Products purchased at Apple Store in India cannot be refunded or exchanged • Hacker News Board

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

#111

Post by sergiotapia » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

Cerium wrote: post #73

sergiotapia wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

One of my friends works at Costco. He says that before the holidays they sell a lot of furniture and after the holidays they see a lot of furniture returns.

I've seen shameless bastards return christmas trees in january lol - but still as a whole the majority of people in the states don't abuse policies like that.

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

#112

Post by f311a » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #61

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 y…

Start producing something by yourself. You will be very happy with such "non-abusive" uses that generate you losses.

If you are an honest seller, you can't even resell returned products as brand new.

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

#113

Post by bootlooped » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

Cerium wrote: post #73

sergiotapia wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

One of my friends works at Costco. He says that before the holidays they sell a lot of furniture and after the holidays they see a lot of furniture returns.

Is the implication that people are buying extra furniture for having family or other guests over, with the intent of returning it after the guests leave?

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

#114

Post by 77pt77 » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

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.

> In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy.

Please. American consumer protection is almost non-existent, especially when compared with places like the EU.

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

#115

Post by vivekv » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

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 have replaced the keyboard and battery on my2017 Pro in India that was purchased in US I bought it in2017 and replaced both under applecare in 2020. I had the extended global warranty . They took a week to fix it but worked like a breeze . I paid nothing for it.

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

#116

Post by Majestic121 » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

fastball wrote: post #51

Majestic121 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He made the decision to buy one that works, if there's a flaw it's perfectly reasonable to be reimbursed. Most countries also have laws to give consumers a time period where they can return whatever they bought, no questions asked (as long as the product is in good condition)

Yes but it worked when he bought it. So the product was not, in fact, in good condition when he wanted to return it.

Yes, but that's a hidden defect.

If I sell you a TV, pretending that it was working perfectly when I know for a fact that there's a component in it that has 90% chances of blowing up in the next month, you'd be perfectly right to complain and expect me to pay you back your money after your TV exploded.

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

#117

Post by clintonc » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #61

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 y…

> Was he abusing policy?

Yes. Here, abuse means misuse, which must be interpreted relative to the intent of the ones making the policy (or else it's meaningless). The intent is clear: for customers to be able to return the item if they are not satisfied. It is not a borrow/rental policy.

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

#118

Post by JumpCrisscross » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

sillysaurusx wrote: post #84

segmondy wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, he was abusing it. The refund policy is for if you're really unsatisfied with the product. If you buy a product with the intent to return it for refund, that's abuse.

Again, why? It's tautology to say "That's abuse because it's abuse." The business offers a policy. You're simply using it. We can agree to disagree, but it's not X just because someone says it is.

> The business offers a policy. You're simply using it.

There is the spirit and the letter of an agreement. The relative importance of these in commercial contexts varies from culture to culture. (The term of art is high trust versus low trust societies.) Abuse (versus breach) involves complying with the letter of an agreement while violating its spirit. As you observe, this is subjective.

Fundamentally, if return policies are treated by customers as a return versus rental, terms can be more generous. If they are abused, the terms must be stricter.

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

#119

Post by axaxs » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:25 PM UTC

juancb wrote: post #75

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…

So what's the story behind the return abuse in India?

I'm just an observer of forums and whatnot, and not Indian, but have a couple guesses.

1 - People buying a handful of phones and comparing them, then returning all but the one they decide to keep.

2 - Semi related, one of the ten thousand phone comparison Youtuber channels.

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

#120

Post by alpaca128 » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:25 PM UTC

jetrink wrote: post #44

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…

Why would people want to have an iPhone for only a week? That sounds like more of a hassle than it is worth. Just to see what they are like?

As status symbols.

Many people also abuse return policies to buy expensive cameras, use them to shoot nice pictures on vacation and then sending them back. They can still keep the pictures, so the camera lost its value for them.