Apple.com Won’t See Me Again As A Customer

I know that, when I start writing this post, few of you will care. And I’m aware of how the world works, so I’m sure the Corporate Overlords at Apple won’t care either about my rant. I don’t care. If you’re not interested, move on. I need a place to vent, and this is still my blog, isn’t it?

Last year I thought I’d treat myself to one of Apple’s (enormously overpriced) sleeves for my brand new iPad Air. So I hopped onto the Apple.com site and started browsing. I found a sleeve I liked / wanted, and was ready to close the deal. I also bought an adapter kit, because “power.”

But apparently Apple feels “special” in being one of those rare “Belgian” stores that ask you an absurd shipping fee, unless you order for more than €100. So I did. I bought an iTunes card, and went to the checkout.

During the checkout I had to dig up my Visa. Another attempt of Apple to be special I suppose, as every “truly” Belgian webshop offers at least a few other payment methods. But I’m aware that Apple.com, wherever you visit, is just the same Apple store with a translation, a price change (or, in Europe’s case they change the currency symbol so you pay a 20% premium) and a few “rules” that change. Curse those EU countries for enforcing a longer guarantee for customers on electronics!

While each of the previous things are annoying, they aren’t the reason I’m frustrated to the point of writing this post.

Fast forward to when I receive the products. To my dissapointment I realize that I received the wrong product. This was on me. After I check back on the site, I notice that I had ordered the wrong sleeve – one for an iPad Mini instead of an iPad Air. Since no-one I knew was interested in the sleeve and I don’t have the habit of just giving away a €80 product I decided to return it.

Returning the product was fairly simple, but not without an annoyance either. Apple makes you print a “return document.” Which, upon printing turned out to be ridiculously small and not an A4 document as you’d imagine. But you’ve got to play the cards you’ve been dealt, so I used said document.

Physically returning the product was fairly easy, but then the journey through shopping hell started. It took Apple almost four weeks to “receive” the product. Mind you that the product arrived at it’s destination as provided by Apple the day after I returned it. Apparently Apple needs to take a lesson from Amazon’s logistics, if it takes them a month to move a product from one of their locations to another – in the same bloody country.

So after waiting a ridiculous long time, I thought I could expect them to return the money any day now. Their site mentiones 5-7 days.

We’re now 30 days later. My bank has already charged me interests over the credit I’ve used. I still haven’t heard from Apple. And with that being said and done, I’ve told myself I’m not going to be buying anything from their online store again. It is simply unacceptable for me to have to wait for two months after returning a product, and then still not getting my money back.

I have no intentions or needs to purchase from a store which is that inefficient and outdated anymore. Sure, the store might look cool. But the support and logistics behind it is the worst of any online purchases I’ve ever made.

At this point, I don’t want Apple to return my money any more. There’s no point anyway as I’ve made the payment myself. And there’s no point contacting them, either.

  • They’ve got no form to make a request or ask a question
  • e-mail addresses? Nope. Don’t have that either
  • A phone number perhaps? Yes. But not for those type of questions, only to purchase items.

Job well done Apple. I like your products – but not to the point that I need the latest each year, or waste my time watching the reveal of the slightly larger new iThing – but I think that your online sales experience is truly horrible. I’ll be getting my Apple products from other online and offline stores from now on. Not that you care.

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