iPod touch from walmart vs Apple - any pros or cons besides saving $25?

[lalapodip]

Sad story - first my daughter's iTouch is stolen from the band room at school (her "big Christmas gift" - was 32 GB, ouch!); she borrows an 8 GB iTouch from a friend, and mom grabs said daughter's beach towel from lounge chair....and borrowed iTouch ends up in the pool. So now I have to buy the friend a new iTouch. I priced a new 8 GB at $200 from Apple and $175 from Walmart. Since I've only purchased from Apple previously, I'm a little worried about ordering from WalMart and I was wondering if anyone had any pros or cons about ordering from WalMart. Thanks for any input

 

[Halbleib1]

I have never bought anything Apple at all so I can't comment on that specifically but I have made plenty of purchases on walmart.com including electronics and have had nothing but a good experience with it. If you can have it shipped site to store to save on shipping unless they are offering free shipping to your home. Some items right now are free to ship to your home. Once the item is in they send you an email that you print out and take to the store-back where layaway use to be and pick up your item. You pay for it at the time of ordering. You can easily track your item online. The best part is that if you are not happy with the item you purchase you can return it to the store for a full refund and not have to worry about return shipping.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

I bought Ipod Nano and Ipod Touch from Amazon at the holiday time. Price was better by about the same amount you are saying. Then I had no tax and free shipping.

My son noticed the touch screen was suddenly not level approx 4 months after having it. The unit still worked fine, but this bothered me that something made it shift so. Supposedly he does not know what happened.... Anyway I contacted Amazon and explained the problem, and they replaced the Ipod Touch with a completely NEW unit... no questions no hassle. I am sure it would not have been this easy to go through Apple. They would have put me through the repair process and whatever fees, and I would have prob ended up with a refurb unit if even that good. I was shocked by the excellent customer service and backing of their merchandise! I completely recommend Amazon.

 

[bucket o' butter]

I got my daughter's itouch from Wal-Mart at Christmas time. It is still working great and we haven't had any issues. Good luck!

 

[Green Tea]

I bought Ipod Nano and Ipod Touch from Amazon at the holiday time. Price was better by about the same amount you are saying. Then I had no tax and free shipping.

My son noticed the touch screen was suddenly not level approx 4 months after having it. The unit still worked fine, but this bothered me that something made it shift so. Supposedly he does not know what happened.... Anyway I contacted Amazon and explained the problem, and they replaced the Ipod Touch with a completely NEW unit... no questions no hassle. I am sure it would not have been this easy to go through Apple. They would have put me through the repair process and whatever fees, and I would have prob ended up with a refurb unit if even that good. I was shocked by the excellent customer service and backing of their merchandise! I completely recommend Amazon.

Apple is amazing with warranty issues. The warranty is the same whether you buy from Apple or someplace else. If you have a problem just call the applecare number, they send a replacement that day with a prepaid box to mail back the bad one. I have always gotten the new unit the next day. Amazing.

 

[JB2K]

Since I've only purchased from Apple previously, I'm a little worried about ordering from WalMart and I was wondering if anyone had any pros or cons about ordering from WalMart

Walmart, like Target and a handful of others, are authorized Apple retailers meaning you are buying the exact same thing.

Unlike Walmart, there's not an Apple store in every town in the U.S., so WM gives Apple more sales avenues...

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

Apple is amazing with warranty issues. The warranty is the same whether you buy from Apple or someplace else. If you have a problem just call the applecare number, they send a replacement that day with a prepaid box to mail back the bad one. I have always gotten the new unit the next day. Amazing.

I am sorry to say this is not the experience my sister's family had..... They gave them a terrible time. Lots of hassle. They gave up and bought a new unit. It had not even been a year It was an adult owned unit too... bad news

 

[r&kmommy]

Any store that sells Apple products is an authorized dealer of Apple products and you will be fine buying them. It's not like other things that Walmart carries, where they get the second tier products. It's the exact same ipod as you'd get at Best Buy, Target, Apple etc...

 

[WendyMS]

I've noticed that Best Buy always has their Ipods about $15-25 cheaper online than in their stores. If you're looking to add any type of warranty (which we did for my son's ipod), they also have a nice warranty plan (comparable or maybe better than Apple). --I'm not particularly loyal to either store, I was just thinking of buying a touch myself and found out that BB's online price is always better than their store price. Which could essentially pay for part of the warranty if you want one. Right now looks like the 8 gig is about 185 and the 32 gig is 275ish.

