Frustrating Apple Store Experience

[Rafterman]

I just had a frustrating Apple Store experience. I had three gift cards, totaling $2,800 - so off to the store to pick up a new 16" Macbook Pro Max, 32GB/1TB, Space Gray.

But no matter how much the store tried, they couldn't process the order and would only allow me to have it delivered. I couldn't do it via the websaite (it would allow me to reserve it for pickup, go through all the steps, right up to "process order," then boom - "Your order is only eligible for delivery."

What the F. The box is literally sitting on front of me at the store. So the rep tried to process it with their little hand scanner thingie. Nope. "Your order is only eligible for delivery." They literallty couldn't sell it to me.

Apple support - nope, they couldn't place the order or override it. Finally, I gave up and settled for Monday delivery, it just shipped now.

And I'll tell you, this is not the first time Apple's finnicky order system denied me an order. I had an Apple account balance that I simply could not use for a store order - it would say, upon processing, "this form of payment couldn't be verified by your bank." YOU are the bank, Apple! Eventually, Apple app and iTunes store purchases slowly gobbled it up over time (those worked).

Apple's order system is just plain messed up.

 

[KaliYoni]

I just had a frustrating Apple Store experience. I had three gift cards, totaling $2,800 - so off to the store to pick up a new 16" Macbook Pro Max, 32GB/1TB, Space Gray.

But no matter how much the store tried, they couldn't process the order and would only allow me to have it delivered. I couldn't do it via the websaite (it would allow me to reserve it for pickup, go through all the steps, right up to "process order," then boom - "Your order is only eligible for delivery."

What the F. The box is literally sitting on front of me at the store. So the rep tried to process it with their little hand scanner thingie. Nope. "Your order is only eligible for delivery." They literallty couldn't sell it to me.

Apple support - nope, they couldn't place the order or override it. Finally, I gave up and settled for Monday delivery, it just shipped now.

And I'll tell you, this is not the first time Apple's finnicky order system denied me an order. I had an Apple account balance that I simply could not use for a store order - it would say, upon processing, "this form of payment couldn't be verified by your bank." YOU are the bank, Apple! Eventually, Apple app and iTunes store purchases slowly gobbled it up over time (those worked).

Apple's order system is just plain messed up.

I wouldn't be surprised if you've been running up against anti-money laundering and/or technology export compliance measures. Yet another example of a few bad apples (ha ha) spoiling the batch...

 

[MBAir2010]

can't you just say you are the Rafterman and get carte balance at all stores?

I had a bad experience there in 2019 and have not been there since!

 

[Rafterman]

I wouldn't be surprised if you've been running up against anti-money laundering and/or technology export compliance measures. Yet another example of a few bad apples (ha ha) spoiling the batch...

But the thing is, it would be easier to scam in an online purchase vs. an in-store, when you have to show an ID. It made no sense.

The most troubling thing was, no one knew WHY that happened. Not the store, not the manager, not Apple phone sales, not Apple customer service. Nor can anyone override it, even if it is legit.

In the Apple forums, someone posted the exact same issue, with 132 saying they had it too. And of course, no one had a solution.

 

[Rafterman]

can't you just say you are the Rafterman and get carte balance at all stores?

I had a bad experience there in 2019 and have not been there since!

I don't want carte blanche, I'd like their rules, if there was one at play here, to make sense. Or for someone to at least know WHY. No one did and sending me away without a purchase does not seem like a very good business model.

 

[chown33]

I wouldn't be surprised if you've been running up against anti-money laundering and/or technology export compliance measures. Yet another example of a few bad apples (ha ha) spoiling the batch...

I think it's this, or something like it.

Companies don't usually discuss the details of their fraud-prevention measures, because doing so lets the Bad Guys know how to counteract those measures. For example, if Apple publicly stated something like, "We have an upper limit of USD2500 on purchases made in person with gift cards", then the Bad Guys know they can game the system by staying under $2500. The $2500 amount was chosen purely for illustration purposes, not because I have actual knowledge of an actual threshold.

