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MBP: Return without receipt?

Relznuk

Relznuk

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 27, 2009
391
0
UT, USA
My cousin recently won a Macbook Pro mid-2009 Unibody in a contest. However, it's not the one he wanted, and the box his new uMBP was shipped in did not contain a receipt of any kind. I told him I'd drive him to the local Apple store.

Is Apple pretty good with things like this? Will they let him return the laptop for store credit without a receipt? The box is still unopened and sealed...
 
Since he (you) ordered online, you should be fine unless it falls in the 14-day policy. You should be able to just print one out that was sent to your email.
 
No dice. Since he won this in a contest, there were no receipts sent to his (or my) email, hence my question and concern.
 
Relznuk said:
My cousin recently won a Macbook Pro mid-2009 Unibody in a contest. However, it's not the one he wanted, and the box his new uMBP was shipped in did not contain a receipt of any kind. I told him I'd drive him to the local Apple store.

Is Apple pretty good with things like this? Will they let him return the laptop for store credit without a receipt? The box is still unopened and sealed...
Click to expand...

Since he won it. He won't have a receipt obviously. Also, it might be beyond the 14-day trial period considering this was a won laptop (laptop could have been bought weeks in advance).

So, I guess calling Apple directly or talking to people who gifted his MacBook. Either way, if you really want to get your moneys worth, just sell it on eBay or to someone else. After all, it's still sealed and new. You can get full price.
 
jav6454 said:
So, I guess calling Apple directly or talking to people who gifted his MacBook. Either way, if you really want to get your moneys worth, just sell it on eBay or to someone else. After all, it's still sealed and new. You can get full price.
Click to expand...

Definitely ask Apple before selling this as a second hand unit. The worse that can happen is that Apple won't let it be returned. The best is that they will give him 100% credit. And if not, you can always sell it.

-jt2
 
I'd call your applestore and explain the situation. He'd not be able to return it, since he had not purchased it but he may be able to exchange it for another unit, especially if its for a more expensive unit to which your cousin would front the cash difference.

You also have better luck at selling this via craigslist or ebay since its sealed. He may get close to the retail price.
 
Hmm, hate to be the party pooper here, but this situation honestly sounds like it's really between the winner and whomever actually paid out money to buy it (originally) -- i.e., the station, rather than between Apple and the winner.

Think about it... it's like I gave you a Mac laptop. You didn't like it or wanted a tweak. Instead of getting me to return it, you went straight to Apple and asked them to change things around. What obligation does Apple have in this case? Honestly? None. Better chance if you gave it back to me, explained what you wanted or needed, and have me plead my case with Apple (or have me return it for a refund).
 
If the computer came from that particular store's inventory, they might be able to get the receipt from their system using the serial number.

But a return/exchange without a receipt is unlikey.
 
electroshock said:
Think about it... it's like I gave you a Mac laptop. You didn't like it or wanted a tweak. Instead of getting me to return it, you went straight to Apple and asked them to change things around. What obligation does Apple have in this case? Honestly? None. Better chance if you gave it back to me, explained what you wanted or needed, and have me plead my case with Apple (or have me return it for a refund).
Click to expand...

It is like a Christmas or Birthday present. I believe most stores will still allow you to exchange a gift without a receipt, but they much prefer if you have a receipt. Do they have an obligation? Probably not, but it is still the right thing to do. Isn't Apple known for doing the right thing by its fans?

-jt2
 
jt2ga65 said:
but it is still the right thing to do.
Click to expand...
Not to sound confrontational but why is it the right thing to do? I think its a sound decision to keep the consumer happy but its neither right nor wrong.

Isn't Apple known for doing the right thing by its fans?
Click to expand...
Generally I'd say no, their track record isn't all that great when comes to treating its customers fairly. There's been problems with their macs from time to time and getting them to 1. acknowledge the problem and 2. support the fix is been getting teeth pulled.

I remember when I owned a G4 powerbook, there was a design flaw with the clips that held the display panel in place. So much so that it caused anomalies to show up on the screen. Took tons of people to complain and months for apple to finally acknowledge the problem.

A similar problem with the iBook and the black paint/finish wearing off.

A similar problem with the MBP's GPU (nvidia's fault), MBPs were having problems with the GPU but apple failed to help them until it was reported that nvidia had produced some bogus GPUs.

As it stands apple may generally acknowledge and support a problem but only after much complaining and only after an extended period has transpired.

My point is apple doesn't have a great track record when it comes to treating its customers the right way.[/rant]

Oh and I'm still a fanboy, but that doesn't mean apple is perfect.
 
Odds are, they will give you a credit toward the machine that he wants. They would most likely not give him a refund since he didn't have a receipt and wasn't the original purchaser.
 
jt2ga65 said:
It is like a Christmas or Birthday present. I believe most stores will still allow you to exchange a gift without a receipt, but they much prefer if you have a receipt. Do they have an obligation? Probably not, but it is still the right thing to do. Isn't Apple known for doing the right thing by its fans?

-jt2
Click to expand...

No. The stores have the ability to look the serial number up and determine who it was sold to. Either an end consumer or a reseller. If it was not sold directly to a consumer by them (Either retail or online), they won't touch it.

They can't return things they didn't sell and they shouldn't have the obligation.
 
Is it possible to contact the ones that held the contest and ask them if you could get the receipt?

They don't need to know you want to sell it, because you could need the receipt for insurance or something.

It might also be that the ones that held the contest got the machine cheaper (if it was charity or something), and thus also makes it not eligible for full refund.
 
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