As the end of summer approaches, shoppers are looking for deals on back-to-school items.
Back-to-school season is a key time for retailers. According to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, “families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $874.68 on clothing, shoes, electronics and school supplies,” according to USA Today.
Retailers often try to capitalize on this spending spree by offering special deals and discounts to students about to start school – discounts that are becoming increasingly attractive given the high prices shoppers find in stores these days. One Internet user, for example, was shocked to discover that a Mead notebook was selling for $16.
Now, a TikTok user has sparked controversy by claiming that the “deal” Apple offered her was not what it seemed. She even called the offer a “scam.”
Is Apple cheating its customers at the back-to-school time?
In a video with over 18,000 views, TikTok user and professor Dr. Mara Einstein (@drmaraeinstein) explains how she was “scammed” on a recent Apple purchase.
According to Dr. Einstein, she purchased an iPad through Apple’s education discount section, which offers discounts to purchasers of products associated with an educational institution.
When she saw that a regular iPad was selling for $599 and the education discount brought the price down to $549, she decided to buy it. But then she got a surprise.
“They said, ‘We’ll give you $100 off.’ Great. ‘And we’ll give you a $100 gift card, too.’ Nice,” the professor recalls. “I won’t be able to use the $100 gift card for this purchase. I’ll have to come back and buy again. But that’s kind of a standard marketing technique these days, and I get it. They want me to come back to them and buy something for more than $100, right? You get the idea.”
Although the purchase went through without any problems, Dr. Einstein said she noticed something strange when she received her credit card statement.
In addition to the discounted amount for her iPad and a related purchase, she was shown an additional amount of $100.
“I call Apple and the woman says to me, ‘Oh, that’s how they charge it.’ That’s how they charge what?” asks the TikToker. “So it turns out they charged me for the gift card. They didn’t order the gift card, they sent me something that said, ‘We’re giving you a gift card.’ I don’t want that gift card – they gave it to me for free.”
Although she was able to have the charges removed by escalating the matter to a manager, she calls the charges “misleading marketing.”
“You gave it to me for free and now you’re taking it away,” she concludes. “But OK, leave the $100, but I’m going to contact the FTC. If this happened to you, contact the FTC and make sure Apple doesn’t do this to anyone else.”
@drmaraeinstein @apple tried to #scam the wrong person. If you plan on buying new Apple products, be sure to check your credit card statement. And if you have to pay for #free #giftcards, be sure to contact the #FTC #falseadvertising #misleadingmarketing #marketing #advertising #socialmediamarketing #bts #backtoschoolshopping #computers #iPad #college #highereducation ♬ Original sound – Professor Einstein
What is the Apple Gift Card offer?
Discussions on Apple’s website suggest that several buyers felt similarly deceived by this practice.
“I purchased an iPad Air on 8/5/23 through Apple’s education website,” one user recalled. “It clearly stated ‘special $100 gift card’ and actually showed $100 deducted from the total. However, my credit card was charged for the supposedly ‘free gift card,'” one user explained.
Another user wrote: “As others have correctly noted, the gift card is actually purchased by the customer and charged to them. I was also able to confirm that the price of the eligible product (in my case a MacBook Air) is reduced by an amount equal to the promotional card.”
While the number of similar comments might indicate that the advertising surrounding this promotion was unclear, this is made relatively clear in Apple’s terms and conditions regarding the promotion.
“Qualified shoppers who purchase a Qualifying Product through a Qualifying Location during the Promotion Period will receive a discount equal to the value of the Promotional Product (depending on their purchase, as set out in the table below) off the price of the Qualifying Product at the time of purchase. Customers will be charged for all items in their shopping cart, including the Promotional Product,” the terms and conditions state.
Despite what the terms and conditions say, Dr. Einstein posted a follow-up video explaining that she stands by her original analysis.
“They can get away with it legally, but should we allow them? I don’t think so,” she writes in the caption of the follow-up post.
The video shows her going through the process of buying an iPad on Apple’s education website. When she checks out, she is shown a $100 discount on the iPad as part of a “special offer.”
Scrolling down, it becomes clear that the customer will receive a $100 Apple gift card. It is not clear on the website whether there is a fee for said gift card.
“I didn’t look at this and say, ‘Oh, I have to pay $100 for this gift card.’ I looked at this and said, ‘You’re giving me a $100 gift card,'” she explains.
She also says that the terms and conditions are not easy to find on the page, claiming that the link you have to click to find them looks more like a “design element” rather than a way to find out the actual price of the item.
@drmaraeinstein I stand by my analysis that @apple is using deceptive and unethical marketing practices. They can legally handle it, but should we let them? I don’t think so. #Marketing #Advertising #SocialMediaMarketing #Deception #Fraud #GiftCards @target ♬ Original sound – Professor Einstein
In the comments section, users shared their thoughts on the “hoax” described by Dr. Einstein, with some saying they felt similarly deceived.
“Oh, you’re so right!!! I was charged for the gift card for my son’s computer that I bought for college. How did I miss that?!” one user exclaimed.
“This just happened to me!” added another. “I googled it and it’s common practice but the explanations were so confusing I just gave up and paid.”
“This happened to me when I bought a laptop. Free $150 gift card. Then I see a separate charge for the gift card! I was beyond angry at this deception,” recalled a third. “I don’t buy anything from Apple.”
The Daily Dot contacted Apple by email and Dr. Einstein by email and through the contact form on the website.
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