Apple? "Best Customer Service?" Hah!

[lifeinhd]

A week ago, my friend went to the Apple Store and bought me a $50 Apple Store Gift Card as a gift. What he didn't notice is that instead of an Apple Store Gift Card, they gave him an iTunes Gift Card. When he saw me open it, he realized they had made a mistake and gave me the receipt so I could exchange it for the correct card. Today I went to the Apple Store to purchase a new iPod Touch, explained the problem and asked that they swap it out for the correct card. Apparently, they can't do that (the employee gave me some BS reason that I don't remember). He supposedly talked to the manager, and the manager supposedly said the same thing. The employee's solution, and I quote, was "You could try selling it." Right. I took the card and walked out.

It pisses me off so much that they can't even correct their own mistake. And Apple still gets the money anyways, so what do they care what product of theirs I spend it on? Right now, I'm not even sure that I want an iPod anymore. I wouldn't mind trying a different brand. The main thing keeping me with the iPod is the money I've put into apps. I'm damn glad I never bought any music from the iTMS, or I'd be screwed big time. Maybe I'll feel different tomorrow, but if I do buy an iPod, it won't be from the Apple Store.

Anyone else have a similar negative experience with Apple's customer service, or am I the only one in the world?

 

[184550]

While it's unfortunate, I don't blame them. It plainly says 'iTunes Gift Card' on the card and the Apple store gift card is completely different in design. There is no way someone could confuse the two.

Surely you could sell it for around $40 and if you were going to buy an iPod Touch and were prepared to fork over $200- $300 anyways, $10 shouldn't make that much of a difference.

 

[lifeinhd]

While it's unfortunate, I don't blame them. It plainly says 'iTunes Gift Card' on the card and the Apple store gift card is completely different in design. There is no way someone could confuse the two.

Surely you could sell it for around $40 and if you were going to buy an iPod Touch and were prepared to fork over $200- $300 anyways, $10 shouldn't make that much of a difference.

I've purchased Apple Store gift cards before, and they have the card pre-glued in a little gray paper card with a silver (or is it white?) Apple logo on the front. This is a little white paper card with a silver Apple logo on the front. If someone hasn't bought a gift card with them before, I'd say it's pretty easy to assume the Apple person activated the right one.

 

[djellison]

While it's unfortunate, I don't blame them..

He took the product (unused) and the receipt. They should have exchanged it without question.

 

[Eraserhead]

He took the product (unused) and the receipt. They should have exchanged it without question.

Definitely.

 

[roadbloc]

I don't think Apple have a very good customer service at all. I'm still sour about the iPod I bust a ball to save up for. After one week the hard drive failed, you could hear it clicking inside, trying but failing to read my music. Sent it back to Apple three times and every single time their failed to see the problem with it, and returned it claiming it had nothing wrong with it.

Bloody idiots the lot of them! It couldn't play my music due to the faulty HD, and these so called 'Genius' people failed to see that.

[/RANT]

 

[Eraserhead]

Sounds like you should have escalated the matter . More than once on something that cut and dried isn't acceptable.

 

[lifeinhd]

Sounds like you should have escalated the matter . More than once on something that cut and dried isn't acceptable.

My friend's agreed to come down on Sat. with me. Hopefully he's louder than I am

 

[ucfgrad93]

He took the product (unused) and the receipt. They should have exchanged it without question.

Agreed. However, OP, I would just keep the card and use it to purchase some apps, music, video, etc. for your new iPod touch.

 

[Eraserhead]

My friend's agreed to come down on Sat. with me. Hopefully he's louder than I am

Its not about being loud, its about being firm. Ask to speak to the manager if they won't replace it.

 

[184550]

My friend's agreed to come down on Sat. with me. Hopefully he's louder than I am

Being rude and abrasive will get you (or your friend) no where.

So I guess you decided that you want an iPod after all, eh?

 

[lewis82]

He took the product (unused) and the receipt. They should have exchanged it without question.

In theory, yes.

However it is more complicated than that, as cards are activated in a system. You probably can't deactivate a card.

But it's true that they should exchange it anyways. It was not his fault.

 

[djellison]

However it is more complicated than that, as cards are activated in a system. You probably can't deactivate a card..

That's not his problem, and by law Apple must make the exchange if he asks them to.

On principle, I would not back down on this issue.

 

[lifeinhd]

Agreed. However, OP, I would just keep the card and use it to purchase some apps, music, video, etc. for your new iPod touch.

I have about $50 in iTunes credit right now from cards people have given me, and it's been that way for about a year. I simply don't buy stuff from the store, save for the occasional 99¢ app.

Its not about being loud, its about being firm.

That's what I mean. I'm just not good at that

That's not his problem, and by law Apple must make the exchange if he asks them to.

I'd like to know where you heard that. Maybe things would go more smoothly if I could point that out to them....

 

[macquariumguy]

It pisses me off so much that they can't even correct their own mistake.

I think I see the problem right here.

 

[*LTD*]

Apple consistently scores at the top in customer service year after year. Everyone knows this - consumers, the industry, everyone.

If there's an exception, there's an exception. Your personal experience does not a universal judgment make.

