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Couldn't buy with Amex Gift Card? WTF?!?
- Thread starter fotomatt1
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What exactly is the point if they are going to check a photo ID anyway? If they are worried about enforcing the customer limit, then the ID just took care of that issue.
selling on ebay for more than what they paid for them, defeating the point of country release schedules
It's not just to monitor that one transaction, it's also to capture the info for future transactions, eg if you come back tomorrow to buy more. Doing it by IDs would require lookups in various state databases, as well as against other valid ID such as passports and military ID cards. Credit card number provides a single unified database (or close to it - no more than a handful). The ID is just an extra layer to discourage shenanigans.
It does. They use that method to limit educational discounts to two machines a year per eligible customer.
But there are some people who won't want apple storing their ID info. The point is, no policy will please everyone. If they don't limit sales per person systematically, people complain. If they do, people complain.
Actually the merchant agreements that the card processing companies have state you can't force someone to show their id.
Can they ask? Yeah. I used to work at best buy and we did regularly. But technically it's against the visa/mc/Amex agreement.
Op: I'd give Amex a call, they should be able to at least get your money back.
Can they ask? Yeah. I used to work at best buy and we did regularly. But technically it's against the visa/mc/Amex agreement.
Op: I'd give Amex a call, they should be able to at least get your money back.
But that way, there is nothing stopping someone with 25 credit cards from purchasing 50 iPads. I would think they would use the name on the card, not just the card number. On the other hand, there are many common names out there and an ID alone wouldn't really help.
It's not silly and it's not a game. Apple doesn't owe this guy anything "extra", and you've offered no reasonable explanation why they do. Just like they don't owe him the privilege of buying an iPad using the manner of payment he prefers.
Well, they track the name plus ID number for the educational discount.
And you're right about someone with 25 cards. I think they're betting the odds of a lot of scalpers having 25 cards is low I guess.
Wow, sorry to hear what happened. However, at my Apple store they made it clear to the entire crowd, several times before we enterded, that the iPad could only be purchased with a credit card.
No gift cards or cash. Im surprised that your Apple store didnt do the same before you went inside...?
No gift cards or cash. Im surprised that your Apple store didnt do the same before you went inside...?
What I mentioned is irrelevant to this though...because I was criticizing their mystery for everything, as if an ipad is the second coming..I'm mocking at their cult attitude and secret service type of secrecy which I find amusing.....and besides... people no matter what, will still sell at a higher prices on ebay. It's not the sellers fault though while there are always people willing to buy for those elevated prices..its like supply and demand..I blame more the buyers for being so stupid and impatient instead of the sellers which are looking for extra cash just like steve jobs who tries to squeeze the most money out of its consumers with outdated technology and overpriced products (which are great nonetheless)
JZ Wire said:Wow, sorry to hear what happened. However, at my Apple store they made it clear to the entire crowd, several times before we enterded, that the iPad could only be purchased with a credit card.
No gift cards or cash. Im surprised that your Apple store didnt do the same before you went inside...?
Our store did the same... But, i think after the line got filed into the store they weren't warning customers ahead of time as well. I know at least one guy was in there with cash begging strangers to help him buy an iPad.
No it doesn't; a photo ID can only make sure your credit card is yours; a credit card requires a SSN to get, so it's traceable. I can bring a fake ID for cash.
Again, I don't care WHY they are doing it. And if I want to buy an iPad on a credit card which is traceable and then put it on eBay for $10k, I'm perfectly able to do so. Again, money is money. Why am I able to buy a macbook with a gift card but not an iPad. This makes no sense, but I have AMEX working on it.
You really should. Since you didn't get one yesterday at launch (the only time they're pretty much guaranteed to be in stock), if Apple didn't limit purchases by tracking credit/debit cards, you will have an even harder time finding one in stock once you do get your payment issue straightened out.
Unlike with gift cards, you are not perfectly abie to have a limitless supply of credit/debit cards.
The two times Apple has implemented this policy has been when a product is in short-supply and hasn't launched globally. MacBooks fall into neither of those categories.
Let us know how it goes.
There's nothing Amex can do about this. They're not refusing to accept the gift card, they're refusing to sell you an iPad. Apple stores are private property, they can make their own rules and even ask you to leave because they don't like the color of your shirt.
Yes, it is against Amex's policy to ask for ID, but they don't enforce it. We actually called Amex about this very issue the other day, and they said, "Yes, that is our policy. But we don't do anything about it when our merchants ask for ID." So why have the policy, then? Dumb.
Anyway, Amex isn't going to "fix" this for you. There is nothing they can do. So suck it up, and use another form of payment, or forget about getting an iPad.
Let me put it this way: Do you really think Amex is going to sever ties with Apple because of you? No.
So I'm confused... They didn't offer to let you buy an Apple gift card? I ask because I ran into similar situation when I purchased my 3GS IPhone. I had been given a gift card to get mine, so I went to the Apple store the first day and tried to get a phone. My card was declined because Apple as a weird thing where sometimes they want the gift card to be the exact amount. The salesperson suggested buying a gift card for the exact amount of the gift card.
Turns out for some reason gift cards there is an additional activation besides your initial one. This is for using it online and for some reason Apple stores. If this second activation isn't done, the card will always be declined. The salesperson had heard of this, and knew I could buy an Apple gift card, which did work.
It was an extra step, but I got my iPhone. They didn't try this?
Posted from my iPad
Turns out for some reason gift cards there is an additional activation besides your initial one. This is for using it online and for some reason Apple stores. If this second activation isn't done, the card will always be declined. The salesperson had heard of this, and knew I could buy an Apple gift card, which did work.
It was an extra step, but I got my iPhone. They didn't try this?
Posted from my iPad
I am all for this policy. This falls into Apples policy that only allows you to buy 2 iPads in your lifetime.
If you want to blame someone, blame all those people that buy up the iPads and then sell them on eBay. If people would just buy the items and use them for personal use like they are supposed to, then Apple wouldn't be making these silly rules.
When I was in line yesterday, there were more people in my part of the line from out of the country than there were residents. They were buying them 2 at a time so that they can take them back to their home country. Since the iPad was only released in the US, they should not allow people without american credit cards to buy them as well.
If you want to blame someone, blame all those people that buy up the iPads and then sell them on eBay. If people would just buy the items and use them for personal use like they are supposed to, then Apple wouldn't be making these silly rules.
When I was in line yesterday, there were more people in my part of the line from out of the country than there were residents. They were buying them 2 at a time so that they can take them back to their home country. Since the iPad was only released in the US, they should not allow people without american credit cards to buy them as well.
Apple was not accepting their own gift cards either. The only way to buy an iPad was to use a credit or debit card.
This is weird, because my friend purchased his iPad with like 710 in cash, and the rest on the card. I saw the receipt, too.