Why is Apple selling me a $250 gift card on my cyber Monday computer purchase? I bought a MacBook Pro and Apple applied the $250 dollar credit to the sale and then sold me a $250 gift card on top of that. Why? I didn't want the card - I just wanted the discount on the sale.
MacBook Pro 16″
There is no deal where you just purchase the device at the discounted price. The deal is you get a $250 Gift Card with purchase. Your invoice is reflecting that promotion.
This is billed as:
That is how you get to the promotion of a $250 Gift Card with device purchase. So now if you return the device, you will get the discounted price back, but since it is not possible to refund a Gift Card (or it may have already been used), that is yours to keep as you have already paid for it.
If you are seeing 2 $250 charges from your bank I suspect one of the charges is a Pending charge and will get dropped. You may even see it noted as Pending on the transaction.
There is no deal where you just purchase the device at the discounted price. The deal is you get a $250 Gift Card with purchase. Your invoice is reflecting that promotion.
This is billed as:
That is how you get to the promotion of a $250 Gift Card with device purchase. So now if you return the device, you will get the discounted price back, but since it is not possible to refund a Gift Card (or it may have already been used), that is yours to keep as you have already paid for it.
If you are seeing 2 $250 charges from your bank I suspect one of the charges is a Pending charge and will get dropped. You may even see it noted as Pending on the transaction.
I used to manage an Apple Store and the old way was much worse. People constantly tried to return products and keep the gift card. Many times they lived several hours away and didn’t want the card, but left it at home or school. They were extremely upset. The current system, while confusing if the Apple associate doesn’t explain it, is much simpler and facilitates easier returns when necessary.
Apple NEVER gives a direct cash discount on Macs during holiday events
So that if someone returns the computer but keeps the card, they only get the discounted price instead of the full one back.
(262088)
Trying to deal with Apple on the phone has been a nightmare. The operator could not even see the original invoice. I am cynical enough to suspect that this isn't a bug in their system, but a feature. They wear you down with endless phone operators.
That doesn't explain what they did Niel. I never wanted a gift card. I just wanted the discount - and that discount is reflected on the invoice. If I returned the computer I would just get what I paid for it - which INCLUDED the discount. Why charge me for a gift card I never wanted to begin with? Now it appears they have double charged me for this gift card - so my bank is showing 2 $250 dollar charges in addition to the invoice for the MacBook Pro.
Here are the pertinent numbers off the invoice:
MBP 16 SB. Z1FT $3,499.00 $3,499.00
Recycle Fee $5.00 1$5.00
Subtotal. $3,254.00
Sales Tax. $316.78
Promotional Savings. -$250.00
Total. $3,570.78
Amount Due. $0.00
The discount is built in. So why charge me for a gift card (twice!) and email me one?
Jeff,
Thanks for the reply. You have my sympathy on dealing with the public. Customer service is a challenging job and my hat is off to people who do it well. However this situation strikes me as a solution in search of a problem. I just sold a camera to a large retailer and wasn't ready to buy a new one. The retailer issued a store credit. It went unused for several months while I saved up the funds to upgrade my camera. Easy. Clear. Simple.
I get that Apple's deals are what for decades - if not centuries - has been called a store credit. I have an Apple account. It just doesn't need to be this complicated. Plus this is the second time that I've had an issue with a large online order. You can bet I will never again order anything online from Apple. I will need to trek on down to the nearest store - 94 miles away - to order anything. This will factor into my purchasing decisions.
I've been a loyal Apple customer since my Mac Plus in 1986. My business has had dozens of Macs. I hate to see the general state of retail business in this country and the decline of customer service in once-fine businesses such as Apple.
PS; still waiting for the second $250 charge to come off my credit card - and dreading having to call into the pit of phone despair that is online customer service.
"If you are seeing 2 $250 charges from your bank I suspect one of the charges is a Pending charge and will get dropped. You may even see it noted as Pending on the transaction."
Well both $250 charges went through. I tried to correct this problem with a chat and the same thing happened: I was handed off 4 times to people with less and less authority. I had to explain the problem over and over as I had on the phone. Each successive "specialist" was less and less articulate and has less and less access to the documents required. I guess I have to go through the bank. So sad that another once-fine company is gone to ****.
Okay, so what does this mean?:
Subtotal
$3,254.00
Sales Tax
$316.78
Promotional Savings
-$250.00
Total
$3,570.78
Amount Due
$0.00
They charged me for the $250 dollar gift card!
Okay, I get that, thanks. Seems like a Rube Goldberg way to do it, but fine. You can understand being charged $500 on my credit card in addition to the "discounted" price of the machine made this whole transaction a lot more work than it needed to be.
$250 Cyber Monday Gift Card Deal Gone Awry
