Would it be unethical to purchase the non-touchbar and return when touchbar is launched?

[Westbrook0]

Hi guys,

My laptop is on its last legs (Windows). I can't use it without being plugged in 24/7 plus the display is nearly dead and extremely slow. I would really like to pick up a new MBP and exchange it for the touchbar version when it becomes available. Is this possible, and would you guys consider it to be unethical? And how would one approach the store for something like this?

 

[0388631]

It reminds me of people who buy stuff from Costco and then return it a month later. Excuse my language when I say that's a dick move.

 

[Analog Kid]

I tend to fall into the "if the policy permits it, there's nothing wrong with it" camp-- particularly since you are planning to buy something, you're not just borrowing it for a gig. The point of the 14 day return is to make sure you can try something before committing to it. I'd say what you're describing is in that spirit-- who knows, maybe you'll be happy enough with what you've bought first to not bother trading up.

The downsides of this strategy are that if anything happens to it, you're on the hook (scratches etc). I think Apple has a 14 day return policy, so if the touchbar isn't out in time then you might be stuck as well. There was a time that Apple had a restocking fee, but I think they've done away with that. Check your local store policies.

 

[dk808]

If the macbook pros werent even announced yet, then yea i guess maybe that'd be alright. But its literally going to come out this month, just wait.

 

[Westbrook0]

If the macbook pros werent even announced yet, then yea i guess maybe that'd be alright. But its literally going to come out this month, just wait.

The issue was that I was stuck between the 13" and 15" until today, so I've already missed the early shipping dates so i'm looking at mid December effectively, with an aging and nearly dead laptop. But since it's only 15 days, maybe I'll just have to wait.

 

[jackoatmon]

do whatever

this isn't the kind of thing you should have moral quandaries about

if you walked up and told tim cook you were doing this he would be like, i see marcus, well i hope you end up getting a wonderful apple device that you'll love

and if you told the blue-shirt person at the apple store s/he would say, i see marcus, well i hope you end up getting a wonderful apple device that you'll love

 

[powertoold]

Same thing as, would it be easier to dump my motor oil down the drain?

Yes, it's easier. Yes, no one would know about it. Yes, you can do it.

 

[Analog Kid]

Same thing as, would it be easier to dump my motor oil down the drain?

Yes, it's easier. Yes, no one would know about it. Yes, you can do it.

Except that most cities don't have a 14 day motor-oil-down-the-drain policy...

If your city doesn't have such a policy, then dumping your oil in this scenario is equivalent to stealing and not getting caught-- what you're doing is against the law. Buying and returning a Mac is not against the law.

 

[Nick.Xiao]

Yes, it is. Since Apple cannot repackage and sell the product you returned, they will have to take the loss. Also, if they decide to refurbish the thing, multiple parts will have to be changed, wasting valuable resources. But whatever, it's not like most people actually care about the planet they live on anyways. My friend did something similar in spring.

 

[JackieInCo]

If you want to, do it. I originally bought the 13" 2015 MBP. Kept it for a week. It was too small so I exchanged it for the $1999 15" 2015. Kept it for a month untill I had the cash to buy the high end and exchanged it. Bestbuy didn't care because it was money for them.

I also bought the 2012 i5 Mac Mini open box at Microcenter. Kept it the two weeks till they had an open box 2012 i7 Mac Mini then exchanged for it.

My Apple TV 2 that I am still using today was an open box from BestBuy.

 

[Disheart]

It isn't, they should've released it the same day as the non touchbar version. Apple doesn't give a -- about their userbase so why would you?

 

[JackieInCo]

Also, make sure you fully restore that MBP before you bring it back. The i7 Mac Mini open box that I bought from Micro Center came complete with the previous persons iTunes and iCloud logins as well as contacts, calendar and everything else they had on the machine. Micro Center just boxed it back up on return and sold it as is.

 

[x-evil-x]

Depends on how much pent up anger you have towards apple for not updating the line for 550+ days. No hints or anything to tell customers when it is coming. I waiting two and a half years for a decent upgrade. Thats all the justification i need. But i can wait 3 more weeks. I don't see anything wrong with your idea though. Not with what they put us through.

 

[cerberusss]

Can't you borrow a laptop from someone?

 

[frankgrimes]

No it wouldn't, if Apple policy and the law of your state allows it why not? That way you can check out the non touchbar version and if it isn't to your liking you can try the touchbar version.

 

[intelligence]

Ever heard of something called the environment? Don't buy **** you know you want to toss in a short while.

 

[manny88]

It's not unethical, because it's their own policy.

They have that policy in place, for the fact that it will increase their sales, because some people just need the psychological reassurance before they purchase an item, that if they don't like it, they are able to return it. And a lot of these people who need this reassurance and end up not liking the item as much as they thought; won't bother returning it anyway because it's an effort. So for many companies, it's worth them having a policy like this in place to increase their sales.

The unethical bit usually comes from the company, who want to create a guarantee and then not honour it.

Here in the UK I remember Tesco had a policy that if you were overcharged for the item, you could get a full refund for that item and keep the item. Now this happened to mostly small things (food), and rarely big things. But a popular online forum would post all the misprices, and people would go into the store to buy those item. After a few years, Tesco changed it's policy because people were "abusing" it. Excuse me Tesco, the only way people could "abuse" such a policy is if you were constantly overcharging people at checkout, for items they thought cost what you displayed on your shelves. You can't abuse a policy with the occasional misprice. But if Tesco is regularly showing lower prices on the shelves, then charging you more at checkout, then it's not the customer abusing the policy, it's the supermarket abusing the customer. And they get away with it because most people, buy a lot of items in one go, and by the time they reach checkout, they can't remember the prices that were advertised on the shelves, and so millions of people are getting overcharged for God knows how much, every week. I guess every little helps (Tesco's slogan).

So go for it!

 

[The Mercurian]

Ever heard of something called the environment? Don't buy **** you know you want to toss in a short while.

Eh - they don't throw returned machines in the garbage you know. If he buys it and returns it, it will later become a lovely refurb for someone else at about 10% off.

 

[JackieInCo]

Eh - they don't throw returned machines in the garbage you know. If he buys it and returns it, it will later become a lovely refurb for someone else at about 10% off.

That's right. I bought an iPad Air as an open box once and as I mentioned above, a few Mac Minis as open box. People return them and they sell them as open box at a discount.

 

[maflynn]

Personally, its not a kosher move, and I wouldn't do it.

 

[The Mercurian]

Personally, its not a kosher move, and I wouldn't do it.

I wouldn't do what the OP suggests either. But I did once buy a new MBP and then return it because it didnt' give the performance boost I expected - but that is why they have the returns policy. What the OP suggests is different however.

Frankly OP, irnoging the ethical side it, what you are suggesting sounds like a whole lot of hassle more than anything. Multiple trips to the store, chance you might drop it first etc. Just wait a month.

 

[intelligence]

Eh - they don't throw returned machines in the garbage you know. If he buys it and returns it, it will later become a lovely refurb for someone else at about 10% off.

Of course they don't throw it away, but it's another machine in orbit. We've got one planet you know and the resources are not unlimited.

http://www.overshootday.org/

But I know with this forum, stuff like this is not important, it's more important to have the latest shiny thing.

 

[JaySoul]

Hi guys,

My laptop is on its last legs (Windows). I can't use it without being plugged in 24/7 plus the display is nearly dead and extremely slow. I would really like to pick up a new MBP and exchange it for the touchbar version when it becomes available. Is this possible, and would you guys consider it to be unethical? And how would one approach the store for something like this?

You should just wait a few weeks if poss, but also...

It reminds me of people who buy stuff from Costco and then return it a month later. Excuse my language when I say that's a dick move.

...this describes me in the past, yes, a dick

(I'm better now, sorry Costco)

 

[The Mercurian]

Of course they don't throw it away, but it's another machine in orbit. We've got one planet you know and the resources are not unlimited.

http://www.overshootday.org/

But I know with this forum, stuff like this is not important, it's more important to have the latest shiny thing.

Oh see now - I do care about such things. But your logical leap that someone returning a laptop = one more laptop produced does not make any sense

 

[CreativeC]

Who gives a ****, really? We are not talking about some third world company, we are talking about Apple, one of the wealthiest if not the wealthiest company in the world. I would say take advantage of every policy that they have.