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Will an apple store accept my card?

iboy38

iboy38

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 30, 2009
64
0
Waldorf, MD
I'm planning on buying a MacBook pro at an apple store. I have a re loadable walmart visa money card. Can I put 1,200 dollars on it and use it at a apple store? Do apple stores accept walmart money cards? I need an answer before I waste my time going down there.
 
They accept debit cards with a visa logo, so I'd venture to guess that's a "yes".
 
They will accept those cards. Last summer when I bought my 3GS iPhone, I had the cash and I didn't get to go to the bank the day before. I went to Walgreens and put the money on a prepaid Greendot card and used it at the Apple store to buy my iPhone.
 
Umm...you would rather trust Wal*Mart with $1200 of real money than the Apple Store?

I mean, how will you load the money on this card...cash? Or using another card?

I guess I don't understand why you want to use this card over the other alternatives. Sounds like an extra step for no good reason.:confused:




And SpaceKitty too? Apple stores still take cash...don't they? Am I missing something here???
 
Like the other poster said if it has a Visa logo then it's okay. I've used a Verizon rebate card with a Visa logo and spent it at numerous stores.
 
Sure any card with a Visa or MC logo will certainly work, but I still want to know why.


I mean, you obviously have the money, if you are going to be loading the card at Wal*Mart.

Did the Apple Store stop taking cash?:confused:
 
It's much easier to buy things at an Apple store with a card than with cash. But IMHO not that much harder that warrants an extra trip to another store first!
 
talmy said:
It's much easier to buy things at an Apple store with a card than with cash. But IMHO not that much harder that warrants an extra trip to another store first!
Click to expand...

Huh? Since when is any kind of credit/debit card easier than cash?
 
mstrze said:
Umm...you would rather trust Wal*Mart with $1200 of real money than the Apple Store?

I mean, how will you load the money on this card...cash? Or using another card?

I guess I don't understand why you want to use this card over the other alternatives. Sounds like an extra step for no good reason.:confused:




And SpaceKitty too? Apple stores still take cash...don't they? Am I missing something here???
Click to expand...
They do take cash....but as I said, I was buying an iPhone. iPhones are different.
 
Batt said:
Huh? Since when is any kind of credit/debit card easier than cash?
Click to expand...

You can walk up to anyone, they scan your card and you can leave with the merchandise (your receipt is sent via e-mail, which they have linked to your card, so you don't even have to give them your e-mail address). If you pay cash they have to go to the only cash register in the back of the store, which is a much slower transaction.
 
They should accept the card, but why not just use cash straight up? If you're trying not to leave traces behind, use cash. They are more likely to remember you if you turn up with a walmart money card than an enormous amount of cash!
 
talmy said:
You can walk up to anyone, they scan your card and you can leave with the merchandise (your receipt is sent via e-mail, which they have linked to your card, so you don't even have to give them your e-mail address). If you pay cash they have to go to the only cash register in the back of the store, which is a much slower transaction.
Click to expand...
I see your point here . . .


techound1 said:
Seems like a much slower transaction to stop by mallwart first...
Click to expand...
. . . but this makes even more sense.
 
pdjudd said:
They need to do a credit check for subscription purposes.
Click to expand...

They can't do a credit check without YOU using a credit card for the purchase? :confused:

I mean, I didn't have a credit check done with my most recent iPhone purchase, since I purchased at an AT&T store while being a 3+year AT&T/Cingular subscriber, but if they did do a credit check originally, I'm sure it was based on information I provided them on a form rather than they randomly somehow pulling data from the credit card I used to purchase my phone. They can and do use a major credit card as a secondary form of ID....but even this does not make sense in the OP's situation, as this 'credit card' is through Wal*Mart and not a true credit card in any sense of the word...I highly doubt it even has his/her name on the card...thus making it impossible to use as ID for a credit check.

So, again...you don't NEED to purchase an iPhone with a credit card, but you might have to show a major credit card under your name as a second form of ID. I find it difficult to believe that Apple/AT&T would make you use a credit card to purchase the phone in order to get some kind of credit check from you. Credit checks do not work that way.
 
mstrze said:
Sure any card with a Visa or MC logo will certainly work, but I still want to know why.
Click to expand...

I don't know the OP's reason, but can think of a couple myself:

1)You don't want to carry a ton of cash around
2)You want immediate access to your cash i you find out you need to return the item. IDK about Apple, but many vendors put a purchase right back on a card but take a while to cut and mail a check for purchase over a certain amount.
 
jlc1978 said:
I don't know the OP's reason, but can think of a couple myself:

1)You don't want to carry a ton of cash around
2)You want immediate access to your cash i you find out you need to return the item. IDK about Apple, but many vendors put a purchase right back on a card but take a while to cut and mail a check for purchase over a certain amount.
Click to expand...

1) 'a ton of cash' will still need to be hauled to Wal*Mart to load the card.

2) I have never had an issue where I didn't get cash returned to me for a purchase return...same thing for debit/credit return of course. Why would a store have to 'cut you a check' on a return?
 
mstrze said:
1) 'a ton of cash' will still need to be hauled to Wal*Mart to load the card.
Click to expand...

That depends on location - there's a WalMart right next to my bank, for example, so it would be a two minute trip. Getting cash, OTOH, might involve carrying it around for a while until I get to an Apple store.

I don't think WalMart does this, but a while ago a store that sold gift cards was offering them at at a 10% discount with a $500 max purchase. One choice was for Best Buy. By getting a couple of friends to buy them or buying them at separate times you could realize a $120 savings on a purchase.

2) I have never had an issue where I didn't get cash returned to me for a purchase return...same thing for debit/credit return of course. Why would a store have to 'cut you a check' on a return?
Click to expand...

Some stores state that returns over $X will be done via a check from the corporate office rather than as a cash return (don't know if that is the case for Apple Stores); which then ties up your money for some time after the return. If the check gets lost then you have a real hassle getting your money while the store confirms it was not cashed.

In the end it's irrelevant why the OP wants to do this, it's their cash and their choice.
 
jlc1978 said:
In the end it's irrelevant why the OP wants to do this, it's their cash and their choice.
Click to expand...

True enough. But it was disconcerting to me that the OP and others felt that there was somehow enough reason to jump through hoops to place money on a cash card when there is really no need to go through the individual step.

(my bank is right next door to the Apple Store btw ;) )
 
pdjudd said:
They need to do a credit check for subscription purposes.
Click to expand...

That's not (or wasn't) the reason at all. When they first came out, they were purchased unactivated. People would come in and buy a ton of them to unlock and/or export. So Apple made policy changes to limit the number of iPhones one could purchase at a time (5) and made a rule stating that iPhones had to be paid for by CC. A given transaction can tie a person, using a CC, to a specific iPhone Serial number.

But this was a while ago (like 2007/2008) so I don't really know the policy now.
 
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