Apple repeals no-cash policy, gives woman free iPad for her troubles

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 93
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jsmythe00 View Post


    *cough cough* you meant mac



    All marketing aside, Macs are personal computers.
  • Reply 22 of 93
    spotonspoton Posts: 645member
    Steve Jobs > Disneys largest shareholder



    Disney > owns ABC



    ABC reports > Apple product as news



    Apple CEO > Steve Jobs



    IT'S A CONSPIRACY!!
  • Reply 23 of 93
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    Kind of makes me wonder if Ms Campbell actually spoke to a manager or just took her no and her indignation out the door and to ABC.



    I'd almost guarantee that she didn't speak to anyone except ABC. And I wonder if she would have received a free one if she was white?\
  • Reply 24 of 93
    bugsnwbugsnw Posts: 717member
    I wouldn't have hesitated to sell her that iPad with cash, even if I had to use my credit card to buy it and then take her cash. I'm sure she would have received that response had she politely explained her situation to a manager. Although I've run into many power-trippin' managers over the years incapable of thinking outside the box.



    I love a happy ending.
  • Reply 25 of 93
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    i'm thinking it has gotta be an employee-by-employee policy.



    i was at the san francisco/union square store on 04/15. waiting for an employee to do something while he was helping me. i was standing at the counter. during my wait time i saw one guy get two ipads and pay for them with a stack of twenties. seemed to me he was a tourist and had just visited an atm. lots. and there was no activation. and then another guy bought two as well. paid for one with a card and paid for the other with cash. again, no activation.



    and that's what i love about corporate america. silly, inconsistent policies.



    as an aside, anyone else getting spam courtesy of a compromised appleinsider system? http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=109618
  • Reply 26 of 93
    mac31mac31 Posts: 44member
    Ugh this whole story has been pissing my off for the last couple of days. You know how many people have paid with cash and never made a big stink about it? I can't believe Apple wasted an iPad on this stupid lady. How hard would it have been to go buy a prepaid card with her cash on it? It's not like it was all that big of an ordeal... "she saved for her iPad for sooo long!" Two weeks!! That is not a long time! If it was more like 5 months since the initial announcement on her supposed fixed income, I would definitely feel badly about the situation.



    This just shows people that if they get all huffy about the situation, they deserve stuff for free. That is dumb. She could have just talked to the management and used her own "hard-earned" dollars to buy it like she should have in the first place. It's obvious from comments that management will waive this "rule" when presented with reasoned explanations.



    "I don't want to use a credit card! Can I have this for free??" Pffft.
  • Reply 27 of 93
    goldenclawgoldenclaw Posts: 272member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    I explained the situation to the manager who totally waived the rule and let Lucas buy his ipad himself, with cash. The manager even rang Lucas up himself, helped him activate the ipad and told him about a couple of games his son (who is about the same age) really likes.



    Kind of makes me wonder if Ms Campbell actually spoke to a manager or just took her no and her indignation out the door and to ABC.



    To be honest, based on Apple's past actions I wouldn't be surprised if Apple would have fired the manager. They fired the guy who showed Woz an iPad, which is ridiculous.



    I have no knowledge of the cash vs. credit card subject but is it not illegal to refuse legal tender as payment for goods and services? Regardless of that, it's also in Apple's best interests to not only allow payment of any kind but to also make sure they are maintaining equal access to all persons.
  • Reply 28 of 93
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hamiltonrrwatch View Post


    I'd almost guarantee that she didn't speak to anyone except ABC. And I wonder if she would have received a free one if she was white?\



    I really don't think there is any call for the racist implications.
  • Reply 29 of 93
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Goldenclaw View Post


    I have no knowledge of the cash vs. credit card subject but is it not illegal to refuse legal tender as payment for goods and services?



    That has already been discussed.



    Quote:

    Regardless of that, it's also in Apple's best interests to not only allow payment of any kind but to also make sure they are maintaining equal access to all persons.



    No, it's not in Apple or the consumer's best interests to all people to buy up every single iPad and sell them at inflated rates elsewhere.
  • Reply 30 of 93
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PaulMJohnson View Post


    I really don't think there is any call for the racist implications.



    Nothing racist about my comment. As a man of color, I see this every day. Maybe you need to move the racist bus out of your line of sight
  • Reply 31 of 93
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    [QUOTE=Goldenclaw;1636180]To be honest, based on Apple's past actions I wouldn't be surprised if Apple would have fired the manager. They fired the guy who showed Woz an iPad, which is ridiculous./QUOTE]



    What an absurd argument.



    The store manager followed Apple's policy. Why should Apple fire him for following policy.



    The person who showed Woz the iPad violated Apple's policy. Why shouldn't Apple be able to fire someone for blatantly violating policy?



    You trolls have gone downhill.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Goldenclaw View Post


    I have no knowledge of the cash vs. credit card subject but is it not illegal to refuse legal tender as payment for goods and services? Regardless of that, it's also in Apple's best interests to not only allow payment of any kind but to also make sure they are maintaining equal access to all persons.



    Since you admit that you don't know what you're talking about, why are you posting? Others have already answered this.



