Rebate for iPhone Angers Loyal Customers
Now when the iPhone came out last month I was not so dazzled. I mean yes the technology was enticing but the price tag quickly brought me back to my senses. Not only is the iPhone a phone but a mp3 player, a camera, with a touchscreen and Wifi, internet capability. Wow. But wait. This technology came with a huge price, it was estimated to cost at least $600, and that was not even including the monthly charges for the two year service plan which could've ranged anywhere from $59.99 to $219.00. Yikes.
Now it seems with the current introduction of a new iPod, appropriately dubbed "iPod Touch", the market actually went the other way. From what I understand at the time the announcement was imminent the stock went up, but afterwards their stock went down. Almost as if everyone rushed to the stage in anticipation for new technology but when the new revelation was made everyone seemed to shrug their shoulders either not impressed or not liking the prospect of being outdated and or out another couple of $100 bucks.
It does seem ridiculous that Apple has continuously put out these iPod products at outrageous prices. And to make things worse, devote fans of Apple went ahead and purchased, invested in this $600 and then some phone. But now it is about to get ugly.
In addition to revealing a brand new iPod, with new capabilities, Jobs also announced a reduction in price for the iPhone to $400.00, angering those same devote fans, thats $200 dollars lost. This most likely was done due to the fast approaching holidays. And how will Apple make up for this wrong? A rebate... in the form of a gift card! A gift card to what? To Apple products of course! This rebate/ gift card is exclusive to Apple stores, that is it is in store credit.
Other infuriated customers are rumored to be demanding an apology. Obviously this would be due to feeling betrayed, taken advantage of and generally made a fool of. I myself will be a little more cautious when dealing with Apple. Fool me once...
Published by Lilly Black
I am young 30ish woman and a mother of five. I am also a military spouse. Currently we are stationed in New Mexico, and we are just loving it. I have three girls and two boys. All of my girls are in school s... View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentThat's what they get for buying it earlier. If you buy a computer and three months later the same model is $200 bucks cheaper, tough luck (this happens often!). IPhone customers should not be thinking that they are being ripped off, instead they should be thinking "Hey, I get $100 in accessories for my IPhone for free!" Look on the positive side, guys.
As much as I despise companies that do this to their loyal customers, I also see the company reasoning. They want to get an early start on holiday sales, or their sales with that price were not what they expected at this time. At least they are offering an in store credit, instead of stiffing the customers and saying "You wanted the technology first, so you are gonna pay for it". I know that alot of people that already bought this phone bought it for all the features, and the whole $100 store credit will not buy them anything they don't already have.
It's just good business, a little on the sly obviously, but good business. Hype it up, get 600 bucks from the people who were willing to pay it, and when the hubbub dies down, lower the price where the "rest of them" can buy one. A very smart move if you ask me (which you didn't), even if it angers those people who bought one early. Apple still has your money, and you've had your iPhone for longer than the "400 dollar crowd" has, thus gaining that amount of time's use out of the extra cash. Just smart business.
I keep seeing all these posts saying "Ha ha! You Apple-philes really got burned!" I'm guessing the same applies to me even though the last Apple product I bought was around 1990. Everytime I wanted a Mac or a Powerbook or something, I just couldn't justify the price. The iPods were too expensive for something that was not essential, and the price never seemed to drop far before it was replaced by an improved model at close to the same old price anyway. Therefore, I don't think I should have known that Apple would drop the price on the latest model of iPhone so soon, even if I did expect smaller price drops before the holidays and probably a new improved version just after the holidays priced at the first iPhone's price. All I can say is that people can jeer me all they want, but I think Mr. Jobs just proved to me that I was right about Apple products being overpriced and no matter how tempting an Apple product is in the future, I will stick with my instinct and avoid Apple for at least
That really isn't good on Apple's part. You can't mess with the pricing so soon after the release. They simply weren't getting enough sales due to the high price, then decided to tinker with the pricing and WHAMO! They went down too soon. If I were a purchaser of said product, I'd be p%$&** too.