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Original iPhone $100 Store Credit Stolen

C

cenerentola

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
15
0
I'll try to keep this as short as possible. I went to buy my iPhone 4 today and had with me my $100 Apple Store Credit from 2007 when I was an early adopter of the original iPhone and paid big bucks. I've saved the credit for 3 years, waiting to use it for a big purchase like this.

The store told me it had $0 balance on it. I thought maybe in the last 3 years I did use it after all and forgot. I thought that was really strange because I wouldn't have kept it safe for that long, but whatever. So I asked them to see how/when/where I spent it because I didn't remember using it. They couldn't find where I spent it in any retail stores since 2007. They referred me to call 1800-My-Apple to see if I had used it online.

After an hour of going crazy with the customer service on the phone (and them telling me it hadn't been spent), they finally looked as far back as Nov. 2007 and found that the credit had been used to ship an iPod Nano to some guy in New York. If I had used the gift card, I know I sure as hell didn't ship an iPod Nano to some guy in New York.

I'm going to file a police report, but I was just wondering if anyone has heard of anything like this happening with the store credit. I printed it and have kept it safe and hidden for 3 years. Could someone have somehow hacked into my computer and seen the information I entered to get the store credit? I don't get how this happened. I appreciate any feedback!
 
I remember hearing that this happened to allot of people back then. Because of this, allot of people rushed out and used the credit as fast as they could. I used mine to buy an iPod Classic.

Nothing you can really do after all this time, it's gone.
 
Get the exact address it was shipped to, and the Police should be able to see who owned the mailbox at the time. Do as much research as you can before you give it to the Police, or they will get lazy and just let the issue sit there and then later claim "it's been too long and we can no longer trace it."
 
The statute of limitations for a petty theft crime is only 1 year I believe. You are basically out of luck even if you knew who did it. Sucks....
 
Sleazy E said:
The statute of limitations for a petty theft crime is only 1 year I believe. You are basically out of luck even if you knew who did it. Sucks....
Click to expand...

It varies by state. This is true of California and a few others. Michigan is 6 years IIRC.
 
hurriance said:
Get the exact address it was shipped to, and the Police should be able to see who owned the mailbox at the time. Do as much research as you can before you give it to the Police, or they will get lazy and just let the issue sit there and then later claim "it's been too long and we can no longer trace it."
Click to expand...

You think the police are going to "investigate" an allegedly lost or stolen $100 store credit even if you THINK you might know where it went ? Even if it were 3 weeks and not 3 years old? You really can't be serious. At the MOST you can file a report but that report won't get you anything. When you walk out of the PD they will just roll their eyes and file it in the "WTF" file.
 
SpaceKitty said:
I remember hearing that this happened to allot of people back then. Because of this, allot of people rushed out and used the credit as fast as they could. I used mine to buy an iPod Classic.
Click to expand...

I wish I realized that. I hadn't heard anything until now about such a thing. I did wonder in the back of my mind if hackers could get the code or something... guess I had to find out the hard way.

hurriance said:
Get the exact address it was shipped to, and the Police should be able to see who owned the mailbox at the time. Do as much research as you can before you give it to the Police, or they will get lazy and just let the issue sit there and then later claim "it's been too long and we can no longer trace it."
Click to expand...

The customer service rep wouldn't give me the shipping information (which is kind of ridiculous considering they used MY gift card, and you would think I should be able to get info on how my gift card was used... but maybe they don't want me hunting down thieves). They said if I file a police report and give the police the gift card number, they police will then have access to the shipping address.

Sleazy E said:
The statute of limitations for a petty theft crime is only 1 year I believe. You are basically out of luck even if you knew who did it. Sucks....
Click to expand...

I called my dad, who is a cop, and he said that statute of limitations doesn't start until you are aware of the crime. So in this case, I should have a year from now. Hopefully that holds true.

OttawaGuy said:
That sucks. Apple customer service wouldn't fix this for you?
Click to expand...

No... I could go on a whole rant about the customer service experience I had today. The rep couldn't even figure out at first HOW the card had been used. I spoke to the manager who figured it out, but there was nothing else that he said he could do. I may try calling again now that I know more, but I guess I will try getting the police involved first. Not that they will do anything, but it's better than just sitting back and letting thieves get away with this (my home was massively burglarized before, so this is just extra upsetting to me).
 
Adisah said:
Um... wouldn't it have a cut-off date just like a normal gift card?
Click to expand...

There's no cut off or expiration date for the store credit. I think it's also California law that you can't make gift cards expire (unless the store goes under or something). But the Apple store had told me they had used some of the store credits for people buying the iPhone 4, so they knew it should work if there was money on the account.
 
cenerentola said:
I wish I realized that. I hadn't heard anything until now about such a thing. I did wonder in the back of my mind if hackers could get the code or something... guess I had to find out the hard way......No... I could go on a whole rant about the customer service experience I had today. The rep couldn't even figure out at first HOW the card had been used. I spoke to the manager who figured it out, but there was nothing else that he said he could do. I may try calling again now that I know more, but I guess I will try getting the police involved first. Not that they will do anything, but it's better than just sitting back and letting thieves get away with this (my home was massively burglarized before, so this is just extra upsetting to me).
Click to expand...
Sorry, sucks.... but how is this apple's fault? You're asking a rep to figure out something that happened 3 years ago and that upsets you? Let it go and move on with your life. Call the police and tell them your story.... they can use a good laugh every now and then. I'm sure they'll send a car right away to get your case rolling.
How does the apple rep know you are who you say you are? They're not going to give out people's names and addy to a total "stranger", use your head man.... would you want a company to give out YOUR info?
 
