In April I traded in my Macbook Pro for credit that I had planned to allocate for the purchase of a new Mac sometime during 2022. Much to my surprise, Apple has changed how such credits are disbursed. Company policy is to now charge any app store purchases/subscriptions to that credit before applying other means that a customer has chosen for payment. This is a different business practice than how my trade-ins have been handled in the past. Additionally there are no readily available invoices for the money Apple disburses from this credit. This opaque policy has motivated me to minimize how I spend my money with Apple. I will be judicious in what services I purchase, I will minimize my use of my Apple Credit card, and I will be far more reserved in how I support this massive Corporation.
Framus (1 less fanboy)
Apple has taken payment from the customers redeemed credit (iTunes gift cards) before Credit Cards for years. I would always take advantage during the Holidays by purchasing discounted iTunes cards for the free money aspect ($100 card for $75-80 from COSTCO, Target or BestBuy).
About 2 years ago, Apple decided to combine iTunes Gift cards and Apple Gift cards into a single Gift card. This allowed customers to purchase one card that would work anywhere. Apps, Music, Movies, Books, iCloud or Devices and Accessories. Only problem was if a customer redeemed the card to their Apple account they were unable to use the card in store (unless they ordered online for in-store pickup).
This appears to be what happened to Framus… the credit he received would be given via a Gift card either thru an email or physical card. Once redeemed to an Apple ID, it would be used for for ANY purchase first. I am sorry someone didn’t explain this clearly when he traded in his MBP. Hopefully this story will help someone else in the future from ending up in the same boat.
I see something different (strange and confusing but works) when I trade in Apple devices (iPhone, iMac) for new ones in one transaction. I get billed for the full price, excluding the trade-in, on my Apple credit card, and get the cash back (as Apple Cash) immediately. Then when I send receive the return box and send the old unit back my card gets credited for trade-in less the cashback. It isn’t a store credit but appears as an independent negative transaction on the card. Reconciling my Apple Card statement gets very confusing!