It’s not just 3 returns.
He says in the weeks prior he has bought and returned multiple cases too.
Im not surprised that if somebody has made 6/7+ returns over a couple of weeks. That Apple may decide that customer is too high risk to sell to.
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He says in the weeks prior he has bought and returned multiple cases too.
Im not surprised that if somebody has made 6/7+ returns over a couple of weeks. That Apple may decide that customer is too high risk to sell to.
I would also recommend this.
Here's the thing (OP) - you can tell us the whole truth of what's happened, and still some might be convinced that you're leaving important details out and treat you accordingly. Plus, no one here can help you.
Apple, on the other hand, has all the data on your customer activity within their stores and services, so you won't need to prove that part of the conversation to anyone. If they think it's necessary they can probably dig out your every interaction with them that's relevant to the conversation.
They can then deal with your case appropriately, with all the necessary data at hand, where as we can't.
You might still not like the outcome, but you can trust that your situation has been reviewed and dealt with as Apple has seen fit.
All state is reasonable and makes sense.
There's only one detail Apple is failing: not informing the customer of Apple's decision. I've found out after a Mac, I had ordered 4 days before, and that was already being produced, was cancelled by Apple iwthou any notice, not even an email.
This is no way you expect a reputed and respected company like apple to act wtih its customers.
The most annying thing here is not receiving any ifnormation at at from Apple, and even worse, having a high tier representative from Appe Executive Relations giving me the "silence treatment".
We were in the middle of following that new order, I responded all the info requests and all of a sudden, dead silence.
This is not the corect way to deal with people.
I have purchased hundreds of Apple's products over the last 30 years, and never returned a single one.
Then I bought a bent iPad Pro, and had it replaced two times before giving up and selling the last one unopened.
I definitely want to continue using Apple products because there are no reasonable replacements that suit me, but at the same time I definitely want acceptable quality.
I think the point is that Apple does not have a legal obligation to do business with you if they choose not to. For one reason or another you have been red-flagged by either a person or an algorithm (more likely given the sheer number of daily transactions). It might have been the number of returns, or maybe something you said during your communications with Apple, or the pattern of your returns, or any other number of reasons which will remain forever undisclosed by Apple. Most likely it's a combination of multiple factors that have led to this escalation.
Either way there isn't really anything you can do right now. From a legal perspective every business has the right to reserve whom it does business with. There are some restrictions on this depending on what country you are doing business (think race, gender, skin color, etc.) in but generally speaking they are acting within their rights and I don't believe there is anything you can do.
And don't expect to get an answer from them anytime soon. Apple is a giant corporation, not a mom-and-pop-shop.
Either way there isn't really anything you can do right now. From a legal perspective every business has the right to reserve whom it does business with. There are some restrictions on this depending on what country you are doing business (think race, gender, skin color, etc.) in but generally speaking they are acting within their rights and I don't believe there is anything you can do.
And don't expect to get an answer from them anytime soon. Apple is a giant corporation, not a mom-and-pop-shop.
Why not go to an Apple store and ask them to clarify the issue…while you wait? 🤓
You became an unprofitable customer, so they severed ties to prevent you from costing them more. Likely it was a largely automated procedure. You met some algorithm that marked you has a high risk customer, and then someone reviewed the details and came to the same conclusion.
Amazon does this too if you return too much.
At the end of the day, they have no obligation to offer service to you. Just buy from BestBuy or something.
Amazon does this too if you return too much.
At the end of the day, they have no obligation to offer service to you. Just buy from BestBuy or something.
This smells off to me. Probably did to Apple too, but rather than confront you they just blackballed you.
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This doesn’t surprise me. I think too many people are taking advantage of generous return policies - like buying multiples to try out and just returning those they don’t like. I am a returner for defective items for sure. But I also try to do my homework really well before I purchase. I’ve heard of people being banned from Amazon due to too many returns. Also, Best Buy has a silent policy where they only allow so many returns in 90 days.
I can count on one finger the amount of returns I’ve done with apple. The fact that op has done 3 returns with 3 concurrent MacBook airs sounds fishy. If you could post info ( screenshots, emails, texts) to prove your case that apple is being unfair, that would help you a lot.
I assume you won’t though, as you prob are a high risk Customer, and was banned from apple as a result
I assume you won’t though, as you prob are a high risk Customer, and was banned from apple as a result
just based on your reasons for case returns tells me you are probably not a reasonable customer.
can you explain the reasons for the macbook returns? explain 'plagued with issues.' what does 'almost' caught on fire even mean?
can you explain the reasons for the macbook returns? explain 'plagued with issues.' what does 'almost' caught on fire even mean?
Even if OP's story as told here is incomplete, they might have tripped a third party loss prevention trigger. The ease of collecting, sharing, and analyzing online behavioral data has made seemingly unrelated actions, such as giving a Lyft driver 1 star, into criteria that help determine if a merchant will accept an order. That's in addition to whatever Apple does internally to assess incoming transactions.
For those interested, here are some links related to this stuff:
www.nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com
forums.macrumors.com
For those interested, here are some links related to this stuff:
I Got Access to My Secret Consumer Score. Now You Can Get Yours, Too. (Published 2019)
Little-known companies are amassing your data — like food orders and Airbnb messages — and selling the analysis to clients. Here’s how to get a copy of what they have on you.
Scheme to Swap Fake iPhones Adds Up to $900,000 Loss for Apple, Prosecutors Say (Published 2019)
Two college students in Oregon are accused of tricking Apple into replacing nearly 1,500 counterfeit iPhones with genuine ones that were later sold.
Adorama's Verification Process - HORRIBLE!
