So, Apple is refusing to accept legal tender backed by the U.S. Treasury.

Do they know something the rest of us don't?

Or are they just being idiots - again?

Hmmmmmm, I wonder which it could be...

I have never owned anything made by Apple, and the more stories like this I read, the more confident I am in saying that I never will.

#2 beat me to it.

And the note that she's disabled is really annoying, like she should enjoy special privileges, not just equal access.

COMTE ftw.

File a complaint with the US Treasury and have the feds shut down the store.

Apple has always been this way. The difference now is that they are finally popular enough for people to take notice.

Jesus tits, what a bunch of whackadoodles.

"Apple wants to keep Americans from re-selling the iPad overseas, where the tablet device is not available for a couple more weeks, a clerk told Campbell, who is white."

FTFY.

How much are iPads? What is the required credit limit on a card to purchase one?
It dismays me to know that people who choose to buy in cash, who delay their gratification, are disadvantaged both in terms of insurance rates, credit history, and now limited as to what they can buy.

This is not the first example I've encountered of stores refusing to take perfectly good forms of payment. I thought the economy was hurting: how is being unreasonably picky about how a product is sold helping revenues?

Apple has had this policy since at least the 1st-gen iPhone, so this is hardly new. I remember the Internet being all up in arms about it then, too. A lot of good that did. Also. not to be a jerk but the lady in the story is buying a $600 brick anyway if she has no computer with which to sync the iPad or credit card to purchase apps through the iTunes store.

Also, just because cash is legal tender, doesn't mean a business has to accept it. Ever try to buy a pack of gum with a $50 bill at a convenience store?

From the US Treasury FAQ:

"There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy."

I do not work for Apple. I do not own any Apple products for personal use, though I do have a work-issued iPhone. i think their products are overpriced and immensely over-hyped. Everything I've heard about Steve Jobs is that he is extremely manipulative, unpredictable, and single-minded to a fault. He also happens to be brilliant at marketing. Apple is his business and he can run it how he likes. All of this "outrage" over their practices needs to be put in check. Don't like their no-cash policy? Stop buying their products until they change it.

What the hell? It's a ridiculous attack on the. . . Apple Corporation? These things are supposed to be about Amazon.

I'm surprised Apple hasn't already made their own currency that can only be used to buy Applestuff

@3, @6 ...i wondered about this as well. it seems to be the case that Apple can control how they're paid prior to any debt being established. they're pounding this one out in the comments section of the respective BoingBoing thread right now:
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/19/no-…

funny how all the geekpages quickly become synchronized

Sorry, somewhere in the definition of "legal tender for all debts, public and private" means that if you offer cash, they have to accept it. [Maybe not all denominations, but the basic principle remains.]

Suggest that any attorneys pls share what you know. I don't trust Treasury's website. The state of attempted purchase may go further in protecting her.

Too late. I've already read a iPad review from a guy in Germany so they've probably hit other countries by now as well.

@17 is correct.

Apple knows it.

Give us the link to the US Treasury department and let's get the feds to shut down the store.

@17 "Sorry, somewhere in the definition of "legal tender for all debts, public and private" means that if you offer cash, they have to accept it."

just because it's legal to use as payment doesn't mean a private business has to accept it. whereas my little rectangle of copier paper, with my hand drawn '1' is not legal tender.

so it doesn't mean what you think it means.

IAAL. You all are being stupid. Being "legal tender" does not obligate someone to accept paper money in a transaction.

I'd also have a lot more sympathy for Ms. Campbell if it weren't trivially easy to put your cash on to plastic these days.

Yeah, you're not required to accept cash if you don't want to. As someone pointed out, many stores won't take large bills, even for large purchases.

And you don't need a credit card and the attendant finance charges to buy an iPad--you can use a debit card.

Like many apples, this one is mealy and worm-ridden.

