Can You Get a Refund on Your iPhone?
If you stood in line for hours to get your hands on an iPhone when Apple launched the device in June, you may not have cared that you had to shell out $600 for a cell phone. But now that Apple has cut the price by $200 on its 8GB model (and discontinued the 4GB model entirely), you may be more than just a little annoyed. And you're not alone. Angry iPhone owners are demanding refunds--and their complaints have been heard.
Initially, Apple refused to issue refunds to owners who had purchased their devices 15 days or more before yesterday's price cut. (Apple's official policy is that the company will issue a price adjustment on any purchases made within 14 days of the price cut. AT&T, meanwhile, says that it will issue refunds for any phones purchased within 30 days of the price cut.) Steve Jobs even commented on the situation to USA Today, saying "that's what happens."
He still stands by his decision to cut the price. In an open letter to all iPhone customers posted today, Jobs defends the move and offers to make amends by offering a $100 store credit to any iPhone owner who is unable to get a full refund.
Still, for owners looking for their $200 back? Tough luck.
Or is it?
Many early iPhone purchasers have managed to get refunds. Perhaps they grabbed the right, soft-hearted salesperson. Maybe they just managed to annoy someone long enough to force them to cave in. However they managed to do it, they're talking about it. Online discussion boards, including many on Apple's site, are full of stories from iPhone owners who managed to get their money back, no matter when they purchased their phones. But for success story, you can find a story from an owner--and another, and another--who failed.
Rumors abound that these failures are likely to increase, with some posters saying that Apple is instructing its stores to follow its refund policy more strictly. Apple spokespeople did not return calls asking for comment, and a manager at my local Apple store wouldn't confirm the rumor. "The policy is the same today as it was yesterday," she told me. "I have no idea how some people managed to get those refunds." (I called the other Apple store in my area 3 times, and the phone rang and rang without an answer.)
With all this conflicting information out there, what?s an iPhone owner to do? Some people who were denied refunds from Apple or AT&T have gotten them from their credit card companies, under buyer protection plans that are often offered by American Express, Mastercard or Visa. Some say they have been issued store credits or Apple gift cards in the amount of the price drop.
So how do you feel about the way Apple Handled the iPhone price drops? Let us know.
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I heard that if you hold up Steve Jobs letter to a mirror, it reads, "Dear suckers, as a result of my poor business skills, Microsoft has been kicking our butts for the past 20 years. Therefore, we have found it necessary to rip off the consumers as much as possible now that we too make a piece of junk that people are dumb enough to buy at our ridiculous prices. It was ALWAYS our intention to milk as much money as possible from the early adopter suckers as we know there are actually people out there who will line up to buy the first of whatever overpriced underquality useless hunk of junk we force down their throat, just as long as we hype it. Therefore, we are offering a measly $100 credit to those suckers to see if they are still dumb enough to buy even MORE overpriced junk. We be they are because we know, there's a sucker born every minute, and for every seat, there's an a$$"
Truth huts, huh
Yea, $100 million in credits is pretty measly as an apology. I'm sure M$ would do better by their customers... oh, that's right, they don't. Well, I'm sure the above poster will be happily 'squirting' with his brown Zune while I am forced to use my 'piece of junk' iPhone. BTW, Thank's Steve for buying me a copy of Leopard (with the $100). i'm sure it's 'junk' in comparison to Vi$ta Super Ultra Mega Mondo Supreme with Mushroom Edition.
Yes, the Truth does 'hut'.