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Australian Buyers Say They Were Told "No iPad Without Accessories"
CuteSteveJobs writes "Australian iPad buyers have been forced to buy all manner of unnecessary add-ons, including screen protectors, docking stations, covers, chargers, and extended warranties, due to a reported official Apple policy. Shoppers reported sales assistants said it was 'company policy' or 'Apple policy' to sell the devices only with accessories, or not at all. A store manager for Authorised Apple Reseller JB Hi-Fi said it was 'a bad policy but it was Apple's policy and they couldn't sell one without it.' Other customers were told they must 'buy a Telstra SIM because the iPad is locked to Telstra,' even though it wasn't. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission and Consumer Affairs are investigating the complaints."
If you read the article & forum thread, it's pretty clear that this is JB Hi-Fi being assholes, not Apple "official policy"
This isn't about Apple per se, this is about JB Hi Fi being completely dishonest.
I got really angry with Watergardens JB Hi Fi (in Vic) recently when they sold me a pre-owned Airport Extreme. I know someone else had it before me because it was locked to their username and password*. The thing that really incensed me was that I'd seen that it wasn't shrink wrapped and I'd made the sales guy swear to me that it wasn't pre-owned.
Yes, you can complain to the store manager, and after arguing with him for 15 minutes you can get a refund, but then he makes you wait for another half an hour, because he can.
*Yes, I know how to reset it, that's not the point, they shouldn't have been representing used goods as new - if they'd been honest (and offered a suitable discount) I'd have been quite happy to take the 'problem' off their hands.
This is definitely NOT Apple's policy and they are not to be blamed for it. It's simply a lie from that particular retailer (it was not even an official Apple store). I guess when Cupertino HQ and SVP for Retail hears of these complains, that shop enjoyed their very last day as Apple reseller.
You might want to actually read the forum it references. This was not Apple. This was a regional manager of JB Hi-Fi.
And for what? A few extra dollars? Australian dollars at that.
Sorry to be pedantic, but it's about .85 AUD to the USD at the moment, and its been hovering around .90 for a long time, so its not that much of a difference.
I have to say, Apple would never make this an official policy. A reseller just got caught with their pants down and is trying to blame Apple for it. Apple almost never interferes with sales policies at resellers, as long as you don't try to pull a fast one with regards to usage of the logo or other images. We would regularly get yelled at for some of Apples antics in the press, people never seem to be able to distinguish between Apple and resellers. What's more depressing is that nobody on /. seems to be able to either.
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I'm actually "Ryan" from the article. Yes I don't believe for a second that this was in any way related to apple, simply because they wouldn't have a policy such as this - and secondly, they wouldn't be trying to force me into buying belkin accessories for their product. To be honest, it wasn't even the money which bothered me as much as the fact I was being forced to purchase accessories that I did not want. Usually I would simply walk out and shop somewhere else when met with behavior such as this, but I had a voucher which restricted my options as to where I could purchase it. The CEO has responded saying that it was no a JB Hifi policy, but rather the actions of individual stores. I would expect him to say nothing less, and essentially comes down to making the statement "No, of course we weren't breaking the law", do you expect anything else? Saying that - I've never heard of the policy of point blank refusal of a sale if you don't purchase accessories of anything else in the past. What are the chances multiple stores suddenly begin refusing sales on iPad's without accessories when they have never had this policy in the past? It seems extremely unlikely multiple stores would magically decide on this policy on the same day. I hope the ACCC really does look into it, but most likely it will result in a "Please explain" and not much more than that without any further evidence (I.e. emails instructing stores to refuse sales unless they have a certain amount of accessories attached).
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I think you're thinking of Sears. I purchased a Wii at launch from them and was forced to buy a game and two accessories as well. Here's an article from Ars Technica about it. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2006/11/6030.ars
* In any place where concealed firearms are permitted, that is an activity called brandishing and you would likely lose your permit at the very least and likely receive a fine on top of that.
On the other hand if you didn't "intentionally" reveal your gun, say at the time you were reaching for your wallet, that's another matter.
I bought from Dick Smiths in Perth CBD, the kid asked if I wanted to buy a cover or extended warrenty. I said no and he was fine with that.
Sounds like JB Hi-Fi being dishonest scum bags to me.
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Well, not sure about your local laws, but in Australia (where this story is) you would have police called on you and have the shops silent alarm triggered very quickly if you showed a hidden handgun without a police badge in plain view.
Civs don't get either the right to carry a handgun concealed nor the right to flash such a hidden weapon at a store clerk to prove how big a man you are.
...
You can't buy it for the advertised price if you can't purchase it without accessories. That's the problem.
Its called planet Australia
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers/apple-ipad/
T ME: (opening coat to reveal concealed gun)* "No I don't. You have the money. I have my phone. We're done here."
And walk out the door with my phone. I will not be forced to do things I do not want to do, especially when the store, Apple, or whoever is in violation of consumer protection laws.
* *(Before you freak out, I have a concealed carry permit issued by the government.)
And you just lost it right there bubba. Or at least in every state I've lived in. Here in Washington we call that "Unlawful use of a weapon to intimidate another", which means you committed an act that manifests intent or warrants alarm for the safety of another person. You in essence were stating that you were willing to used armed force over the consumer sale of a phone. Concealed carry permits are not given out to allow you to enforce the law, but to protect yourself from potentially lethal harm. (Or in many states you are allowed to intervene to save the life or protect someone else from severe bodily harm) YMMV, IANAL. I am a concealed carry permit holder myself, and also often open carry, and am disgusted by the attitudes of people like you. Gives the rest of us a bad name.
If I were a clerk, I'd be phoning the cops. I suspect your "explanation" would carry little weight in a court. An implied threat is still a threat.
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Rum was the official currency of the colony of New South Wales. Yes, Australia did use alcohol for a currency during the early 19th century, but not beer.
The first time I used one I found that since all websites use the 1024x768 resolution as a base standard the iPad just made websites look poor.
Huh? If the website standard is developing for 1024x768, and the device has a resolution of 1024x768, what's the issue?
It would be been so much better if they had it in a higher res and allowed you to zoom like the iPhone/iPod does if the site wasn't legible.
You mean, like the iPad?
Rather, most websites viewed on it struggle to look good because the iPad defaults to the websites bare minimum resolution standard.
What? Seriously, what?
I'm amazed moderators were able to sort through the broken English to get anywhere. What exactly is the point you're trying to make?