T his note comes to you today courtesy of our friends at Insanely Great Mac, via a post from Observer Duncan Holley in our article comments. On the morning after big price cuts in the PowerBook product line [see TMOis full coverage for more information], itis easy for people who ordered one of the now less-expensive 12" or 15" PowerBooks before the price drop to get frustrated or angry. As Insanely Great Mac noted, buried in the middle of Appleis "Sales and Refunds Policy," which is posted at the Apple Store site, is what amounts to a price protection policy. From that page:
PRICES
The Apple Store endeavors to offer you competitive prices on current Apple products and selected refurbished and clearance products. Your total order price will include the price of the product (on the day of shipping) plus any applicable sales tax and shipping charges.? Apple reserves the right to change prices for products displayed at the Apple Store at any time.Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price.?[TMOis emphasis] To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment.
In other words, if your 12" or 15" PowerBook shipped in the last 10 days, you may be eligible for a refund for the difference. We shanit pretend for an instance to be experts on this, so if you think you are eligible, contact Apple. Note that this policy likely does not include model revisions, and instead seems to refer strictly to price drops on current shipping models.
Price protection plans are generally intended to make consumers feel comfortable about buying now, instead of waiting forever for something to get cheaper. A number of retailers offer such protection, especially in the electronics sector.