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is there a downside to buying at Best Buy vs Apple
- Thread starter zeppo2
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You will get better service at the Apple store, but if you know what you are getting I found that ordering online is a good option (whether you have the order shipped or do in store pick up.
Not necessarily. I bought an iMac back in 2002 or so at the Apple Store that had a few stuck pixels. Went to exchange it, and they wanted to dock me a 15% restocking fee. I went around and around with them, so I called Best Buy and asked if they had such a policy. They said, "No. Buy it here; you can return it for any reason. No restocking fee." So I got a refund, ate the 15% restocking fee, and bought an iMac at Best Buy.
I love shopping at the Apple Store, and I think Apple would respond differently now than they did back then...but it left a terrible taste in my mouth and I've never bought a computer from them since then. Their definition of an acceptable screen and mine are different.
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Former Best Buy employee here...unfortunately (it was high school): Only if you agree to. By law, you don't have to. You do at places like Costco or Sam's Club where you sign a membership agreement, but at places like Wal-Mart or Best Buy, you legally can just keep walking to your car and not show your receipt. I've done it dozens of times. They can't legally detain you. I love pissing off LP jerks.
Best Buy - privacy at risk
Just be aware that if you need to return or exchange any purchase at Best Buy you must provide a finger print and copy of your drivers license (at least in California). Their privacy policy is terrible.
I will not buy from them again because of this policy. You can save a few dollars at times through Best Buy but others are not that far apart and you don't have to give up your privacy.
Just be aware that if you need to return or exchange any purchase at Best Buy you must provide a finger print and copy of your drivers license (at least in California). Their privacy policy is terrible.
I will not buy from them again because of this policy. You can save a few dollars at times through Best Buy but others are not that far apart and you don't have to give up your privacy.
Just be aware that if you need to return or exchange any purchase at Best Buy you must provide a finger print and copy of your drivers license (at least in California). Their privacy policy is terrible.
I will not buy from them again because of this policy. You can save a few dollars at times through Best Buy but others are not that far apart and you don't have to give up your privacy.
Is that the procedure? I would never buy from Best Buy if that was the case. Here in Canada it's a breeze - and because it's so easy to return things I go to BB otherwise I would never go.
when buying anything at the apple store over $250 qualifies you for 18 months no interest using paypal bill me later, even an 16 gb Phone 6 gets you 18 months no interest.
before paypal , you had to use barclay card to get 18 months no interest, and had to buy a macbook pro retina or something!!!
when buying anything from best buy, you only get 12 months 0% interest, and you must spend $599
best buy was doing 18 months but not today
when i bought my mac mini from apple , i got 6 months no interest no payments using paypal. when people were saying you can't paypal at the apple store.they made this big deal cause apple made paypal easy to find, and the news ate it up thinking it was a new deal!
the disadvantage of going to best buy is geek squad. you gotta watch out for them. you take your mac to geek squad and you say " i need help backing up my mac" , geek squad will charge you $100 + to back it up on DVDs where an apple store will just tell you to buy a hard disk for $69+ and tell you to turn on time machine
before paypal , you had to use barclay card to get 18 months no interest, and had to buy a macbook pro retina or something!!!
when buying anything from best buy, you only get 12 months 0% interest, and you must spend $599
best buy was doing 18 months but not today
when i bought my mac mini from apple , i got 6 months no interest no payments using paypal. when people were saying you can't paypal at the apple store.they made this big deal cause apple made paypal easy to find, and the news ate it up thinking it was a new deal!
the disadvantage of going to best buy is geek squad. you gotta watch out for them. you take your mac to geek squad and you say " i need help backing up my mac" , geek squad will charge you $100 + to back it up on DVDs where an apple store will just tell you to buy a hard disk for $69+ and tell you to turn on time machine
If you buy from Apple, you can shop at the educational store and get a discount. Similarly, you have access to refurbished models that are also cheaper. None of these options exist with Best Buy.
Bestbuy also has $50 off for edu which make this deal $800
Anyway, I don't see a drawback of buying at Bestbuy, just don't buy their "warranty", always go for the Apple Care.
Anyway, I don't see a drawback of buying at Bestbuy, just don't buy their "warranty", always go for the Apple Care.
They vary depending on the competence of the store manager. I've been in some really disastrous BBs in the past, but all my local ones are excellent.
So I always use Best Buy even though the Apple store is just as convenient. BB seem more amenable to offering deals. That, and collecting BB reward points is effectively a small discount too.
BB: Sir, here are your 200 DVDs for your 1TB hard drive! That'll be $850 for time and materials.
Me: Uhh....Are they numbered?
BB: No, but we stacked them in order, so you should be OK. When you restore, if you put in the wrong disk, it will tell you.
Thanks! I forgot about Best Buy's education discount. That makes it $150 less than Apple Store's Education price.
Of course, I think suspect this price drop is probably indicating that Retina MB Airs are going to be released soon. But rather than a full price mb air retina, I would get the MB pro instead, since the portability difference isn't that much of a draw for me personally.
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The refurb macbook air retina is $850 right now. The same price as new from Best Buy with this sale. But good reminder about the refurb option in case I procrastinate past the sale.
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But if I understand from the first reply, you don't need to go to the Geek Squad, you can take it to Apple Store for the same services you would get if you had bought it from the Apple Store, even though you bought it at Best Buy. Is this correct?
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Oh, one other thing. If I buy this 4GB RAM Best Buy mb air , can I add another 4GB of RAM, later or are RAM upgrades not an option with the airs?
I didn't know the Apple store would do that...
This happened to me when ordering online at the Apple Store, and everyone I knew said - THAT's why you want to buy it in the Apple Store and not online - because if there's any issue, the Apple Store takes it right back and exchanges it.
Is there any alternative to the Apple Store Online if you want a customized configuration?
This happened to me when ordering online at the Apple Store, and everyone I knew said - THAT's why you want to buy it in the Apple Store and not online - because if there's any issue, the Apple Store takes it right back and exchanges it.
Is there any alternative to the Apple Store Online if you want a customized configuration?
this is a true story. this actually happened to someone i know. they brought in a mac book polycarbonate to the geek squad, asked them to back up their mac, and it came back with a stack of dvd-rs.
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yes you can take a mac bought from best buy to apple store for help , that is fine
i dont thank the ram is upgradable in the mac book air.