T-Mobile, Verizon accused of denying $100 rebate earned by customers buying an Apple Watch
Some T-Mobile and Verizon customers are getting frustrated over the carrier's response to a Apple Watch rebate promotion that the wireless provider says does not exist. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman tweeted (via AppleInsider) about the promotion stating that "The carrier is wrongly denying the rebate advertised on Apple's website, with phone support saying the promotion doesn't exist. Would hold off on buying for this deal unless it works for others."
T-Mobile, Verizon are denying the existence of an Apple Watch promo that seems clearly to be written in black and white
Gurman's tweet includes an image of a press release promoting the deal for both T-Mobile/Sprint and Verizon. The release states "Buy an Apple Watch with GPS + Cellular from Apple. Get $100 back from T-Mobile/Sprint." Under the terms of the deal, buy the timepiece from Apple paying in full or monthly using the Apple Card monthly installments plan.
FYI for @tmobile customers buying a Watch Series 7: The carrier is wrongly denying the rebate advertised on Apple's website, with phone support saying the promotion doesn't exist. Would hold off on buying for this deal unless it works for others. pic.twitter.com/K07S3B2or8
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) November 18, 2021
The watch has to be activated on one of T-Mobile's DIGITS plan and a promotional application needs to be filled out to receive a special promo code by email. According to the release, "Once you've completed all steps and your eligibility has been processed, you will receive an email with your status. If you are eligible, your $100 virtual prepaid Mastercard will arrive in 6-8 weeks."
Responses to Gurman's tweet came from others who had problems with promotions offered by other carrier's for other Apple devices. David Johnson took to his Twitter page to respond to Gurman offering his experience with AT&T: "I had the same issue with the iPad Pro AT&T promo earlier this year. Same as all these other carrier offerings: pay full price, activate, get a billing credit. It didn’t appear after 3 billing cycles, then AT&T said it didn’t exist despite screenshots and emails."
Two other Twitter subscribers responded to Gurman by stating that they were having issues with Verizon's version of the deal. "Was told if the Verizon app doesn’t “automatically” offer the rebate to me after activating the watch then I’m not eligible even though I did exactly what Apple said," tweeted Adam Nieto.
"I am also having issues with Verizon’s. I had them say it doesn’t exist and only exists if you bring a Watch phone number to Verizon and not just an Apple Watch like it says," wrote Daniel Hipskind. As noted by AppleInsider, both deals do say, "offer subject to change." That catch-all phrase essentially allows the wireless firms to have a way out in situations like these.
T-Mobile and Verizon are supposedly investigating the promotion
T-Mobile's DIGITS plan, which the Apple Watch needs to be activated on according to the promo, allows subscribers to have one phone number that will ring on their phones, tablets, cellular smartwatches, and computers. Verizon has a similar plan called Number Share.
There are many different responses that T-Mobile or Verizon could say to deny a customer his or her $100 prepaid card. But to state that such a promo doesn't exist when there is a paper trail proving that it does, well that seems more than a little strange. Gurman's tweet also includes an image of a letter sent to a T-Mobile customer explaining that his request for the rebate has been denied because there was no activation found within the promotion window.
Supposedly, both carriers are investigating the situation although we don't know what will happen to those who have active complaints in place at T-Mobile and Verizon. As soon as we hear more, we will let you know.
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