    The bottom line is that Apple has a reason for requiring credit cards. Maybe they don't want that much cash in the store. Maybe they want to track owners to make sure that no one is buying 100 units and selling them on the black market. Whatever their reason, it's a pretty good bet that Apple knows their business better than you do.





    To AI, please change your headline. Apple didn't repeal the policy, they made an exception (actually, they didn't even do that since she didn't pay cash for her iPad, anyway. Apple chose to give away an iPad for PR. That has nothing to do with repealing their policy as you've alleged.
  • Reply 32 of 93
    mactoidmactoid Posts: 112member
    WOW...there's an Apple store somewhere with iPads in stock???
  • Reply 33 of 93
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Goldenclaw View Post




    I have no knowledge of the cash vs. credit card subject but is it not illegal to refuse legal tender as payment for goods and services?



    Actually, it's not. This from the Federal Reserve website:

    The pertinent portion of law ... is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."



    This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.
  • Reply 34 of 93
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    [QUOTE=jragosta;1636195]
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Goldenclaw View Post


    To AI, please change your headline. Apple didn't repeal the policy, they made an exception (actually, they didn't even do that since she didn't pay cash for her iPad, anyway. Apple chose to give away an iPad for PR. That has nothing to do with repealing their policy as you've alleged.



    I think you're incorrect. Unless the news reports have it wrong (and that's certainly possible), Apple has indeed changed their policy and will now accept cash for iPads from anyone.



    If Apple's intention was to limit people from buying more than X number of iPads, I don't see how paying with a credit card helps them anyway. Do they search the database for previous purchases to the same name before selling you an iPad? Does Apple really store every purchase from every store in a common database accessible by all stores? Somehow I think revealing past purchases to a store employee might be illegal in some states. And if they're not doing that, then how are they limiting sales?



    Besides, the company I consult for does iPad development and we've probably purchased at least 30-40 iPads at retail and they were all charged to the same one or two credit cards and we weren't prevented from doing so. The Apple store had no idea we were a developer.



    Also, just as with the iPhone, within a month or so there won't be any shortages and all this silliness will end anyway. We've never had any problems acquiring iPads anyway...we've just walked into the Fifth Avenue, NYC store and bought them.
  • Reply 35 of 93
    derevderev Posts: 64member
    "that there's nothing illegal about the restriction"



    Actually it is illegal to refuse to accept cash as a form of payment in a retail store. The only limitation is on how much can be in the form of coinage.









    Quote:
    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    I went with my 12 year old nephew last week who cleaned out his savings account of good grade rewards, birthday money etc to buy an ipad. All cash. It was our second trip since the first time they were sold out and we had to sign up to wait for one.



    I didn't know about the policy, but wasn't going to raise a fuss since I'm aware (from having done retail myself) that there's nothing illegal about the restriction. I was going to buy the ipad for him with my debit card and then go deposit his cash into my account on the way home.



    But then I figured give it a shot and politely asked to speak to a manager. This by the way was an an LA store in an area that is rumored to get a lot of resellers trying to buy stuff.



    I explained the situation to the manager who totally waived the rule and let Lucas buy his ipad himself, with cash. The manager even rang Lucas up himself, helped him activate the ipad and told him about a couple of games his son (who is about the same age) really likes.



    Kind of makes me wonder if Ms Campbell actually spoke to a manager or just took her no and her indignation out the door and to ABC.



  • Reply 36 of 93
    gmsquiresgmsquires Posts: 14member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    She can use the money she saved to buy a PC to activate, backup and update her iPad.



    If I were her I would get a Mac mini. Since she was using it to further her guitar playing should would have Garage Band on the Mac mini to use.
  • Reply 37 of 93
    mr.scottmr.scott Posts: 124member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zoetmb View Post


    Actually, it's not. This from the Federal Reserve website:

    The pertinent portion of law ... is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."



    This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.



    Thanks for doing us the favor in this research. Being a banker, I get this asked from time to time and too explain it to folks how it works is challenge. But I do tell them that the merchant had better take cash other wise I would not do business with them as it's Federal Law to take US currency (as noted above) and some take forms of foreign currency if they wish. Nice work!
  • Reply 38 of 93
    derevderev Posts: 64member
    Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."



    Umm... yeah. Actually there is no legal requirement for a business or person selling something to accept your cash. They are required to accept your cash as payment for any prior DEBT -- but before there is a sale of goods, there is no debt. In other words, you're not attempting to pay an existing debt with cash when you buy something at a retail store.



    If you bother to do a little research, you'll discover that it's perfectly legal for businesses to refuse to accept cash for purchases or services.[/QUOTE]
  • Reply 39 of 93
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hamiltonrrwatch View Post


    Nothing racist about my comment. As a man of color, I see this every day. Maybe you need to move the racist bus out of your line of sight



    Didn't mean to cause any offense. Probably my liberal white-guy guilt getting in the way again!
  • Reply 40 of 93
    formerarsgmformerarsgm Posts: 191member
    What is the "APPLE ACCOUNT" that everyone has to sign up for when buying an iPad? I'm not familiar with one.
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