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Waiving 15" MBP restock fee for a 17"?

E

eAspenwood

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 20, 2005
94
0
USA
I just bought a 2.0 ghz 15" mpb from the houston apple store last tuesday.

I'd like to get the 17" now cuz the extra goodies for $300 are worth it for me.

But, I just called up the apple store to see if they would waive the restocking fee of $250 if I exchange and they say NO.

At a total difference of $550, its not worth it for me to upgrade.

Is this a lost cause? Should I pester the apple store or maybe call apple directly?

Thanks,
-- J.
 
Yeah, I saw that. Good work.

I think the difference here is that I'm working with the local store (houston) and its up to them. And right now they are saying no.

:(
 
eAspenwood said:
Yeah, I saw that. Good work.

I think the difference here is that I'm working with the local store (houston) and its up to them. And right now they are saying no.

:(
Click to expand...


Check your PM
 
Are there any problems with it? If it has the noise problems (or any other issues) they may take it back as defective. Also check the airport reception, it's a pretty common problem as well.
 
I bought a 17 inch iMac at a local store, and 5-6 days later asked the local store manager to waive the fee on an upgrade to the 20- the 17 was not enough!

No way I could get them to move on it. I talked to the district manager, and even the VP of store operations. It is all up to the store manager, and if he/she says No, you are SOL.

So do what I did! Return it, eat the restock. In a month, contest the restock with your credit card company. Then go out any buy ANYWHERE but Apple sores.

This 10% restock is the biggest load of BS. Apple sores defend it because of the cost of selling a new piece as used. PLEEEEEZE! First off, it is on a small % of total sales, really not that much at all. But more than that, you know what Apple? It is a cost of doing business! Deal with it. It is YOUR JOB to make us happy with our computers, and if we are not happy, you fail.

But even more than that is the fact Apple gets double profit (well, certainly more, maybe not double) from an Apple Sore- profit at wholesale AND Retail. They make even more money selling there than from sales at CompUSA or Amazon. And they do take the same returns from wholesalers and refurbish those with no 10% restock. But where they make double profit, they also need an extra 10% restock, too, to perform the same refurbishment? Does not pass the smell test to me!

Basically, Apple is shooting a bunch of BS at us with the restock fees.

I think the Apple Sore managers have certian goals to meet, and returns hurt those numbers. And I bet they are not making their goals, so they are a LOT tighter than Apple on the phone.

So don't feel bad, return it, contest it, and buy it somewhere that has better consumer policies.
 
carfac said:
Basically, Apple is shooting a bunch of BS at us with the restock fees.
Click to expand...

um... what? How are restock fees unfair? When you return a product, apple has to resell it as refurbished. There are no defects; you're just returning it because you didn't think out your purchase, and now you want apple to eat the cost. Your "dispute the credit card charge" scheme is dishonest and wrong. If you don't want to pay the fee, keep what you bought, and next time think out your purchase more carefully.
 
QCassidy352 said:
um... what? How are restock fees unfair? When you return a product, apple has to resell it as refurbished. There are no defects; you're just returning it because you didn't think out your purchase, and now you want apple to eat the cost. Your "dispute the credit card charge" scheme is dishonest and wrong. If you don't want to pay the fee, keep what you bought, and next time think out your purchase more carefully.
Click to expand...

* 2. Well said
 
Sorry I was not clearer...

Restocking fees on a RETRUN are fair, as far as I can see... restocking fees on an EXCHANGE are BS...

Also, I seem to have left one important fact out of my diatribe earlier. The Mac was sold to me by an Apple Store employee who promised it would network properly with my existing Windows system. It never did, not after 5 hours on Apple Care, not after the Genius tried (he was worthless, too- his answer was to buy Airport and move all my windows machines over to that).

So, since I could not get it to network properly, I figured a larger hard drive would overcome this problem. Thus, I suggested the exchange. They would not hear of it.

So, when I contested the charge, it was because the devce failed to work as promised, which is an entirely correct and responsible reason to contest that charge.

I have since bought a 20 inch (Not at the Apple Sore) and confirmed that old one was defective- this one works perfect on my network.