 

[Les Kern]

"It pisses me off so much that they can't even correct their own mistake."

Reminds me of when I bought a Chevy. I got it home and really wanted a Ford. Chevy should have KNOWN I wanted a Ford. I had the receipt. It's their fault.

Go buy an Apple Store gift card and quit wasting everyone's time.

 

[belvdr]

Reminds me of when I bought a Chevy. I got it home and really wanted a Ford. Chevy should have KNOWN I wanted a Ford. I had the receipt. It's their fault.

Go buy an Apple Store gift card and quit wasting everyone's time.

Very poor example and attitude. Those are two different manufacturers. This is one manufacturer selling two of its own products. They would certainly accept an exchange of a product in the same condition.

 

[aristobrat]

It pisses me off so much that they can't even correct their own mistake.

Yeah, unfortunately, they setup the Apple Store, the Apple Online Store, the iTunes Store, and AppleCare as separate entities.

The Apple Store can sell things like iTS gift certs and AppleCare, but if its something that involves activation, often times the refunds have to be issued by the other entity.

I worked there for a few years, and as long as you had a receipt and hadn't exposed the activation code on the back, I would have at least tried to do the exchange/refund for you. If the transaction errored out because it couldn't deactivate an iTS gift cert purchased a week prior on the iTunes Store's systems, then that'd be that for what could be done in the Apple Store. You'd have to chat with the iTunes Store customer support folks. Nobody in the retail store has the ability to reach over into the iTunes Store systems and manually deactivate that card and transfer $50 back to the store so it could be credited to you to purchase a $50 store gift card.

I'm damn glad I never bought any music from the iTMS, or I'd be screwed big time.

Not really. All music for the last year-and-a-half has been sold in the iTunes Plus format, which means it doesn't have DRM (and will play pretty much anywhere). And if you did have older music with DRM, it can be upgraded to DRM-free iTunes Plus format.

Maybe I'll feel different tomorrow, but if I do buy an iPod, it won't be from the Apple Store.

"Apple still gets the money anyways", right?

 

[lifeinhd]

Reminds me of when I bought a Chevy. I got it home and really wanted a Ford. Chevy should have KNOWN I wanted a Ford. I had the receipt. It's their fault.

Go buy an Apple Store gift card and quit wasting everyone's time.

That's not quite it. My friend said that he wanted an Apple Store Gift Card, NOT an iTunes Store Gift Card. It's like going to the Chevy dealer and requesting a Corvette and they give you a Cavalier.

And your second statement... perhaps you'd best go back and reread my first post. I already have a card, it's just the wrong one....

The Apple Store can sell things like iTS gift certs and AppleCare, but if its something that involves activation, often times the refunds have to be issued by the other entity.

So I should be able to talk to iTMS Customer Care people (I didn't even know they had such a thing)?

I worked there for a few years, and as long as you had a receipt and hadn't exposed the activation code on the back, I would have at least tried to do the exchange/refund for you. If the transaction errored out because it couldn't deactivate an iTS gift cert purchased a week prior on the iTunes Store's systems, then that'd be that for what could be done in the Apple Store. You'd have to chat with the iTunes Store customer support folks. Nobody in the retail store has the ability to reach over into the iTunes Store systems and manually deactivate that card and transfer $50 back to the store so it could be credited to you to purchase a $50 store gift card.

Do they really have to? Apple already has the $50, can't they just destroy the iTMS card and activate a new Apple Store card? If they want I'll even reimburse them the 0.001¢ the card is worth

 

[Messy]

That's not quite it. My friend said that he wanted an Apple Store Gift Card, NOT an iTunes Store Gift Card. It's like going to the Chevy dealer and requesting a Corvette and they give you a Cavalier.

And your second statement... perhaps you'd best go back and reread my first post. I already have a card, it's just the wrong one....



So I should be able to talk to iTMS Customer Care people (I didn't even know they had such a thing)?



Do they really have to? Apple already has the $50, can't they just destroy the iTMS card and activate a new Apple Store card? If they want I'll even reimburse them the 0.001¢ the card is worth

The 0.001 value is for tax purposes, just FYI.

 

[bizzle]

Just an FYI, you can return an iTunes giftcard. It just needs manager override. I used to work in Apple retail.

 

[lifeinhd]

Just an FYI, you can return an iTunes giftcard. It just needs manager override. I used to work in Apple retail.

I went down there the other day with my friend, and we got everything straightened out. Just annoyed I had to go down there twice, as it isn't the most convenient place for me to go

 

[MacNoobie]

To be honest they've activated the card through whom ever actually does the card activations for all the retailers so really there isn't a clear cut nor simple way to just xfer money from the activated card into something different. Heck try walking into any super market, putting $40 down on a gift card and walking over to the customer service to get a cash refund on it.

Update: Glad to hear Apple could return the card for ya despite it taking two trips to the store. If the manager doesn't know how to do something or doesn't want to do something for ya then tell em you'll contact Steve at Steve@Apple.com which will trickle down through corporate and finally his regional manager who will get things done for ya. Thats how I got my iPhone 3G replaced when it failed and a kick ass store that I go to now every time to buy something.