How did 3rd party apps not available on The Apple Store get on my brand new 2021 Mac?

[JoeCinSC]

A couple of months ago I ordered a new (not refurbed) 2021 24-inch M-chip Mac online directly from Apple. It arrived about a month later via FedEx. When it arrived, it had ClamXAV and a related disk cleaner installed on the Desktop.

It also crashed a lot! I have never seen a Mac do this. The new Mac crashed about every 15 minutes, sometimes more frequently. The first two calls to Apple Support didn’t help; the third call was elevated to a support supervisor, which also didn’t help. The fourth call found its way to a different support supervisor who was shocked when I told him I had not installed ClamXAV and the disk cleaner; he said Apple doesn’t ship Macs with third-party apps unless the customer orders them (I had not) and that these two are not available on the Apple Store (they’re not). We removed them, manually deleted many remaining related files, and my Mac has been crash-free since.

I told the support supervisor that I want to know how those apps got on my supposedly brand new, clean Mac. He promised to elevate my question and that I’d receive an answer. Since then I’ve heard nothing from Apple. Crickets, despite repeated follow-up calls.

My question is: Has anyone heard of anything like this before? Any theories about how this happened? Should I be outraged? Should I demand a new, clean machine? (I’m loving the new Mac so this would sadden me, but it might be best. It seems to me my machine was compromised at the factory or before it reached the warehouse; I want to know how and I want to know that Apple is taking steps to see it doesn’t happen again.)

Any thoughts?

Joe C.
Columbia, South Carolina

 

[Slydude]

I don't remember new Macs coming with third-party software since the early days of OS X. I haven't purchased a new Mac since 205 but I don't remember any such software being present. Keep us posted. I, for one, would like to know what happened.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I'd honestly be surprised if Apple were to get back to you on this. But you can certainly escalate this if you wish.

However, while you may have gotten the apps out, I'd strongly recommend that you power down the machine and then restart it holding down CMD+r to get into the recovery console and then you should erase the HD and do a fresh clean install of the OS.

Then you can set it up as a brand new machine knowing you don't have any random apps on there.

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

I agree with our Moderators regarding the inclusion of third party apps on a brand new iMac.

It certainly was not a refurbished model as that would have been reboxed and sold directly from the refurb site. Since it came factory boxed from (probably China) the apps may have been installed there. But that is just conjecture on my part.

If Apple gave you a reference number or set of numbers that identified your complaint, you could refer to those in a nice letter or email directly to Tim Cook explaining what has happened.

Just a suggestion if you wish to follow through.

Thanks for joining our forums.

 

[Rod]

I agree with Ashwin, the possibilities are unknowable.

I believe that to instal an app of any sort on the device a user would need to create an account.
Just out of curiosity when you started it up did it launch the Setup Assistant? If not I would suspect it was already setup then the user deleted their account.

In any case there is no real way of determining what else has been left behind and short of demanding a new one Ashwin's suggestion sounds good to me.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

My question is: Has anyone heard of anything like this before? Any theories about how this happened? Should I be outraged? Should I demand a new, clean machine?

I've heard of this happening before, but never with a machine that came directly from Apple as new. The explanation CAN ONLY BE that this Mac was not brand new. It was likely a machine that a user purchased and returned to Apple and Apple screwed up and didn't put it through its usual rigorous refurbishing routine.

Even if they had, selling a used or refurbished computer as brand new is highly ILLEGAL. I'm sure that Apple is loath to admit this to you.

The illegality of it isn't what would bother me the most. What would bother me is wondering if this Mac was returned because it was a lemon. Without it having gone through Apple's rigorous refurbishing routine, it's impossible to know if this Mac is as-good-as-new or if it was slap-dash repaired and it will only be a matter of time before it is broken again and a real headache to fix. (The previous owner may have returned it because Apple couldn't easily fix it to his satisfaction.) The thing is, if you got the machine with third party software installed, and running poorly, they clearly didn't certify this Mac as being up to standards before re-selling it.

I'd also worry what detritus, possibly detrimental detritus, was left behind by the "cleaning app" you spoke of. Some of those cleaning apps embed stuff deep in your Mac's system software, where only a special program can find and remove it, so you have to be worried even though the app itself was deleted. Many folks regard some of those cleaning apps as being far from benign.

If it were me, I'd demand a replacement BRAND-NEW Mac.

Here is what I recommend. Don't call AppleCare again. It's time to go above their heads. Instead,
contact Apple's "Customer Relations".

You can reach Apple Customer Relations by calling: 1-800-275-2273 and asking for "Customer Relations."

Apple Customer Relations is staffed with people who have less stringent guidelines than the AppleCare folks, and they are empowered to decide if a situation warrants their intervention, and they have the authority to do what is necessary to make you happy if you have a reasonable complaint.

Be extremely nice, and tell them the situation and your concerns. Ask them for a brand-new Mac, because that is what you paid for. I'd also tell them that you are on a Macintosh discussion list with over a quarter million members, and that is where it was suggested that you call them and ask for a brand-new replacement.

Please let us know what they have to say. If things don't go well, don't despair. I can suggest a Plan B.

 

[Rod]

I have to agree with Randy here, even if erased I too would be uncomfortable about why and how it was sold as new. The fact that it had anti virus software on it concerns me as well. The whole thing is a bit off.

