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"we don't do refunds"

seh80

seh80

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 2, 2005
257
1
Chicago, IL USA
I got a defective refurb iMac last week from apple.com. I called applecare, and was offered an exchange or refund. I accepted the exchange ... but after thinking about it for a day, decided I really don't want an exchange, I want my money back. So since the defective computer doesn't even go back out to apple until it gets picked up tomorrow, I figured I might still have time to call applecare back and go the other way.

The lady says no. They do refunds under no circumstances. I said, well, I was offered one when I called two days ago. She said "your claim isn't true. apple doesn't give refunds."
:confused: She wasn't very friendly (which is never the case when I call apple for anything), and refused to even talk it out, it was just no.

So ... I really was offered a refund. A full refund! The iMac has a bunch wrong with it and it was my fault for not taking the offer that moment, but now I'm just irritated that the lady more or less thought I was bsing her.

Has anyone gotten a refund on a defective product purchased at apple.com before? Was the first person I spoke with just wrong for offering it?
 
I believe their policy does specifically state no refunds for refurbs. Sounds like you originally wanted a iMac, sorry you got a bad apple, :). Just take the exchange, you will be happy!
 
Why are bothering with AppleCare? If you purchased your iMac from the Apple Store online call their customer service. AppleCare is for warranty-related issues and technical support, not returning or exchanging products that are still under their return period.
 
I called applecare because they told me the first time that if I had anything come up dealing with this case, call them, no matter the issue. So I did.

I guess I can sell the new one, or maybe do a trade, esp if I never remove it from the box.

The no refund thing, fair enough, but they shouldn't have offered it to me if it goes against policy, and if they did, they should mark it on the case notes!
 
Erm...BS. Any refurb that i've returned has been successful with a FULL refund. Either this is a new rule or i dunno but i've never been given an exchange ultimatum on ANY Apple product refurb or not. I always get my money back if i want it

If the woman was being un-cooperative i would've just hung up and tried again to hopefully find someone else
 
Can I ask why you no longer want an iMac? Surely you realize that all companies have lemons, and I'm sure the replacement will be just fine. If you didn't really want the iMac in the first place however, that's not really a good reason to exchange it, you should have not bought it.
 
Of course I realize that there are duds. I am not upset about that in the least. The only problem I'm having is that I was offered an option (which I should have taken right then, my bad) and then more or less told that I was making it up. If I wasn't offered the refund, I never would have called back today. So it was my fault for not getting my money back when I had the chance. But I don't think it was cool for the lady today to tell me my "claim isn't true" ... when it absolutely was.
 
I may be able to let you know soon....

Hey, I'm having the exact same problem as you! DOA Refurb (actually posted about mine just after you did.)

Anyway, I haven't talked to an AppleStore Sales Support Representative (the one's who handle the returns/exchanges) yet because they aren't in on Sunday. I'll have to let you know if they offer me a refund.
 
Thank you! I would love to hear what happens for you. I'm sorry you got sent a bad one too. Refurbs are generally awesome, and I would not hesitate to get another, but of course, bad apples happen! :)
 
I've never bought a refurb computer before, so I was a little nervous about it, and then it was a lemon! If they offer a refund, I'll be tempted to take it because I really wanted a 24" iMac, but they didn't have any for a few days, so I just got the 20". If you read the Apple Sales and Refund Policy it sounds like they make you pay for the shipping if you return a computer for a refund. I guess it makes sense, but it's not my fault the thing didn't work to begin with!
 
seh80 said:
Of course I realize that there are duds. I am not upset about that in the least. The only problem I'm having is that I was offered an option (which I should have taken right then, my bad) and then more or less told that I was making it up. If I wasn't offered the refund, I never would have called back today. So it was my fault for not getting my money back when I had the chance. But I don't think it was cool for the lady today to tell me my "claim isn't true" ... when it absolutely was.
Click to expand...

I agree they should have documented the options they gave you in some type of case file.
 
I usually just keep calling 'till someone does.

I've gotten so many bank overcharge fees waived doing this. If the customer rep doesn't offer it, simply hang up, and call again. keep calling and calling and calling. Even if it takes you an hour to get a $200 fee waived, you just made $200/hour.
 
