So I wrote a snarky blog post (below) and replied with a crabby comment. About 30 minutes later I got a f/u email:
Dear Apple Customer,So it was a mistake. I wonder how many customers got this, and how many are as cranky and post-election sleep-deprived as I am (and my team won, imagine how cranky I'd be if I voted GOP).
The prior communication you received from Apple stating the need for additional information was in error.
We completed your refund for a hard drive replacement as part of the iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program.
Refund Amount: 281.25
Credit Memo Number: 111111
Case ID: 11111
Follow Up Number: 111111
You will receive your refund in four-to-six weeks.
-------------------------------
Original title: Apple's defective drive replacement program: lousy customer service
I wasn't delighted that Apple took a year to admit that my iMac's hard drive was defective, but I was glad to apply for a refund for the replacement I purchased. I received an email asking for bank details, which I sent on.
Today Apple sent me another email asking again for the bank details I'd already sent and for a scanned receipt for a repair that was done by Apple at their store over a year ago:
Dear Apple Customer,
Product Serial Number(s): XXXXXX
Case ID: 11111This is lousy customer service.
Follow Up Number: 1111
Thank you for submitting a refund request. We need a repair receipt and banking details to complete your refund.
Please contact the service center that replaced your hard drive and obtain a receipt, if you do not already have it.
Reply to this email and attach a scan of the receipt. Do not change the subject line.
...
sg1tb_refunds_amr@apple.com
Update: I asked on Apple's discussion board if others had run into this problem. The post was removed about twenty minutes later, and I received this note:
Apple removed your post titled, "iMac 1TB drive replacement program: Apple gets nasty about refund," because it contained the following:Well, no complaint there - 'nasty about refund' wasn't the smartest subject line. Still, that was a pretty fast deletion by the standard of past years.
Non-technical posts
Non-constructive rants or complaints
So is it true that you have to give Apple you bank account and routing number to get a refund? I'm in the same situation right now. I just had my hard drive fail in my iMac and a couple weeks later I got an email from Apple saying that there was this replacement program going on. So I contacted Apple to get a refund for the hard drive that I already replaced with my own money. They said that someone else would have to contact me in a couple of days, so I waited and then got this email requesting my bank information to get my refund. I was too afraid to give them my bank details because it felt like one of those scam emails from Nigeria. I went to the Apple store to ask some of the geniuses there, and they said that Apple would never do such a thing, but then another genius spoke up and said yes they are doing that for the hard drive program...
ReplyDeleteI still haven't given them my information yet because I'm trying to make sure this isn't a scam...
Yeah, weirdly and stupidly this is indeed what Apple is doing. An extremely bad practice.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, they didn't do the direct deposit, they sent me a check. So they really didn't need that information and shouldn't have requested it.