Waited on line at the SoHo store for 40 mins.....had a 64GB 3G in my hand, and was told I couldn't purchase it because I wanted to use an Amex gift card that was given to me specifically to buy an iPad. Apple will not take a gift card to purchase an iPad at all. Now I have a useless $1000 amex gift card! Anybody know if I can at least buy it from apple's online store with a gift card? This is a ridiculous policy. I'm getting American Express and the FTC involved. One way or another Apple will have to accept it as payment. According to Amex, Apple is violating it's terms of service with Amex if they are picking and choosing which product can be purchased with their card. Anybody else have a similar experience?
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Couldn't buy with Amex Gift Card? WTF?!?
- Thread starter fotomatt1
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If they don't, many people on craigslist will give you cash for that Amex gift card. You won't get the full GC amt but you could get close.
I hope you get it worked out.
I hope you get it worked out.
It isn't a credit card. It doesn't have your name on it. It isn't the same as an Amex credit card. It is my understanding that 51% of the transaction has to be paid for with a credit card.
I'm really sorry. I hope you can figure something out.
I'm really sorry. I hope you can figure something out.
The issue has to do with the fact that it is not a credit card, so they can't verify that you are from the US, or able to be an at&t customer. You will be able to use it online, or use it to convert to an Apple Gift Card, to then use online.
TEG
TEG
I was willing to put part of it on a credit card so they could verify my identity. Also, my gift card is registered to me with Amex, and Apple can verify this by running the gift card. The Apple employee also told me this has ALWAYS been the case with iPhones. Not true. I purchased my 3GS in August with an Amex gift card at a retail location.
I do have some people a American Express looking into this, because according to them, Apple cannot refuse to take an Amex gift card if they take an Amex charge card for the same product. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
I swear this policy is absolute ********. I bought mine online but I feel bad for those who want to purchase it in the store with a gift card or cash. It seems like the next step for Apple would be fingerprinting, a background check and body cavity searches.
Not to mention the policy is NOT CLEARLY POSTED ANYWHERE. You can find it buried on Apples Retail Policy website, but it's not posted anywhere near the iPad website. I wouldn't have waited on line for an hour to be turned away and told my money was no good.
I've already filed complaints with the NYS Better Business Bureau and Federal Trade Commission. I'm also filing a complaint with American Express, as they advertise that their gift cards can be used anywhere that the American Express charge card is accepted. It's no fault of Amex, but I do need them to step in to resolve this somehow.
I'm not an angry person that likes to make trouble, but I'm upset at how poorly I was treated by a company that I've bought literally tens of thousands of dollars worth of products from. Money is money, and they have no right to force me to use a specific method of payment. They won't let you pay cash either. There are still some people out there who do not believe in credit cards, or can't have one for one reason or another. Why should they not be allowed to buy a product they want because of this? This is insanity!
Calm down. Apple is fairly strict about this point for some reason. I'm not clear on why.
You have a few options. Buy it online, buy it from another retailer when it is available (at&t is rumored to be selling the 3G while Best Buy has the WIFI), or similar.
You have a few options. Buy it online, buy it from another retailer when it is available (at&t is rumored to be selling the 3G while Best Buy has the WIFI), or similar.
Sorry....as much as I love their products, I'm not going to let them slide on this. What they're doing is wrong. Apple fanboys are are willing to bend over and take whatever kind of SteveJob is thrown at them, but it doesn't mean it's right, and I'm not going to let this one go.
Apple is a private business. It's perfectly legal for them to refuse you service for any reason whatsoever, be it because you're trying to pay with cash, a gift card, or even if you're wearing a silly hat. Beyond raging on the internet and through the mostly-useless BBB you really have no other choice but to shop elsewhere.
Sleep on it and do it right; clear headed. Just point out your complaint to the right sources and stay professional. Cooler heads prevail.
Good luck with your crusade.
No..Apple is a public business says the shares of Apple stock that I own, and they cannot conduct business this way. Sorry, but we'll see.
