Q: Exchanging unopened earphones

If purchased from Apple using her AppleID, Grandma can find it in her purchase

history using a computer.

If purchased using a credit or debit card or check, the issuing financial institution

should have a record of the transaction.

If paid cash, there is no proof of original purchase without the receipt.

beu wrote:

 

Hi,

 

I got a pair of earphones as a gift but, I don't want them, my grandma said she got them at the Apple Store but she doesn't have the receipt nor did she get it thri email, I went to Apple Store and ask if I could exchange them for something else, but they said no, even tho they are sealed. They told me they aren't able to know if they were purchased there or not,  which I have a hard time believing.

 

any similar experiences regarding exchanging a product ?

That is fairly standard retail policy.

One of the reasons that they would like to see a receipt as proof of purchase is, what retailers sometimes call "buying your own merchandise".  Basically, a dishonest person could walk into a retail store, browse items on a shelf, maybe walk around a bit; and then take an item to the cash register and ask for a 'refund' on it.  Said item would of course be in full intact packaging and obviously carried by the store.  And if refusal to refund sounds like free merchandise instead of a refund, well -- the detector would still go off at the entrance.

beu wrote:

 

I Don't know- whenever I had return an item at any other retail store, they have been ok wit exchanging even with no receipt, since they can see the tags or they scan the product to confirm it was purcha there. I guess I just think it's a little unfair that they arent even willing to scan the product to confirm it was purchased there. I know they have polices,  but still. Im pretty my grandma paid with cash.

They also don't know you bought the headphones from them. For example, Verizon stores sell Apple EarPods, same packaging as Apple. Why would Apple give you back money you paid to Verizon? The product number is the same. The bar codes on items like that don't identify a unique item, only that it's Apple EarPods. "Scanning" it won't tell them where it was purchased, only what it is. I'm guessing you've never worked in retail.

I'm not saying that your grandmother is lying, merely that the Apple Store employees don't know your grandmother and are not allowed to just take her word.

Phones are serialized devices. They are tracked individually. Earphones are not.

Just because there is a unique identifier on the device, doesn't mean the retailer scans that as part of the sale. In the cases of things like headphones, the retailer is still probably only scanning the SKU.

exchange laws can differ from country to country so if you don't state the country you are located in people could end up giving you false info

A SKU is an identifier for an item but all identical items will have the same SKU.  So, for example, if the SKU for the EarPods is MD827LL/A, it's going to be the same for every box you pick up off the shelf.