As you probably know, along with launching the iPad mini yesterday, Apple also launched a major update to the iPad 3. Understandably, many people who just bought an iPad 3 are very upset that there product is immediately and unexpectedly out of date. See our full earlier article here for more.
At the moment the situation is unclear. There are reports that one Apple shop will give you a free upgrade if you bought the iPad 3 less than 30 days ago. This represents an extension to the standard 14 day return policy. However you’re still not going to be happy if you bought it 31,32 days ago etc. days ago.Today we tried to get to the bottom of the matter.
Our Findings
We bought an iPad 3 in early October (Outside the 14 day but inside the 30 day policy). We first called the Apple care centre. They told us it was a false rumour that there was a new iPad and that we were not entitled to a refund or an upgrade. This was frustrating and irritating to say the least. However we had more success when we called the store where we’d bought the iPad from. They told us that if we returned the iPad to the store within thirty days of our purchase they would be happy to refund us.
So that’s what we did. We went into the store and explained the situation. The staff were helpful and friendly as always but initially reluctant. In fact we had to be pretty insistent (and point out that we’d already been offered a refund on the phone) before they offered us a refund. There was no way to pre-order or upgrade we could only get a refund. The member of staff said to us, ‘We don’t really have a clear policy and we’re not sure what’s happening at the moment’. So we got our refund.
What You Need to Do
You need to call the store where you bought it and insist on an upgrade/refund. If your iPad was bought longer than 30 days ago you may struggle. I would try and call the store first, get the name of the person you spoke to and then go into the store in person. Try and not put this off as you don’t want to go over the thirty day period.
What is going on?
Apple’s management has really screwed up on this one. Apple should have predicted this before the launch and certainly should have had a clear policy in place by today. What’s obvious is that no one has any idea what’s going on and store managers seem to have been left to fend for themselves. This is a PR disaster.
Apple may be trying to ignore this and hope it goes away. In my opinion that’s a very poor strategy. They fear a mass recall of iPad 3s. Going by recent sales, 5 million iPad 3s might be eligible for a recall within the 30 day period. That’s a lot of iPads for a product which is no longer supposed to sold. It would be a big problem but Apple needs to bite the bullet on this one. At the moment a lot of people are upset and they risk doing lasting damage to the brand.
What’s clear is they didn’t plan for this. What a terrible strategy to offer us a refund and not an upgrade. We might take that money and spend it elsewhere (such is the strength of the product we won’t). There should have been a clear way to upgrade.
This incident raises serious questions about Apples strategy and its management. Where is the leadership?
The iPhone 5 is slick and beautiful. Slimmer and faster than it’s predecessor. When it came out people queued around the block, and no wonder, it has a bigger 4 inch retina screen, faster wireless and a powerful A6 chip. In fact Time Magazine named it the best gadget of the year. It is twice as fast as the old iPhone, and twice as beautiful. It is the best smartphone on the market by a significant margin. Get it at the Carphone Warehouse.