While this story is rather unfortunate, you can't really blame Apple for this. Maybe if the event had occurred recently, they would have done something for you. But it happened years ago. Nothing really to do about it, or blame anyone else. Sorry though :(
 
JohnnyQuest said:
While this story is rather unfortunate, you can't really blame Apple for this. Maybe if the event had occurred recently, they would have done something for you. But it happened years ago. Nothing really to do about it, or blame anyone else. Sorry though :(
Click to expand...

Thanks for the condolences, although I never did blame Apple in my post. I blame their customer service reps for taking about an hour to just figure out how the card was used, but that's about my only real complaint there. I'd like to know more about who used the card, but I respect their decision to not share that with me as long as they give the info to the police.

I really just wanted to figure out if this was a common problem and maybe what others may have done in my situation. Apple doesn't owe me anything for this (I would love it if they would still honor my store credit, but I don't expect them to). Now if Apple had a security flaw in their system that allowed someone else to take my store credit, then I might have a complaint with them. But for now, I just blame the thieves who stole my credit.
 
101AirAssault said:
Sorry, sucks.... but how is this apple's fault? You're asking a rep to figure out something that happened 3 years ago and that upsets you? Let it go and move on with your life. Call the police and tell them your story.... they can use a good laugh every now and then. I'm sure they'll send a car right away to get your case rolling.
How does the apple rep know you are who you say you are? They're not going to give out people's names and addy to a total "stranger", use your head man.... would you want a company to give out YOUR info?
Click to expand...

They could find out that I am the correct owner based on that I have the original iPhone with the original receipt that I used to get the credit. It'd be great if they'd give me the address just so I could have more to report to the police, but I respect them not giving it out.

Maybe $100 isn't a big deal to you, but it is to me. Sure, the police can laugh me out of there, and honestly, I'm sure nothing will come of it. But I did get robbed, and I have the right to file a police complaint.
 
cenerentola said:
They could find out that I am the correct owner based on that I have the original iPhone with the original receipt that I used to get the credit. It'd be great if they'd give me the address just so I could have more to report to the police, but I respect them not giving it out.

Maybe $100 isn't a big deal to you, but it is to me. Sure, the police can laugh me out of there, and honestly, I'm sure nothing will come of it. But I did get robbed, and I have the right to file a police complaint.
Click to expand...

i think the police could get the address no problem.
 
cenerentola said:
Sure, the police can laugh me out of there, and honestly, I'm sure nothing will come of it. But I did get robbed, and I have the right to file a police complaint.
Click to expand...

All true imo.

But yeah, it's gonna be a waste of your time unfortunately. The police don't care and won't even give it a second glance.

Had something similar happen to me about 10 years ago. Nothing came of it, never got my money and wasted a bunch of time over $130.

If you're ever in New York and near that address though, you can always drop by for some vigilante justice.

Best of luck to ya.
 
cenerentola said:
There's no cut off or expiration date for the store credit. I think it's also California law that you can't make gift cards expire (unless the store goes under or something). But the Apple store had told me they had used some of the store credits for people buying the iPhone 4, so they knew it should work if there was money on the account.
Click to expand...

This is true. I got the original iPhone the day it came out, so I also got the $100 apple store credit. I saved the gift card number in my phone's notepad and was able to use it for my iPhone 4. Didn't have any problems at all.
 
Don't waste your time with police, whether it's 3 hours ago or 3 years ago. My wife had a laptop stolen and the police couldn't do anything because it was under a certain value. $100 certainly falls under that.

Best they can do is for Apple to reimburse you the $100, but it's up to them.
 
IndianaSolo said:
All true imo.

But yeah, it's gonna be a waste of your time unfortunately. The police don't care and won't even give it a second glance.

Had something similar happen to me about 10 years ago. Nothing came of it, never got my money and wasted a bunch of time over $130.

If you're ever in New York and near that address though, you can always drop by for some vigilante justice.

Best of luck to ya.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I won't spend much more time than filing the report. That and taking a plane ride to Mongaup Valley, NY, to find a guy with a 3-year-old iPod Nano. :)
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
Don't waste your time with police, whether it's 3 hours ago or 3 years ago. My wife had a laptop stolen and the police couldn't do anything because it was under a certain value. $100 certainly falls under that.

Best they can do is for Apple to reimburse you the $100, but it's up to them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as I mentioned in a previous post, my home was burglarized once. We got lucky and they found my mom's laptop at a pawn shop and a few other things, but the majority of the stuff was never recovered-- even though they did find the perpetrators. If they can't find more stuff in as big of a case as that was, my situation is pretty hopeless. But I know I'd be mad at myself if I didn't do SOMETHING about it, no matter how fruitless.
 
cenerentola said:
I called my dad, who is a cop, and he said that statute of limitations doesn't start until you are aware of the crime. So in this case, I should have a year from now. Hopefully that holds true.
Click to expand...

That is not true. The statute of limitations begins to run as soon as the crime is complete.
 
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