Doctor decries Apple gift card discount 'scam' after failing to understand the terms of th...
An academic with a sideline in TikTok videos about marketing scams claims Apple defrauded her over an iPad discount -- despite her getting precisely the deal she was promised and should have expected.
![Five colorful Apple logos with various abstract patterns on a white background.](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/60781-125114-000-lede-gift-card-xl.jpg)
Apple gift cards
This will shock you, but it's possible that experts on TikTok might not know what they're talking about. That's even when the expert is Dr Mara Einstein, a professor at Queens College, CUNY, who says she's an "ex-TV/ad exec turned marketing critic."
Dr Einstein, who presents seminars on marketing trickery, added a video about Apple to her TikTok channel. As she tells it, she bought an iPad and was stung by the "deceptive marketing" that meant Apple offered her a free $100 gift card but then charged her for it.
"If this did happen to you, do contact the FTC and let's make sure Apple isn't doing this to anybody else," she says in the video, with a completely straight face. So far the video has had 19,000 views and seemingly no comments pointing out that she should have read her credit card statement before filming it.
That's because if she had read it, Dr Einstein would have seen that the total she paid was precisely the amount she expected. She got her iPad at the educational discount price, and she still has a $100 gift card.
What Apple does is make two charges on a credit card. Dr Einstein will see that the first one is for her iPad -- and that it is $100 less than she was expecting to pay. Then the second charge is $100, which is ascribed to the gift card, which brings the total up to exactly the advertised price.
It could all be clearer, but as any marketing expert ought to be able to tell you, it's done this way for a really specific and necessary reason. If Apple simply billed the full amount for the iPad and gave away the $100 gift card, someone could redeem that card but also return the iPad.
Dr Einstein even says that Apple told her this when she phoned to complain. She also appears to say that she got them to "get rid of that" $100 apparent charge, and seems convinced that this worked.
She's the one who scammed Apple, not the other way around. And, worst yet, she doubled down on her "analysis" of the situation.
So she should really now read her next credit card statement properly, too.
Dr Einstein got her iPad through Apple's educational discount. Apple always offers students and educators a discount, but particularly at Back to School time of the year, includes gift cards as an incentive.
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Comments
I also received a discount on the AppleCare+ and the Pencil Pro.
You buy an iPad Pro, it costs $999. You're eligible for the education discount, so now the price is $899. That is a year round deal. But since the back to school promo is going on, you also get a $100 gift card.
When you look at your receipt you'll see that you were charged $799 for the iPad, and $100 for the gift card. The total is $899. The same as without the gift card, but you do have a $100 gift card to spend.
Why does Apple do the transaction this way?
Simple, customers would take advantage of the deal, then try to return the iPad. If they weren't charged for the card, and the value of the card wasn't take off the product, you'd still have that gift card. Now, you try to return the item, if you come in both product and UNUSED gift card, you get your full $899 back. What if you used part of the gift card? What if you didn't have it? Well, now you get your $799 back and you get to keep the gift card- after all you paid for it.
Going back to the summer 2020, I worked at home doing post order service for Apple, and the back to school deal wasn't a gift card, but AirPods. I cannot even guess how many people tried to return the product thinking they'd get to keep free AirPods. No, silly people... you paid for those AirPods, but we'll gladly refund you the reduced price of the product you bought to get them
It's all pretty simple except I guess for doctors who can't do arithmetic.
Note the circular logo in the upper right on her Linkedin Page, which shows the hair of Albert Einstein, which seems to be telling the world she has an association with his brilliance:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmaraeinstein/
It's no wonder people criticize institutions of "higher learning." You often have a band of PhD-wielding idiots teaching our kids.
I want a $100 discount on the item I am buying, now, today, nothing else. I don't want or need a $100 gift card on a FUTURE purchase.
Essentially, it works out to me paying full price for the item and getting a free $100 that I can ONLY spend at Apple. It's similar to Kohl's dollars...an attempt to lure you back to the retailer to spend more money or "lose" your "free" Kohl's cash.
Well guess what. I just bought what I wanted. I don't need the gift card.
In the end, I added it to my Apple account and it paid my next couple of Apple One subscription fees.
The article explains it and NYC362 explains it even more clearly. Not a scam, not misleading.
Here's the offer costing $XXX. You walk out paying $XXX. Not $ABC, not $XYZ, not $ZZT, but $XXX. The exact amount you expected to pay when making the order. Same-same. Scam? Misleading? Idiot.
I doubt very much that the Einstein got Apple to "get rid of that" $100. I don't see them giving away $100 in a circumstance like this. More likely a claim to impress her TikTokers.