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In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. I'd wager that in an insignificant portion of countr

In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. I'd wager that in an insignificant portion of countries Apple expanded to, they have had to significantly cut back on refunds/warrantees they offer to combat fraud and abuse.

duxup 5y ago
I worked at a chain pizza place growing up that advertised its money back offer if you didn't like your pizza. When they advertised it I just assumed a lot of people would take advantage of it. Our store was one of the busiest in the US for a single store. One guy ... just one guy abused it regularly. Beyond him almost nobody ever took advantage of the offer at all... Easy enough for the store manager to tell that guy to knock it off and there ya go. What I assumed was a crazy / unwise policy, effectively cost them nothing, hardly was ever used, didn't require any new processes at all, and amounted to just a advertising slogan. I was surprised and impressed.
- moftz 5y ago
  People are probably more embarrassed to ask for their money back on something they have partially or entirely eaten. I can barely muster up the courage to tell my waiter that my dinner order wasn't quite right but I have zero problem with buying a couple different versions of a product and returning the ones I don't like.
  - pbadenski 5y ago
    That's interesting - I hate wasting food, I have never complained about my order (and not planning too, unless the food is spoiled I guess). If I don't like the food, I'll just never order again from the same place. I would definitely appreciate a company that offers money refund on food "no questions asked" even if I was never going to use it - it shows respect.
    - kube-system 5y ago
      In the US, Aldi, and I think some other grocery stores do this.
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  If I were the manager I'd just say, if the guy calls, let me talk to him, and then tell him "It doesn't seem you really like our pizzas, we don't want to ruin your dinner, so why don't you order somewhere else?". A better manager would figure out how to keep him as a paying customer...
darkwizard42 5y ago
Agreed, but I don't think Americans take it for granted; I think they just don't abuse it. By not abusing a good faith return policy you allow the company to provide one that is consumer friendly.
- amznthrwaway 5y ago
  There’s substantial abuse of these policies in the US.
- petee 5y ago
  Eh, look what happened to LL Bean, they had one of the last real good faith return policies, and it was abused to hard they had to reverse lifetime warranty on existing products to two(?) years. And create a list to track individuals making the returns I hear they'll still honor it in some obvious cases...
  - selectodude 5y ago
    REI did the same thing. People would return ten year old jackets for a full refund because a feather was sticking out. Even Costco has drastically scaled back the return policy on electronics for that reason. In large enough groups, people suck.
sergiotapia 5y ago
nothing to do with consumer protection, everything to do with culture. the majority of people simply don't abuse it.
DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
> In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. As a european, it's amusing to hear you say that as the majority of European countries have far, far more stringent consumer-protection regs than the US, such as mandatory 2 year warranties, distance-selling laws, legal rights to a refund or replacement, and so on. Apple's 90 day warranty is a joke when you can buy the same product, for almost the same price after factoring-in VAT, with a 2 year warranty only a 5 hour flight away...
- gambiting 5y ago
  And everywhere in EU sellers have to accept a return within 14 days for any online purchases, for any reason. And no, they can't charge a restocking fee. You can only be asked to pay for the postage back. And in general, the responsibility for the goods is always with the seller first, manufacturer second. If your laptop breaks and the seller says "oh the manufacturer declined warranty" then sorry, tough luck, it's the seller who has to repair/replace it now.
  - vetinari 5y ago
    > within 14 days for any online purchases Almost. It does not apply to custom-made products. Apple resellers consider BTO models to be custom-made and thus not eligible for this protection. But at least they warn you upfront.
    - DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
      > Apple resellers consider BTO models to be custom-made and thus not eligible for this protection. I thought the only get-out for Apple was personalized items, namely those with laser-engraving. BTO/JIT orders where you choose from a narrow set of options (e.g. RAM size, HDD size, etc) in Apple's case probably wouldn't be BTO because they tend to pre-assemble a modest stockpile of all of the different BTO configs. Lower-volume products, like the $6000 Mac Pro might have a case, but it's not like a returned (but new, even unopened) MacPro isn't resalable...
77pt77 5y ago
> In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. Please. American consumer protection is almost non-existent, especially when compared with places like the EU.

