Author Topic: Apple won't take cash for iPads (Read 10290 times)

wraith808 · « **on:** May 18, 2010, 01:04 PM »

http://www.gottabemo...-take-cash-for-ipads

Note the coda at the end of the article:

Now one thing that wasn’t mentioned in the report is that Apple probably did Mrs. Campbell a big favor. She wanted to buy the iPad to surf the Internet and learn more songs to play on her guitar. In the report it’s pointed out that the iPad would be her first computer. The reporter says that the iPad is a perfect fit for Mrs. Campbell because “It’s small, mobile, perfect for her needs.” Of course she wouldn’t be able to actually fire up the iPad unless she had a PC or Mac to synch it to.

ljbirns · « **Reply #1 on:** May 18, 2010, 01:33 PM »

Apple is not the first one I have heard of doing this, although their reasoning is different. This from the September 11, 2009 Wall Street Journal

" Recently, when we came across a restaurant in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village that had adopted a credit-card only policy, we thought it might make for an interesting little non-law related piece for the WSJ."

" Let’s get to that in a minute. For now, the story. Tucked at the end of one of the shortest streets in Manhattan lies a well-regarded restaurant called Commerce, which opened early last year. On Wednesday, the restaurant adopted a new policy: it would no longer accept cash. That’s right: it’s credit and debit-cards only at Commerce, which dishes out $13 cocktails and $23 plates of spaghetti carbonara, among other fare, to its mostly well-heeled clientele."

The owner claims it is safer and more convenient for his operation. " No more armored trucks "

app103 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 18, 2010, 02:48 PM »

So, since I don't have any plastic, Steve Jobs doesn't think my money is green enough to own an iPad, but if I were to develop any apps for it, my money would suddenly be green enough for him to demand his 30% cut, in addition to all kinds of fees involved to get it into his app store.

Eóin · « **Reply #3 on:** May 18, 2010, 03:31 PM »

Is that even legal?

ljbirns · « **Reply #4 on:** May 18, 2010, 04:11 PM »

From the US Treasury dept Website http://www.ustreas.g...y/legal-tender.shtml

The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."

This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

So I guess it is legal

app103 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 18, 2010, 05:44 PM »

Picture this rather surreal scenario: A millionaire walks into an Apple store with a briefcase full of money and proceeds to buy out the entire stock of everything they sell, with cash. When he leaves, the store's stock is wiped out of everything...except ipads.

ljbirns · « **Reply #6 on:** May 18, 2010, 06:08 PM »

Is it Apple policy in ALL their stores, or just this one ?

After all Best Buy takes cash and sell iPads.

Renegade · « **Reply #7 on:** May 19, 2010, 06:26 AM »

Bad... Very... Very... Bad...

Plastic only for normal commodity retail transactions is seriously outright WRONG. I really hope that civil liberties organizations realize WTF is going on and campaign to have that crap stopped.

Forcing you to hand over personal details for a normal retail transaction is simply out of line. There is already far too much encroachment in that area.

Man... This is really just sad.

Gwen7 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 19, 2010, 08:39 AM »

apple won't take cash for an ipad?

fine by me.

i wouldn't pay cash for one either.

it's so nice when strangers discover they have something in common don't you think?

Renegade · « **Reply #9 on:** May 19, 2010, 09:10 AM »

apple won't take cash for an ipad?

fine by me.

i wouldn't pay cash for one either.

it's so nice when strangers discover they have something in common don't you think?
-Gwen7 (May 19, 2010, 08:39 AM)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!~

ljbirns · « **Reply #10 on:** May 19, 2010, 10:51 AM »

I asked Visa. Here is their reply: Note the second paragraph.

Thank you for letting us know about your recent experience concerning acceptance of your Visa card. Visa sets high standards for all its products and services, and we are concerned when cardholders inform us of difficulties in using their Visa cards. We regret any inconvenience you may have experienced and hope this information proves helpful.

Please be assured that merchants, displaying the Visa logo, are not permitted to choose whether or not to accept a Visa card for payment of goods and services if the customer is acting in good faith.

Visa U.S.A. is a corporation with over 16,000 financial institutions. These institutions issue their own Visa cards and sign up merchants to accept Visa cards. They also set the terms and conditions for their merchant relationships and handle any customer service matters relating to them. While we at Visa are concerned about the satisfactory resolution of complaints regarding merchants, we do not have access to cardholder accounts or merchant records. As a result, we cannot contact merchants directly.

Therefore, we recommend as your next step that you please notify the disputes area at the financial institution that issued your card account of any merchant practices that you feel are inappropriate. Your card issuing bank has access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations as well as to the Notification of Customer Complaint forms which should be used by your bank to document and file merchant complaints. It is not necessary for your bank to be the offending merchant's financial institution in order to file a complaint for you.

As an alternative, to report merchant practices that you feel are inappropriate, you may wish to contact the Global Customer Care Services at 1-800-VISA-911 (1-800-847-2911).

Thank you for using Visa.
Visa Webmaster

wraith808 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 19, 2010, 10:55 AM »

I asked Visa. Here is their reply: Note the second paragraph.
-ljbirns (May 19, 2010, 10:51 AM)

This is in reference to them accepting plastic, not cash. Apple won't accept cash... the only governing body to go to for that would seem to be the government, i.e. can they refuse to accept legal tender.

ljbirns · « **Reply #12 on:** May 19, 2010, 10:57 AM »

You are correct - I lost my head. However see my post # 5 above

wraith808 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 19, 2010, 12:04 PM »

Yes, that I'd agree with- I think it's legal, if dodgy.

wraith808 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 20, 2010, 10:45 AM »

And Apple has reversed its stance. And gave her one for free, even...

