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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.
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.
Shush! Dont you know that Apple are solely responsible for rogue Australian electronics stores, massive Chinese factories with below-average suicide rates, the security of AT&T's website, the state of the 3G network, global warming, exploding lithium batteries, the BP oil spill and the Kennedy Assasination?
In fact, Apple are responsible for original sin: the company name is a dead giveaway.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
I also used to work for an Apple premium reseller and there was never any such policy, as the article states. Further they have mentioned that JB HiFi might be doing this to increase their accessory attachement rate in hopes of being allocated more iPads.
It is true that Apple collects statistics on accessory attachement rates however that is only for Apple accessories. In some cases resellers may have to purchase a certain percentage of Apple accessories along with their purchase of the iPads. But that percentage (in the past) has never been very high and always seemed to be along the lines of how many accessories were sold anyway.
JB HiFi had better be careful though because Apple has very strict agreements for resellers and certainly wouldn't appreciate the negative press or customer experience over this. Retail sales staff are usually paid on commission and margins on Apple hardware is very slim so a few accessories could easily double gross profit from an iPad sale (and the salesperson's cut).
That's not a tablet! This is a tablet!
http://nozama.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ed05fc288330128771bd234970c-800wi
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).
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.
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.
The primary difference in the two currencies is US dollars used to be exchangeable for gold where as the AUD is exchangeable for beer.
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!
Here's an easy fix and get your 'revenge' at the same time. Buy iPad + accessories. Go back to your car and put your iPad in the trunk. Accessory in hand, go back to the customer service desk. Tell them, on second thought, this accessory I bought wasn't what I thought it would be. I'd like a refund.
Now I'm sure they would have to refund you. I doubt their terms and conditions of refund behind their receipt would have any wording that would suggest that the iPad would also need to be refunded.
Its a PITA. But I'll bet when it starts costing the store thousands and taking up staff time, they will get the message.
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).
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...