To back up, I got an 8GB iPhone 17 days ago from my local Apple Retail store.
So after speaking with an Apple customer service agent on the phone who told me "no refund", I decided to give it a try in person since I had read on here and on the Apple discussion board that some people had success getting refunds.
I was a little nervous going in there because I was in fact outside the 14 days, 17 days to be exact, so I didn't think I had any ground to stand on. To my surprise, the store was very quiet given all the big announcements, and as I walked in the store I was immediately greeted by one of the agents. I told him a white lie that I got my iPhone "two weeks" ago and wanted to return it. To my surprise, he didn't even flinch and said no problem as long as I had the receipt and box. He didn't ask me about my date of purchase at nor did he go over the receipt to actually count days (at least he didn't appear to). The whole time I was thinking, oh great he's about to read the date on the receipt and turn me down, but to my surprise he simply whipped out his magic wand check out tool and simply credited my card $200 plus $16 tax.
After I had the receipt comfortably in my hand, I felt secure enough to ask him some details about the refund. I could tell he was a little uncomfortable answering details about the return policy so I didn't press him to hard. He did tell me he felt bad for the customers and mentioned that several employees had also bought phones and also wanted some sort of compensation. I quietly asked him about the 14 day return policy and he quickly said its up to the manager. I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable so I left him alone and got out of there after giving him much thanks.
Here's my final thoughts.
I know all early adopters knew there would be a price drop at some point in the next year to six months. I haven't gone back and studied Apple price points, but I know from personally shopping around for iBook and iMacs that the prices never really budged until a new model was released. Given this past history, I felt comfortable being an early adopter of the iPhone because I thought the price wouldn't drop until a newer better product was on the market. However, this price drop set a new precedent for Apple (at least as far as I can remember) which left many people feeling burnt, used, etc.
To all the naysayers who say that you should just suck it up and
"that's the price of technology", I say yes and no. Prices usually do get cheaper. HD TV's are half off from what you would have paid last year. However, this is a little different. Why because its Apple and they just don't do this! They usually set their price and stick with it until the new product comes out. Anyways, I know not everyone will feel the same about this issue, but this is at least my opinion.
Good luck to those who are also trying for a refund and are not in the 14 day range.
So after speaking with an Apple customer service agent on the phone who told me "no refund", I decided to give it a try in person since I had read on here and on the Apple discussion board that some people had success getting refunds.
I was a little nervous going in there because I was in fact outside the 14 days, 17 days to be exact, so I didn't think I had any ground to stand on. To my surprise, the store was very quiet given all the big announcements, and as I walked in the store I was immediately greeted by one of the agents. I told him a white lie that I got my iPhone "two weeks" ago and wanted to return it. To my surprise, he didn't even flinch and said no problem as long as I had the receipt and box. He didn't ask me about my date of purchase at nor did he go over the receipt to actually count days (at least he didn't appear to). The whole time I was thinking, oh great he's about to read the date on the receipt and turn me down, but to my surprise he simply whipped out his magic wand check out tool and simply credited my card $200 plus $16 tax.
After I had the receipt comfortably in my hand, I felt secure enough to ask him some details about the refund. I could tell he was a little uncomfortable answering details about the return policy so I didn't press him to hard. He did tell me he felt bad for the customers and mentioned that several employees had also bought phones and also wanted some sort of compensation. I quietly asked him about the 14 day return policy and he quickly said its up to the manager. I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable so I left him alone and got out of there after giving him much thanks.
Here's my final thoughts.
I know all early adopters knew there would be a price drop at some point in the next year to six months. I haven't gone back and studied Apple price points, but I know from personally shopping around for iBook and iMacs that the prices never really budged until a new model was released. Given this past history, I felt comfortable being an early adopter of the iPhone because I thought the price wouldn't drop until a newer better product was on the market. However, this price drop set a new precedent for Apple (at least as far as I can remember) which left many people feeling burnt, used, etc.
To all the naysayers who say that you should just suck it up and
"that's the price of technology", I say yes and no. Prices usually do get cheaper. HD TV's are half off from what you would have paid last year. However, this is a little different. Why because its Apple and they just don't do this! They usually set their price and stick with it until the new product comes out. Anyways, I know not everyone will feel the same about this issue, but this is at least my opinion.
Good luck to those who are also trying for a refund and are not in the 14 day range.