The in-person vs. delivery-only thing is a little puzzling, but it might be related to race-condition (replay) attacks, where a gift-card code is reused at different locations within a brief time window, in the hope that it goes through multiple times. If the merchandise can only be delivered, then that gives the seller a bigger window in which to confirm no fraud. If people walk out with the merchandise, the seller has no recourse if there's some kind of fraud. I can see allowing in-person pickups up to a dollar limit, like a few hundred bucks, but over that, they'd want strong confirmation of no fraud happening.

 

[icanhazmac]

That sux, thankfully it is just a couple of days but still.

Last bad experience I had was I went in to trade my 2017 MBP Butterfly dumpster fire for my new 16" M1 goodness. The process was taking a bit longer than normal and at one point I was told if they couldn't complete everything in 15 minutes I would need to come back. Wait, what?!?!?!?! I said "well you better get busy then". It got done but I was blown away that the transaction would be "timed".

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I just had a frustrating Apple Store experience. I had three gift cards, totaling $2,800 - so off to the store to pick up a new 16" Macbook Pro Max, 32GB/1TB, Space Gray.

But no matter how much the store tried, they couldn't process the order and would only allow me to have it delivered. I couldn't do it via the websaite (it would allow me to reserve it for pickup, go through all the steps, right up to "process order," then boom - "Your order is only eligible for delivery."

What the F. The box is literally sitting on front of me at the store. So the rep tried to process it with their little hand scanner thingie. Nope. "Your order is only eligible for delivery." They literallty couldn't sell it to me.

Apple support - nope, they couldn't place the order or override it. Finally, I gave up and settled for Monday delivery, it just shipped now.

And I'll tell you, this is not the first time Apple's finnicky order system denied me an order. I had an Apple account balance that I simply could not use for a store order - it would say, upon processing, "this form of payment couldn't be verified by your bank." YOU are the bank, Apple! Eventually, Apple app and iTunes store purchases slowly gobbled it up over time (those worked).

Apple's order system is just plain messed up.

I had similar experiences relating to "the bank not being able to..." at the Apple Store online. The problem is as follows: unlike Amazon and other stores where you can have a credit balance in your account and you can use both a credit card in addition to the balance. But it does not work as well at the Apple store. In here the best thing to do is to not check the box to include both the credit balance and credit card in the transaction.

 

[pshufd]

I wouldn't be surprised if you've been running up against anti-money laundering and/or technology export compliance measures. Yet another example of a few bad apples (ha ha) spoiling the batch...

My daughter is in Singapore right now and I think that she has to re-enable foreign credit card purchases every time she makes one at her credit union. There is so much fraud and theft out there these days that financial institutions have to take heavy precautions to avoid it. My mother has had a ton of charges and has had her checking account cleaned out in the past because of this stuff.

For me, transactions go right through the vast majority of the time. If your purchases are consistent with past spending history, then they should. I now get an email alert for every transaction above $5 on my credit card, which basically means that I get an email on all of my transactions. The reason for this is fraudulent charges in 2022 and having to get a new card.

 

[Rafterman]

I had similar experiences relating to "the bank not being able to..." at the Apple Store online. The problem is as follows: unlike Amazon and other stores where you can have a credit balance in your account and you can use both a credit card in addition to the balance. But it does not work as well at the Apple store. In here the best thing to do is to not check the box to include both the credit balance and credit card in the transaction.

Their Apple account balance is a kiss of death for me. It never works to buy stuff online (other than iTunes stuff) and it can't be used in-store.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Their Apple account balance is a kiss of death for me. It never works to buy stuff online (other than iTunes stuff) and it can't be used in-store.

Yes, I have had a few problems similar to yours, so what I do now is not to check the box that allows the credit balance I have on my account to parallel with my credit card. In this case I pay the full amount only with the credit card. When the bank security software "sees" two different numbers, it raises a flag and does not let the transaction take place. I only have this problem at Apple, not at Amazon or any other place.

The first problem I had when ordering a computer at the online Apple store, the bank stopped payment because for some reason I still had a few-cents credit (under a dollar) in my account. This credit is the remaining of iTunes gift cards that I use to purchase music (I never purchase music on credit).

