iStore Trade-in Program is a ****

I wanted to trade in my iPhone 8 which was in excellent condition and their website estimated R4000 for the trade-in value. With high expectations I drove to iStore Clearwater and met with the staff member who was going to evaluate my phone.

Upon inspection the evaluator seemed impressed and commemorated me on taking good care of the phone. Suddenly the guy noticed a tiny scratch near the charging port on the aluminium frame, and it was very close to the screen glass. The guy said the scratch was going to impact my trade-in value, and in all fairness that is to be expected.

Eager to know how much the scratch would impact my trade-in value I asked the guy to calculate the difference. Shortly after the guy said that they will need to replace not just the screen glass but also the entire LCD screen and the final trade-in offer was R300.

The evaluator marked my iPhone as having a “non-functional display”, even though the display was 100% functional, but because the scratch near the charging port on the aluminium frame was so close to the glass it was enough for him to deem my iPhone’s display as non-functional.

I don’t get it, there’s nothing wrong with the display, why does it need to be replaced? It’s not damaged, nor cracked, nor scratched! The scratch is on the aluminium frame – not the glass!

I grabbed my iPhone and walked out.

iStore, you make a big fuss about your trade-in program and how awesome it is, yet you sell pre-owned scuffed and scratched iPhones for R14 000 but all you could do is offer me R300 and expect me to accept it? What a joke.

Luckily there was an Incredible Connection next door. I walked in, the team evaluated my iPhone and I was offered R3500.

For anyone looking to trade-in their iPhone I would advise to steer clear of the iStore’s trade-in program if the best they could offer me was R300. Go to Incredible Connection instead.