Best Buy’s $50 off iPad ‘deal’: Not so sweet anymore
Thrifty consumers who bought an iPad 2 from Best Buy in the last couple of weeks have been riding an emotional roller coaster that has ranged from smug elation to hesitation to frustration.
It started off well: On Feb. 25, Best Buy launched what sounded like a great deal--dropping the price of its entire line of iPads by $50.
So the starting price of the 16-gigabyte, Wi-Fi-only iPad 2 was down to $449.99 from $499.99 and the most expensive iPad, 64 gigabytes with Wi-Fi and 3G capability, was down to $779.99 from $829.99.
A good deal? Sure.
But on Wednesday, March 6, Apple announced it was reducing the iPad 2 by a full $100 in the wake of its new iPad announcement.
So that iPad that Best Buy shoppers bought on March 1 for $449.99 is now on sale, just one week later, for $399.99.
Drat!
Best Buy did not respond to repeated requests for comment from the L.A. Times, but a careful perusal of Best Buy’s website suggests that the recent iPad purchaser has some options.
Best Buy’s return and exchange policy clearly states that the return and exchange period lasts for a full 30 days. The policy does include a list of items that cannot be returned or exchanged within that time, but the iPad 2 is not listed as one of them.
To return the item, you will need to present the original receipt, a gift receipt or packing slip. And if you are returning it at the Best Buy store, you’ll also need a valid photo ID.
And for those of you who bought your iPad 2 before the $50 off deal, and before the 30-day exchange period, well, all we can tell you is that the electronics trade-in company Next Web told us that the Wi-Fi-only iPad 16G is currently going for $215.
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