Iphone SE Defective Battery, Apple refuses to replace, Tmobile closes my support chat
I purchased an Iphone SE for my son around 5 months ago. About a month ago it became defective and the battery appeared to begin bulging,the front screen became disconnected from the back part of the phone and will no longer turn on. I contacted T-mobile support and asked what I should do, they said it is under Apple Care and to contact them, so that is what I do I contact Apple, after a long conversation and them requesting pictures of the damage they tell me I need to deactivate FindMy on the phone. I go to the site they pointed me towards and removed the phone in question from FindMy. They cannot verify this, they have me share my screen and show the phone is not there anymore but still are unable to verify it on their side. They escalate me to senior support, who also cannot verify that the phone is removed so they have me fill out a form to remove an Activation lock. This requires a receipt of purchase for the phone. I then contact T-Mobile and wait an hour to get the receipt, which I then apply to the form Apple had me fill out. A day later, I get notified that my request was denied. I contact Apple and they tell me I need to find another receipt and fill out the form again. I contact tmobile, after a lengthy chat only for the chat rep to tell me I need to contact Apple to get this resolved. I show them that my form from Apple got denied and that I need more proof. They tell me all they can do is give me a referral and to please go to my nearest Apple store to get this resolved. I told them that I live in a rural area, my nearest Apple store is an 8 hour drive one-way. The chat rep tells me to please reconsider this and until I do consider it do not contact support again and closes my chat. I am at loss for what to do next, anyone have any guidance?