Sorry I left this part out, it was a long post to begin with, and I did not figure this was important.

dave
 
I don't understand how a larger Hard drive fixed your networking problem, but I'm sorry they promised on something they couldn't deliver. :rolleyes:

carfac said:
Sorry I was not clearer...

Restocking fees on a RETRUN are fair, as far as I can see... restocking fees on an EXCHANGE are BS...

Also, I seem to have left one important fact out of my diatribe earlier. The Mac was sold to me by an Apple Store employee who promised it would network properly with my existing Windows system. It never did, not after 5 hours on Apple Care, not after the Genius tried (he was worthless, too- his answer was to buy Airport and move all my windows machines over to that).

So, since I could not get it to network properly, I figured a larger hard drive would overcome this problem. Thus, I suggested the exchange. They would not hear of it.

So, when I contested the charge, it was because the devce failed to work as promised, which is an entirely correct and responsible reason to contest that charge.

I have since bought a 20 inch (Not at the Apple Sore) and confirmed that old one was defective- this one works perfect on my network.

Sorry I left this part out, it was a long post to begin with, and I did not figure this was important.

dave
Click to expand...
 
CanadaRAM said:
Well, that's the most dishonest thing I have heard all day.

Sure wouldn't want a person like this for a customer.
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Seriously. Not to mention, what in the world does a larger hard drive have to do with networking? :confused: :confused:

eV
 
>>> Well, that's the most dishonest thing I have heard all day.

Dishonest? They sell me a Mac that does not work the way they told me it would and you think I am dishonest? Granted, MOST iMac DO work well in a windows network (or I assume they do), but this one sure did not. So I have a Mac that does not work the way it was promised to work, I want to spend MORE money on an upgrade, and they want to penalize me? I think that is a policy that needs to be looked at (which was my whole point in posting!) I only ended up returning after the Apple Store would not give up on a restocking fee for taking back the iMac that would not network correctly.

Please note that the Apple return Policy does NOT address the issue of returns on defective merchandise.

No, I do not feel dishonest at all- I feel like the Apple Store let me down as a customer! And my credit card company agreed- they do not reverse charges on a whim- they investigated, and THEY also concluded that to charge someone a restock on a retuirn of DEFECTIVE merchandise is out of line.

>>> Not to mention, what in the world does a larger hard drive have to do with networking?

eVolcre: try this on for size: I have a central server in my network that holds all my media files- music, DVD's, etc. The bad iMac could not stream a mp3 file without hiccoughing. To be sure, mp3's weren't bad, but WAV files would not stream well at all. And DVD's- Fogetaboutit!

My THOUGHT was one of two things- the Mac had a problem (in which case a new Mac would fix it) or, if the Mac really did not network well in my windows system, I could move all my music files (tyhe main ones I was worried about) over to the larger hard drive. I have over 100 Gigs of music. Put that on a 17" iMac and see how much room you have left over- on a 20 ", I would have the whole 17" drive left over.

So THAT is what a larger hard drive has to do with network speed.

BTW, for what it's worth, my new 20" acts NOTHING like that other Mac- it is very fast on my (same!) network, set up the same way. So now I know- somethingt WAS wrong with that first one.

dave
 
carfac said:
>>> Well, that's the most dishonest thing I have heard all day.

Dishonest? They sell me a Mac that does not work the way they told me it would and you think I am dishonest? Granted, MOST iMac DO work well in a windows network (or I assume they do), but this one sure did not.
Click to expand...
That's almost certainly problem with your network, not with their computer. If you could connect it to the Internet, you could connect it to your network. Bottom line is that your return obviously wasn't defective, and telling the credit card company it was defective because YOU couldn't get it to work is still dishonest. Had you returned the item as defective to Apple, you wouldn't have been charged the restocking fee.

Please note that the Apple return Policy does NOT address the issue of returns on defective merchandise.
Click to expand...
Check again. http://www.apple.com/legal/sales_policies/retail.html (open box fee)
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html (service/replacement of defective items)


BTW, for what it's worth, my new 20" acts NOTHING like that other Mac- it is very fast on my (same!) network, set up the same way. So now I know- somethingt WAS wrong with that first one.
Click to expand...

