The Apple Store told me my iPhone 13 had no trade in value and threw it away.

Sorry, you don't have any recourse. Your daughter willingly gave the phone to the Apple Store, which they told her had no value. And to Apple, it didn't have any trade value.

On the other hand, many carriers have been actively advertising a bring in any phone, in any condition and they'll give a pretty decent value toward the purchase of a new iPhone. Of course that locks the user into a multi-year contract with the carrier, but they are offering good value for a phone, even if it is broken.

When the Apple Store told your daughter the phone had no value and they would dispose of it, she should have likely suggested she'd think about it before handing the phone over. But she is the one who made the decision to hand the phone over and she was told at that time the phone would be disposed of.

If she has owned the SE less than 14 days, she can certainly return it for full refund, however. I had a guy in my office who had a friend who just happened to have an old, non functioning iPhone sitting a drawer. He gave the broken phone to my co-worker, who then used the broken phone with a carrier to get the big discount. He is of course now locked into a 3 year contract with the carrier, but he got a good deal on a new iPhone 15 Pro.

Other than that you have no recourse. Sorry.

You need to choose your country on top

Legal - Apple Trade In - Apple

But that was not a trade in it was a disposal

Legal - Reuse & Recycling Program - Apple

Considering the case you can ask to escalate your case and speak to a manager

Carriers offer these promos to get you to upgrade your phone and in most cases require a more expensive "Ultimate" or "Unlimited" plan when upgrading. They also lock you to their carrier for a certain amount of time until they get their money back through the expensive plans. The phone has no trade in value, they are just looking to upgrade current users or switch users from other carriers.

Since Apple does not sell locked phones that are tied to a carrier, those promotions are not used by Apple. If the phone does have a trade-in value, then Apple will make you an offer for the trade-in and it is up to you if you want to take that offer. Once you choose to recycle the device, I see no recourse in getting it back.

100clicks wrote:

Is the daughter an adult?

Why would this make a difference? If she is not, she was the one who made the decision to hand the phone over and clearly had the means to make a purchase of a new iPhone.

100clicks wrote:

A disclaimer form with term and conditions, probably it depends on the country I suppose

I've never had to sign such a form that I can recall. And I just traded an iPhone in when iPhone 15 Pro Max came out.

I guess I have agreed to the value they offered me. Still, I'm not sure what value this has to the situation described here. As long as the daughter had a valid form of payment, which she clearly must have had, she made the decision to hand over a broken iPhone and purchase a new iPhone.

Let's you and I not debate the legal requirements to purchase an iPhone here. It's none of our business what age the daughter is. If the daughter is not of legal age, why did the mother let her daughter do this on her own? This is honestly between the family and Apple.

Yes you're right, probably we are speaking about an adult that went to the Apple Store with an ID and payment card. I'm not questioning what you said do not take me wrong, just trying to see if there's something more that can be done

We've told the OP all we can, which is the daughter willingly gave the broken phone to Apple and Apple told the daughter it was being disposed of and the daughter chose to buy a new iPhone. The question was is there any recourse and the logical answer, other than the daughter can return the phone for refund, is no. Getting into legalities is out of our realm of expertise or knowledge.

The Apple is not responsible for telling a customer they might get a better deal somewhere else. That has nothing to do with being ethical. If you, nor your daughter did any research before visiting the Apple Store, that's on you or your daughter.

When you go to buy a car, would a dealership suggests you can get a better deal somewhere else? Of course not. And that has absolutely, utterly, nothing to with being ethical.

The fact is, you, nor your daughter looked to see if there were any deals out there. And it's most definitely not up to Apple to "shop around" for you. You can post wherever you like. I don't think you're going to get the sympathy you seem to think you're entitled to.

Is the daughter an adult?

If you're not an adult you can't sign forms

What form exactly, do you think needed to be signed? I've traded a number of iPhones in at the Apple Store and don't ever recall being asked to sign a form.

A disclaimer form with term and conditions, probably it depends on the country I suppose

Not even tapped on their tablet yes? Here's different you agree to term and conditions you give your consent and you must be of age