I wish we had similar legislation in the USA.
For some reason we like to allow business to have all the advantages :-(
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Apple Online Store ban
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I wish we had similar legislation in the USA.
For some reason we like to allow business to have all the advantages :-(
I actually knew someone who did exactly the same. He had some form of OCD and he would literally check anything for an hour before buying it, regardless if it was a carton of milk, clothes or a laptop. He would look every item for the tiniest and insignificant blemishes, and he did not buy anything if the item was not perfect in his eyes. Imagine this: when he went out to buy shoes he would check 3-4 pairs of the same make and size to make sure that the one he chooses is the “perfect” one.
Needles to say that he never bought anything online in the past. During the lockdown he managed to get banned from many online stores, including Amazon, as he would order the same item 2-3 times, only to return it back. I have the impression that also a major courier company would not accept deliveries from/to him as he would not sign off the delivery of any box that wasn’t in mint condition.
on another note I came to know a couple of wannabe “YouTubers” that they used to order all the new gadgets, they would “review” them for clicks, and then returned the items for a refund. Soon the found themselves banned from most major retailers.
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If at all possible, I think people should open the package in the store (after purchasing) and inspect before leaving. That way, if there is a problem, it can be addressed immediately and save a possible drive back to the store.
May help for cosmetic stuff. Would certainly have helped me with a wobbly M1 MBA. For things like display, I think it may be harder to figure out in store.
That is true for a potential screen problem that is not readily apparent, especially with the kind of lighting that is in the Apple Store.
They do in some cases.
A friend of mine bought a MBP and it went on sale at Best Buy a couple days later. She took her receipt and the Best Buy ad to the Apple Store and they refunded her the $100 difference. I don't know if this is an official policy or just manager discretion.
Good to know. I will have to keep that in mind the next time I purchase.
I don’t know if this happens any more, but in the past Apple would upgrade or refund laptops if they’ve been purchased up to a month before the announcement of an upgraded model of the same line. If so you choose to keep the same laptop will refund you the differenxe
I had an issue with 2 consecutive Pioneer plasma TVs I ordered from Amazon. Pioneer confirmed the defects and recommended I work with Amazon rather than do panel replacements twice. Amazon swapped the first TV and simply closed my account rather than take care of the second. They also banned me permanently. It was crazy, wouldn’t even let me communicate the photos and Pioneer information.
So yeah, Amazon manages to be worse than Apple even in this category, apparently.
So yeah, Amazon manages to be worse than Apple even in this category, apparently.
In Australia they price match up to 10% against a genuine Apple seller. ie the big retails stores that often have 10% off, no returns with them though for change of mind.
I guess that makes sense as the refurbished store usually offers 15%, or rarely 20% off.
HP banned me for returning a custom build laptop that was overheating to the point of being unusable [couldnt comfortably type on it] so I asked for my money back [even though they state you cannot return custom builds]. I get why they banned me though as I threatened them with false advertising on their products. They still advertise them the same although apparently…… that experience made me realise how great the 16” MBP really is despite the complaining on this site.
A couple of years ago I ordered an Apple Watch for my daughter off of Amazon. When I received the item, what was inside was a cheap plastic watch that someone had shoved into it. I couldn’t believe it. It was even sealed in its plastic wrap. I called Amazon and told them I wasn’t accepting it. I had never returned anything to them before and they gave me all kinds of grief for attempting to return it. I told them I would take legal recourse and do a chargeback from my lender and they agreed to do a refund.
Once they received the POS back that I returned to them I got an email stating that my refund had processed but that I would no longer be able to order from Amazon due to fraudulent activity. I immediatley called them and made them go through my entire order history (which was embarrassingly massive) and asked a Senior Advisor what grounds he had to ban my account when I had been ordering from them for years and had spent thousands of dollars and had never returned anything. He apologized and said that it was most likely an advisor who didn’t look at my order history, saw a junk watch in an Apple Watch box, and decided to ban me.
He apologized and reversed the ban but these retailers can pretty much just boot you out whenever they feel like it even if its warranted or not.
If you order electronics from Amazon again, make sure to video the package opening with a date and time stamp fixed. That way, if you need to deal with them again, you have proof they can't refute.
I tried to negotiate something with the person in charge of my case and he flat out told me that they didn’t care whether or not I was truthful. He said some people have a knack of ordering problematic goods and they don’t want them as customers.
It was a pretty nonsensical statement.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
I do that and every single time that I'm opening a package I'm having this lingering feeling that I'm slipping into madness.
Kind of late here but couldn't OP buy one from another retailer like target or best buy or even a friend of a friend and just register it? Like it wouldn't effect getting a new device right? Just OP getting a device directly from Amazon?
