Apple refuses to return $2,000 to customer
By Jonathan Schlaffer
If you were a college student and your parents had just bought you the generous gift of Adobe CS3 Design Premium which runs about $1,800 (before taxes) and let’s say you didn’t need it so you go to the Apple store with the gift receipt to get store credit for it but things go wrong. That’s exactly what has happened to one person.
It all began with a trip to the Apple store at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL which issued store credit on July 11 for the $1,957 spent on the Adobe CS3 product. He claims that for the next four days, the gift card was kept locked away in his car. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t leave a gift card worth $2,000 locked in my car, I’d keep it on my person or hidden somewhere in my home until I needed it but that’s neither here nor there.
Things really took a dip when he attempted to use the card with the Apple store saying only $21.00 was left on the card. Customer service claims that a gift card worth $1,957 was spent at an Apple store in Atlanta, GA on July 15. Of course, it wasn’t him and Apple even admitted it wasn’t his fault but still refused to refund the money.
His most recent post says that Apple has contacted him and things are moving, albeit slowly now but it’s still a wait and see game.
It just goes to show you that the security necessary for gift cards is not yet in place as gift cards have become quite the popular… gift. It also show what poor customer support Apple has, which I can personally attest to.
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August 5th, 2007
Why are you blaming Apple? If they’d given the boy cash, and he’d left the cash in his car and it had gotten stolen, would that be *APPLE’S* fault? No way. What if the boy’d actually USED the gift card himself and bought a laptop and left it in the car and it had gotten stole, would that be *APPLE’S* fault? No way.
I’m no Apple fanboy and I think they do a LOT of things wrong — I don’t own an Apple product and I won’t. But your “logic” is sooo flawed. And your writing is so poor, I’m not even completely sure that even YOU understand what you’re trying to say. You lead of the “article” saying that the boy’s parents bought him a gift and he tried to return it but things “went wrong”. That makes it sound like Apple wouldn’t return the gift — which isn’t the case. They gave him store credit in the form of the gift card, worth $1957 you say. Then you go and complain about the gift card worth $2000, which does not exist. Quit rounding. Especially when you confuse things further and say that $21 was left on the card, but somehow $1957 was spent in Atlanta, GA? If you’re saying the gift card was somehow taken to Atlanta, GA, or the card number was taken and duped, there wouldn’t be $21 left on a gift card of $1957 if a $1957 purchase was made, there would be $0!! It seems that instead you should be looking at a series of purchases made that equal $1936, if you’re even wanting to pursue that fairy-tale at all. The crazy thing is that instead of mentioning card-duping, you’re saying the boy left the $1957 card in his car, and then found it again later with only $21 left on it. This isn’t a box of money where the thieves reach in and grab most of it and run, leaving a few stray bills… this is a gift card. The most ridiculous thing is that you seem to be asserting that someone would steal a gift card from a vehicle, use it for only what they wanted to purchase, and then would return it to the vehicle so that its rightful owner could still use whatever’s left. Insane.
August 5th, 2007
Fred, there is over analyzing and then there is over analyzing. First of all, couldn’t we agree that $1,957 is so close to $2,000 that it’s easier to estimate it to be $2,000 (I know it’s not and you know it’s not but it’s soooo close).
Quit rounding? No. I’m reiterating what he said, no doing the math myself, it’s not my job to check others figures, will I be doing so in the future, nope.
I’m not saying he found it again with $21 left on it and I never said that someone actually stole it out of his car, I said that *I* wouldn’t have left it lying around in a car, where’d you get that I said someone took it and replaced it? Talk about fairy tales…
Stop putting words in my mouth and saying things I alluded to as facts, I only suggested that someone could take gift card out of a car, that’s it.
Apple said there was $21 left on the card when he tried to spend it, not me and again, I’m not going to check figures from two or three sources, not my job, but it seems, is yours…
The company is refusing to return the money because they thought he spent it, things did go wrong but perhaps not with the return… I won’t split any more hairs if you won’t.
October 17th, 2007
“it’s not my job to check others figures, will I be doing so in the future, nope.” - Why bloggers won’t be accepted by anyone with half-a-brain as a legitimate source of news.
In addition, isn’t it be in your best interest to be as accurate as possible?