Apple store don't accept cash for ipads!

[pcgeek11]

This is stupidest apple crap I have read yet. They won't take money?

Link: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/apple...ints-to-no-cash-policy-poll/34581?tag=nl.e589

With the credits markets still rocky and the public still carrying a sour taste for big banks, you might think that cash would be king again. But there are some places where your hard cold cash is no good. For example, if you’re thinking about walking into an Apple store and dropping some Benjamins for a new iPad or iPhone, think again. For those two items, it’s credit or debit only.

Why?

Apple’s not saying - not in the company’s pricing policy and not to an “On Your Side” crew of a San Francisco news station that was asking on behalf of a local resident. KGO’s Michael Finney told viewers yesterday about a computer-less woman named Diane Campbell who decided that an iPad would meet her needs and spent months saving - $1 here, $5 there - until she had $600, enough to buy the $499 iPad.

But when she walked up to the counter at the Palo Alto retail store and pulled out a wad of bills to pay for her new iPad, she was turned away.



An employee reportedly told her that the reason Apple only takes plastic and puts a 2-per-customer on iPads limit was to “prevent con artists from buying lots of iPads selling them overseas” for an inflated price, according to the report. But Apple would not confirm that explanation, Finney reported. Instead, it simply pointed to its pricing policy.

 

[corkyg]

The story is all over now - here is USA Today's take.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...g-that-ipad-apple-says-your-cash-is-no-good/1

The last sentence is key - there is no legal requitement for them to take cash.

 

[0roo0roo]

lol kgo... did they mention the fact that she would need a pc to use the ipad in the first place? imagine the complaining if they let her have it. if she's so strapped i don't think she has internet or anything anyways.
there are shortages, so they are rationing.
no story there

 

[taltamir]

she is "disabled and on a fixed income" (aka, uncle sam's footing the bills)...
of course she has a computer. heck, she can afford a freaking 600$ iJunk.

Its hard to believe apple wouldn't accept actual money in their stores. I think its just part of their marketing though, apple sells a "lifestyle" more-so then products which they dub "the apple experience". This lifestyle has no room for paying cash in it.

 

[vailr]

I believe their "no cash" policy could be successfully challenged by some lawyer.
Federal Reserve notes contain the wording: "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private". Their defense of wanting to prevent someone buying and then re-selling the iPad overseas wouldn't work.
If they instead required in-store activation (when paying by cash), and with a specific person's name associated with a specific serial number: that might be acceptable.

 

[Paperlantern]

I believe their "no cash" policy could be successfully challenged by some lawyer.
Federal Reserve notes contain the wording: "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private". Their defense of wanting to prevent someone buying and then re-selling the iPad overseas wouldn't work.
If they instead required in-store activation (when paying by cash), and with a specific person's name associated with a specific serial number: that might be acceptable.

She has no debt with Apple. Therefor it is still at Apple's discretion to take the cash, or not. If she owed Apple money for some reason or another, legally she can settle the debt with cash and they can't refuse it. As it stands, Apple can refuse any method of payment they wish.

I still think they are morons, but it doesn't change their rights.

 

[nickbits]

My guess is the stores keep very little cash on hand, so if she had to return it for a refund they would have no money to give her.

 

[Paperlantern]

This could be, but there are other ways of issuing refunds. They can write her a check if need be, make her a money order and have it sent to her residence. Yes they aren't immediate as you would normally expect a refund to be, but in most cases, refunds to credit or even debit cards take a few hours if not a few days to clear anyway. They could still accept cash. They are just being dicks about the whole thing. I understand the buying of mass amounts for selling them overseas, but its a little old lady that wants ONE, c'mon apple, take your heads out of your collective asses, you still have the 2 per person in place, I think that's enough. its actually even more than enough, the law firm I work for has 3 partners, all of them have credit cards associated with the same address. Apple wouldn't let THREE SEPARATE people buy THREE SEPARATE iPADS! We had to split the order between two credit cards that had different billing addresses. The iPads still ended up with the same three people, it was just a PITA, way to go Apple, way to be end user friendly, idiots.

 

[VirtualLarry]

More of Steve Jobs' owellian control-freakery. Little did people know, in Apple's "1984" ad, apple was really big brother.

 

[0roo0roo]

More of Steve Jobs' owellian control-freakery. Little did people know, in Apple's "1984" ad, apple was really big brother.

oh get over it, the fact is that ipad demand is insane, and if the resellers had free reign to buy up lots they'd ship them overseas and stuff creating havoc for the us market. plus who the hell wants ebay buyer/sellers to jack up prices and create shortages anyways, i honestly don't care if they are putting reasonable limits on peoples purchases during a shortage. their policy makes most buyers happy, and keeps them from having to compete with resellers.

 

[taltamir]

This could be, but there are other ways of issuing refunds. They can write her a check if need be, make her a money order and have it sent to her residence. Yes they aren't immediate as you would normally expect a refund to be, but in most cases, refunds to credit or even debit cards take a few hours if not a few days to clear anyway. They could still accept cash. They are just being dicks about the whole thing. I understand the buying of mass amounts for selling them overseas, but its a little old lady that wants ONE, c'mon apple, take your heads out of your collective asses, you still have the 2 per person in place, I think that's enough. its actually even more than enough, the law firm I work for has 3 partners, all of them have credit cards associated with the same address. Apple wouldn't let THREE SEPARATE people buy THREE SEPARATE iPADS! We had to split the order between two credit cards that had different billing addresses. The iPads still ended up with the same three people, it was just a PITA, way to go Apple, way to be end user friendly, idiots.

what amazes me is that, confronted with such treatment, they still all bought an iPad.

 

[yh125d]

“prevent con artists from buying lots of ipads selling them overseas” for an inflated price

oh god, the ironing

 

[vailr]

Maybe she could have: paid cash for a Mac Mini (or 4 copies of Snow Leopard Retail, etc.), walk out the store, then walk back in and ask to exchange the Mac Mini for an iPad?

 

[taltamir]

Maybe she could have: paid cash for a Mac Mini (or 4 copies of Snow Leopard Retail, etc.), walk out the store, then walk back in and ask to exchange the Mac Mini for an iPad?

ooh.. ask if they accept gift cards for the iPad ... buy a 600$ gift card using cash then use it to buy the ipad

 

[modestninja]

This seems like a terrible business decision... They actually want to pay the CC companies their cut on every sale?

 

[taltamir]

This seems like a terrible business decision... They actually want to pay the CC companies their cut on every sale?

yes... because what they are saying is that they are/will be selling it abroad at such ridiculously inflated prices, that you could making money by buying out all the stock in the store in the USA (paying price + tax), then pay to ship it abroad, then sell it for a profit at less then what they charge abroad.

 

[nickbits]

ooh.. ask if they accept gift cards for the iPad ... buy a 600$ gift card using cash then use it to buy the ipad

That just might work!

 

[pcgeek11]

" Apple requires a credit or debit card only to buy an iPad or iPhone (maximum two per customer), saying it's to prevent them from being bought up en masse here and sold overseas. "

How does paying by credit or debit card prevent this?

 

[taltamir]

" Apple requires a credit or debit card only to buy an iPad or iPhone (maximum two per customer), saying it's to prevent them from being bought up en masse here and sold overseas. "

How does paying by credit or debit card prevent this?

it doesn't

 

[TheStu]

" Apple requires a credit or debit card only to buy an iPad or iPhone (maximum two per customer), saying it's to prevent them from being bought up en masse here and sold overseas. "

How does paying by credit or debit card prevent this?

Since Apple Stores don't really have POS stations or registers (that I can recall at the 5 that I have been to), the workers there just have iPod Touches with Square card readers on them (they used to use Symbol devices running Windows CE, a touch of irony there). You walk up to an employee and say 'Gosh, this iPod looks superb, I would like to purchase a silver one!' and they get it out of the drawer or cabinet or whatever, you hand them your CC, they swipe it, your customer info comes up, and then they email you a receipt, or print it from one of the printers hidden under each table.

Due to this, there are any number of employees that can run the CC and process the transaction. This means that if they didn't have the 2 purchase limit (that is handled no doubt automatically) then a customer could walk in, and go to Employee A, request and pay for 2 iPads, walk out, walk back in, go to Employee B, pay for 2 more iPads, and then repeat until they are stopped. Then, they just move on to another Apple Store (There are like 6 within just a few hours of me). Plus Best Buys and online.

By forcing them to use a CC, they can limit any individual card/billing address to 2 purchases regardless of what store they buy it from.

 

[taltamir]

Since Apple Stores don't really have POS stations or registers (that I can recall at the 5 that I have been to), the workers there just have iPod Touches with Square card readers on them (they used to use Symbol devices running Windows CE, a touch of irony there). You walk up to an employee and say 'Gosh, this iPod looks superb, I would like to purchase a silver one!' and they get it out of the drawer or cabinet or whatever, you hand them your CC, they swipe it, your customer info comes up, and then they email you a receipt, or print it from one of the printers hidden under each table.

