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Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

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Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#61

Post by sillysaurusx »

sss111 wrote: post #31

Apple had a lot of trouble with the Indian market back the early 2010s. They had to pull AppleCare+ out of the country because people were abusing it a lot. [†] Same goes for the country's biggest online retailers, both Amazon and Flipkart also switched to a replacement-only policy in India. "Most analysts agree that many many buyers were abusing the company's refund policy. With many buying latest smartphones, and r…

I disagree with categorizing this as abuse. The company was offering a refund policy. The customers were using it.

My friend Kevin used to test out different GPUs when he was writing a game engine. He'd buy one, install it on his computer, run the engine, then return it a few days later. They often had a 10% restocking fee. Was he abusing policy?

It's the same sort of logic banks use to justify "identity theft." Ah yes, it's the fault of the customer, not the banks' poor verification methods.

That said, it's true that when large amounts of people do a thing, you'll have to adjust policy. But it's not their fault for taking advantage of policies they're legally allowed to use, and that the company freely offers.

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#62

Post by sergiotapia »

sss111 wrote: post #31

Apple had a lot of trouble with the Indian market back the early 2010s. They had to pull AppleCare+ out of the country because people were abusing it a lot. [†] Same goes for the country's biggest online retailers, both Amazon and Flipkart also switched to a replacement-only policy in India. "Most analysts agree that many many buyers were abusing the company's refund policy. With many buying latest smartphones, and r…

I totally believe this. Here in the states Costco's refund policy is like magic. If you buy something that is horrible, you can return it hassle free. I buy almost exclusively from costco just because of this policy. Zero stress.

But something like this would not work in Bolivia (where I'm from), people would abuse the shit out of it. within a week the policy would be gone, no doubt.

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#63

Post by sergiotapia »

sans-serif wrote: post #19

In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. I'd wager that in an insignificant portion of countries Apple expanded to, they have had to significantly cut back on refunds/warrantees they offer to combat fraud and abuse.

nothing to do with consumer protection, everything to do with culture. the majority of people simply don't abuse it.

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#64

Post by intev »

1cvmask wrote: post #12

A friend who was on holiday in Turkey was refused a new iphone battery (she was willing to pay for it) at the official Apple store as it was not locally bought (she bought it in SF). So no global warranty, but also no global repair or replacement of parts with official parts even when you are willing to pay for it.

I had a Macbook Pro bought in SF repaired in an Asian country (not India) through an authorized reseller because I had Apple Care. I didn't even have to pay for shipping. The only downside was I had to wait 2 weeks, but I was shocked at how simple and straight forward the process was. 10/10 would buy Apple Care again.

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#65

Post by duxup »

sans-serif wrote: post #19

In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. I'd wager that in an insignificant portion of countries Apple expanded to, they have had to significantly cut back on refunds/warrantees they offer to combat fraud and abuse.

I worked at a chain pizza place growing up that advertised its money back offer if you didn't like your pizza. When they advertised it I just assumed a lot of people would take advantage of it.

Our store was one of the busiest in the US for a single store. One guy ... just one guy abused it regularly. Beyond him almost nobody ever took advantage of the offer at all... Easy enough for the store manager to tell that guy to knock it off and there ya go.

What I assumed was a crazy / unwise policy, effectively cost them nothing, hardly was ever used, didn't require any new processes at all, and amounted to just a advertising slogan.

I was surprised and impressed.

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#66

Post by gkcgautam »

Previously Apple India allowed one to buy extended Apple Care+ within 1 year of buying the device but they changed the duration to 60 days last year. Now I have a Macbook Pro 16" without extended warranty because I had already crossed the 60 day mark when they changed their policy and so they won't let me extend the warranty. This is going to cost me a lot!

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#67

Post by darrenoc »

sdajk3n423 wrote: post #53

Why does India seem to be so full of scammers? I can't go a day without an Indian robocalling me and trying to phish my credit card or SS#. Is this something engrained in the culture?

This is harmful racial stereotyping. Most of the hardest workers I know are Indian.

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#68

Post by rolisz »

tonywastaken wrote: post #36
1cvmask wrote: post #12

A friend who was on holiday in Turkey was refused a new iphone battery (she was willing to pay for it) at the official Apple store as it was not locally bought (she bought it in SF). So no global warranty, but also no global repair or replacement of parts with official parts even when you are willing to pay for it.

I was able to repair a US-bought MacBook at an Apple store in Japan with no issues

MacBooks have global warranty, iPhones don't. I think this is partly to avoid price arbitrage such as going to buy an iPhone in a cheaper country. I'm not sure why this is not a concern for laptops. Maybe those are more targeted towards businesses, which are not so price sensitive.

Re: Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged

#70

Post by tumblewit »

pdpi wrote: post #21
dangus wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: apologies, I misread the comment and the “3 months” bit. Apparently (TIL) India has very weak consumer protection laws. I still think you should take up Apple’s offer to have it repaired/replaced. I guess that’s your only recourse.

OP sold one macbook after 3 months, bought a second one with the same defect, and tried to get that one serviced immediately. That second macbook should've been well within a reasonable returns policy.

This is correct. I got rid of the original one (I bought that day 1 of M1 launch so I thought it was some initial batch). But this one is only a day old (and more recently imported) and I have spent the last day doing all kinds of troubleshooting. I am in the process of getting a replacement (which they approve) but I don't expect that one to be problem free either (seems like a more serious problem like 2016 displays failing after a while). Nonetheless if they can accept a replacement they should have some policy towards a refund but there is none. I am waiting for their call tomorrow from some senior but I am not hopeful.
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