Bought a macbook, disappointing experience...

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I sold my macbook last week because I wanted a core 2 duo and mine was the older model. I also wanted to wait til the Leopard announcement before buying one because I wanted to make sure I'd be eligible for an inexpensive upgrade. So I went to the Apple store today, cash in hand, psyched.

Got there talked to one of the employees and he went in the back and grabbed me the white MB with superdrive. Awesome, I had my 2 year old in tow and I just wanted to get home and get my backups over onto my new mac, feed my son dinner and then plug away.

I got home and the first thing I noticed was that the box had 2 clear pieces of tape sealing it, one over top of the other. I called the Apple store and the guy told me that's what happens when they have a computer there that they need to update with new docs or software (iLife 08), etc.

Cool. I went upstairs and got my hard drive, threw a lasagna in the oven so I could feed my son while I began working on my NEW Mac.

I opened the box and was SO....

...let down.

The cords weren't wrapped the way my wife's macbook pro cables were 2 weeks ago when we bought that. The clear piece of plastic band around the extension power cord was ripped off, the plastic around the square power supply was ripped off and put back on as evident by the bubbles under the plastic and the plug was obviously plugged in because the plastic sealing the metal tabs that insert into an electric socket was ripped so the tabs could be opened. The sticker that seals the computer in its packaging was ripped and I took the DVD's out of the little box (which wasn't closed properly, and wouldn't because it was bent) and the O.S. DVDs had fingerprints on them.

To say I was let down is an understatement. I called the store and they told me all the managers were busy and to just come into the store. Fine, I packed everything back up, got my son dressed, turned off the lasagna and drove back to the Apple store.

When I got there I was greeted by the person that I spoke to on the phone and he took my receipt, examined the package and went back to get me a new computer. I waited a few minutes and he came out and started ringing me up again. He was nice and very apologetic and said he'd never seen that happen before, then he said "that often". He said it was strange that the packaging was like that and if they were going to do a drop in (update the package with iLife '08, etc) it would be a lot cleaner than that and they don't use the power supplies that are in the computer's packaging. He couldn't explain why they were like that and neither could one of the assistant managers. But they both agreed that it isn't normal, especially for a "drop in".

After being rung up, I said that's it? Nothing for the trouble of having to drive 45 minutes BACK to the store? Maybe 5% off or something or a free upgrade to Leopard or an apology by a manager? NOTHING. The sales guy called the manager over and asked him if he wanted to give me anything for all my trouble and the manager said "we didn't charge you a restocking fee of 10%, so that should be enough." I said, well it isn't enough and this was a HUGE inconvenience after spending $1300 here (and $2k for a MBP 2 weeks ago along with $300 for a touch the same night). In NO WAY was I rude either, I was polite and level headed the entire conversation.

He said, "I didn't have to take the computer back and we did give you a 10% discount already because we didn't charge you the restocking fee".

If he would have came over and just said, "ya know, I'm really sorry for the hassle but I can't do anything other than the exchange" that would have been WAY cool. Instead he was cold and just borderline rude.

Now I'm not one of those people that complain about every little thing and try to get everything for free or discounted (or else I would have waited 10 days for a free copy of Leopard), but I was a little more than surprised at his attitude because I preach to everyone I know how cool Apple and the Apple stores are. And although I haven't spent a million there, I bought 2 macbooks a year ago, a MBP 2 weeks ago, my touch 2 weeks ago and my MB tonight. I guess I was just a little let down.

Sorry for the long post...

T
 
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You DO get a free copy of Leopard, all you have to do is pay $10 for shipping

Up-to-Date Program

I understand being miffed by the rude manager, and I agree that if I were in your position, a simple apology would have sufficed. Though I can't really help with what you should do besides just brush it off and apply for your free copy of Leopard.
 
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Yeah, I'm gonna apply for the free copy of leopard (already did for my wife's MBP today).

T
 
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That's outrageous.

That reminds me of how Futureshop screwed me on my iPod warranty but I'm not over it yet so I don't want to get into it.
 
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Not everyone that works for Apple enjoys there job or can show some customer service but hat's completely ridiculous. Isn't there a seal on the outside of the box? It didn't appear to be open before you left the store?
Sorry for your troubles.
Not getting a restocking fee on a item previously used sounds like the sweetest deal ever! NOT!
 
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Yeah, it had a seal on the outside of the box and it was covering ANOTHER seal that had been cut. That is why I called the store originally before I even opened the box.

T
 
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That's just BS. Should-a...could-a...would-a...when situations like this happen to me, I always get them to commit to some type of inconvenience compensation over the phone before I return to the store....and then, always deal with the manager, not the night-shift dufus who 'claims' he's the acting assistant manager on duty nor any salesman....just bypass those bafoons immediately.

