How to get your $200 credit for your iPhone
With all the buzz surrounding the $200 price drop and existing iPhone owners (include me in that list), feeling they deserved some sort of compensation, I decided to try a couple of different avenues that I’ve heard were successful for others.
First, I called AT&T customer care and was kindly told that they would only issue credit for purchases between August 23 – September 5. Unfortunately I purchased my 8GB iPhone on July 5. Strike 1.
Then I visited the local Apple Store that I purchased it at. A manager who has obviously had this conversation hundreds of times already told me that he could not do returns or credits outside of Apple’s normal return/price matching policies. Strike 2.
Then I read this post on Apple’s Discussion Forums:
If you bought your iPhone on an American Express Card call 1-800-297-8019 (this is the return protection program) and they will credit your card with $200 for each phone you purchased. (I bought 2) The lady said it takes about 2 weeks and all of the reps that you talk to know about the price drop and they have set up a special program to return card members their money. I hope this is helpful.
I decided to give it a try and HOME RUN! Here is a summary of the phone call with my credit card company, American Express:
I called American Express and they transfered me to the Return Protection Program. The customer service representative said that yes, they are crediting cardholders the $200.00. According to her, Apple told them to refund the American Express holders $200.00 for each phone. I was informed that this is not one of the norms, but they credited my account $214.00 which includes local sales tax.
So there is hope. And if what the customer service rep says is true, than Apple, in a roundabout way, agrees that iPhone early adopters deserve their $200.
2 Comments
[…] to a blogger at TechGeekBlog, American Express users may be able to get a $200 refund on iPhones they bought before the recent […]
Thanks for the great info! I called Amex earlier regarding their buyer protection plan which has apparently been dismantled as of last October. I thought that was the end of the line. Your info worked as the Amex Return Protection Program was aware of the issue and said that in this unusual circumstance I would likely get the refund.
Thanks again! I love my 20 day old phone now more than ever…