Due to this, there are any number of employees that can run the CC and process the transaction. This means that if they didn't have the 2 purchase limit (that is handled no doubt automatically) then a customer could walk in, and go to Employee A, request and pay for 2 iPads, walk out, walk back in, go to Employee B, pay for 2 more iPads, and then repeat until they are stopped. Then, they just move on to another Apple Store (There are like 6 within just a few hours of me). Plus Best Buys and online.

By forcing them to use a CC, they can limit any individual card/billing address to 2 purchases regardless of what store they buy it from.

or they could get an actual register, with the ability to print receipts and accept cash and so on...
It boggles the mind how badly the try to be "different" even when there is absolutely no reason to.

 

[TheStu]

or they could get an actual register, with the ability to print receipts and accept cash and so on...
It boggles the mind how badly the try to be "different" even when there is absolutely no reason to.

It can be argued from a certain viewpoint, that almost everything that Apple does is part of a larger image. From the minimalist design of their systems to bright clean designs of their stores. From that viewpoint, the addition of a separate counter, in addition to the Genius Bar, where there is a constant line of people waiting to purchase something would require, possibly, a redesign of the existing stores, not just to accomodate the new table and find a place to put it where it is accessible without impeding traffic throughout the rest of the store, but also to allow for the fact that either A: there are no longer employees with personal CC readers, or B: the register(s) are in addition to the employees roaming the store.

This in turn leads to 2 additional things, A: they need to keep additional/ or a portion of the stock either behind the register, requiring it to be in a place where they can store a great deal of stock in easy reach, or B: require runners to move to the existing stock storage areas to fetch items for the customers.

So, a significant re-design of the existing stores and probably more employees as well.

With their 200 stores across 41 states, not to mention those around the world, it would be a massive financial undertaking for Apple to alter their stores in this way.

Why this story became a deal, I do not know. But frankly, there are other, more offensive stories from other stores, and guess what they did have regular registers.

For whatever reasons, almost any story about Apple gets press, and it is because of people like you that latch on and spread/flame it all over the place, and people like me, that for reasons beyond comprehension, that step in a try to address it as rationally as we can that lead to it getting further play.

I realize that I am 'pro-Apple' if I am anything in this situation, and as such you might think that I am defending them or whatever, but honestly I think that in this case, people are overreacting over what is a minor issue.

 

[RaistlinZ]

or they could get an actual register, with the ability to print receipts and accept cash and so on...
It boggles the mind how badly the try to be "different" even when there is absolutely no reason to.

Most stores would probably prefer not to have to carry any cash in the store at all. It just opens up the opportunity for cash to come up missing. Plus, you have to spend additional time making sure the money matches up every night, and time going to deposit the cash at the bank every so often.

The costs of doing this easily dwarfs the added benefit of accepting cash transactions. And I bet, like this lady, 90% of the people who's cash is refused end up buying something anyway on their CC or debit card.

Apple knows what they're doing.

 

[pcgeek11]

It can be argued from a certain viewpoint, that almost everything that Apple does is part of a larger image. From the minimalist design of their systems to bright clean designs of their stores. From that viewpoint, the addition of a separate counter, in addition to the Genius Bar, where there is a constant line of people waiting to purchase something would require, possibly, a redesign of the existing stores, not just to accomodate the new table and find a place to put it where it is accessible without impeding traffic throughout the rest of the store, but also to allow for the fact that either A: there are no longer employees with personal CC readers, or B: the register(s) are in addition to the employees roaming the store.

This in turn leads to 2 additional things, A: they need to keep additional/ or a portion of the stock either behind the register, requiring it to be in a place where they can store a great deal of stock in easy reach, or B: require runners to move to the existing stock storage areas to fetch items for the customers.

So, a significant re-design of the existing stores and probably more employees as well.

With their 200 stores across 41 states, not to mention those around the world, it would be a massive financial undertaking for Apple to alter their stores in this way.

Why this story became a deal, I do not know. But frankly, there are other, more offensive stories from other stores, and guess what they did have regular registers.

For whatever reasons, almost any story about Apple gets press, and it is because of people like you that latch on and spread/flame it all over the place, and people like me, that for reasons beyond comprehension, that step in a try to address it as rationally as we can that lead to it getting further play.

I realize that I am 'pro-Apple' if I am anything in this situation, and as such you might think that I am defending them or whatever, but honestly I think that in this case, people are overreacting over what is a minor issue.

Every store should be required to accept Cash.

 

[0roo0roo]

or they could get an actual register, with the ability to print receipts and accept cash and so on...
It boggles the mind how badly the try to be "different" even when there is absolutely no reason to.

They have no reason to try to be the same. They are a low volume/low security store that handles large transactions. Could be argued its best they don't handle cash.