This is a story about how I got apple watch for my wife’s anniversary for almost FREE.
So this happened around mid-November. I was on Facebook marketplace and I was looking for an Apple Watch for my Wife the retail price of the Watch is about $250 for the SE edition and on marketplace I say few people selling the watch for $200. So I managed to strike a deal with a seller to give me the watch for $150 which I thought was very reasonable.
So I arrived at the transaction location and the guy hands me the watch..it looked really new (no scuffs or dings). I wanted him to turn the watch on so that I can confirm it was working. And here was the catch….He said his wife lost the charger so the battery was drained and he did not have a charger. So I said I would like to get it but I’m not going to be paying for a watch which I don’t even know if it turns on.
After a few back and forth discussions (he kept saying trust me there is no locks or passcode), I finally agreed to pay him $75 for the watch via PayPal (just incase he lied). I then take this watch to Apple store to ask for a charger. The customer service person refused to let me use a charger so I was forced to purchase one for $59… At this point I was feeling down as I spent so much money for a watch I did not even know if it worked. After charging the Watch for 15 mins it turned on! aaaaand it asked for a passcode.
So I had an Idea, Since I was in Apple store I can ask for factory reset…So I went to the Genius Bar and asked them the process. They provided me with more bad news. Even after factory reset if the watch is tied to Icloud account the watch wont unlock. At this point I felt all was lost … So I returned the charger I purchased for a full refund and went home with a $75 loss.
Once I was home, I first called PayPal and told them I needed to dispute transaction as it may be a stolen item. Luckily the seller did not yet accept the transfer, so the PayPal associate advised to just cancel the transaction. Phew! close one …I saved my $75. Great! I was feeling a little better. And now I have an almost new Apple Watch SE with no charger which is useless.
New Idea came to me while I was having dinner. Lets buy a new Apple SE from Amazon and do a little swticherro and return the unusable watch to amazon. So I went to Amazon and purchased the exact same Apple watch for the full $250 and patiently waited.
I received the new watch and I paired it with my wife’s Iphone. then I packaged the unusable watch and returned the box the same day. and Voila..Amazon started the refund process for $250 within few hours (God bless them).
In conclusion I paid total of $20 for a new Apple watch SE charger, some new watch bands and a device protection from Amazon and got a brand new working Apple Watch SE for my Wife’s anniversary for Free.
In Conclusion. This was definitely a win for me. Even though its not very ethical but I think Amazon makes enough money (I did spent $20). And the cherry on top…. is definitely for the guy who tried to lie and dupe me who ended up not getting a penny and also had to give away the device for nothing.( I did try to message him on FB and send two emails asking for the passcode so I can give his $75. In all honesty but he did not take the opportunity/ second chance and got what he deserved for lying).