It's more likely that you fixed the problem while troubleshooting the first one and the changes hadn't carried over. Your hard drive has absolutely nothing to do with networking--not even streaming large video files. Any hard drive made in the past decade is more than capable of handling that kind of traffic.
 
matticus008 said:
That's almost certainly problem with your network, not with their computer. If you could connect it to the Internet, you could connect it to your network. Bottom line is that your return obviously wasn't defective, and telling the credit card company it was defective because YOU couldn't get it to work is still dishonest. Had you returned the item as defective to Apple, you wouldn't have been charged the restocking fee.


Check again. http://www.apple.com/legal/sales_policies/retail.html (open box fee)
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html (service/replacement of defective items)




It's more likely that you fixed the problem while troubleshooting the first one and the changes hadn't carried over. Your hard drive has absolutely nothing to do with networking--not even streaming large video files. Any hard drive made in the past decade is more than capable of handling that kind of traffic.
Click to expand...

how can you possibly know that he claims with the exact same settings the new imac on the network was now working. problems with computers can very commonly run counter to common sense. Ive had a computer that runs cripplilingly slow I couldnt figure out what was going on with the thing... the problem was the usb printer.
 
AP_piano295 said:
how can you possibly know that he claims with the exact same settings the new imac on the network was now working. problems with computers can very commonly run counter to common sense. Ive had a computer that runs cripplilingly slow I couldnt figure out what was going on with the thing... the problem was the usb printer.
Click to expand...
Exactly the point. Lots of things can cause trouble, and rarely is it a deficiency of the computer itself (aside from DOA parts)--it tends to be a configuration error or a conflict with something else installed, like your printer. In this thread, the OP claims it didn't network with his other computer, then claims that it did but with poor performance, and he says he tried troubleshooting with Apple (whose tech support specialists, by the way, are not trained in anything more than extremely basic networking--the router company is the call to make for networking problems). I'm not sure which is actually the case.

The fact is that if he returned the computer complaining that the network didn't work, and they tried it in-store and found that it did, then he got charged the open box fee. Had it not worked in the store, there wouldn't be an open box fee. If the network adapter works in one situation, it's not defective, it's a network or software problem, 999 times out of 1000.
 
carfac said:
Sorry I was not clearer...

Restocking fees on a RETRUN are fair, as far as I can see... restocking fees on an EXCHANGE are BS...
Click to expand...
:rolleyes: Yeah, um how is Apple going to sell your computer as "new" when you already had your dirty little mitts on it for days or perhaps a few weeks? It is no longer new, and a restocking fee must be recouped. Apple should pay because you want to "exchange"? You must be having a big case of entitleitis.
 
jadekitty24 said:
:rolleyes: Yeah, um how is Apple going to sell your computer as "new" when you already had your dirty little mitts on it for days or perhaps a few weeks? It is no longer new, and a restocking fee must be recouped. Apple should pay because you want to "exchange"? You must be having a big case of entitleitis.
Click to expand...

Come on, don't exaggerate. Where did the few weeks come from out of the 10 days window to return?
 
allright you self righteous people, i returned the mpb and ate the 250 restocking fee.

hope your happy.

:)

really, i understand the business need to charge this amount (especially after a new prod is rolled out) but I still think its a crappy policy in regard to keeping good customer relations, especially for loyal apple customers that have spent many thousands of dollars on apple products over the years.

Well, whatever. I've ordered my 17er. It better not suck.

-- J.
 
Yeah, but again - if they're going to have to sell it at a hit because you can't work it/change your mind/want to upgrade from what you bought, why should they take the hit? That said if it's faulty, misrepped, or incorrect item then sure, it's their fault.
 
skubish said:
I understand why Apple charges the restocking fee but it isn't very customer friendly.
Click to expand...
I understand why Apple charges the restocking fee and realise not everything is about the customer. There's no such thing as a free lunch. *Maybe* they could fix the system a little bit and make it 5% fee for current model computers and 10% for superceded models or a cheaper rate if you are returning to upgrade. The problem is that everyone loves 'as new' refurb computers and someone has to pay for the discount.
 
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