[danbrew]

of course I didn't realize I was doing it. I paid full retail for what was supposed to be a new DP 2.0g G5 today. The box looks sealed, although I didn't look at it too closely. The slip case on the actual machine looked in good condition, the sticker on top of the slip case looked just fine.

The machine starts up and doesn't run through the new computer setup when I turn it on. Hmmm. The hard drive is named "Bob's HD" and Photoshop and a few other applications are installed on the machine.

Took me an extra hour to format the HD and reinstall the OS from the system dvd.

I called the Apple store to gripe a little bit - and to ask them how to format the drive and reinstall the system dvd (though it was just reinstall the OS, wanted to double-check).

The guy at the store clearly didn't believe me and probably thought I was working for a discount or something.

So...

Ever happen to you?

How could it have happened? I'm figured since the box looked good and the seal on the inner slip was good, it had to have happened at the factory or at Apple or something. Or the guy who got it first was super anal about how he opened and then closed it. Or Apple reseals them like new when they're returned.

I don't think it's the latter as I picked up a refurbed Airport Express today too and it was clearly marked as such on the box.

Oh yeah, picked up Production Suite too. Sweet.

[chrisutley]

Return that SOB!

Congrats on the new rig. I was going in to buy a 1.8 DP today, but couldn't find any in town. Of course everybody had 2.0's, so I spent the afternoon trying to figure out what I could get for a kidney on eBay.

[Big Mac]

Wow, weird. Sorry you had that experience. Apple can certainly tell whether or not your G5 is used by looking up its serial number. Since you said the regular first time setup screen was not displayed, that indicates the computer was already registered. I would spend a good amount of time on the phone politely, yet firmly, asking for either reduced price or a new unit.

[Maflynn]

I'd give them a call, that's not supposed to happen.

Sorry man, that's a bummer

Mike

[P]

That happened to me once, a Performa 5300 which should tell you how long ago it was. Not an Apple store either, obviously, just a computer shop. I was going to go back with it, but I never bothered. It was on sale at a deep discount anyway - those of you who were Mac users back then might remember that Apple had lots of Performas left after one Christmas when everyone bought PowerMac 7500s instead. Those Performas were sold really cheap that winter, and the 5300s were a very good deal if you just put some more RAM in them.

[danbrew]

Originally posted by Big Mac:
Wow, weird. Sorry you had that experience. Apple can certainly tell whether or not your G5 is used by looking up its serial number. Since you said the regular first time setup screen was not displayed, that indicates the computer was already registered. I would spend a good amount of time on the phone politely, yet firmly, asking for either reduced price or a new unit.

The guys in the Apple store think I'm a flake - I hardly think they're going to confirm the serial number has already been registered. How do you guys suppose I could get Apple to divulge if the serial number has been registered more than once?

[Maflynn]

I wouldn't argue your issue on that point.
I would in a firm but calm manner express that there was personal information already on the supposed new G5. Since you paid for a new G5 then you ought to receive one.

As for the serial number, there's an off chance that it wasn't registered or the hard drive came from a return, that is everything else is new but the HD, so in that case the serial number would show up as unregistered. Btw that too is a no-no.

In the end as the consumer, you have every right to request a new machine or your money back w/o any restocking fee.

Mike

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by danbrew:
The guys in the Apple store think I'm a flake - I hardly think they're going to confirm the serial number has already been registered. How do you guys suppose I could get Apple to divulge if the serial number has been registered more than once?

Call Apple directly - don't bother with the retail store - and state you know your unit was not brand new even though it was marked as such. There's a possibility it was refurbished and inadvertently put with the new stock. Assuming it was a refurb, then that would account for why the packing looked new; Apple packs refurbs with new documentation/accessories as if the machines are new. According to Apple's refurbished iPod page, refurbished iPods also get new serial numbers that are designated as refurbished. If the process is the same for Macs, then your serial number should report as refurbished. You know, the other possibility I just thought of is that it could have been a display model. Either way, I'm pretty sure the serial number is either registered with Apple or shown to be refurbished. Also, Apple certainly knows when its products get registered. I have even heard that Apple will not even consider a refund for a machine if it has already been registered, although I've only heard that once.

So call Apple. And, as I said before, politely but firmly insist on satisfaction. Selling used or open box devices as new is certainly prohibited, and as long as you're persistent I'm pretty certain you'll get satisfaction. Good luck; let us know what happens.

[danbrew]

kind of an interesting postscript to this story...

I also bought a refurbished Airport Express. I followed all of the instructions but just could not get my PB to see the device. I'm running the AE install CD on my PB and it just says there is no AE device available. I go to the Apple website and figure out how to do a hard reset on the AE. Sure enough, that's all it took - the install CD now sees the AE device and I'm up and running in a few seconds.

Doesn't look like Apple really does a good job of ensuring refurbs are returned to factory spec.

