Level 1

8 points

Apple have stolen my iPAD

CC, Apple, Becextech, Australian Computers Newsgroup, The Apple Support Community.

I purchased an iPad from Becextech Australia in August 2012, (Order #19453) and it was working fine until Apple decided to upgrade their O/S on the 24th of March 2016, and have now locked me out of using it. Becextech is an on line Australian supplier: https://becextech.com.au/ and they are selling the whole range of Apple products.

After several attempts at getting it unlocked, Apple now tell me that the Becextech receipt (which I actually found after 3 and a half years) is a "Second Hand Receipt", (their words), and not good enough for proof of purchase, so they can't unlock the iPAD for me.

I have been working on trying to get this sorted out since the date it stopped working. Just spent another hour on the phone to Apple talking to Paidro. I spent about the same time with Demi on the phone. Both of these people have been very good, but are obviously restricted in what they can do for me.

What I am now being told is that Becextech have to provide proof of purchase of this product from an Authorized Apple dealer before they will unlock this device. I am still waiting on a response from Becextech. I doubt very much that they can do anything for me, but I do need a response from them.

I can't understand why a company such as Apple would allow me to use a device for 3 and a half years, then stop me using it.

I am a 73 year old aged pensioner, and I know that this is very, very wrong, perhaps even a criminal offense. We paid good money to Becextech, knowing a large portion of these funds flowed on to Apple in some way, and we are locked out of a product after nearly 4 years of use.

Apple say Becextech aren't an Authorized dealer, and this is the reason they need to provide proof of purchase to Apple.

It appears the problem is associated with me not knowing my password for a "@me.com" account. As I don't have access to the domain "me.com" what is the point in me knowing the password after nearly 4 years.

I have been using the same username and password to get into 3 Apple accounts (as well as my iPAD) and my ID credentials are working well. These are all web based accounts: "My Apple ID account", "My Apple icloud account", and "The Apple Support Community".

I am pondering my next step, and wondering if Consumer Affairs is a long road to take, or should I just go straight to the media.

Cheers Don...

Don M.

iPad, iOS 9.3.1, Not working

Posted on Apr 10, 2016 3:27 PM

20 replies

dontronics Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 12, 2016 12:00 AM in response to TMHahn

Thanks TMHahn,

I have tried everything I can think of there as well.

I am getting "This ID has been blocked for security reasons."

I can log into icloud with the same ID I have been using for 3.5 years however.

Cheers Don...

Apr 12, 2016 12:45 AM in response to dontronics

Your @me.com should be your name ie Johnsmith@ me .com

The name you use on your email address .

Cheers

Brian

Apr 12, 2016 4:01 AM in response to dontronics

dontronics wrote:

Thanks to both LACAllen and Michael Black for the good constructive feed back.

When I said:

"Would you expect consumers to run around every time they buy a product to see who is, and who isn't authorized?"

I don't mean just Apple. I meant any company.

If I see a large on line store selling for example Acer, Amazon, Asus, BlackBerry, Canon, Casio, Dell, Google, GoPro, HP, HTC, Lenovo, etc. then as a consumer I must go and check to see if the on line store is an authorized seller for these products before I commit to buying?

If Apple allows their authorized re-sellers to sell onto large on-line stores, then surely they must be responsible. If not, they should ban all authorized re-sellers from on selling these goods. They can't have it both ways.

As a consumer, it sticks me in the middle of their back yard brawl, and I suffer. Apple got my money, and I can't get access to a product that they manufactured and sold to me via their legal, or illegal system of sales.

Cheers Don...

Actually, Becextech got your money - Apple was not involved in your retail purchase at all. And as they are an unauthorized reseller, nobody has any idea of just how or from where Becextech gets their merchandise but it is is not through Apple or their normal product distribution system.

And of course a company gets to choose who can sell their products with their official sanction. That's the whole point of authorized point of sales and service - the parent company gets to select those that they feel meet certain standards and requirements in order to sell their trademarked products. It does not matter what other or how many other brands a particular store or web site offers, that's completely immaterial to the issue. Apple has an application and review process to become an authorized reseller, but individual retailers make the decision to apply or not. And Apple lists every single authorized reseller on their own web site, so it's not hidden or secret information.

As a consumer, the only person responsible for where you spend your money and who you do business with is you. Apple is not responsible for that at all. You are indeed free to spend your money at a non-authorized reseller if you choose to, but you also need to understand that those choices you make may have consequences. But you cannot absolve yourself of the simple fact that you decide where to shop and spend your money, and thus the responsibility to know about what you're buying and who you're buying it from falls squarely on you.

Apr 12, 2016 2:55 PM in response to dontronics

dontronics wrote:

Thanks gail from maine

However I have done this many times. If I log in with the me.com email address, I don't get an email because I don't have access to that domain. Yes I just tried it again. Sorry - I don't know what you mean by this sentence. You don't get an email for what? Are you talking about an email to a Rescue email address? A verification email? What kind of email? And what do you mean that you do not have access to that domain? Please explain what that means here?

If you are talking about the reset link, then you are just going to have to contact Apple Support to get them to send the link to an email address you can use. Is there a problem with Apple sending you the link for that Apple ID to an email address?

If I log in with the email address which is something like ipad-mm-yy@dontronics.com, I get an email and I can change the password, and security questions. The same email address has been fine for running the iPad for the last 3.5 years, but not since the update on the 24th of March.

I have also done this with Apple on the phone, have done many hours of this in fact.

Cheers Don...

dontronics Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 12, 2016 4:04 PM in response to gail from maine

Again thank you all.

myname@me.com

I can't get an email to myself unless Apple has allowed me to redirect my email to mydevice@dontronics.com

I didn't even know I had an icloud account until I was asked to sign into it since this fiasco started, which I did with the credentials of my dontronics.com account.

Even this forum accepts my dontronics.com account credentials, and my ipad did until 24th of march.

My apple ID account doesn't show any devices, so I can't reset anything.

I installed itunes, and tried, but Apple told me that wouldn't work anyway.

I have contacted the un-athorized dealer 3 times, and they responded once, but are not giving me info on how they get their stock.

I will try once more, and if I don't get anywhere, I have two local consumer affairs groups that I can go through, so I will try them.

Becextech is an on line Australian supplier: https://becextech.com.au/ and they are selling the whole range of Apple phones and tablets, in fact millions of dollars worth. I can't understand why Apple Australia don't know that they exist. How is a consumer expected to know that this supplier is running a grey market, and why do Apple allow it to happen when it is right under their noses. Apple aren't getting money out of it?

I now have a long thread running on the user group: "comp.mobile.ipad" and it is going gang busters at the moment, so I'll concentrate my efforts there.

Thank you to every one that has tried to assist me.

Cheers Don...

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Apple have stolen my iPAD