I think you missed the point where Dustin mentioned this:
"Very soon after, it seems that Apple simply added the amount of the credit I received when I purchased the M1 MacBook Pro to my Apple Card balance."
Timeline is as follows: Dustin bought the MacBook in mid January, he mentioned he never received a trade in kit after 2 weeks, then received a reminder in mid-February to send the item in, and "soon after" received credit on his Apple Card. This tells me Apple refunded a portion of the M1 purchase to the credit card erroneously. This can happen with any credit card, not just Apple Card.
As I've already established, if Apple thinks you owe them any amount of cash, they'll lock your account. In this case, Apple thinks Dustin owes them money because Apple accidentally refunded a portion of the M1 purchase.
What happened is that when Apple did not receive the trade-in, they added a charge to the card for the amount of the credit.
Anyway, the important point you're missing is that if Apple was dealing with a Chase card, Apple would not be out any money, because Chase pays Apple for any charges to the card. You're conceiving of a scenario where Apple doesn't get all of its money, and that's simply not the case with a third-party credit card.
Now if Apple and Goldman Sachs operated in the same manner, then Apple would also get all of the money it was owed, from Goldman Sachs, and then it would be up to Goldman Sachs to get payment from Dustin, which is no concern of Apple's. But apparently Apple and Goldman Sachs have a different kind of relationship with the Apple Card.
It appears that Apple is using its iCloud leverage to force the card holder to pay Goldman Sachs. Apple would have no such leverage to force the card holder to pay Chase, nor would Apple have any desire to use such leverage for Chase, because Apple is not "in bed", so to speak, with Chase.
> That's not exactly what happened. "they give you a credit at purchase time"
That would still be a refund on the Apple Card. "amount of the credit [...] to my Apple Card balance." means Apple refunded a portion of the balance.
> Anyway, the important point you're missing is that if Apple was dealing with a Chase card, Apple would not be out any money
They sure would if they accidentally credited your Chase card. Apple's site says
"Once we receive it, we’ll inspect it and verify its condition. If everything checks out, we’ll credit your original purchase method and send you any remaining balance on an Apple Gift Card by Email."
If they erroneously "credit your original purchase method", they would, in fact, be out of money. Dustin was erroneously credited. I don't see how it would be any different, other than it seems Dustin got his credit instantly, if his tweets were accurate.
If they instantly credited me and I sent them a lump of coal in the trade in, they would be, in effect, out of money, regardless if it was an Apple Card or a Chase card.
"No matter what payment method was used, the ability to transact on the associated Apple ID was disabled because Apple could not collect funds. This is entirely unrelated to Apple Card."
After looking into it more, I see that the instant credit system is the culprit.
1. Apple instantly gave Dustin the credit (because he opted into paying monthly). From Apple's site: "If you pay monthly: We’ll apply the value as an instant credit to lower your monthly payments."
2. Apple failed to send the box
3. Apple tried to get its credit back by charging the value to the Apple Card
4. Dustin didn't update the bank info, so Apple couldn't get its money back as the card denied the charge.
5. Apple's fraud alarm went off.
Apple gives you instant trade in credit if you pay monthly. While that's unique to the Apple Card here in USA, other countries that don't have Apple Card offer financing too. It's not out of the question that instant trade in credit is offered to countries that don't have Apple Card but also offer financing on Macbooks too.
Everyone is at fault it seems (more on Apple than Dustin). Dustin failed to update the bank info, Apple failed to send the box, and Apple failed to communicate properly.
I did the same with the Apple Watch. I bought my last Apple Watch using monthly payments, so I got instant trade in credits. I was sent a trade in box, but my cousin wanted to buy the Watch off of me so I never sent in the trade in. Apple simply charged the trade in credit on my card after not receiving the trade in.
> if Apple was dealing with a Chase card, Apple would not be out any money, because Chase pays Apple for any charges to the card
Unsubstantiated statements like this suggest you do not understand how card authorization and liability work for merchants, and it doesn’t seem like you’re interested in finding out.
"Very soon after, it seems that Apple simply added the amount of the credit I received when I purchased the M1 MacBook Pro to my Apple Card balance."
Timeline is as follows: Dustin bought the MacBook in mid January, he mentioned he never received a trade in kit after 2 weeks, then received a reminder in mid-February to send the item in, and "soon after" received credit on his Apple Card. This tells me Apple refunded a portion of the M1 purchase to the credit card erroneously. This can happen with any credit card, not just Apple Card.
As I've already established, if Apple thinks you owe them any amount of cash, they'll lock your account. In this case, Apple thinks Dustin owes them money because Apple accidentally refunded a portion of the M1 purchase.