 

[compwiz1202]

Yes, I have had a few problems similar to yours, so what I do now is not to check the box that allows the credit balance I have on my account to parallel with my credit card. In this case I pay the full amount only with the credit card. When the bank security software "sees" two different numbers, it raises a flag and does not let the transaction take place. I only have this problem at Apple, not at Amazon or any other place.

The first problem I had when ordering a computer at the online Apple store, the bank stopped payment because for some reason I still had a few-cents credit (under a dollar) in my account. This credit is the remaining of iTunes gift cards that I use to purchase music (I never purchase music on credit).

I mean why even have the option then? Could OP have just put more $$$ on the Apple Balance, so it would fully cover the purchase? Maybe they got a gift and didn't have $2800 lying around to use for it.

 

[compwiz1202]

I wouldn't be surprised if you've been running up against anti-money laundering and/or technology export compliance measures. Yet another example of a few bad apples (ha ha) spoiling the batch...

But why would it allow delivery but not in person pickup where you verify ID?

 

[compwiz1202]

The more I read this, the angrier I get, and it didn't even happen to me. How can a $T company not be able to do a simple in store transaction, and worse, not even know what is going on at the highest support level?????

 

[AlaskaMoose]

The more I read this, the angrier I get, and it didn't even happen to me. How can a $T company not be able to do a simple in store transaction, and worse, not even know what is going on at the highest support level?????

Agree with you. And the problem does not stop there. Several times I have had to spend a long time with Apple Customer representatives trying to figure what to do to straighten the mess they created, since they send me several emails indicating that there is a problem with my order because the bank won't honor the payment.

I am assuming that the problem is in the design of the electronic document (bill, or receipt) at Apple. When the bank receives the receipt for the purchase, a flag is created by the security software and the payment is stopped. As I mentioned before, it only happens when I purchase Apple products at the online Apple store. In this case I have to make sure that I don't include any of the credit balance along my credit card in one purchase. I have to use only the credit card.

This doesn't happen when I purchase any products from Amazon. In this case I can buy the product using the remaining credit (from redeemed Amazon gift cards) on my account and the credit card.

 

[rhett7660]

Sucks that they wouldn't let you do this. I can tell you this, the gentleman in front of me had the same issue. Only he was buying, what looked like earbuds, and quite a few of them. He too was using gift cards. They wouldn't let him buy them, had to order them and have them delivered.

Thankfully, I was there to pick up my Mac Studio, but they guy was getting a little pissed. They told him, he could use a credit card, but for some reason the amount he was purchasing with the gift cards wouldn't let them do it. He ended up doing the delivery thing too. I didn't hear the amount though. Only started listening when they told him he couldn't pay for them with gift cards and he started to get a little pissed off... The gift card payments and not being able to do it seemed strange to us.

 

[max2]

Most likely some kind of fraud protection measure.

 

[KaliYoni]

But why would it allow delivery but not in person pickup where you verify ID?

There are several reasons why a retailer might do this, including:

• Allows matching of address to a customer's purchase or payment history
• Address can be submitted to various loss prevention databases and services
• Creates a delay that only slightly inconveniences most legitimate buyers
• Depending on the type of retailer, could help reduce internal theft

If you're interested, here's a related discussion:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/adoramas-verification-process-horrible.2256809/?post=28950643#post-28950643

 

[AlaskaMoose]

There are several reasons why a retailer might do this, including:

• Allows matching of address to a customer's purchase or payment history
• Address can be submitted to various loss prevention databases and services
• Creates a delay that only slightly inconveniences most legitimate buyers
• Depending on the type of retailer, could help reduce internal theft

If you're interested, here's a related discussion:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/adoramas-verification-process-horrible.2256809/?post=28950643#post-28950643

If one can buy an Apple computer without this problem happening at Amazon, Apple could very well to it do. As I mentioned before, if I purchased anything at Amazon, I can include both the credit balance from the purchase of Amazon gift cards, and my credit card. This process takes place in my "supposedly secure" account, so I immediately receive a notice from Amazon on my cellphone.

