Can Apple Trade-Ins Get Any Worse in Australia?

I recently had the horrific experience of buying a new MacBook (May 2021) with a trade in value of my relatively new-ish but being-replaced MacAir proposed at AU$720.

The customer service to buy my new MacBook was flawless - everything came in on time or earlier.

The customer service to trade in my old MacAir was horrific. The WORST customer experience I have experienced EVER when dealing with a tech firm (and that's saying something when it comes to being on hold for hours on a help-desk line etc). Where do I start?

One has 14 days from the date of purchase to activate the trade in. Mine was cancelled on Day 13 due to 'not activating it on time'. I called Apple HelpDesk - they could not explain why it had been cancelled when I was still within the 14 day range. So they re-instated the trade in and booked a day for courier pick up of the old Mac.

Day of first courier pick up attempt: One must be home from 9am to 5pm for the pick up by TNT/Fed-ex. So that's what I did - actually I was home 8am-6pm just to be sure. Complete NO SHOW of the courier. I literally sat by my kitchen window waiting for him, keeping a look out, making sure I did not miss him. No one came. So I call Apple HelpDesk (again) and they apologise and say they can't understand why there was a no show. I ask if I can please drop off the MacAir at a TNT/Fed-Ex depot to which I am told 'NO' - we do not allow it. The solution proposed is that I book in another day for courier pick up and again wait 9am-5pm. I protest - how many times do I have to give up an entire day for this? - but my protest is to no avail. We book in the date for a week later, because I need time to reorganise my schedule so that I can organise (again) for an entire day to be at home.

Day before second courier pick up attempt: Apple cancels the courier pick up, citing the courier is 'not available'. Meanwhile I've planned my entire week and moved things around just so I can be home for that entire day waiting for a courier. Apple then, without any consultation, rebooks the courier for the day after, which I cannot do of course because I've moved everything else in the week to the other four days so I could clear that one day for courier pick up. I call Apple HelpDesk (again) and explain the situation. Again, they apologise and can't understand why the second courier pick up day can't be honoured. We attempt to find a suitable day I am free, but none can be found that same week, certainly not before I go into HOTEL QUARANTINE with my internationally returning child who has to do mandatory isolation with a parent (me). That means a two-week wait to schedule a third courier pick up attempt. Oh, no - that's not possible, says Apple HelpDesk. We cannot extend the trade in for that long - it's supposed to be sent in within 14 days you know! No kidding, I reply. And where in all this do you think I have not attempted to adhere to that????? Surely, I try to reason with them, you can allow me to take it to the TNT/Fed-Ex depot before I go into Quarantine so I can get this done ASAP, as you would like. To which I am (again) told 'NO' - we do not allow it. But this is on you, I say. You have utterly failed to honour your own trade in process. Surely if I am willing to drive 22kms from my home to the actual depot to drop it off you might be willing to make an exception - because ultimately I am SOLVING a problem you have created. And I am the customer after all - is it not unreasonable to try and give me some decent customer service? Well, no, they say. I'd have to get permission for that and my manager won't approve it, they say. In utter frustration and disgust, I hang up the call.

I enter Quarantine.

While in Quarantine, I make one last attempt to resolve the trade in disaster this has now become. I call Apple HelpDesk (again) and get a very helpful chap on Apple HelpDesk who is truly horrified by the experience I've had so far, and he does two things: He gets approval for me to drop off the MacAir at the TNT/Fed-Ex depot once I am released from Quarantine, and he issues me a $150 cash refund on my MacBook purchase for the appalling customer service I have been experiencing as a way to say 'thanks for your business'. I am told that when I go to the depot, the TNT/Fed-Ex agent "will know exactly what to do, will have the Apple return address, consignment number, post-paid forms, etc" all ready to be affixed to the MacAir, and all I need do is show up with the MacAir properly packaged in a box and the agent will 'do the rest' - trust me, he says. They do this all the time, he says. They have the paperwork, I don't need to send it to you, he says. I am subsequently sent by Apple an email with an address for the TNT/Fed-Ex depot for drop off.