Why Apple is charging me for Gift card that supposed to be free?

Yes, this is a shady promotion practice. Unless you read the fine print very very carefully you don't realize that if you apply for and use the Apple card for purchase, there is no discount or gift card.

Also, although Apple says it's a soft credit inquiry that will not affect your credit score, BEWARE. It is actually a hard credit inquiry that DEFINITELY will affect your credit score.

This happened with me as well. My understanding is the word 'GIFT CARD' is a pure 'SCAM' advertisement by 'APPLE'. No matter what you put in fine prints, from a brand like 'APPLE' we expect them to be fair to customer and not trick them. A simple analogy will help this understand - Say you bought a gift card of any XYZ brand to give it to your a friend/family on some occasion. Will you put them on a payment plan from next month for this gift card? A 'GIFT CARD' is supposed to be a 'GIFT' and 'gifts are not asked to payback. I believe no other brands indulge in practice like this. I along with my family and friends trusted apple to do the right thing for customers and not trick them. None of us are happy. We are contemplating doing away with all 'APPLE' products gradually.

SKB_CTG wrote:

I haven't heard of a "Gift" that is not free!!!

This promotional gift card is free – in the sense that the net cost for the card is $0 – but it is not a gift. It's a way of giving you store credit.

You only get it as part of a package deal. If you don't buy a qualifying device, you don't get the card. If you buy one, but then return it, they're not going to let you get ALL of your money back, keep the card, and then go on a shopping spree at their expense. They're not going to let you rip them off that way. No company that offers gift cards as part of promotional deals can afford to allow that.

As for gift cards in Target, Walmart, Best Buy, etc., whether they are Apple gift cards or not, those cards are not gifts. You have to buy them. They become gifts if you give them, at your own expense, to someone else. The store is not in business to pay for your gifts.

I guess the term "Gift" means something else for Apple. If I have to pay for the gift card, then why this is called a promotion?

You aren't paying anything for the gift card in the bottom-line analysis. The line item breakdown says that you're buying the gift card, but getting a credit for the price of the gift card against the price of the device (Mac or iPad) that you're buying. This discount is in addition to whatever sale price you are / aren't getting on the Mac or iPad.

So you buy the Mac or iPad, and now you also have, essentially, $150 or $200 of credit for buying more stuff from Apple. Credit that didn't cost you anything above and beyond what you would have spent on the device.

As an additional thought: you are arguing with other end users. We do not work for Apple and this is not Apple support. They do not participate here and we cannot represent them. You need to address this with Apple - sorry.

I haven't heard of a "Gift" that is not free!!!

That is an oversimplified take on things.

Gift cards are for sale everywhere. They have to be paid for by someone. They are a gift for the recipient. the "gift giver" has to purchase them.

Stores and manufacturers would go bankrupt soon if they gave away cards.

How do you think the normal average minimally competent person would interpret this??

"save on iPad or Mac with education pricing. Plus get a gift card for up to $200."

I can tell you that the 14 people I asked, assumed the gift card of a value of $200 was thrown in as incentive to purchase a macbook, that is, their interpretation was that the card was free and you don't have to pay for it.

I’m trying to put a new Sim card for my old phone to this phone right? I have right now how can I do it?

I’m trying to put a new Sim card for my old phone to this phone right? I have right now how can I do it?

You are expecting a free $200 gift card. That is not how it works.

Start by starting your own discussion for your issue which is totally different to subject of this one!

Firstly, I'm not in the US. Please appreciate that while this is an English-speaking Support Community, this is an international forum. The world is considerably larger than just North America and Canada.

Second, this is a user-to-user technical community. Contributors here are all end-users, just like you. Other than the site Moderators, Apple neither monitors nor participates within this Community.

As commented by babowa, we neither represent nor speak on behalf of Apple. Experienced Contributors here offer assistance with technical issues - and attempt to unravel and provide logical explanation for some less technical mysteries - such as yours.

Returning to your issue... the terms of Apple's back to school offer, where you receive a Gift Card, are very clear:

"Qualified Purchasers receive an Apple Gift Card when they purchase an eligible Mac or iPad at a Qualifying Location. Only one Apple Gift Card per eligible Mac or iPad per Qualified Purchaser. Offer subject to availability. While supplies last. Qualified Purchasers shall receive a discount equal to the value of the Apple Gift Card off the price of the eligible Mac or iPad, but will be charged for all items in their cart, including the Apple Gift Card. This offer cannot be combined with the Apple Employee Purchase Plan or business loyalty pricing. Availability of in-store promotion offerings may be limited by Apple Store location closures as a result of COVID-19. Additional restrictions apply"

The full terms of the are outlined here (noting that this link is for Apple's Canadian website):

Offers - Apple (CA)

Presumably you followed the direct link to Apple's Canadian back to school offers, from which the offer terms are linked:

https://www.apple.com/ca_edu_93120/shop/back-to-school

The prices that you see listed here are already net of the educational discount for qualifying purchasers - and are not the full retail price that would otherwise be paid. As such, these are the actual prices - to which AppleCare+ (if selected) and purchase tax will be added.

Where misunderstandings have seemingly occurred are:

a) your possible expectation that the Educational (i.e., already discounted) prices that you see would receive further discount, and

b) further misunderstanding of how Apple's offer concerning the Gift Card actually works - as detailed within the offer conditions.

Remember, the pricing that you see is already net of the Educational discount - and that the Gift Card effectively returns to you its face value. The Gift Card does not expire and can be redeemed against a future purchase of goods or services from Apple; this can be spent by you, or whoever that choose the give the card.

I sincerely hope this additional explanation provides some clarity as to how Apple's pricing and associated offer are structured. Apple's offer is clearly defined. While the discount that you have received is perhaps not of the scale that you had initially anticipated, you have still benefited from a substantial discount.

If you remain dissatisfied, Apple do offer the opportunity to unconditionally return an undamaged purchase for exchange or refund within 14-days of purchase. As long as you return both the goods and the unredeemed Gift Card, you should receive a refund of the full price that you have paid.