I decided to just cave in and order a spec'd out MBP 16 from Adorama last night for about $4k, everything went through smoothly and my CC was charged. Ok, nothing out of the ordinary right? So I go to bed, check my email this morning and I get an email from them stating my order was on hold for...
forums.macrumors.com
What good is posting screenshots on the forum going to do? You can't do anything to help the OP anymore than any of us.
I don't think Apple will lift the ban on his account and there really isn't any point in him fighting it.
What is sad about this is that it came with no warning at all. So I feel for the OP.
It also doesn't make any sense given that the last 3 purchases were defective.
That said --
When returning a machine via online purchase, there is nothing to mention that the product was defective. I don't know if you have to call in to ensure the return is marked as defective.
When returning a machine via store, we depend on the sales person reporting the unit as defective. They tend to select "buyer's remorse" as the reason more commonly.
It also doesn't make any sense given that the last 3 purchases were defective.
That said --
When returning a machine via online purchase, there is nothing to mention that the product was defective. I don't know if you have to call in to ensure the return is marked as defective.
When returning a machine via store, we depend on the sales person reporting the unit as defective. They tend to select "buyer's remorse" as the reason more commonly.
Give me a break. The OP doesn't have to do anything to prove his case to you.
Air nr 1 died out of nothing (case opened with AppleCare and after troubleshooting, they started a replacement)
Air nr 2 was bent and had randomd reboots. One time it was charging and noticed a burning smell from the USB-C port. Never turned on
Air nr 3 was bent - left bottom foot was impossible to lay on the desk surface. It was at least 1 - 1,5 difference.
Having this kind of issues, I am curious if any of the forum users would keep any of the Airs.
I am deeply disgusted to see that Apple's customers tend to doubt other customers and simply tak every decision coming from Apple, no matter how unfair it might be.
Obviously, every private company has the right to pick its customers.
I simply expected a serious company as Apple claims to be, to be a bit more transparent and disclosing with its customers the reason they are being prevented from placing orders.
It's a basic right, in no means it forces Apple to disclose any inside information. Every information that regards a certain customer, has to be disclosed to that given customer.
We are used to that kind of treatment in the EU.
Don't worry about what some strangers on here think, as to whether or not they believe you. Don't get strangers that kind of power in your life. Forget them. Overall, the MR membership is excellent.
A
I don't know about you, but I deeply value the money I spend on my purchases.
You have 3 buttons in a case, 2 click, the third doesn't.
Why should I keep a 65 euro case with this inconsistency?
This is a basic right customers have.
And you know what? If you watch thos lovely keynotes, claiming the perfectly crafted products Apple makes, you should have already came to the conclusion that is Apple who creates such demanding customers.
Great to see that Apple responds to these kind of hysterics in this way. Returning covers because “buttons are not clicky”
I don't know about you, but I deeply value the money I spend on my purchases.
You have 3 buttons in a case, 2 click, the third doesn't.
Why should I keep a 65 euro case with this inconsistency?
This is a basic right customers have.
And you know what? If you watch thos lovely keynotes, claiming the perfectly crafted products Apple makes, you should have already came to the conclusion that is Apple who creates such demanding customers.
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All the Airs were returned after proper troubleshoot with AppleCare, so they were properly flagged as being defective.
In fact, the most saddening detail of all this is the way Apple shows no consideration for its customers.
If there's a reason for this, I should have been informed since the beginning.
I am not even claiming this is unfair or not, as I don't know the reason.
I'm just saying the way Apple is treating me show very little respect.
I can go the Resellers route, but for BTO models it would be a nightmare.
But my quest now is to get some info from Apple, knwoing what's behind all this.
And to know if the situation will be reverted at any point.
If not, I'll move along. Apple's products are great, but there are more fish in the pond.
This isn't unheard of and is actually something all major retailers do. Best Buy, Amazon, Target, etc all do this and many actually have a third-party that uses algorithms to monitor return habits and places various types of flags on accounts in real-time. Some of those flags are informational, some require manual review, and some are hard stops on buying or returning something online. You most commonly hear about people getting hit with these bans by Best Buy and occasionally Amazon as both appear to have tighter threshold than others.
If you didn't do anything wrong (not assuming either way), yes it can feel unfair. However, people don't understand the amount of fraud, loss, etc that comes with online retail so they've had to resort to various countermeasures. Just like you might get the occasional bad purchase, they may flag the "innocent" buyer.
Use MR as an example. Each time a new product comes out, or like with iPhones multiple varieties come out, people always post about how they're going to buy some and return whichever they don't like. They have every right to do that. But, Apple also has every right to monitor for that and if a person does it often without having enough normal, non returned purchases, they can decide the cost isn't worth the customer. Just because you kept one doesn't mean the profit offsets the 3-4 you've returned over the past year or two.
If you didn't do anything wrong (not assuming either way), yes it can feel unfair. However, people don't understand the amount of fraud, loss, etc that comes with online retail so they've had to resort to various countermeasures. Just like you might get the occasional bad purchase, they may flag the "innocent" buyer.
Use MR as an example. Each time a new product comes out, or like with iPhones multiple varieties come out, people always post about how they're going to buy some and return whichever they don't like. They have every right to do that. But, Apple also has every right to monitor for that and if a person does it often without having enough normal, non returned purchases, they can decide the cost isn't worth the customer. Just because you kept one doesn't mean the profit offsets the 3-4 you've returned over the past year or two.
The algorithms also depend on the data being entered correctly. If someone returns a product because of what they perceive to be defect and the sales person accepting the return doesn't agree and enters the return reason as buyer's remorse, then regardless of who is right the customer gets dinged. There should be some transparency where a customer can see how returns are being recorded.
If the former, then three faulty units within a month? Fair enough. Whoever you reach out to should be reasonable, otherwise move up the ladder as suggested.
If the latter, then
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