 

[cthompson94]

As others have pointed out I think this to help prevent fraud since some places don't do a very good job checking IDs against credit cards so a stolen credit card someone may rack up a ton of gift cards to where they can basically do whatever they want. The ordering online thing probably just helps give some time for if it was a stolen credit card that it would be caught by the owner and maybe the credit card company can reach out to Apple and notify them of fraud purchases of gift cards.

If this is correct at least to some degree, I imagine it is easier to have a system wide rule where gift cards are handled the same across the board. In my short time in banking, we had similar situations that the system would default and only the manager had the ability to override(not sure if this is the case with Apple), but that puts a lot of pressure on the manager because if they made the wrong decision with overriding the system that would be 100% on them. I know typically with something involving checks and someone wanting it, if he was at least familiar with the person he would let the system do its thing, but keep eyes on it daily to see when/if it clears and remove the hold on it only then, but these were rare instances and he either needed to be familiar with you or know you well. I only bring this up since stuff like a gift card you don't really have that check/balance only until Apple gets the notification from the CC company and the person who commited the fraud already has the item. All Apple can do is blacklist the SN but chances are some poor innocent person will get screwed since they probably sold it.

 

[Kahsheh]

Wait...are you using physical gift cards? or e-gift cards? If so they can be used in store. You cannot use apple account balance in stores. You can order online and do pick-up tho. Source: Me, I've done both.

 

[TechRunner]

sending me away without a purchase does not seem like a very good business model.

Lenovo lost a laptop sale from me once because I could not get their checkout system to function for me for an online purchase, so I went with my other choice, the Dell XPS 15 in my signature. Luckily for Apple you were committed to buying that one device!

 

[KaliYoni]

If one can buy an Apple computer without this problem happening at Amazon, Apple could very well to it do.

As a matter of policy, yes. But Amazon prefers to develop and run its own backend (in other words, Amazon does not use, say, Shopify or Square unlike many, many other e-commerce sites) and I don't believe Apple has outsourced its retail systems to Amazon. So I don't think the differences between Apple and Amazon transaction flows are due to how their "System Preferences" are set.

From a business strategy perspective, the difference might be due to Amazon's historic hyper-focus on pleasing customers, even when it impacts profits or margins, or because Apple is such a big target for various types of fraud.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

As a matter of policy, yes. But Amazon prefers to develop and run its own backend (in other words, Amazon does not use, say, Shopify or Square unlike many, many other e-commerce sites) and I don't believe Apple has outsourced its retail systems to Amazon. So I don't think the differences between Apple and Amazon transaction flows are due to how their "System Preferences" are set.

From a business strategy perspective, the difference might be due to Amazon's historic hyper-focus on pleasing customers, even when it impacts profits or margins, or because Apple is such a big target for various types of fraud.

A business is there to make money for the shareholders. All companies are big targets for various types of fraud, not only Apple.

 

[KaliYoni]

A business is there to make money for the shareholders. All companies are big targets for various types of fraud, not only Apple.

Well, not all publicly-held companies make maximizing shareholder value their first or only priority. For example:

Our Credo

The values that guide our decision-making are spelled out in Our Credo. Put simply, Our Credo challenges us to put the needs and well-being of the people we serve first. Robert Wood Johnson, former chairman from 1932 to 1963 and a member of the Company’s founding family, crafted Our Credo himself…

www.jnj.com

and

Our Mission and Principles | BlackRock

As we pursue our mission, we’re guided by our culture and a set of principles that ensure we never forget what we stand for. Learn more.

www.blackrock.com

Further, a business' strategy should serve its mission and priorities. So loss prevention and anti-fraud measures are not necessarily opposed to shareholders' interests.

I agree, as somebody who makes their living in financial markets, that for-profit, publicly listed companies do have the obligation to provide an appropriate return to shareholders. But customers, employees, and communities need to be important as well to make a firm, to my mind, a good medium to long term investment.

Next, I'd say that Apple is one of the most attractive targets for fraud, especially for organized crime rings. The combination of high value products, mass luxury brand positioning, global presence, and ease of fencing stolen products and payment instruments make Apple a much, much more productive place to attack than most other retailers.