Unbelievable Cancellation policy

[mparkes]

Arghh! So I've been watching the refurb list waiting for a specific mbp - finally it shows up this morning and I place the order. Only to discover afterwards that I overlooked the fact that it was a glossy screen, which I didn't want. So no problem right, I'll just cancel the order. Wrong! Although the order doesn't ship until 6 to 10 days from now, apple said I can't cancel. It has to ship and then returned back for credit. I realize it was my mistake, but still.. It doesnt ship for a week and they can't cancel???

 

[GoCubsGo]

I can completely feel your pain. I think the population of people who have made such an error is high. I know I have (not with something so expensive) done it. Now the cancellation policy, I didn't know that was the case. That sucks imho. In the meantime while you wait for that damn thing to ship, refuse it, get your credit I hope you don't see the exact mbp come back up in the refurb store. Unless you can float the cash.

 

[mparkes]

I can't recall ever ordering anything online that didn't have a reasonable (ie within a few hours perhaps) timeframe within which to cancel the order. I called apple back and the rep explained that once it goes into "shpg" there it is "impossible" to cancel. So let me get this straight... it takes them 5-10 days to get the order shipped out according to the website, but I can't have even a 1 hour timeframe in which to cancel? WTF??? (I give the rep credit though, he was nice and took his time explaing in things. I also kept my cool, which surpised me.)

Anyway, at least they will provide a return fedex label to send it back so ultimately I won't be out anything. The funny thing is, that right after I placed the order i could have cancelled online, but I thought I would wait the 30 min for the 800# apple store to open to that I could perhaps switch to a different mac altogether. So within abt 30 min the order became "impossible" to cancel according to the Apple rep. Oh well, my mistake, so now I pay the price, literally.

I may go over to compusa and look at the glossy screens again, maybe they aren't so bad. I may try to convince myself of that anyway... but I really like Apple products... sure I do... keep repeating that... maybe the BS is worth it... maybe ...

I can completely feel your pain. I think the population of people who have made such an error is high. I know I have (not with something so expensive) done it. Now the cancellation policy, I didn't know that was the case. That sucks imho. In the meantime while you wait for that damn thing to ship, refuse it, get your credit I hope you don't see the exact mbp come back up in the refurb store. Unless you can float the cash.

 

[xfiftyfour]

That's an awful policy. Most companies let you cancel or change orders up until the point that they've shipped or prepared to ship the item.

I know it's probably a long shot, but maybe try calling again and speaking to a different rep? As with most customer service, I've definitely gotten different answers from different reps, so it might be worth the shot. Also stress the fact that you don't want to cancel the order entirely, just change it (if they have matte screens available still).

 

[Cybergypsy]

I have always canceled the same day...never had a issue

 

[jaw04005]

Yeah, I've had the same problem with the online Apple Store. They can't cancel your order until after order has been "acknoweldged" by their computer system and before the order has been transmitted to Apple's warehouse.

Annoying.

By the way, Amazon has the same problem (especially if you are a Prime member). You can't cancel orders unless the item is out of stock or a pre-order. All my orders move immediately into "preparing items for shipment," whether or not they are shipping within the next few days.

 

[Peace]

Arghh! So I've been watching the refurb list waiting for a specific mbp - finally it shows up this morning and I place the order. Only to discover afterwards that I overlooked the fact that it was a glossy screen, which I didn't want. So no problem right, I'll just cancel the order. Wrong! Although the order doesn't ship until 6 to 10 days from now, apple said I can't cancel. It has to ship and then returned back for credit. I realize it was my mistake, but still.. It doesnt ship for a week and they can't cancel???

Call Apple back and inform them that according to Washington state law you can not be charged until an item has physically Shipped.Then call your credit card company and tell them the same thing.

 

[mparkes]

Call Apple back and inform them that according to Washington state law you can not be charged until an item has physically Shipped.Then call your credit card company and tell them the same thing.

I might have tried that however the order within 4 hours went to "Shipped on: Sep 29, 2007 via FED EX GROUND " (ALthough when checking the tracking all that Fedex shows is that FedEx received an electronic notification from the shipper. So it looks like Apple escapes that caveat by submitting the shpg data to fedex... there, "it's shipped" they can declare.

The guy at Apple just kept repeating its "impossible to cancel"... "impossible to cancel"... they must have that phrase written down in their call center training manual in 72 point Helvetica Bold. An "impossible" thing might be the sun rising in the west, but cancelling an order within an hour? Give me a break. But I do give them credit for speedy order processing! I guess it could be worse though, you try to cancel the order and they tell you the order cannot be cancelled AND it will be 2-3 weeks before it ships!

 

[Cybergypsy]

oh you still can return it

 

[Fuchal]

Glossy screen is great.

