Does the limit of 2 apply by per person, or per family? Its just that in my family we have ordered 7 from the store (some will be gifts, and hopefully they will arrive soon), but will I need multiple people to come with me and put them on separate cards, or will they be fine with just me?
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You will need family going with you , and i assume you should give them money per person as they may not let you pay for it all on the one card.
Yes, I was in store yesterday and they were explicitly telling people on line that they would be checking credit card numbers and there was a two per person lifetime limit. No exceptions. They actually turned a man away a few people in front of me.
The only thing I don't know if is you were to use two different credit cards at two different times, would they pick up that the name and/or address is the same in their system. My guess is no.
The only thing I don't know if is you were to use two different credit cards at two different times, would they pick up that the name and/or address is the same in their system. My guess is no.
That's what they were saying...(probably not true, just wanted to scare off the resellers is my guess).
Now see, I don't really get this - how is it anybody's business what my name is, where I live and what I had for dinner last night? Why couldn't I just walk into the store, get the product, check out and pay, then go home? iPad is no iPhone and as such, does not require an AT&T contract, so why even ask for any personal details at all?
First, let's find out for sure if they actually do require any personal info when buying an iPad - I didn't get the chance to pick one up yet but those of you who did, what was it like? Driver's license req'd etc.? Credit/debit card only?
I'm getting curious about the very legality of the issue.
I'm getting curious about the very legality of the issue.
LEGALITY...???? You're suggesting that Apple might somehow be legally obligated to sell you a product? Or legally constrained from putting conditions on that sale?
OMG, the American Sense of Entitlement. I despair for our country.
Unless they want to limit the number of sales to individuals. Then they'd have to ask for personal details such as ID etc.
Why would apple care about resellers? i mean, the main goal is to move as many units at their specified price. If people profit from reselling, i don't see why they should care at all. As for this egalitarian notion of everybody having equal access to the product, well...nothing is egalitarian about their pricing.
I would love to see the day that someone walks in with cash to buy something and was told, sorry you have to use a credit/debit card.
That has been done before, by Apple, for some items where supply was an issue.
http://www.slipperybrick.com/2007/10/iphone-2-limit-no-cash/
Because people who buy just to resell are dicks, it exacerbates supply problems and gives the company a bad reputation. Their retail outlets, i.e. Apple's retail outlets, suddenly become a bunch of dicks. Customers, fairly or not, associate the company with being taken advantage by a bunch of dicks. And resellers do not help move more units, if the demand is high enough for resellers, then they'll sell the units regardless. It has nothing to do with being egalitarian.
Yeah..nothing egalitarian with this apple store email...
Thank you for your recent Apple order.
To ensure that all customers are given equal opportunity to acquire
this product*we have limited the amount *available per customer.*
Your order exceeds the quantity limit of two that is currently in
place.
Dude, this isn't about entitlement at all, it's about the fundamental right to privacy. If this concept is not as American as it gets, than I don't know what is.
Let me tell you a little story from '08, the "iPhone 3G summer". It was mid September, well after the initial hype, shortages and long lines. By that time, people could just walk into any Apple or BestBuy and purchase iPhones for themselves or their entire family.
Since the very beginning, there always was this "limit" of 5 units per visit and 10 per lifetime (uh-oh) but it wasn't really enforced because it wasn't really enforceable. There was no computer system to check for names or anything and those handheld sales terminals were even dumber than they were slow. You could just "upgrade" your existing AT&T plan to the iPhone, even if said line already was an iPhone line... over and over again, several times a day if you wanted. Naturally, you wouldn't get any discount but you could pay the full price ($499 + tax) and be done.
A guy, SWIM, was sending iPhones overseas, to countries where people either couldn't officially buy them or their carriers required obscenely expensive plans. SWIM was buying iPhones from the 4 Apple Stores in his area, going to a different store every day because SWIM knew about that unenforceable "limit" thing and he just wanted to avoid any awkward situations.
Everything went well for SWIM until he started noticing that, occasionally, during an iPhone purchase, the Apple Store employee would take SWIM's ID (always req'd for the AT&T plan) and go with it "in the back" for a few minutes. Then, the employee would come back with another employee who would say something like "Mr. SWIM, I apologize but we cannot complete your purchase because our computer shows that you reached the 10 phone limit". Oh well, no biggie, next store - "here I come!" says SWIM and buys the phones at another location, without any issues. It's true, that limit was not only reached, but also exceeded a little bit. By a few hundred units. Or so.
In case you didn't realize by now, SWIM was one of these bad, bad resellers that ruin everything and leave us empty handed... criminals! Still, among all these criminals, he was a small-time crook, with operations nowhere near the tens of thousands of units that some others were moving.
After a while, SWIM's ID was taken in the back more and more often... making SWIM feel awkward and forcing him to go less and less often. But there was hope - two more stores in the area which SWIM has never been to, simply because they were too far away, first one being at 45 miles and the other at 50, in a different direction.
Distance notwithstanding, one day SWIM walks into
store #5 and gets greeted by the greeter, tells him what he needs, gets assigned a sales specialist... the usual. A couple of minutes later, the sales specialist shows up with no terminal in his hand (strange) and comes to SWIM:"Uhm, sir, you can't buy any more iPhones, you know?" he says arrogantly.
"Excuse me, do I know you?", replies SWIM
"Uh, yeah, you can't buy any more phones 'cuz you bought much more than the limit"
"What? What limit? And how did you know I already have an iPhone? You don't even know my name and I never saw you in my life!"
Remember - this was just after SWIM got to the store (his very first time at this location), he never gave his name, much less his ID or any other info
"Anyway... yeah, uhm... you can't buy any more iPhones"
At this point, SWIM had enough of this broken record sound and asked for a manager.
"I'm one of the managers", the arrogant dude says proudly.
"Well, bring me another one!"
It took a little more convincing work, but the dude finally goes in the back to bring someone else. After a long wait, cca 15-20 minutes, another guy comes to SWIM and says:
"Hello, sir, I'm also a manager, how can I help you?"
"I just want to buy some iPhones"
"All right, how many would you like?"
"Five, please, 16GB, Black"
"Sure, let me get them for you." A minute later, he's back with the phones and goes on with the usual, "New or existing plan?"
...and so on. Just the way it was supposed to be from the get go.
Yep.
See, THIS is my problem. THIS is what privacy isn't. THIS is as chilling as it gets. Feel free to take anyone's side here but try to see beyond the obvious.
I have no problem with the limit as here I am in MA wanting to buy an ipad. every apple store in MA, ME, RI and NH is sold out....but craigslist has plenty in this area with a $100 markup on each one. I dont want to resell em I just want 1! because of resellers im forced to wait. so bring on the limit!