 

[MacInWin]

A couple of months ago

That is probably why Apple is not terribly responsive. Had you brought it up in the first few days, they may have been willing to do an exchange. But if you let it go that long, it's outside the window where they take returns for any reason. I would suggest you follow Randy's suggestion about calling Customer Service. Being nice is much more likely to get results than being nasty.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Apple provides a 14 day return period for a full refund. So if you had brought this up immediately, they would have exchanged the machine for you to a different one or done something else to work it out.

 

[Slydude]

I don't remember new Macs coming with third-party software since the early days of OS X. I haven't purchased a new Mac since 205 but I don't remember any such software being present. Keep us posted. I, for one, would like to know what happened.

I didn't realize I was that far out on the cutting edge. The rest of you guys are late to the game.

 

[stefanmaine]

Apple provides a 14 day return period ...

I truly hope that by the time I am reading this, your issue has been resolved by Apple ... with a replacement, an apology, and frankly, a full-refund check!

As to the "14 day period": A relative, who was a highly successful attorney & eventually served as a judge, told me a long time ago that provisions like "14 day period" are legally very weak. All sorts of conditions can "erase" them. For example: How were you to know the apps did not belong there; if, like me, you were a Windows transplant, computer crashes are annoying but not really surprising, so you did not realize they are foreign to a Mac; if you were new to Apple and to the M chip, it might reasonably have taken you longer than 14 days just figuring out you might have had a problem; it wasn't until you shared your experience with Mac users and experts (like those here) that you realized your issue was unacceptable; you have a life that fills many of the hours of your day, and Apple's "time periods" cannot be high on your list of responsibilities. Like that.

Just for fun, consider if you had paid Apple with counterfeit dollars (I know, I know, not possible, but just for fun) ... how do you think they would have responded if you told them "As the small print on those bills clearly specifies, you had only 14 days to request a replacement." I mean, you bought and paid for something, and they gave you something else. How can there be a 14 day limit on that? It's not like you changed your mind. Apple did not give you what you paid for. And it's okay they did that if you don't realize it within 14 days? We're talking Apple here, right?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Yes, if you maliciously destroyed the Apple device, the 14 day return policy is out the door. But if you take care of it as you would with something as expensive as a Mac, when you see things are little goofy like apps that perhaps don't belong there or if the Mac doesn't go through the new user experience, then you can just take it back and you'll get your money back.

Anyway, it's all a moot point right now.

 

[Rod]

I hope Joe gets back to us with some comments or a positive resolution to this issue.

 

[pm-r]

Be extremely nice, and tell them the situation and your concerns. Ask them for a brand-new Mac, because that is what you paid for.

+1. I would definitely agree completely. God only knows what else might have been done to that Mac.


- Patrick
=======

 

[Randy B. Singer]

As to the "14 day period": A relative, who was a highly successful attorney & eventually served as a judge, told me a long time ago that provisions like "14 day period" are legally very weak. All sorts of conditions can "erase" them.

I'm a long-time attorney, and former judge. I think that you may have partially misunderstood what your relative told you.

Written warranties, in general, aren't "weak". And when put in writing and well written (that is, not ambiguous), they can't easily be "erased." They generally hold up well as do their limitations.

However, there is a lot of law that applies to this area.

There are, for instance, in addition to any explicit warranties, unwritten warranties that the law applies whether the vendor wants them to or not. There is an implied-in-the-law warranty of merchantability, and there is an implied-in-the-law warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. I won't go into a long tutorial here about what those are, and when they apply, but you should know that the oft heard standard of "buyer beware" IS NOT the standard that applies to ordinary retail consumer purchases unless the parties agree that the goods are being sold "as is" and that no warranties apply.

Also, all of the standard civil laws apply. The transaction cannot be fraudulent. Both parties have to adhere to the terms of the contract for sale. etc.

Which is all a long winded way of saying that your statement that Apple's 14-day return policy is "weak" is likely not the case. However, there may be another type of warranty, explicit or implied, that may apply; or another area of law, other than products liability, might apply.

In the situation presented in this discussion thread, it seems to me that plain old contract law is sufficient to deal with the facts presented. If something is sold as being "new" and it isn't, the entire transaction might be voidable. (Though you would have to go to court to void it.) If Apple is engaging in a repeated practice of selling used goods as new, the CA Attorney General might even be very interested in looking into this as a potential criminal matter.

Which is why I predict that Apple's Customer Relations folks will be very responsive with regard to making things right. They should understand right away that Apple screwed up, and the last thing that they want is legal problems or publicity over this.

 

[stefanmaine]

"you may have partially misunderstood"

Undoubtedly so. I was fourteen at the time (like I said, a long time ago).

 

[Randy B. Singer]

"you may have partially misunderstood"

Undoubtedly so. I was fourteen at the time (like I said, a long time ago).

Hahaha...ironically, in the example you gave of the disclaimer on the wall at a parking garage, that disclaimer may indeed be worthless. Parking in a garage where you pay to park creates what is known as a "bailment." (However, a bailment is not a warranty, and we are talking about something entirely different than what this thread has been about.) And if your car is damaged or stolen, the parking garage is responsible, no matter what their disclaimer says. The disclaimer on the wall is just a ruse to keep you from going to an attorney. (Local statutes may modify all this, of course.)