@Everyone who is bringing up "legal tender": that's only relevant when there's a debt involved. For example, if she'd just picked up the iPad and then said "send me a bill", and Apple did and she tried to pay in cash, then they'd have to accept it as legal tender.

In this case, there is no debt, it's an "invitation to treat" or "invitation to bargain". A store is not required to sell anything that might be out on their sales floor, and can decide not to sell to someone for almost any reason (though deceptive advertising is still illegal).

Great, than file a claim with the State Attorney General.

Restraint of trade in a manner that is not clearly advertised is still illegal in this state.

Does apple accept those Visa gift cards that work like a credit card but expire once you use up the money put on them? (And can you buy those with cash?)

12: uhhhh...so critics of business practices in a free market society should shut the fuck up? That's not really how this thing works, yo.

Further, choke on a bag of dicks and die in a fire please.

Apple is his business and he can run it how he likes. All of this "outrage" over their practices needs to be put in check.

Huh. Weird.

Ryan Tate is a pathetic DRUNK DOUCHEBAG ASSWIPE, and you're falling right into the same trap YOU FUKING IDIOT. Apple currently has very limited iPad inventory and only sells max 2 per person - accepting cash makes it impossible to track this temporary limit DIMWIT. This poor lady - IF she actually exists! - should get down to Best Buy where they will happily take her cash - if they aren't out of stock too, because the iPads are flying off the shelves everywhere, in spite of your idiotic comments.

Sent from my iPad - which I wisely ordered online.

iPad SOLD OUT All Over The Tri-State Are…

"'You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter,' Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia," AFP reports. "'With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation,' Obama said."

and with The Stranger marching at the head of the parade, apparently

29/30: woah, you're straight freaking the fuck out!

Are all fanboys/girls this coocoo cray cray? Holy shit.

Worst example of "large corp screws over downtrodden person" story ever. Who doesn't love a bit of one-sided journalism? To echo the comments in the linked articles: does this woman have a computer? If not, she can't use the iPad. Does she have WiFi? If not, how does she plan to get on the internet at home? Does she not have a bank account? Why can't she get a debit card? (And am I the only one who would feel nervous carrying around $600 in cash?)

This is the most hilarious waste of company resources ever. They're so worried about enforcing a 2ipad per person limit that they refuse to take cash now? What the fuck? I thought we had laws against refusing legal tender? How she may feel about carrying $600 in cash is irrelevant, what the fuck are you going to need to buy an Ipodpadphone next? Tax records? Where's your papers! You cannot have these technologies without proving your loyalty to submit!

What's to stop her from putting that $600 on a prepaid credit card and buying one? After a scene like that I'd laugh if Apple thought their shit didn't stink to the point where they're refusing cash. Is our cash not good enough for Apple anymore? Is it so hard to sell items for money that we're going to be afraid of cash? AHHH SOMEONE CARRYING MORE THAN $200 CASH THEY MUST BE A SUPER TERRORIST HEROINE POT PILL DEALER! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES AND SECURE THE IPADS!

@27 I think by "Apple is his business and he can run it how he likes. All of this "outrage" over their practices needs to be put in check."
they really mean "Apple can discriminate based on the color of someone's skin all they like, all this "outrage" over their practices needs to be put in check."
I'm all for the private business man making private decisions about his private business, and telling anyone who doesn't like it to shove it up their ass, but there's rules that need to be firmly enforced. Not to mention, Apple backpedaled hard, and will accept cash for future iPad transactions. Why should it matter if she doesn't have a computer or wifi? She's a consumer, she has a need and the company that has that need wouldn't sell her a product based on the legal tender she spent months saving. Certainly there's an argument to be made that the consumer who saves their money should be allowed to buy products with it right? If cash isn't good enough for your business, they should have to tell me before I walk in the door. Fuck visa and MC, fuck them all to hell.

Debt does not mean what you think it means. In the traditional sense, a debt is created in any transaction. Why else do you think you are obligated to pay money in exchange for goods and services. You're not getting it for free.