 

[GavinTing]

Lock up your doors, and hide from the FedEx guy!

 

[seahawk09]

The Moral of this story is alway's know what you want before ordering do some research and try out the said screen before ordering.


And Alway's read the fine print on the web site before submitting your order

All I know is that I will certainly have a glossy screen on my MBP when I order it.

 

[mparkes]

The Moral of this story is alway's know what you want before ordering do some research and try out the said screen before ordering.

And Alway's read the fine print on the web site before submitting your order

All I know is that I will certainly have a glossy screen on my MBP when I order it.

Will a macbook glossy screen have the same general color rendering as a macbook pro glossy screen? I looked at a macbook glossy yesterday in a store and was surprised at how "off" the colors were on the web. Checked the color profile and it was default. If this is how the MBP glossy looks then i will have to wait for a matte screen.

 

[razorme]

Will a macbook glossy screen have the same general color rendering as a macbook pro glossy screen? I looked at a macbook glossy yesterday in a store and was surprised at how "off" the colors were on the web. Checked the color profile and it was default. If this is how the MBP glossy looks then i will have to wait for a matte screen.

I had to change the profile of my MBP - the default one stank. I have a glossy screen MBP and it is fantastic - it is easy to avoid reflections - well worth it to have clarity and rich colors. I had matte before with an iBook and it was ok, but I would give the glossy screen a try before ruling it out.

 

[aaronw1986]

After calibrating my own profile. my glossy screen is awesome. I agree that the default sucks, but the problem can be fixed.

 

[czachorski]

When all this hubub is going on over the iMac glossy screens, I went over to the office of a co-worker who has a glossy MB, to see what he thought of it. He says, glossy screen - I don't know. He pulls it out and it is a glossy screen MB and he hadn't even noticed. Just a complete non-issue for some.

You might take advantage of this situation, and open the MBP up, play with it for a day or two, and see if it works for you. Apple's silly policy is your gain - a free opportunity to try out the laptop before you decide to return or keep it.

 

[I3eXa]

simple. just have a stop payment made on your credit card that way they can't charge you for it. unless this happened yesterday or something you'll be fine.

 

[Mr Skills]

Under UK law we have what's known as a "cooling-off period" where you are legally allowed to cancel anything you have ordered by mail-order or over the internet up to 7 days later. Is it possible there is a similar law where you are?

 

[mparkes]

simple. just have a stop payment made on your credit card that way they can't charge you for it. unless this happened yesterday or something you'll be fine.

I tried calling my bank and they said unless they receive an authorization code or something from the merchant they can't deny the payment. The only thing they can do is dispute the claim after the payment clears... No need to do that in my case I'll just send it back (unless i change my mind to give the glossy version a try)

 

[mparkes]

simple. just have a stop payment made on your credit card that way they can't charge you for it. unless this happened yesterday or something you'll be fine.

You might take advantage of this situation, and open the MBP up, play with it for a day or two, and see if it works for you. Apple's silly policy is your gain - a free opportunity to try out the laptop before you decide to return or keep it.

I could do that but then I would have to pay the 10% restock fee. As it stands they said they would email me a link to fedex where I can print out a return label and apple pays the return freight. It will be hard to resist the temptation to keep from opening it up!

 

[czachorski]

I could do that but then I would have to pay the 10% restock fee. As it stands they said they would email me a link to fedex where I can print out a return label and apple pays the return freight. It will be hard to resist the temptation to keep from opening it up!

I think that normally the 10% restocking fee would apply, but you already have them agreeing to take it back without the re-stocking fee, opened or not. No?

 

[theman]

get your credit card company to take care of it. (you did pay with a credit card right?) wait, they actually shipped it in 1 day? nevermind then. once it's shipped there's nothing you can do. refurb ships quick i guess. all the new ones are on backorder from china. refurb they just pull off the warehouse shelves.

however, apple did not charge your credit card until it shipped -- so you could have called your cc company and gotten them to block the charge when it did ship. then apple would have had no choice but to not ship the item (if you credit card would not approve the charge). then you could order again (if apple would let you, maybe you would have to use a fake name or different credit card...)

 

[mparkes]

I think that normally the 10% restocking fee would apply, but you already have them agreeing to take it back without the re-stocking fee, opened or not. No?

no, they said as long as I sent the box back unopened they would waive the restock fee, but if I open it up its a $150 test drive. I suppose it would be apparent to them somehow if the box is opened and i fired it up.

 

[czachorski]

no, they said as long as I sent the box back unopened they would waive the restock fee, but if I open it up its a $150 test drive. I suppose it would be apparent to them somehow if the box is opened and i fired it up.

Ohhh - that's too bad. Seems like a bum-deal, too. You should be able to at least try it out. The thing is, if you send it back opened, they probably would still accept it if everything was there, but it would be a risk.