Online Apple Store, Y U DO THIS?

[forbiddens]

I was happily going to get my silver iPhone exchanged for a gold, but when I told the guy at my local store I bought it online, he said they need to return it there then a phone will ship from there... that's gonna take around 2 weeks! Ughhhh. I fail to understand why we can't return online bought products at a retail store, have any of you had this problem ever?

(I'm sorry, I kinda just needed to rage)

 

[itsgusmetropolo]

My guess? Stocks are different. Simple. But it shouldn't matter, they would send yours back anyway, so they would have one less phone in store stock no matter where you bought it, right?

 

[forbiddens]

My guess? Stocks are different. Simple. But it shouldn't matter, they would send yours back anyway, so they would have one less phone in store stock no matter where you bought it, right?

It kinda matters they send it away, but what matters more is that the phone will take almost half a month to ship to me!

 

[itsgusmetropolo]

That's the problem!! 2 weeks is a long time. Hope you manage to exchange.

 

[forbiddens]

That's the problem!! 2 weeks is a long time. Hope you manage to exchange.

Certainly! Haha! Thanks. Actually, I might try to reserve an iPhone in gold tonight, then hopefully they can exchange it for me tomorrow!

 

[sunnysideup22125]

I don't know if this is why apple does this but I worked at a retailer and when customers returned online purchases we returned them back to distributions center. We didn't take them back into the store inventory and so we didn't take the hit to our sales. But we would process it so you would get your money back within a few days even if the warehouse didn't receive the item for a few weeks. Same for exchanges we would just treat it like a new purchase.

 

[forbiddens]

I don't know if this is why apple does this but I worked at a retailer and when customers returned online purchases we returned them back to distributions center. We didn't take them back into the store inventory and so we didn't take the hit to our sales. But we would process it so you would get your money back within a few days even if the warehouse didn't receive the item for a few weeks. Same for exchanges we would just treat it like a new purchase.

Hmmm..., so do you think if I reserved a phone tonight, would I be able to exchange my online bought iPhone tomorrow?

 

[HAWK]

Hmmm..., so do you think if I reserved a phone tonight, would I be able to exchange my online bought iPhone tomorrow?

All of the stores, and online stores work under their own inventory and sales umbrella that's why they do that. If they had people buying and returning phones everywhere they would lose inventory pretty quickly. AppleCare plus is the only thing separate that can be handled anywhere if I'm not mistaken

 

[zachpenguin]

I never have a problem returning online items to the store. Never one word or complaint about it.


Sent from my Sensationally Silver 16 GB iPhone 6 Plus using Tapatalk

 

[HankAZ]

I never have a problem returning online items to the store. Never one word or complaint about it.

Sent from my Sensationally Silver 16 GB iPhone 6 Plus using Tapatalk

The official policy is that you can return online purchases an an Apple Store. Here's the [URL="https://www.apple.com/shop/help/returns_refund#mn_p]policy[/URL]. In this case, I don’t think the issue is the return, but rather it appears to be a matter of having stock on hand to handle the exchange. This is different from a warranty replacement where the stores have a dedicated supply of devices for warranty replacements.

I fully expect this to change back to what we have experienced as "normal" once the initial surge subsides, later in the year.