Looks like the Apple Watch is $100 off today at Best Buy and other retailers. I've been on the fence but at $100 off I might just bite the bullet and try one out
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Apple Watch $100 off
- Thread starter sfilingeri
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Hm. I just got my 42mm Sport (Gold/Midnight Blue) at Best Buy two weeks ago. Open Box for $340. However this deal puts the Open Box down to $250. I'm going to go in and see if they still honor the "Price Guarantee" thing on Open Box items and refund me the difference. Anyone try that before?
Just FYI...from personal experience...IF you guy AW from non-Apple Store retailers like Best Buy, then if your watch is defective, then you have to go back to Best Buy to resolve it. You canNOT take it to Apple Store for exchange. You can take it back to Apple Store to have it repaired (which means sending it off) under warranty...but not for exchange (if defective).
Why would anyone think you could exchange a product anywhere other than where you bought it?
Two reasons:
1. You can do that with iPhones, right? If you bought your iPhone at Sprint store and had something wrong, then you can go to Apple Store and get it fixed on the spot or get a new one (if stock avail). You do NOT have to go back to Sprint store...because Sprint store usually tells you to go to Apple store!
2. I got my father AW while supplies were tight...so, going back to Best Buy would be fruitless because they had no supplies (aka cannot exchange) while Apple Store had plenty of watches.
In the end, i had to get Best Buy to refund me and i waited another week or so for new supplies to come in before i can buy it again. The first watch for my dad was defective...updating it gave the dreaded exclamation mark sign. Nothing i did could get rid of it (even rebooting)...and Apple support could not do it either.
The 2nd watch has been great for my dad.
You're not wrong, but Apple will only exchange within the return period. After that point, any warranty work is shipped out, unlike their phones where they are (usually) able to repair/replace on the spot.
Wife's watch was bought at an Apple store and it is having trouble charging some nights. We started with a new charger that Apple swapped out for free. No dice. She had to send it out. And since there is no Apple care it's not even overnighted. She is going to have a week off since the in laws are visiting so we are going to drop it off to be sent out then since she loves having the watch at work for notifications and doesn't really use it otherwise.
Anyway, part of me is bummed it's not treated like their phones, but the other part of me realizes this is also a watch, and this is exactly how a watch repair would work.
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I may be wrong but I don't think their price guarantee extends to open box product. It's worth a try. They certainly are within their power to change it for you. I have read this is 38MM specifically though, but haven;t confirmed mysef.
Got it. Charge it next day for first time. Defective. Still no exchange at Apple Store.
The sale does go to the open box ones. I was able to land a mint condition open box 42mm Gold Sport for 254. The receipt shows 399.99-100.00 SALE and then an additional 45.xx for open box.
To repair it. But not to exchange it (if bought elsewhere). Trust me, i spent a lot of time on the phone getting this crystal clear from Apple rep.
Same goes for Apple Watch Hermes. If you bought it at Hermes (store or on-line) and something goes wrong (aka defective), then you have to deal with Hermes unless the watch itself needs repair (again, no exchange).
I am talking about two different things here...repair vs. exchange. Any Apple product under warranty can be repaired at Apple Store (well, they send it off). But if your Watch is defective and you bought it legitimately elsewhere (Best Buy, Target, etc.), then you canNOT exchange it for another unit at an Apple Store.
Trust me, i learn this the hard way when i got my father the Apple Watch. Now, iPhones are treated differently!! iPhones bought at Best Buy can be exchanged at Apple Store (if supplies allow).
I guess iPhones are truly Apple's flagship device and they bend over backwards to support it.
So, although there are discounts elsewhere, i am now hesitant to buy Apple products outside Apple Store/online. Money saved may not be worth it if you get hassled.
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FYI, I ordered a 42mm SGS on Cowboom tonight for $179. Pre-owned of course, but advertised as a Best Buy return. It's the cheapest I've seen so far, thought there will probably be more like this as we get closer to March.
It worked! I also read online that the Price Guarantee doesn't apply to open-box items, but the employee at Customer Service at Best Buy just looked at my receipt, looked at the price for open-box from the website that I had loaded on my phone, and very quickly credited the difference to my card, no questions asked. Awesome!
I bought a black aluminum 42mm open box from Best Buy yesterday for $253 and picked it up last night. It hit my WTH price on the right day.
i bought two open box watches. one 38MM white sport for my wife and other 42MM space grey for myself. the white one was mint and brand new but space grey one was used and was not at all mint. i went to other best buy to get it exchanged they had another one but in the same condition so the guy gave me a brand new one for 253+tax 
You can buy apple care from Apple after you buy an apple product from Best Buy. You have a week time frame..but you can. In that event you could work directly with Apple
a new version of the watch is prob coming out next month. i feel sorry for the ones who forked over 18k for the gold version. never ever pay that much for tech that is obsolete in a year. idiots.
How different is that from buying a car?
So, next month, all 1st gen Watch will go kaput?
I feel sorry for the ones who forked over 35K for the 2015 Nissan Rogue and 9K on the GE Monogram refrigerator. Never pay that much for tech that is obsolete in a year. Idiots.
What? The 2015 Nissan still drives people safely and comfortably from one point to another? Even without the LED shelf lighting, the GE refrigerator still keeps food cold and fresh? Yeah, right. Next you'll be telling me that the Apple Watch still does everything it did on the day it was purchased (more, in fact, because the software was updated).
A new release doesn't obsolete anything. A gold Apple Watch still glitters.
You're wrong to say this, by the way. They're not "exchanging it" for you. You can't go in and pick a 128GB one off the shelf and go "my iPhone I bought in Best Buy is only 16GB, it's too I want this one" and give them the difference, or similarly change the colour - that's an exchange.
What you're talking about is a replacement under warranty. They don't give out brand new ones. They have refurbished units, where somebody else has broken it and they fixed it and then put a new screen & back on it. They're essentially speeding up your repair by giving you a different but identical phone, rather than making you wait a few days. It's not a voluntary exchange - if it's a repair they can do in store they'll make you wait.
Plus you can actually get an express replacement at home with AppleCare+. Just for whatever reasons they decided against having refurbed units and allowing geniuses to swap in store.
Well, actually, the few times that i had to do this (with defective iPhone 5), i got a brand new unit because refurb was not avail early in the cycle.
As for exchanging to get higher storage or features, of course...i thought that was obvious.