If you were Apple how would you go about dissuading OCD types from exchanging phones?

[Hal~9000]

Wonderful responses so far, thank you to everyone who put some thought into it

I was hoping this wouldn't turn into a ****storm and it hasn't :whew:

Can't wait to digest them all and read your thoughts on the matter.

OP, I just wanted to say DAMN. You post a lot.

~32 posts per day. You LIVE on this site bro.

Carry on.

I just love you guys that much

 

[kovey]

It's one thing to return something because it's defective, but it's another with all these people buying 2 phones, trying both out and just returning the other. Or people "exchanging" for a different color or a different memory size. There should be some form of fee for indecision. That's my opinion, Apple doesn't seem to care, they have a gazillion dollars.

These selfish people are really terrible. This attitude extends to everything else in their life. They're the same people that throw garbage out their car window because hey, they'll never see that garbage again. It disappears as far as their narcissistic self is concerned.

 

[ucfgrad93]

It's one thing to return something because it's defective, but it's another with all these people buying 2 phones, trying both out and just returning the other. Or people "exchanging" for a different color or a different memory size. There should be some form of fee for indecision. That's my opinion, Apple doesn't seem to care, they have a gazillion dollars.

Agreed. People like this annoy the crap out of me.

 

[myscrnnm]

It's one thing to return something because it's defective, but it's another with all these people buying 2 phones, trying both out and just returning the other. Or people "exchanging" for a different color or a different memory size. There should be some form of fee for indecision. That's my opinion, Apple doesn't seem to care, they have a gazillion dollars.

I'm surprised there's no restocking fee for such returns. After all, they've opened up the devices which now need to be returned for inspection and go through the whole shipping process again. And don't the returned devices also return as refurbished ones, which sell for less? Since technically, they are no longer "brand new".

 

[617aircav]

It's one thing to return something because it's defective, but it's another with all these people buying 2 phones, trying both out and just returning the other. Or people "exchanging" for a different color or a different memory size. There should be some form of fee for indecision. That's my opinion, Apple doesn't seem to care, they have a gazillion dollars.

Have you send ads from companies touting their return policy? Things like Hassle free returns, no questions asked etc. If a consumer does not like a product they should be able to return it for whatever reason with the return policy rules.

 

[bevsb2]

I can understand returning something within an established time frame because you are unhappy with it for whatever reason which is also a common policy outside of Apple. However, when someone buys 2 different devices to try them out before deciding or buys one to hold them over until the second becomes available, I find this irresponsible behavior. Not only is this expensive for Apple which keeps prices high for all of us, but it prevents some others from purchasing a new device when it is in short supply.

As to the OPs question of how to prevent this I have no idea, especially when Apple encourages it. I asked one of the Apple employees the night before launch if it would be possible to exchange the iPhone 6 16 GB I had pre-ordered the following day for a 64 GB one and he replied no problem as long as one was available. If not, as an option he said I could return the 16 GB later when one became available. I said I didn't really like to do that and he replied it was no problem - they wanted me to be happy with my purchase. I still have my 16 GB phone and am very happy with it.

 

[617aircav]

I can understand returning something within an established time frame because you are unhappy with it for whatever reason which is also a common policy outside of Apple. However, when someone buys 2 different devices to try them out before deciding or buys one to hold them over until the second becomes available, I find this irresponsible behavior. Not only is this expensive for Apple which keeps prices high for all of us, but it prevents some others from purchasing a new device when it is in short supply.

As to the OPs question of how to prevent this I have no idea, especially when Apple encourages it. I asked one of the Apple employees the night before launch if it would be possible to exchange the iPhone 6 16 GB I had pre-ordered the following day for a 64 GB one and he replied no problem as long as one was available. If not, as an option he said I could return the 16 GB later when one became available. I said I didn't really like to do that and he replied it was no problem - they wanted me to be happy with my purchase. I still have my 16 GB phone and am very happy with it.

Apple does it because it makes them money in the long run. It's a business strategy that works for them. They won't change it.

 

[bevsb2]

Apple does it because it makes them money in the long run. It's a business strategy that works for them. They won't change it.

Can't argue with you there. And as a stock holder, I want them to continue to do what works.

 

[vgamedude]

So in this thread we have people wanting to get reamed by apple harder than now? They want apple to favor the consumer (them) less?

What in the hell is going on?

 

[Bobby Corwen]

The ability to change phones if you're not absolutely happy with what you got is part of the reason we pay those premiums for Apple devices so why would you ask people to not do something if they are not happy with it? Its that simple.

