Data not wiped from Mac Mini after Erase All Content And Settings, trade in rejected
I recently attempted to trade in my M1 Mac Mini via mail to get credit towards my new computer. Before doing so I followed this guide https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212749 to erase all content and settings. I confirmed that the device was removed from my account and the Find My network, and when I booted it up it asked you to selected a language and set up the device (like it does on a brand new computer). So I assumed everything was good to go and sent it in.
Shortly later I got a notification that the trade in value was determined to be $0 because the data was not wiped. After a couple calls with apple support they said my only option is to reject the trade in and have it sent back to me. They used a third party trade in partner for this which I have no way of contacting.
I rejected the trade in but now it's been a few weeks and after contacting apple support they said the trade in has not been shipped back to me yet. So that's really frustrating. There's also no way to track the return from the third party.
So I have two questions:
- Is using erase all content and settings not the right way to prepare your M1 Mac for trade in? Or is there a bug with it that it might not work completely?
- Has anyone has this experience with a trade in partner? I feel like my order could have gotten mixed up and I am starting to doubt their legitimacy now that they aren't sending my Mac back in a reasonable amount of time.
Thank you. I love apple but unfortunately this has left a sour taste in my mouth. Contacting apple support directly hasn't seemed to help so that's why I am posting here.