Also, don't expect them to throw you a bone unless you're upfront about it....and play it off like it's 10x's worse than it really is. The store needs to learn a lesson from this bone-headded move and take quality control seriously.
...and another thing....although I love my Macbook and OS X, I HATE the aire of arrogance from many of the Apple stores, their employees and the fan-boi drones that frequent them and push anything-Apple as God-like and evangelistic gospel..../rant
...{starting breathing exercises}
 
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The guy I talked to on the phone before I took the computer back wouldn't let me talk to a manager because they were ALL extremely busy and the store was "packed" (his words). I got there and saw 8 people in the store, far from being packed. But it did take me 1/2 hour to get there so who knows. Regardless I should have known right off the bat when I couldn't speak to a manager on the phone that the service was going to be far from excellent when I got there. I mean honestly you spend $1300 on a new computer, the least they could do is put a manager on to apologize. ****, if I eat at Chili's and something is wrong the manager comes out and apologizes and thats a $25 meal...

T
 
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.......if I eat at Chili's and something is wrong the manager comes out and apologizes and thats a $25 meal...

T
And that's the kind of effort that keeps me comming back as a customer.

Apple needs to kiss the ground that it's fanbase has established and the empire they've grown for them. How about recipocate to those that made you what you are today? Instead they promote this fan-boi attitude, call it a culture and convince you that it's OK that your getting ripped-off because it says 'Apple' on it. Kind of reminds me of they way Sony operates. Sorry guys, I don't drink the Koolaide that way. Unfortunatley, they do have some unique products that work well, just like Sony does.
 
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Bought a macbook (disappointing PART II)

For those of you who read my other post about last night's trip to the Apple store, please read on...

I came home from work today and had a message from the girl at the Apple store on my phone. She said she talked to another manager today and the manager agreed that I deserved something for what I had to go through last night. They told me to come back in tonight and they would either swap my macbook for a brand new one with a 2GB memory upgrade, or they would put memory in the one I bought last night. Since the one I bought last night had a click in the hinge, I opted for option #1 and took my macbook in tonight and with absolutely no hassle or trouble they swapped out the 1GB model for an upgraded 2GB model. The girl explained to me that they wanted to keep me as a customer and wanted to do something because of the trouble I went through. When I was leaving she said "I hope we see you again", and I replied, "you will".

Kudos Apple store. Job well done.

T
 
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I am glad everything worked out for you! Being level headed and nice about even though the employee was being rude worked out.
 
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Yeah, it sure did. I'm digging this new computer too! It's NICE!

Now I hope they don't come out with a new macbook in November....ha ha...

T
 
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That would make me pretty angry, but I think I know what would have happened if you didn't return that MacBook.

That same exact thing happened to my white MacBook: 2.16GHz (Is yours the same model) that I bought back in August.. It had minor scratches all over the laptop, and the cables looks as if they had been used, and the handle on the box was broken.

I knew that minute I should have taken it back and questioned them, but I thought that I could just boot it up and see if there were any problems. I booted the beast up and everything was working fine, so I didn't mind, because I also had a 17" MacBook Pro to boot up.

A few weeks of little use on the white MacBook and I decided to boot it up for a little play time and the screen was black! I looked closer and it was like the backlight had disappeared, I could hardly see anything on the screen. I felt so scared, so I got out my "Everything Mac" manual and searched through it, I found a little key sequence that fixes that every time it happens. And it's starting to happen more often. :[

I should get it replaced, huh?
 
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That's awesome! Good to hear that you had a happy ending :D
 
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Good to see it worked out for you. I do agree that the employees in the store can be *** hats. At Southpark Mall in Charlotte, NC, the store is firmly planted on the wing with Louis Vitton, Coach, Kenneth Cole, Tiffany, Neiman Marcus, Burberry and Hermes.
 
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Yeah, I'm gonna apply for the free copy of leopard (already did for my wife's MBP today).

T

Send an e-mail to Apple through their website letting them know what store it was and how the manager, the person who's supposed to be responsible and mature, was extremely rude to you.

I mean, sure he didn't charge you a 10% restocking fee. But you also didn't pay the full price of the computer to be sold one that had been opened and rummaged through.
 
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I'm so happy that this worked out! The story made me really upset because I think Apple has a big problem with trying to get their customers to come back. The employees can be big jerks sometime.
 
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There is a real snob factor in the Apple stores around here sometimes, but I attribute it to a situation that I witnessed at the Genius Bar about a week ago:

There is a woman dressed to the hilt in designer crap, chewing one of the techs out at the counter. He just told her that the three-week-old MBP that she bought would not be covered under warranty because she had just told him it stopped working after she dropped it off of something.....The case was all kinds of tweaked, and the screen was damaged...She honestly thought it was "defective" because it didn't withstand a "about 7ft" fall...Tell me it is easy to deal with people for the rest of the day after that. I think a lot of us see it as snobbery, but I really think it is just those guys having a bad day.....
 
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Well I'm not sure about the rest of your Apple stores, but the one around here is in a mall that tends to have "snobby" people and uppity stores in them. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

T
 
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I had to drive over an hour to change mine in for a dead pixel.
I feel your pain.


The guy I talked to on the phone before I took the computer back wouldn't let me talk to a manager because they were ALL extremely busy and the store was "packed" (his words). I got there and saw 8 people in the store, far from being packed. But it did take me 1/2 hour to get there so who knows. Regardless I should have known right off the bat when I couldn't speak to a manager on the phone that the service was going to be far from excellent when I got there. I mean honestly you spend $1300 on a new computer, the least they could do is put a manager on to apologize. ****, if I eat at Chili's and something is wrong the manager comes out and apologizes and thats a $25 meal...

T
 

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