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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."
Not so hard to believe, but I think it's more likely that the retail shops are pawning it off as Apple's doing. It's probably just what they've been told to say. If you asked corporate of those stores, they'd probably justify it by saying "Apple forced us to by not letting us have enough of a margin on the product, so we need to sell accessories or we're practically selling them at a loss!"
As bad as I think Apple is and can be, I *know* corporate retail is worse.
Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.
Why are you assuming Apple really did any of this? Has it occurred to you that these resellers are simply making whatever excuses they need to for their backroom distributor/vendor deals to shine through?
Do you think it's impossible for a salesman to lie?
Yes I think it's fairly obvious it's not official Apple policy since you can, in fact, buy the iPad from Apple themselves in Australia (online or in an Apple store), and they do not have such a policy...
This is just the retailer (JB) realising that demand for iPads is so high that they can get away with making a bit of extra money by telling desperate consumers that they'll have to buy some extra crap with it - the customer will usually still make the purchase. When you (or your sales staff) are paid on commission, it's very tempting to do this kind of thing.
Having said that, they won't get away with it. The ACCC is one of the toughest consumer watchdog organisations in the world when it comes to this kinda crap (and IMO is one Government department that is WELL worth the money spent on it!)
That's what pisses me off the most. If you don't like the seller's terms, don't buy the damn iPad. There are other places to buy it - online especially, but other stores as well. Walk out, do some research, then buy from someplace that isn't going to ask you to spend another $150 just to get out the door.
Even if you can see through the bullshit at that store & persuade them to break the "policy", you're still supporting them by buying there - and the next 100 customers may not be so lucky. The store will make up that money they lost on you by getting it from some other sucker.
This "current netbook" whose display you compare to the >$1000 iPad's is only about $300.
You are welcome on my lawn.
The right to free speech.
Then they reconsidered an offered him a refund, but only if he signs a lifelong gag order (non-disclosure agreement).
Have you considered that if the NDA is legal, then free speech isn't a right in this case? Over here in the states, free speech is guaranteed to never be deprived by the government... but private industry has no such limitation.
All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
So basically, you performed an armed robbery. Guess what happens next? Hint: it involves sirens and flashing lights.
And of course this assumes that another employee or customer doesn't also have a firearm and blow your brains out when you start threatening people with yours.
Thus proving that the rules for getting it are too lax.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
If you're not trying to be threatening why are you exposing your firearm to the clerk?
it's people like you that give gun owners a bad rep. Why don't you go get a penis enlargement, and put your gun away until you grow up. Dousche.
I want to shoot the messenger!
To be succinct, that's horseshit.
The UK iPod owner was not forced to sign the NDA, he made the choice to do so in exchange for a new iPod. If anything, he whored himself out for new gizmo.
This ain't rocket surgery.
i like that term. none held a gun to there heads and said BUY IT.
The usual contrived argument that regularly appears in response to stories like this. I'm sure that everyone (including yourself) understands the implicit subtext that they're forced to buy the accessories *if* they want to buy the iPad.
Of course, perhaps you accepted that but meant it to tie into this...
just don't buy whine and all will be fixed
...another tedious chestnut that appears like clockwork whenever a company gets criticism for sales practices or goods people don't like.
Some people assume that the freedom of others to not buy their favourite company's latest product (i.e. "don't like it, don't buy it") somehow exempts that product/company from criticism. Well, it doesn't.
I'm perfectly entitled to voice my opinion of the iPod, Apple's selling practices, or anything else, even if I have no intention of buying it. Even those buying the iPad (to a lesser extent) have the right to criticise aspects they don't like, though they can't really complain that they didn't know what they were getting into if they did nor that they didn't accept Apple's policies.
But to get back to the point, "don't like it, don't buy it" isn't a valid response to criticism. It's a free world, and both buyers and non-buyers are free to criticise Apple or anyone else for questionable sales practices. To echo the original implication, if companies don't like that, they're free to not sell their goods.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
If the neighbor got the first call off and said "OMG HE PULLED A GUN ON ME FOR NO REASON" the cops are probably going to respond. I've never had to draw or display a weapon in a deterring fashion, but if I did, I'd probably report the interaction to the local PD just so I get my story in first. Plus I know the local cops which helps.
No I didn't. In my *imaginary* scenario I never removed or even touched my gun - it's just hanging there inside a holster.
Your implied meaning was very clear- that you would use the gun to back up your position in the dispute. If you hadn't meant that, then you wouldn't have shown them the gun in the first place.
Even if you hadn't intended using the gun- and no-one in the shop is obliged to "know" that- the implicit threat is clear.
(This is- I assume- why "brandishing", AKA "menacing" is considered a crime, as others pointed out.)
Your clearly implied argument "oh, I just *showed* them the gun, I didn't *do* anything" is patent BS, in the same way that the stereotypical mafia guy ("nice business you have here... it'd be shame if anything... happened to it") was "just" admiring someone's shop.
If you genuinely don't see that, then you're an idiot. And depending upon whether or not you would actually act like this in real life or were just hypothetically mouthing off, you're either an Internet Tough Guy or a psychopath, or both.
You know that you're full of it when other gun carriers and self-declared libertarians condemn you for your irresponsible attitude.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
It doesn't threaten anyone, or shouldn't, but it is brandishing, which is an offense and should be.
Exactly, and it's something I once got in trouble for doing. The following is a true story:
One day years ago, I had been having some trouble with a drug-addled neighbor. It had escalated throughout the day and finally reached the crisis point around 7 PM, when I though he was going to come in through my window and cause harm to my wife, a dinner guest and I. I ran into the bedroom, grabbed my Mini-14 and made sure he saw it as I racked the action. The guy left, but a while later, I noticed the motion sensor light in front of the house had come on. Thinking it was my neighbor returning for more trouble, I peeked out through the blinds only to see that it wasn't him, it was several police officers. Armed police officers, one of whom had his M-16 pointed right at me. Trust me when I say that that's not a good feeling.
In short, all three of us in the house were ordered out, handcuffed and sat down on a wall while the PD sorted the whole thing out. In the end, I wasn't arrested or anything--in fact, the cops said it was my neighbor's fault--but I learned that just showing a weapon can be considered a crime under certain circumstances.
Your problem was: not calling the police before hand, complain about your neighbor, and tell them he was acting like he was going to break thru your window to attack you. That you were scared for the safety of your family and your guest, and that you were going to get your gun out for safety, and could the police come take care of this dude before he broke into your house.
Sure, you don't like to narc on people. I was brought up like that, deal with your own problems, don't go crying to others about it. Guess what? That don't mean shit in the real world. I found thru working, any time you do something someone doesn't like, they go crying to the boss. And since you don't, it suddenly looks like your a dick because peeps are complaining about you, but you aren't complaining about them.
And I'll give ya some info about druggies, mainly since I used to be one. They don't like cops just showing up out of the blue. They don't care when they know they are coming and can get rid of all illegal stuff that might be on them, but if they aren't expecting them? Usually it goes bad for them.
Sure, I know, you own a gun and you wanted to look tough for your wife and house guest, but look what happened? You got treated like the criminal at first.
I hope you learned the lessons this incident taught ya, because you weren't in the wrong, you just didn't do it like society wants us to do it.
Be seeing you...
Yet it still escalated to the point of M16s, handcuffs and being marched outside. Land of the free indeed.
So when you call the police to report somebody pointed a gun at you, you'd expect a lecture that you were living in the land of the free.
No wait, you wouldn't have called the police in the first place, you'd shoot anybody who looked like he might point a gun at you, right?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck