cloners use to steal your cell phone number and account.

Now with that out of the way, I've entered my Apple iPhone Serial Number countless times into their online web site. The iPhone Serial Number != the IMEI. What is funny is that Apple says I have a replacement iPhone. This isn't possible for a number of reasons one of which is that I have matching IMEI numbers on my original AT&T Store receipt dated June 30th and my iPhone. If I had a replacement phone those numbers would be different.

Get it?

Sep 14, 2007 5:24 PM in response to Mr. Snap

What is get is that you are confused. What in the world does, "The iPhone Serial Number !=the IMEI." mean???? Hello. The iPhone Serial Number is completely different from the phone's IMEI number. If you would take the time to do as I suggested in my previous post and go to Settings/General/About and then scroll down; you will see Serial Number and further down IMEI number. The one thing I don't "get" is what you doing concerning yourself with the IMEI. I went to the Apple website, entered my phone number and SERIAL NUMBER, got the Access Code, entered it and I have $100 Credit. Period. No IMEI number ever involved in this process. Period.

Sep 14, 2007 7:02 PM in response to Evangelist

I got this message today when I tried to retrieve my credit. Problem is, if you ported a number over after being assigned a new number during activation, there may be a chance that AT&T did not update the change in number to Apple. Therefore, Apple’s system will not recognize your phone number along with you serial number and you will get the message that you may not be eligible for the credit. This happened to me this morning and I called Apple and they told me they must verify with AT&T that in fact I did change the number from the one assigned to the phone during activation and that in fact the new number is with At&T. Now I must wait until Tuesday of next week for my ported number to be updated into Apple system so that I can claim the credit. A friend of mine has the same scenario and his credit went through with no problems. So, it appears it can be a hit or miss thing. Hopefully, I will get notification sooner than later that my account has been updated and I can use my credit.

jcgjr999

Level 1

0 points

Sep 14, 2007 7:37 PM in response to Cynthia McCarvel

I also got the zero balance on the iPhone credit. I went to the Apple store and wanted to buy an iTunes gift card with my rebate money. They said the rebate credit was zero and I couldn't use it. They checked the Apple messaging system and said that other people were reporting the same problem. Apparently some of the rebate credits being issued by Apple are bad and those unfortunate people are out of luck. A little disappointing to say the least. I must say I love my iPhone, but Apple's customer service is sorely lacking.

KennyS

Level 1

20 points

Sep 14, 2007 7:49 PM in response to jcgjr999

Wow, glad I used both my $100 credits before they went into the "Apple twilight zone". You should call Apple for a new card/pin number.

Ken

KennyS

Level 1

20 points

Sep 14, 2007 7:55 PM in response to Mr. Snap

No sir. Not with the iPhone. It has a serial number AND a IMEI number. And it is the serial number that needs to be used for obtaining the credit.

Ken

Mr. Snap

Level 1

35 points

Sep 14, 2007 10:43 PM in response to Evangelist

Evangelist wrote:
What is get is that you are confused. What in the world does, "The iPhone Serial Number !=the IMEI." mean???? Hello. The iPhone Serial Number is completely different from the phone's IMEI number. If you would take the time to do as I suggested in my previous post and go to Settings/General/About and then scroll down; you will see Serial Number and further down IMEI number. The one thing I don't "get" is what you doing concerning yourself with the IMEI. I went to the Apple website, entered my phone number and SERIAL NUMBER, got the Access Code, entered it and I have $100 Credit. Period. No IMEI number ever involved in this process. Period.

Bah. You're not worth a dignified response.

Mr. Snap

Level 1

35 points

Sep 14, 2007 10:44 PM in response to KennyS

KennyS wrote:
No sir. Not with the iPhone. It has a serial number AND a IMEI number. And it is the serial number that needs to be used for obtaining the credit.

Ken

Hey Ken... YES SIR. Again, you should learn to read before posting a response. AT&T doesn't even know your iPhone serial number. They could give a flying flip less about it. Why? Because your iPhone doesn't use your serial number to talk to the cell towers. But I'm guessing all this technology speak is going over your head.

Message was edited by: Mr. Snap

Sep 20, 2007 8:09 AM in response to jcgjr999

I posted the exact same problem earlier in this thread and was accused of being a troll. After calling customer support 4 times I finally got in touch with someone who believed me and took care of the problem. Basically they told me to re-enter my phone number and serial number on the Store Credit page. I did this and received the credit and was able to redeem it for merchandise. Problem solved!

Cant Redeem my 100 dollar credit