Today’s story isn’t just a story of revenge, but it also offers advice for anyone who might have trouble getting a refund from a big company.

In this case, the company is Apple, and the manager refused to give a customer a refund for a defective AirPod.

The customer found a way to get their money back anyway.

Let’s see how the story unfolds…

Apple tried to scam me, I got my money back. Here’s how:

I bought some 3rd gen AirPods from a Target in 2022.

I didn’t expect them to last that long, but alas, the left earbud went out one day this year.

No biggy, I had heard you can buy a replacement AirPod.

And $70 AirPod is cheaper than buying a brand new pair at $125.

I’m broke, and my AirPod case and right AirPod worked fine.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

He had to wait quite awhile at the Apple store.

I go into the Apple store, completely void of customers except the 34 employees all lounging around.

I’m sitting there wondering why I’m waiting for 20 minutes, until they all form a victory tunnel, clapping in unison, and bearing the fakest smiles for an employee that’s moving to another store…

I wish I could make this stuff up. I hated everything about this place.

He got the AirPod.

Finally, an employee comes to me, knows exactly what I’m asking for, rushes me through the terms and conditions and jokingly says “blah blah blah”.

She gives me an AirPod, tells me to go home and charge it for an hour, and sends me on my way.

I felt rushed, but I had my AirPod.

I went to sleep happy knowing the next day I was going to be able to drown out the other half of my noisy job.

The AirPod didn’t work right.

I wake up in agony because my new AirPod sounded like it was underwater, and it would make this high pitch screeching noise before disconnecting.

My day is ruined.

After work, I go all the way BACK to store to complain and ask them what I’m supposed to do.

They say “well, it’s actually a repair, we could give you a new AirPod, but you’d have to pay again”.

The Apple store manager wasn’t helpful.

I was shocked at the audacity, and told them to give me a moment.

It took but 5 seconds to google the synopsis of the FTC’s decision on defective merchandise.

I showed the employee, and they grabbed their manager.

She had this facetious smile, like some kind of wannabe police officer with a nose ring.

She told me that I was wrong, and that I should have “not signed a contract I didn’t read,” as if her employee didn’t LITERALLY vigorously swipe to the bottom to for me to sign it.

She refused to hear the damage for herself.

I don’t blame her for not sticking a random AirPod in her ear, but she was rude and I wanted to gross her out by offering.

He left the store.

I record a video of myself leaving the AirPod on the table and walking out the store.

Some little dude in a security outfit “escorted” me out, even though no one asked me to leave.

I was just walking out.

It felt like their goal was some form of intimidation, but they’re too scared to go as far as breaking the law.

Which if you’re gonna act like a mini-mob, you might as well go all out.

He got a refund.

My bank was literally across the street from the Apple Store.

I go in there and tell them “I bought a device from Apple that was defective. I went back to the merchant, they refused to acknowledge the damage and do a refund. I left the device there at their store, and walked straight here to dispute it”

And guess what, I got my money back.

I wanted to share this little win I got while also giving a full description of how I did it for anyone who might go through the same thing with these companies.

Don’t give in, their contracts mean nothing if they’re breaking the law.

That Apple store manager needs to be reported.

I’m glad he got a refund through the bank.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story…

The store employees should’ve been able to fix the AirPod problem.

This reader doesn’t like Apple.

Apple didn’t help this reader either.

Here’s a warning if your purchase is associated with an Apple ID…

Buying Apple products from a seller that’s not Apple could be a work around.

I wonder if this customer ended up buying a different brand of earbuds.

This is absolutely egregious behavior.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.