A Bad Ending For My Google Pixel 11 Pro ⭐

This morning, Google emailed me to tell me the Pixel 10 Pro I traded-in to purchase the Pixel 11 Pro was rejected. As a result, it is returning the old device to me and will charge another $600--the value of that trade-in--to my payment method.

What?

"We inspected your trade-in device, and its value is less than the estimate," the email explains. "As you requested, your device will be returned to you ... To reverse your instant trade-in credit, your payment method will be charged $600.00 plus taxes if applicable."

Aside from the "as you requested" bit--I don't recall even getting that option--this seems straightforward enough: I believe that the phone I traded in is in near mint condition, but Google (or whatever Google partner) must have found some defect I did not see or know about. Surely, the email explains this.

It does not.

According to the email, I reported the device condition as:

Device turns On
No cracks
Factory reset

But the email explains that the device condition is:

Device turns On
No cracks
Factory reset

I'll give you a second to spot the differences. Right. There are none.

But it gets weirder.

Based on my description of the device condition, Google estimated that the value for trade-in was $600. Based on the assessment it (or its partner) did, however, the value for trade-in was ... wait for it ... $600.

$600 is not less than $600. $600 is $600. This phone is exactly what I said it was, and Google's assessment agrees. Regardless, they are sending it back and have charged me an additional $600.

But it gets weirder still.

When I click a "View details" button in the email, it opens a page on the the Google Store website to view the details of this transaction. It has Trade-in initiated, Trade-in kit shipped, Old device received, and Device assessed sections, and the latter explains that "Your device's value matches the estimate. You'll keep the instant trade-in credit applied at checkout." But that is not what happened according to the email I received.

This seems like a weird screw-up, and while it doesn't change my opinion of the phone--or Google, for that matter--it does upend my desire and ability to review this device. So I visited the Orders page on the Google Store website to see what that said. There, I found that I still had "$600 off this item with instant trade-in credit" plus the $308.19 in Google Store credit I received from two different promotions. But there was some screwy math, too: The total price of the phone was $1099, and so that should have been about $520 after the trade (and plus whatever taxes). But it listed the adjusted price as $1699, which is $1099 (the price of the new phone) plus $600 (the trade-in value of the old phone). And that is, of course, incorrect. Like everything else noted above.

So I requested a return.

Google lets you return a phone within 15 days of its arrival, and this phone arrived here in PA exactly one week ago...