 

[r&kmommy]

I've noticed that Best Buy always has their Ipods about $15-25 cheaper online than in their stores. If you're looking to add any type of warranty (which we did for my son's ipod), they also have a nice warranty plan (comparable or maybe better than Apple). --I'm not particularly loyal to either store, I was just thinking of buying a touch myself and found out that BB's online price is always better than their store price. Which could essentially pay for part of the warranty if you want one. Right now looks like the 8 gig is about 185 and the 32 gig is 275ish.

Read the fine print on the best buy warranty before you pay for it. We got majorly majorly screwed a few years back with our TV. The salesman said "you need the warranty, especially with kids. This warranty will cover anything and everything that could happen to your tv"... Skip ahead 7 months to my son playing the Wii, he didn't put the wrist strap on, Wiimote flung out of his hands and into the tv screen busting up the liquid picture stuff inside making a spiderweb. Call Best buy to start a claim and guess what? Not covered!!!

They sent someone out to our house to get an estimate and the guy told us that they are trained to say ANYTHING to get the warranty sold! (He used to be a salesperson but then went part time doing repair) ... I called the store and threatened to go to the newspaper and tv station news to tell them about the scam and they gave me the money back for what we paid for the warranty ($400) and a $100 gift card to the store (that we never used)...

So yeah, read the fine print on the B.B. warranty before buying!

 

[scrapquitler]

If you order it from Apple, there is no shipping charge and they will engrave it for free and generally, if there is no Apple store in your state, there will be no sales tax (at least that is true of CT sales tax---if the retailer has no store in CT, they don't charge sales tax on online/phone/catalog orders shipped to CT)

 

[tomthebarncat]

Counterfeits I-Pads have already reached the open market and Wal-mart's biggest source for their cheap crap is China, I would not take my chances. At least at Apple you know you are getting the real thing! Also, since Walmart is not in Germany, I was not aware that they are an authorized Apple retailer.

 

[r&kmommy]

Counterfeits have already reached the open market and Wal-mart's biggest source for their cheap crap is China, I would not take my chances. At least at Apple you know you are getting the real thing!

 

[elliemae1192]

Apple is amazing with warranty issues. The warranty is the same whether you buy from Apple or someplace else. If you have a problem just call the applecare number, they send a replacement that day with a prepaid box to mail back the bad one. I have always gotten the new unit the next day. Amazing.

Wow! They didn't do that for me! Sure wish they would have. Both of my sons got an itouch for Christmas and within the past month both have had problems. I called Apple and they had me take them to the UPS store and send them back. When they get them and "check them out" they'll send the replacements. Still nice to know that they'll replace them.

 

[JB2K]

Counterfeits I-Pads have already reached the open market and Wal-mart's biggest source for their cheap crap is China, I would not take my chances. At least at Apple you know you are getting the real thing! Also, since Walmart is not in Germany, I was not aware that they are an authorized Apple retailer.

So, where do you get your info, anyway??

Besides, you said Walmart is not in Germany (but yet, you seem to be posting from there), so how do you know "what's what"?

In the U.S., Walmart, like Target, Best Buy, and some others are legitimate, authorized Apple retailers.

For those curious, I don't believe the two U.S. mass-merchandisers (Walmart and Target) are even carrying the iPad, as of yet.

Oh, and for the record, all of Apple's touch-screen products (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad) are manufactured by "Foxconn", a Chinese manufacturing company...

 

[croby]

I'd at least contact Apple and see what they will do for you. My daughter dropped her touch into the bath water (water damage is not covered). We were able to purchase a replacement for a reduced price. Not sure if it was new or refurb, but it sure looked new.

 

[lalapodip]

Thank you all for your replies! I really appreciate it. It just didn't make a lot of sense to me that the exact same item was $25 less at Walmart - it's free shipping to store, so shipping was never an issue, just the actual price. This is an unexpected expense that we don't actually gain anything from, because my daughter's actual device was stolen and no warranty is going to cover that. She learned a very hard lesson, unfortunately.

But, my budget friends, I ended up with a bigger savings, as today at work the young man that was filling in at my office, told me that his mom was trying to sell her brand-new iTouch for $150 - done deal!! Yay, problem solved (I know the family, no worries there)! If I decide eventually to purchase my daughter another one, I won't hesitate to order from Walmart if the price is still cheaper.

Thanks again!! I don't post much but I read the Budget boards reguarly, always looking for ways to save for our next trip to WDW!