Same exact same thing as described in the article happened to me a few months ago when I bought my new MBA M1. I’m at least happy to learn it wasn’t Apple itself that directly screwed me, but they ought to investigate this. It definitely hurt the overall experience having $200 shaved off my buyback quote.
Just take some good pictures and sell it on eBay yourself... Even the original trade-in value estimates look low for Apple laptops, which generally hold their value quite well.
I think this is very risky. There are all sorts of stories how eBay sides with the buyer and how people have been scammed when a buyer returned a brick and claimed it was the item. It may not happen to you, but if it does, it will be a fairly big loss.
Phobio is scammy as all heck. They tried to gaslight me about what model MacBook Pro I had sent in and lowered their offer by $200. I will never, ever use them.