Want to say I'm with you here and good luck. I'm not sure what you're after, fighting this policy itself, or just you being able to purchase an iPad with your gift card. If it's the latter, just talk to the right person at the apple store with a clear head, and your thoughts organized well. Explain your situation and all relevant information to the manager or whoever the highest point of contact is. If they don't help you, go back at a later time, speak to somebody else and do the same thing.
Again, good luck
I just used my credit card and ordered online. Not a big deal! I fully support Apple trying to limit profiteers so that real consumers are not forced to "bend over and take" it from those who game the system. If you think Amex is a big company dealing in hugs and kisses why don't you just ask them to send you a cashiers check for the gift card. I'm sure they will be in a hurry to do it
I do agree with you that Apple should have been forthcoming about this policy from the very beginning and should have predicted the vultures.
Good luck tilting at windmills! I've ridden that horse more than my fair share.
HAHa please. Are you still whining about this? Sick the purchase on a ***** bankcard like a grown up and go get your ipad. I bet you don't own stock or nearly enough stock for anything to matter. The memo was clear, must use credit card, why is this a shock?
When you have one you'll forget all about this.
It was the case with the original iPhone. As the iPhone 3G and 3Gs had to be activated before leaving the store, it wasn't needed for those models.
The purpose of it then (and now) is to stop a person from walking in, buying 2 iPads, coming back 10 minutes later and buying 2 more iPads from a different sales person, coming back 10 minutes late and buying 2 more iPads from yet another different sale person, (repeat process for quite awhile), then going on eBay and selling them all for a higher price than what Apple does because there is a market of people who will pay a higher price, because they can't find the damn iPads available for sale when they look in the stores.
So what Apple does (with the original iPhone, and now the iPad) is require a proper credit/debit card. When you buy an iPad, they keep track of your credit/debit card number. After you have purchased two iPads with that credit/debit card number, their system will not allow you to buy any more iPads with that card.
This policy obviously screws over people like the OP. But it also stops a valid problem where tons of iPads were being purchased for reselling, leaving a lot less stock for everyone else looking to legitimately buy an iPad.
I totally agree. Apple wouldn't exist without its customers. If they are going to implement this policy, they need to do a better job of communicating it so that things like this are avoided. If no one voices their concerns, companies will never know where they need improvement. I hope you keep at it until it is properly resolved. And if there is any sense of customer service at Apple, you should get something a little extra for your troubles.
Good luck.
I don't know why people who have been using this board don't understand that you need to use a credit card so Apple can verify you aren't buying more than the allowed number of iPads. It has nothing to do with AT&T or anything else.
It's unfortunate that the policy isn't clearly posted, because if you weren't aware of what Apple was doing, it would be confusing and annoying to not be able to complete a transaction with cash or a gift card, but that's what's going on.
For the OP - sorry, that must have been frustrating. You may be able to buy one online with the gift card (not positive).
It's unfortunate that the policy isn't clearly posted, because if you weren't aware of what Apple was doing, it would be confusing and annoying to not be able to complete a transaction with cash or a gift card, but that's what's going on.
For the OP - sorry, that must have been frustrating. You may be able to buy one online with the gift card (not positive).
Apple's getting on my nerves with these stupid policies and secrecy ********...they're a technology company not f**** secret service...lol today when I passed by at the dadeland mall store in miami the store was closed and steve jobs was in 3 huge monitors and all the apple employees dressed the same where carefully following instructions as if it were some cure to save the world...I felt like watching the V show when the head alien pops up in the sky to talk to the town lol..Apple is a cult more than anything else, and as much as I love their products they're starting to annoy me a little with so much bull.
In this case, it's not a confusing rule - you need to use a credit or debit card with your name on it (and they'll check your ID), in order to prevent what are in essence scalpers from buying in bulk and making iPads more expensive and difficult to get for consumers with no benefit to Apple.
However, it's been poorly communicated, and sometimes contradicted by poorly informed employees.
However, it's been poorly communicated, and sometimes contradicted by poorly informed employees.