ie8 fix
madison

Reader: I was denied a $200 iPhone refund- twice

By | September 10, 2007, 11:41pm PDT

A reader of this blog- whose email orgin URL as a Stanford University alumni strongly implies high intelligence- writes me after being unable to collect what she was told was $200 refund for paying $599 for a $399 iPhone.

We report, you decide:

Been interesting, this iPhone debacle.  Good thing Steve Jobs is a genius, so he
can figure his way out of it.

My sister, though, bought an iPhone recently and was told on the phone and in person at the AT&T store where she bought it that she was eligible for the
genius Steve Jobs’ $200 refund.  Second time she appeared there in person (they wanted to close the first time she arrived to obtain the refund so they told her to come back anytime this week) they told her no, she wasn’t going to get it. 

After arguing with the manager, she went home and called AT&T, which told her to  talk to the store manager, the one that had already told her she wasn’t getting her refund after two statements to that effect.  No matter how she tried, she couldn’t get escalated to another level.

Long story short: my sister told the AT&T woman on the phone to pull up her
account so she could cancel services and get at least $200 “back” from AT&T.  The woman was stunned that my sister ended up canceling $160 worth of monthly services for the 17-month balance of her contract–a total of $2720 in services–because AT&T denied my sister the $200 refund they’d repeatedly stated she was entitled to.

Just brilliant, AT&T!

I’d never use AT&T, anyway, but I just hope my friends who use their service
either insist on being treated right–or deny AT&T multiples of the amounts the company rips them off for (13.6 times the denied $200 refund in my sister’s case).

Takeaways:

Wonder if things had been different if she went to an Apple - not AT&T store?

“Customer is always right: R.I.P”

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Topics

Disclosure

Russell Shaw

http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?page_id=1879

Biography

Russell Shaw

Russell Shaw passed away in March 2008. He was an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. A specialist in open source architectures and strategies, Microsoft applications, wireless networking, and multimedia content creation, Russell covered these fields regularly for several IT, business and consumer publications, including Investor's Business Daily and the syndicated IT news site NewsFactor.com.

Related Discussions on TechRepublic

Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?
11
Comments

Join the conversation!

Just In

Average cell phone cost
laura.b 14th Sep 2007
This number is a whole lot over the average:

news.com.com/ U.S.+cell+tally+180+million+users+and+counting/2110-1039_3-5615778.html

This site shows an average in 2004 of around 50/month.

This one shows a slight drop over the 12 months following the above one:
www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-research/ news/average-wireless-bill-down-slightly.aspx

I know it's a little behind, I couldn't find a more recent one without devoting too much time to the search. I seriously doubt that many people are paying $160 a month for cell service. I'm curious about what kind of package she had. The advertised AT&T iPhone package with unlimited data starts at 59.99 (and that's kind of high because of the data). Granted, they go up to 219.99/month (ouch, that's just ridiculous, I pay $10/month for cell service from AT&T. LOL)
0 Votes
+ -
high intelligence, you have to wonder about someone who thinks a $100 store credit
is the same as a $200 refund. Perhaps the reason she was denied the refund is
because there is no such program.

Sounds like a piece of fiction.
0 Votes
+ -
... bought the phone in the last 14 days. Your post does sound like fiction.
0 Votes
+ -
And, I believe, that's a policy...
msalzberg 11th Sep 2007
of the Apple store, and not specifically an iPhone policy.
0 Votes
+ -
The POINT being
laura.b 11th Sep 2007
That if it's policy, then she was entitled to it, and they didn't give it to her. If it was Apple she needed to talk to, they should have directed her in that way, as I'm sure she was not the first or last to call AT&T regarding this situation.

You are the single most negative poster I have come across on these boards. You make it sound like you actually believe that everyone except you is an idiot. Takes one to know one I suppose.
0 Votes
+ -
The point was...
msalzberg 12th Sep 2007
there is no such thing as a $200 refund policy. Apple has a 14 day return policy. Not
quite the same thing.

As for me being the most negative poster around, you certainly haven't read very
much here. I'm a ray of sunshine compared to the paid shills like the Zealot.
0 Votes
+ -
THE POINT ACTUALLY STILL BEING
laura.b 12th Sep 2007
That you are still wrong.

Have a taste of this:

"Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 14 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 calendar days of the price change."

This is directly from here:

http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html#topic-19

The Apple Store online.

That looks like a $200 refund to me....hmm...Apple's own policy. Who would have thought that maybe someone else was right about something Apple.To be such a big Apple fan, I would have thought that you knew their policies better than someone like me, who has only "owned" one of their products biproxy (fiance, we're not married so technically it's only his). It's tiring. Basically, my point is, if you're so convinced that you're right, take 30 seconds to do a quick Google search to be sure instead of wasting time.

As for Non-Zealot, at least he tries. I don't think that anyone actually takes him seriously and at least he's funny.
0 Votes
+ -
Prices

The Apple Store endeavors to offer you competitive prices on current Apple products, selected Sale and Apple Certified Reconditioned products, and third-party products. Your total order price will include the price of the product on the day of shipping plus any applicable sales tax and shipping charges. Apple reserves the right to change prices for products displayed at the Apple Store at any time and particularly to correct pricing errors that appear on the Store.


Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 14 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 calendar days of the price change. this is off apples web site so your wrong about it not being a refund pollicy
0 Votes
+ -
also steve jobs also stated that people who are over the 14 day pollicy would still get a 100$
0 Votes
+ -
OmaGOD!
misterALSO 12th Sep 2007
Also Steve Jobs Also stated Also that ALSO people ALSO who are over ALSO the
ALSO 14 day ALSO policy ALSO SAYS ALSO A LOT!!!!!

Nobody's perfect you guys. Now put your computer to sleep and actually go
outside and breath the (hopefully) fresh air.

ps. AMEX is extending the (drumroll) $200 refund (there I said it) to all customers
who bought their iPhones with that card - not solely those purchasing it in the
past few 14 days. I guarantee that I am 100 percent possibly wrong about it too.

G'night.
0 Votes
+ -
$160 a month!?!
roberto_maietta@... 14th Sep 2007
Maybe its just me, but $160 a month seems like a lot of money for what is simply a phone at the end of the day.

I dont buy into the consumerist BS, and I couldnt care less about the device per se.

My own "plan" if you could call it that is a pay as you go SIM, which has cost me all of around ??2 - ??4 a month, barring overseas roaming when on business.

I just dont understand why people want to be so wasteful.
0 Votes
+ -
Average cell phone cost
laura.b 14th Sep 2007
This number is a whole lot over the average:

news.com.com/ U.S.+cell+tally+180+million+users+and+counting/2110-1039_3-5615778.html

This site shows an average in 2004 of around 50/month.

This one shows a slight drop over the 12 months following the above one:
www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-research/ news/average-wireless-bill-down-slightly.aspx

I know it's a little behind, I couldn't find a more recent one without devoting too much time to the search. I seriously doubt that many people are paying $160 a month for cell service. I'm curious about what kind of package she had. The advertised AT&T iPhone package with unlimited data starts at 59.99 (and that's kind of high because of the data). Granted, they go up to 219.99/month (ouch, that's just ridiculous, I pay $10/month for cell service from AT&T. LOL)

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix
Click Here
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix
ie8 fix