duxup 5y ago

I worked at a chain pizza place growing up that advertised its money back offer if you didn't like your pizza. When they advertised it I just assumed a lot of people would take advantage of it. Our store was one of the busiest in the US for a single store. One guy ... just one guy abused it regularly. Beyond him almost nobody ever took advantage of the offer at all... Easy enough for the store manager to tell that guy to knock it off and there ya go. What I assumed was a crazy / unwise policy, effectively cost them nothing, hardly was ever used, didn't require any new processes at all, and amounted to just a advertising slogan. I was surprised and impressed.

moftz 5y ago
People are probably more embarrassed to ask for their money back on something they have partially or entirely eaten. I can barely muster up the courage to tell my waiter that my dinner order wasn't quite right but I have zero problem with buying a couple different versions of a product and returning the ones I don't like.
- pbadenski 5y ago
  That's interesting - I hate wasting food, I have never complained about my order (and not planning too, unless the food is spoiled I guess). If I don't like the food, I'll just never order again from the same place. I would definitely appreciate a company that offers money refund on food "no questions asked" even if I was never going to use it - it shows respect.
  - kube-system 5y ago
    In the US, Aldi, and I think some other grocery stores do this.
bellyfullofbac 5y ago
If I were the manager I'd just say, if the guy calls, let me talk to him, and then tell him "It doesn't seem you really like our pizzas, we don't want to ruin your dinner, so why don't you order somewhere else?". A better manager would figure out how to keep him as a paying customer...

darkwizard42 5y ago

Agreed, but I don't think Americans take it for granted; I think they just don't abuse it. By not abusing a good faith return policy you allow the company to provide one that is consumer friendly.

amznthrwaway 5y ago
There’s substantial abuse of these policies in the US.
petee 5y ago
Eh, look what happened to LL Bean, they had one of the last real good faith return policies, and it was abused to hard they had to reverse lifetime warranty on existing products to two(?) years. And create a list to track individuals making the returns I hear they'll still honor it in some obvious cases...
- selectodude 5y ago
  REI did the same thing. People would return ten year old jackets for a full refund because a feather was sticking out. Even Costco has drastically scaled back the return policy on electronics for that reason. In large enough groups, people suck.

sergiotapia 5y ago

nothing to do with consumer protection, everything to do with culture. the majority of people simply don't abuse it.

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago

> In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. As a european, it's amusing to hear you say that as the majority of European countries have far, far more stringent consumer-protection regs than the US, such as mandatory 2 year warranties, distance-selling laws, legal rights to a refund or replacement, and so on. Apple's 90 day warranty is a joke when you can buy the same product, for almost the same price after factoring-in VAT, with a 2 year warranty only a 5 hour flight away...

gambiting 5y ago
And everywhere in EU sellers have to accept a return within 14 days for any online purchases, for any reason. And no, they can't charge a restocking fee. You can only be asked to pay for the postage back. And in general, the responsibility for the goods is always with the seller first, manufacturer second. If your laptop breaks and the seller says "oh the manufacturer declined warranty" then sorry, tough luck, it's the seller who has to repair/replace it now.
- vetinari 5y ago
  > within 14 days for any online purchases Almost. It does not apply to custom-made products. Apple resellers consider BTO models to be custom-made and thus not eligible for this protection. But at least they warn you upfront.
  - DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
    > Apple resellers consider BTO models to be custom-made and thus not eligible for this protection. I thought the only get-out for Apple was personalized items, namely those with laser-engraving. BTO/JIT orders where you choose from a narrow set of options (e.g. RAM size, HDD size, etc) in Apple's case probably wouldn't be BTO because they tend to pre-assemble a modest stockpile of all of the different BTO configs. Lower-volume products, like the $6000 Mac Pro might have a case, but it's not like a returned (but new, even unopened) MacPro isn't resalable...

77pt77 5y ago

> In my experience Americans sort of take for granted the breadth and depth of consumer protection you enjoy. Please. American consumer protection is almost non-existent, especially when compared with places like the EU.