Apple cures iPad buyer's remorse
This pill will work for 14 days. Maybe 30
If you recently bought an iPad and you're feeling buyer's remorse after yesterday's introduction of the iPad 2, there's hope – and we've discovered that the amount of that hope varies depending upon where you live.
As The Reg reported on Wednesday, Apple has dropped the prices of the original iPad line by $100 in the US and ₤100 in the UK – and, presumably, comparable amounts in other markets as well. Luckily for recent buyers, Apple's Sales and Refund Policy has comforting news:
Sounds reasonable – but when we called our local Apple retail store here in Vulture Annex's San Francisco home, we were told that their policy was more generous than that: in the Cool Grey City of Love, you have a full 30 days to claim your refund.
To see if our local luck extended elsewhere, we called a few other Apple retail stores: Chicago's North Michigan Avenue, New York's Fifth Avenue, and the Palo Alto store – an outlet close to Apple's Cupertino Campus. All told us that 14 days was the deadline.
However, a rep at another close-to-Cupertino Apple retail store, in San José's Oakridge Mall, told us that "The official time is 14 days, but we're giving people longer than that: 30 days." A rep at Dallas' Knox Street store echoed that, saying that "Two weeks is the rule, but if you bring in your receipt in 30 days you'll be just fine." It appears that there's some slack built into the system
In addition, if you don't simply want that refund, but instead are fixated on getting your paws on a spanking new iPad 2, you're also in luck: Apple has a rather straightforward return policy:
And when we asked our sampling of stores about the rigidity of the 14-day cutoff for the refund, we received answers similar to that which we received about the refund: 14 days in Chicago, New York, and Palo Alto; 30 days in San Francisco, San José, and Dallas. The Dallas rep even said that the packaging and documentation would be nice, but not necessary.
If you're looking for a refund or a return, it appears that it's wise to shop around. ®
COMMENTS
@ AlexS
Good grief. A few weeks worth of pointless rumour mill articles, and you pick the one with solid, reliable and, above all, *useful* information to have a whinge about.
Focus on the negative?
You mean the story only counts if it portrays Apple as greedy and controlling?
I think this is a useful story. Plenty of people have bought iPads, and there's no doubt many have made recent purchases. It's worth knowing that Apple provides this flexibility. Personally, the Apple Store has been like a dream compared to the rubbish I've put up with in other tech outlets.
Now if I could get $$$ back from Microsoft???
Fat chance I could return my UNWANTED windows software for a refund. No slack in THAT system. It would make some PC's pretty attractive to use Linux on. In my dreams, of course.
Eyeballs, eyeballs, eyeballs
While repetitive the stories are usually entertaining and I assume popular enough with those readers who can see ads that advertisers like them so it makes sense to write more.
I, for one, welcome our our tongue-in-I'd rather-not-say overlords. But I also can't wait for the first head-to-head reviews of Xoom versus iPant.
Hum de
After 10 years of reading a tech website I think you should probably know that around the time of a product launch you are going to be reading many things about said product.
Feel free to try and find a site that neglects product launch info but retains a user base large enough to enable them to come up with quality articles on a daily basis.
I guess what I am trying to say is. "Seeya in a day or two".