"We heard about this, you know... we all would love people like Diane [Campbell] to get an iPad, so I called her up and she was very excited and we're actually on our way to deliver an iPad to her house," said [Apple Sr. Vice President Ron] Johnson.

That's right. The folks at Apple wanted to thank Campbell for bringing this issue to their attention, so two employees from Apple visited her home Wednesday and brought her a brand new iPad for free.

ljbirns · « **Reply #15 on:** May 20, 2010, 11:41 AM »

Someone said " Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel "

daddydave · « **Reply #16 on:** May 20, 2010, 11:44 AM »

And Apple has reversed its stance.
-wraith808 (May 20, 2010, 10:45 AM)

She said a clerk told her it was to prevent iPads from reaching the black market.

What black market? Is that what they're calling ebay now?

EDIT: On second thought, weaponized iPads? And seriously, this was probably just a clerk's "off top of head" comment, I didn't notice it before.

40hz · « **Reply #17 on:** May 20, 2010, 01:59 PM »

UPDATE: Apple has since recanted. They are now accepting cash provided you activate your online account (which is needed to use an iPad anyway) before you leave the store.

To which I can only say: Meh

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'll give Apple 7 BFDs for their bold and innovative decision.

wraith808 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 20, 2010, 02:11 PM »

^ I didn't see the part about the activating online account (it wasn't in the ABC article). Where is that? And why do you need any online account to use an iPad?

40hz · « **Reply #19 on:** May 20, 2010, 03:12 PM »

^ Saw it in a few different places, but here's one link that spelled it out:

Link: http://www.macnn.com...hanged.view.on.cash/

(I emphasized the relevant text.)

Apple reverses no-cash iPad policy
updated 10:40 pm EDT, Wed May 19, 2010

Apple says TV story changed view on cash

Apple in a surprise move tonight reversed its no-cash policy for iPad sales. Responding to a TV news story of Diane Campbell being unable to pay for the tablet after saving up cash, the California company said it would allow cash at any of its stores as long as customers agreed to setup their Apple IDs at the store.

You need an Apple ID to install, sync, or put anything on the iPad since Apple insists that everything go through iTunes. You can't just do a drag-copy via USB like you can with virtually every other device on the planet.

You get an Apple ID when you register your device. AFAIK it has to be done online. In addition to giving you access to warranty support, it's also your gateway to the AppStore and iTunes.

You need this ID and a web connection for OS updates since Apple does that through iTunes too. You can't download and save them like you can an MS Service Pack.

There is some support for a clunky file/print service (of sorts) via WiFi and a PC on your home network - but it's kinda a hack. It basically works by requiring you to load some mini-server software onto a host PC. Probably much more seamless in an all Apple environment thanks to the bonjour service - which is Apple's riff on Zeroconf - but on the PC side, it's a pain. And you still can't print via USB.

The iPhone works the same way. The only app I knew that let you circumvent iTunes and load files directly via USB was Stanza. The last update to Stanza removed that capability "to comply with Apple's app policies." So now you're stuck going through WiFi if you want to put a new ebook into Stanza.

wraith808 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 20, 2010, 03:29 PM »

The iPhone works the same way. The only app I knew that let you circumvent iTunes and load files directly was Stanza. The last update to Stanza removed that capability "to comply with Apple's app policies."
-40hz (May 20, 2010, 03:12 PM)

You can work with the iPhone without using iTunes- my wife never synced her phone until she needed to upgrade the OS, and she had tons of music and apps on there. She just connected via WiFi (had to use an appstore account, but no itunes). I also use a few apps that let you load files directly currently- they just temporarily turn the device into a webserver/ftp server.

I wonder would it be possible to jailbreak from the start, and never use itunes or an apple account at all... I know the phone is useable without an apple id, as I used it after I purchased it from best buy before I ever synced it...

40hz · « **Reply #21 on:** May 20, 2010, 03:39 PM »

I wonder would it be possible to jailbreak from the start, and never use itunes or an apple account at all...
-wraith808 (May 20, 2010, 03:29 PM)

Hardly worth it IMHO.

For what you pay for the device and the account, you shouldn't have to resort to "science fair projects" to get it to do what you want. Jailbreaking serves no long-term useful function.

Apple's limitations are by design and motivated purely by a lock-in business model. (And a healthy dose of paranoia on the part of 'he who shall remain nameless.' Typical behavior on the part of somebody who never mastered any coding or technical skill and therefor decided the only role left was to put himself in charge of the real talent.)

Jailbreaking just plays into their game. Far smarter to find better devices and service providers to play with.

Just my 2¢

---------------
Addendum:

When I was a kid, we actually did have one little twerp that always used to threaten to take his bat and ball and go home when things didn't go his way. (Doctor's kid. Richest family in the neighborhood too! His parents absolutely doted on him...)

We eventually gave up dealing with his tantrums. We all chipped in and went out and bought a couple of neighborhood-owned Wiffle Ball sets. Once we did, we banished the twerp from our games.

Apple won't take cash for iPads

I think this was the moment I became a supporter of the FOSS model - even though it would be years before FOSS came into existence.

It also goes a good bit of the way towards explaining my endless disappointment with Apple as a company. At one point in their history, they really did have the potential and opportunity to become something truly great and change everything about computing.

That moment has long since passed them by.<*sigh*>

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #22 on:** May 20, 2010, 03:50 PM »

Apple's limitations are by design and motivated purely by a lock-in business model. (And a healthy dose of paranoia on the part of 'he who shall remain nameless.' Typical behavior on the part of somebody who never mastered any coding or technical skill and therefor decided the only role left was to put himself in charge of the real talent.)
-40hz (May 20, 2010, 03:39 PM)

While I really do try to stay quiet in these Apple threads...I just had to applaud this one!!