As an aside, I think I'll call Apple tomorrow to see if they'll tell me anything about the serial number of the G5 and will offer my two cents and see what they say...

[stuffedmonkey]

I used to work at the Apple store. We had that happen a few times I could remember - a new, sealed machine, that someone said had other's peoples stuff in it. One time we could trace it back to that someone had returned it, supposedly unopened, and had lied to us. We resold that one, thinking it had never been used when it had. The guy had resealed it carefully to get us to take it back without the restocking fee.

The other time we never really figured out what happened. We had some random theories - at the factory level they pull random units off the line to spot check them. They might have let one by after that without reimaging it. Or you could have gotten a customer's return. At either rate, I can definately tell you that it is not Apple retail's policy to sell returned stuff as new. We had a lenghty process in place to reformat and inspect open box returns, then we sold them for 10% off with a big sticker that said the unit was "refreshed".

I"m sorry that you got one that had been used before. That should not happen. You should definatly contact the store manager, and applecare to log the incident. Open box stuff is sold at a discount, so you should not have to pay full price - or they should throw some extras your way.

[Headshot]

Did you at least keep Photoshop?

[Webscreamer]

Originally posted by danbrew:
The guys in the Apple store think I'm a flake - I hardly think they're going to confirm the serial number has already been registered. How do you guys suppose I could get Apple to divulge if the serial number has been registered more than once?

Was it the Michigan Ave store by any chance?

[danbrew]

It was the Woodfield Mall store in Schaumburg.

Interesting replies, everyone. Thank you.

I called Applecare yesterday and the guy I spoke with was really cool - he confirmed that the serial number had never been previously registered and that the effective date of the warranty was going to be 9/18 (the day I bought it). He went out of his way to assure me that if I ever had any problems I should refer to this call and he gave me the case number. All in all, I'm happy as that's all I really cared about. I'd hate to have a warranty issue in 10 months and find out that it was registered three months before I received it and, sorry, "you've got no warranty."

I try not to hold stupid people or things stupid people say and do against a company. It's pretty clear that Apple is in the business of selling computers and they want me to buy one and if some dork in a store says the wrong thing, it's not really fair for me to hold it against Apple. Now I may go buy the item in another store and the hell with the guy at that store, but I don't think Apple retail reps are paid on comission anyway.

Since I'm full of interesting stories, I'll tell another couple...

About this time last year I wanted to buy the new 17" PB. I went to the Woodfield Store with my 3 year old son and was walking around waiting for somebody to answer one or two questions. The sales rep walks over and before he says a word to me, looks down at my son who is monkeying around with the 12" PB - but not slapping it around - and says, "Don't touch that." I was flabbergasted. Then he turns to me and says, "Can I help you?" I asked him if there was a CompUSA nearby. He thinks about it for a second and then tells me there is. I think ask him if he thinks they sell 17" PBs? He turns real red in the face when I told him I was ready to buy and was going down the road to CompUSA. I did.

So... after this experience, why go back to the Apple retail store? Shoot, I don't mind spending money there - after all, the money is going to Apple either way. In this case (the DP 2gG5), I wanted the Production Suite upgrade and knew the Apple store would have it. All in all, I didn't really have a bad buying experience this time around, just some flake who answered the phone with a little bit of skepticism in his voice.

Oh yeah, I get to CompUSA to buy two gigs of memory for this new G5 and I find that they don't have the $100/512mb sticks that I saw online, only the $120/512mb sticks. I politely explained how I had come for the $100 version and the manager just looks at me and smiles and says "well, you're here now, how about I match the price?"

That's customer service.

[danbrew]

Originally posted by Headshot:
Did you at least keep Photoshop?

dude... if i'm buying Production Suite, I've probably already bought a copy of Photoshop!

[DeathToWindows]

Originally posted by danbrew:

Oh yeah, I get to CompUSA to buy two gigs of memory for this new G5 and I find that they don't have the $100/512mb sticks that I saw online, only the $120/512mb sticks. I politely explained how I had come for the $100 version and the manager just looks at me and smiles and says "well, you're here now, how about I match the price?"

That's customer service.

Lucky man. I've never found a floor drone at CompUSA who could manage to find their ass with both hands!

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by DeathToWindows:
Lucky man. I've never found a floor drone at CompUSA who could manage to find their ass with both hands!

Well, a manager is not exactly a floor drone. And I have met some competent CUSA employees. Retail sales experiences vary widely from store to store. I'm glad you got a satisfactory conclusion, dan.

[kikkoman]

Originally posted by stuffedmonkey:
One time we could trace it back to that someone had returned it, supposedly unopened, and had lied to us. We resold that one, thinking it had never been used when it had.

This reminds of a coworker who went to Circuit City to buy the latest nvidia graphics card, upon arriving home and opening the package he discovered it was some ancient graphics card. He went back to the store and they gave him a new one. The only explaination they could offer was someone bought a new card, swaped it with older card and returned it for a refund. That's one clever way to get a new GPU