Usually escalating it is better than starting at the beginning each time with Customer Service.

Of course, always remain polite too.
 
Well, they didn't offer me a refund, but it's probably because I didn't actually get to speak to a Sales Specialist. They just sent me an email with my new order number and told me to send the other one back. On the upside, they are overnighting it, so that's nice! But now I have to find a FedEx drop off, which we don't really have a lot of around here. I think the closest one is about a half hour away :(
 
Wow, you're getting yours fast! :eek: My new one isn't going to go out until they have the old one in the system as having been picked up by FedEx (or so they say).

Can you have Fed Ex pick up the package from your house? Thats what I'm doing, when you print your return label (probably depending on where you live) the option might be there to have them come and get it.

Anyway, I hope this experience didn't get you down on apple refurbs. They are generally a wonderful deal and our experiences are not the norm.
 
daneoni said:
Erm...BS. Any refurb that i've returned has been successful with a FULL refund. Either this is a new rule or i dunno but i've never been given an exchange ultimatum on ANY Apple product refurb or not. I always get my money back if i want it
Click to expand...

Exactly, you should be able to get a full refund if the goods that you ordered were DOA. Out of interest, I assume this was paid on a credit card? Here in the UK the credit card company bears responsibility for the goods/services paid for... so if I order something and it's a DOA, and the supplier refuses to replace or refund, I can get the credit card company to issue me a refund directly. They in turn then get their money back out of the original retailer...

Anything similar in the USA?

Mark.
 
This is the exact opposite of the situation I was in a few weeks ago...

I ordered a refurb'd iMac that turned out to have an intermittent video fault which I only discovered once it was just outside of the 14-day refund or replacement window. I started looking into taking it to an authorized Apple Service Provider, but all of the Service Providers I talked to told me it would take 2-3 weeks which was longer than I'd had the machine for, and suggested I contacted Apple to see what they could do.

I then contacted Apple to whom I pleaded my case and a really helpful agent arranged for the faulty iMac to be collected and a replacement to be sent out. I was very grateful as I had fully expected them to say no [which I would have accepted], I then received various confirmation emails along with my returns authorization number and so I boxed the faulty iMac up ready to be collected. The next day the courier arrived and collected the item, but half-an-hour later I received an email from Apple saying that because they had no refurb'd iMacs in stock I could not have a replacement only a refund.

At this point I was absolutely livid and so I contacted Apple Customer Services, the agent I spoke to was very unhelpful and stated categorically that Apple policy is not to issue replacements for refurb'd units, this may well be the case but having been promised a replacement [with emails to prove it] I did not appreciate her tone, especially when I asked to speak to a manager and was repeatedly told that the manager would simply say the same thing.

After waiting for a couple of hours and making several calls back to Apple Customer Services I eventually managed to speak to a manager who after over an hour on the phone agreed to discount a brand new iMac to the same price as a refurb'd one; after she had received confirmation that the faulty iMac had been collected. The next day I was still annoyed that even though the problem had been resolved that I had done all of the leg work to resolve it, and so I contacted Apple Customer Services yet again and explained how much of an inconvenience the whole incident had caused me i.e. I spent most of my day off on the phone, phone bill, lack of computer and so on.

In the end I got £100 off a brand new iMac and a set of Harman Kardon Soundsticks II speakers worth £130 for free as a gesture of goodwill, I'm not sure how things work in the US but it might be worth reading the T&Cs, I read through the UK refurb store T&Cs quite thoroughly and found nothing to say that a refurb could not be replaced.
 
Yeah, mine says it should be here by Tuesday or Wednesday!

As far as being down on refurbs, I'm not passing judgement until I see if the second one works!

I thought it was funny that the email that apple sent me with my RMA# was from DONOTREPLY@apple.com, but in the message it says if I have any questions I should reply!!
 
The US T&Cs say that you can have a DOA product either repaired or replaced.

They did basically tell me that they could only replace it if they had another of the exact same refurb in stock though. If they hadn't and said it had to be repaired I would have wanted a refund...especially after the Genius at the Apple store STRONGLY suggested I get a replacement!!
 
I just returned my refurb MB and I have an email stating I will get a full refund (and the dollar amount of it) approximately 5 days after Apple receives my computer.
 
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