 

[andyw715]

It would be nice if Apple supplied the devices to the retailers prior to order day. Then you wouldn't have the "order both sizes and return one" thing going on. There was a week between announcement and ordering. Plenty of time to check out the device and determine which one they want.
Although I guess Apple doesn't really care about the returns, its not like they won't resell them.

 

[goobot]

For people who legit want to return them then that's all good in fine imo. For people who want to swap them out for a differnt model should be charged. If there is a legit issue then obviously just swap that out too.

 

[12vElectronics]

I think it's simple. I would restructure the return policy as such:

7 Days: No questions asked return/refund/exchange.
30 Days: Over the counter exchange on a defective item.
1 Year: Manufacturer Exchange/Repair (Item must be sent to Apple and returned).


7 Days is plenty time for you to use a product and see if it fits your needs/wants/desires.

 

[ZBoater]

25% restocking fee.

 

[jvette]

Come on, what do you think the return rate is? Sold 10,000,000 phones and if it is 1% that's only 100,000 of those phones. I don't think that makes a dent in the pockets of Apple. I would bet the return rate is less than 1%. Can you even imagine what the total sales for the first week were for Apple on the Iphone? All I can say is it has to be in the Billions!

 

[woodekm]

Re-furbs. They still make a chunk o denaro.

 

[deviant]

Come on, what do you think the return rate is? Sold 10,000,000 phones and if it is 1% that's only 100,000 of those phones. I don't think that makes a dent in the pockets of Apple. I would bet the return rate is less than 1%. Can you even imagine what the total sales for the first week were for Apple on the Iphone? All I can say is it has to be in the Billions!

100 000 phones is A LOT, be it 1% or 10%. lol. it's 80 000 000 in sales. at least it would be here in europe. they refurb them anyway, so it's not like it's all lost money

 

[jbromer]

You throw the term OCD around but its really not OCD. People are unhappy with a particular attribute of their purchase and want it resolved. Making it harder is counter to Apple's desire to be consumer friendly.

Yep. This term is always misused on this site, and I could imagine, some people find it incredibly offensive. People are certainly perfectionists, sometimes to the point of being silly. They might be obsessive about having a perfect phone, they may be compulsive about purchasing accessories, but OCD is very specific and seriously debilitating medical condition.

A lot of people make a conscious decision not to say "retarded" because it is offensive.

 

[matttye]

Apple is usually the richest or second richest company in the world. I don't think I'd try to change anything they do.

 

[617aircav]

Can't argue with you there. And as a stock holder, I want them to continue to do what works.

I am a stock holder too. Waiting for the price to drop to 95 so I can purchase more. Lol.

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100 000 phones is A LOT, be it 1% or 10%. lol. it's 80 000 000 in sales. at least it would be here in europe. they refurb them anyway, so it's not like it's all lost money

That's the way these businesses work. Accepting returns is part of the business and is what brings them more customers.

 

[davidgnomo]

OCD for non native english speaking people ?

 

[617aircav]

I think it's simple. I would restructure the return policy as such:



7 Days: No questions asked return/refund/exchange.

30 Days: Over the counter exchange on a defective item.

1 Year: Manufacturer Exchange/Repair (Item must be sent to Apple and returned).





7 Days is plenty time for you to use a product and see if it fits your needs/wants/desires.

I'm sure Apple did its research before coming up with 14 days. You think they just pulled that number out of the air? They probably did surveys and used other scientific methods to come up with that.

 

[matttye]

OCD for non native english speaking people ?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

It's where people obsess over small things, however, OCD is actually a recognised mental illness, but people use it to describe people who care too much about small issues with their stuff.

OCD is often a lot more severe than that.. some sufferers have reported such things as thinking their entire family will die if they don't flick a light switch on and off exactly 12 times. That's just one example.

 

[davidgnomo]

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

It's where people obsess over small things, however, OCD is actually a recognised mental illness, but people use it to describe people who care too much about small issues with their stuff.

OCD is often a lot more severe than that.. some sufferers have reported such things as thinking their entire family will die if they don't flick a light switch on and off exactly 12 times. That's just one example.

Thank you for the explanation, I just couldn't figure out what OCD stand for ...

 

[OneMike]

So you're basically advocating the concept that apple become less consumer friendly and not try to help out a consumer who is not happy with their purchase?

I don't think that will go very far.

Some people are crazy though