I am not saying that this applies to the OP, but you also have to understand that there are millions of people now that buy apple products just to post a review on that product on Youtube and have no plans to keep the product. They are just hoping to make some money off their Youtube channel are abusing Apple's return policy. Again I am not saying that this is what you are doing, but there is a lot of this going on and as is so often the case, some innocent people end up suffering as a result.
I hope this gets worked out with Apple, because it seems like you just has some bad luck with a couple MBA. I had the same issue with an Apple Watch a few years ago where there were multiple issues with the casings. It took me four tries to get one that had no issues. Good news for me I have a long history with Apple store, so there were no issues. Best of luck.
I hope this gets worked out with Apple, because it seems like you just has some bad luck with a couple MBA. I had the same issue with an Apple Watch a few years ago where there were multiple issues with the casings. It took me four tries to get one that had no issues. Good news for me I have a long history with Apple store, so there were no issues. Best of luck.
Frankly, knowing how much my SO orders online from clothing retailers and the high proportion of orders that she returns - the majority - because she doesn't like the look/they don't fit well, I'm surprised she hasn't been banned from many of them.🤣 She tells me her friends all have roughly the same return rate!
Thirty-day returns (embedded in law in the UK for "mail-order" goods) must be a huge cost to low-item-value/low-margin retailers and eventually they will be forced to either up their margins to account for it, if they haven't already done so, or start charging return/re-stocking fees. Dunno if that's legal in the UK though?
what's a SO ? sister or sth ?
the prices are higher than in the US arent they? margins are filled ,worry not . increased prices include taxes,+1 year warranty,and returns costs ,im sure
dunno for the UK ,but in EU you can absolutely charge the customer for the return fee,unless he is returning it because of a hidden deffect or conformity issue
A lot of companies actually do this.
If they feel like you abused returns (i.e. bought something, broke it, and returned it) or simply a net loss to the company (buying a bunch of things and returning them). Companies have the right to ban you. It's no different than a restaurant denying a bad customer service.
Got a warning on my Amazon once that I am returning too many things and if I keep it up they will ban me. Basically years ago, Amazon allowed companies (mostly small companies) to give away products in exchange for "honest, unbiased" reviews. These honest, unbiased reviews were all 5 stars or other companies wouldn't give that reviewer more free stuff. Win-win-win for everything...companies get 5 star reviews and sell more, Amazon gets more in commission from the more sales and the reviewer gets more free stuff since he leaves 5 star reviews. Win for everyone but the idiot that bought it, found out it was junk and wanted to return it. I was that idiot 🤦♂️.
Anyways, Apple banned you could be because of one shady return, but more than likely you are returning too many things. They won't publish what the requirements are for the return (i.e. 3 returns in a month with less than 5 purchases, or two or more $1,000 returns in a month with less than 3 purchases, etc.) because if they did than people would circumvent bans by staying under the radar.
Could be tempoary, but more than likey it's permanent. No way to really tell. It's a computer program that tracks returns (% of returns, dollar amounts, time frame, etc.) and if it bans you it bans you. Some random Joe tech is not going to be able to circumvent the ban nor would he tell you what the threshold for a ban is (honestly doubt they tell random apple techs)
If they feel like you abused returns (i.e. bought something, broke it, and returned it) or simply a net loss to the company (buying a bunch of things and returning them). Companies have the right to ban you. It's no different than a restaurant denying a bad customer service.
Got a warning on my Amazon once that I am returning too many things and if I keep it up they will ban me. Basically years ago, Amazon allowed companies (mostly small companies) to give away products in exchange for "honest, unbiased" reviews. These honest, unbiased reviews were all 5 stars or other companies wouldn't give that reviewer more free stuff. Win-win-win for everything...companies get 5 star reviews and sell more, Amazon gets more in commission from the more sales and the reviewer gets more free stuff since he leaves 5 star reviews. Win for everyone but the idiot that bought it, found out it was junk and wanted to return it. I was that idiot 🤦♂️.
Anyways, Apple banned you could be because of one shady return, but more than likely you are returning too many things. They won't publish what the requirements are for the return (i.e. 3 returns in a month with less than 5 purchases, or two or more $1,000 returns in a month with less than 3 purchases, etc.) because if they did than people would circumvent bans by staying under the radar.
Could be tempoary, but more than likey it's permanent. No way to really tell. It's a computer program that tracks returns (% of returns, dollar amounts, time frame, etc.) and if it bans you it bans you. Some random Joe tech is not going to be able to circumvent the ban nor would he tell you what the threshold for a ban is (honestly doubt they tell random apple techs)
Turns out it is still good business because the people who return tons of stuff are also the people who pay for and keep the most.
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