Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reduced the return window after purchasing a new iPhone from 30 days to 14 days today, though the change was not officially slated to occur until tomorrow, March 13, 2014. All other Apple products already had a 14 day return policy, enabling purchasers to return items for any reason within two weeks of purchase. However, the iPhone had a 30 day return policy, perhaps underlining the special place it occupied in the Cupertino firm’s product lineup.
Today, the iPhone was dethroned from this unique position. The return and refunds policy on Apple’s (AAPL) site already indicates that the customer has just 14 days to return the smartphone. Originally, the 30 day return was offered exclusively through Apple retail stores in the brick and mortar world, or via the Apple Store online. The iPhone had to be free from damage and include all the accessories it was purchased with in order to qualify.
Though the text on the site has already been changed, the alteration is not retroactive. In other words, people who bought an iPhone on March 10th will have until April 10th to return it should they decide to do so. However, those bought on March 14th, for instance, would only be eligible for returns until March 28th. This policy change is most notable in the United States, since many European branches of the tech giant already had a 14 day limit for all items.
Apple’s (AAPL) shift in policy is not difficult to explain. Practically all carriers in the United States who offer iPhones have always offered only 14 day return periods, not 30 days. This led to considerable confusion and situations in which Apple Inc. allowed penalty-free returns of smartphones, but the carriers extracted fees and penalties from the user nevertheless. Often, consumers were blindsided by these termination fees, due to Apple’s policy of offering free returns for a longer period.
The change not only prevents problems of this nature, it also normalizes Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) policies in a rational fashion. Rather than needing to wonder if a specific item is exempted, purchasers now know up front that any Apple product can only be returned in the first two weeks after buying. Since the 30 day policy was never a major selling point among the fans of Steve Jobs’ smartphone creations, the shift seems unlikely to dent the mobile device’s popularity.
Other details of the return policy remain unchanged. There is still no fee or penalty for the return. The customer is still entitled to return their iPhone for literally any reason, and the phone must still be undamaged and include all accessories that were packaged with it. It is also likely that most returns will be from patrons looking to get a different color iPhone from the one they picked, precisely as the case is today.
