New Hardware With Wrong OS

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The point of this post is that new Mac anything should leave the store in 100% working, up to date order when you purchase it.

Our new iMac 21" (Nov 2011) should have Lion installed, but did not.

The store told us we had to wait for an upgrade approval email (could take two weeks) from Apple and then do the upgrade ourselves. Being newbies and having already spent two hours watching them fix a half dozen other issues (including replacing the first iMac entirely) we accepted this seemingly ludicrous approach.

After a lot more mis-information over the phone, we wound up having to bring the iMac back to the store for the authorization of the OS upgrade which we installed ourselves later since we didn't feel like hanging around the store for another hour and a half.

Sorry i'm such a whiner newbie, but so far the quality control and support are well below my expectations. Very nice enthusiastic staff at the store, but all to willing to speculate and make things up rather than get it right.

There, I've said my piece - thanks for listening and remember to stand your ground - expect a FINISHED PRODUCT on day one.

Peace
 

dtravis7


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Where did you purchase your new iMac? Apple Store or other retailer? I am shocked that a November 2011 iMac came with Snow Leopard and not lion.

Authorization? For what? When Lion came out I logged into my Apple Store account and downloaded it. Unless they meant for free since they owed you Lion since its a new machine.
 

chscag

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Where did you buy the iMac from? It was obviously not an Apple store or it would have had Lion pre-installed.

If you're disappointed with the quality control and support, I suggest you contact Apple directly as we are in no way affiliated with Apple. Your new iMac comes with 90 days of free telephone support; use it to contact Apple and voice your concerns.
 
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Oh yes, to our collective shock and dismay it was an Apple store with staff a plenty who nodded apologetically at the lame solution.

In fairness I believe they misinterpreted the legal/ licensing nonsense rather than use common sense and take the thing into the back and have the techs sort it out so the customer wouldn't have to slog through the mess we did.

Also, (cutting them more slack than they deserve) it was thanksgiving weekend and so busy that we had exactly 5 different McStaffers handle our purchase from start to end.

Not sure any of them are the wiser, but of course, we are, and yes - I will look for a way to convey my experience to Apple, though the 800 number approach strikes me as a waste of time based on two attempts thus far.

And if I may test the limits of your attention with a quote:

Persistence is The Key to Success
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race
 
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i have never heard of a Mac being purchased months after an OS update not having it.
 
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With your memory problem, contact Apple and ask for a replacement. Someone has been into it.
 
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This is my worst suspicion, though I can't imagine why an Apple tech would bother to harvest RAM from new machines while still having to replace it with other older RAM.

What else might have been tampered with I can't imagine but have to believe it's simply not worth the trouble and risk... yet there I am with what seems to be an obvious inside job (apple store).

The Mac is otherwise running well and i am still a devout convert. I will have to compare more of the specs with what I find in my own iMac and follow up with Apple as best I can for a more lasting level of comfort.

For the record, we have two Macs - my girlfriend got a iMac 21" and I got the 27 inch. She had the wrong OS and I had the wrong RAM. Both purchased at the same time from the same store.

To be continued...
 
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Get on to Apple as soon as possible.
 
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This is my worst suspicion, though I can't imagine why an Apple tech would bother to harvest RAM from new machines while still having to replace it with other older RAM.

What else might have been tampered with I can't imagine but have to believe it's simply not worth the trouble and risk... yet there I am with what seems to be an obvious inside job (apple store).

The Mac is otherwise running well and i am still a devout convert. I will have to compare more of the specs with what I find in my own iMac and follow up with Apple as best I can for a more lasting level of comfort.

For the record, we have two Macs - my girlfriend got a iMac 21" and I got the 27 inch. She had the wrong OS and I had the wrong RAM. Both purchased at the same time from the same store.

To be continued...

Ok, you need to escalate this up the corp food chain, several thousands of dollars in computers, one leaves the store without the proper software, the other without the proper ram and the store staff has you people waiting, calling and coming back into the store?

Your store's manager needs retraining, after my dealings with Apple online & on the phone I doubt people higher up would find the level of service you've received to be acceptable
 
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I have done exactly that (thank you for your encouragement).

I spoke to both tech support and customer service in detail for about a half hour each (calmly without expletives).

Tech support said that the wrong OS was not uncommon since Lion came out after the iMac. The RAM thing they said must have been a "fluke". We verified that everything else was up to spec.

Customer service listened well and I didn't hold back any details. They seemed to sincerely appreciate the feedback while agreeing that the multi-blundering, 3rd world level of service was completely unacceptable and vowed to take the issues up with the store directly.

At least I got it off my chest and they said what I wanted to hear. We are all friends now. :)

Thanks all
 

dtravis7


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Glad it's all sorted and hope you and your wife can not kick back and enjoy Mac's!
 

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