Be extremely wary of using the trade in program, even in store

Went to Apple Store at Polaris Fashion Place, Columbus, Ohio. Traded in an 11” Apple iPad Pro and a 27” Apple iMac computer. Was offered (and given) brand new Apple gift cards worth $160 and $165 for these items. Remember, these were gift cards at the actual Apple Store- not purchased from a third party vendor. The Apple Store employee activated them, and show us the value on each card in their system. We went online to purchase an Apple Mac mini while still in store (directed to do so by the Apple Store employees since we told them we wanted to purchase that computer). We did so, and when we tried to apply the gift cards to the purchase, the gift cards registered “already used” and “locked.” These were brand new cards. After being on the phone with Apple customer service, the $160 card worked, but the $165 did not. We were told we had to wait 7 to 10 business days for a resolution. We were told today that they could not resolve our missing $165. *** The Apple Store employees were actually great and we don’t blame them at all. Even they were super confused.

[Edited by Moderator]