[mikeyh3]

Anthony Bourdain once mentioned to RUN from the “Fish Special” on Monday…

I bought a Rev. B - 12" Powerbook at CompUSA earlier December. While it was technically an "open box/demo," it was also in pristine condition. NO scratches were etched from its very temporary stay in the "demo security bracket of death." It was a "Manager's Special" being offered at a reasonable discount and is still working great.

I called Apple in mid-December after a kernel panic/power management corruption made the computer play possum...learning a couple new multi-fingered salutes in the process. With the puzzling fact that the computer came ONLY with Jag disks bouncing around my head, I found out that the unit was built and sold to CompUSA in SEPTEMBER 2003. I was hoping for the possibility to upgrade to Panther at a reasonable price of free to $20. No answer, but the nice guy told me to fax a copy of the receipt and UPC/info on the original box and call back 5-7 business days.

Seven days later, NO APPLECARE FOR YOU!!!

I do agree that there should be some suspicion on Apple's part when someone registers for AppleCare over a year after the unit was built...however they also mentioned that their interpretation "open box" means CompUSA is then the original purchaser of the unit in September 2003.

CompUSA did not mention sold “As-Is.” And I originally assumed the unit was built around February to April of 2004…yeah, 10.2 was a clue.


Personally I love the computer and want to keep the unit, but it IS plain STUPID (IMHO) buy what essentially is a new notebook computer w/o any sort of warranty.


Can I get AppleCare?

Do I have a case to receive AppleCare as the official “original end-user purchaser”…I was the first person to register the serial number of the unit. The “Terms and Conditions” of the Apple One Year Limited Warranty does not mention retail related exclusions to the contract that I am aware of. Do I need to push harder to get Apple Care and ask for a supervisor/manager at the department?


Can CompUSA contact Apple to “reset the warranty”?

Should I just try to return the thing under the Holiday return policy?

Should I demand some sort of warranty from CompUSA?

Should I (gasp) buy the extended warranty policy, TAP, from CompUSA

Anyone want a pristine 12” Powerbook 1 Ghz/40 GB/CDR-DVD-ROM/Airport on eBay?



An early thanks for the responses...yes, in retrospect I feel like an idiot.



Michael Hsia


Long time lurker, first time poster.

[Paul Huang]

Return the damn thing and do the following:

buy a 12.1" SuperDrive PowerBook for $1,450. It's available from most universities. This price is $150 less then the typical education price.

Buy with a gold or platinum VISA/MasterCard, or any color personal AmEx. The warranty is automatically doubled. Oh, AppleCare is $110 less if you buy it with edu ID.

DO NOT pay any restocking charge. Hand the statement (no Apple Care) to CompUSA and demand a full refund. If they offer you any kind of phony baloney extended warranty, run like hell. Don't make an already complicated situation worse.

For your information, the following prices are available from most universities (all current models):

15.2" superdrive/512MB/80GB: $1,999
15.2" combo/256/60GB: $1,599
12.1" superdrive/256/60GB: $1,449
17" (only one stock configuration): $2,199

New models will soon replace them, so retail prices will be just what's listed above, or slightly higher, on January 11, 2005.

[audvidsvs]

That is total crap frpm Comp-Usa.
When they sell a product the warranty starts right then. I don't know what it matters to them to deprive you of the apple warranty.
Apple also knows well that once you purchase and register from an Authorized dealer that your warranty period begins.
If they did specify "AS-IS" on your receipt that might be a different story but I would make noise at Apple and Comp-Usa until someone takes care of this.

I bought my first Mac from those morons and they gave me an actual sealed retail Applecare 3 year box with the machine as it had also been a demo.
It was no problem at all to register it and get the whole three years.

The other thing I wonder is whether it really was a demo or if it was returned and in fact had already been registered to someone else?

Either way I would return it and demand a full refund if it is not worked out.

[mikeyh3]

Thanks for the advice so far!

I wanted to save about $500 on a closeout Mac on the assumption that a new model was coming in January. Wanting a smaller and more portable computer than what I have now, I thought an older model of the 12" powerbook would be a good choice...without having the the thing becoming instantly obsolete within the next three months...whether it be a minor bump or major.

Funny thing is the crap I recieved is coming out of Apple's end of the phone line. They are the ones stating that the warranty started in 9/03. The unit has NEVER been registered...and one specialist seemed to imply that I should be disqualified from AppleCare on the clearance price alone...which is in line with the refurb prices at the Apple Store. Whaaa! Didn't the big box retailer pay Apple $X amount already and isn't the big box retailer the one losing $Y amount on the transaction?

1) Apple doesn't want to put it under warranty. Perhaps I should avoid talking to a front line AppleCare drone if I want more positive results on my end.

2) Funny thing is that my local CompUSA (far out in the western part of Texas) has not heavily pushed their warranty plan. They just wanted to get rid of the machine.

3) While I do REALLY like the machine and it works great for me, I would consider, grudgingly, returning the unit at this point and getingt an iBook. However, I really dislike it's lack of storage. 30 GB vs. 40GB made all the difference for me...iTunes collection.



Thanks again.

MH

[tcphoto]

My priority would be to return the machine. If "AS IS" is imprinted on the receipt it may not be possible. If you cannot return it, I would persuade CompUSA to honor a one year warrenty and then push them to either give or allow the purchase of AppleCare for the machine. It was a demo unit and who knows what it's been through. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

[dwood]

as long as you can provide a proof of purchase apple should be able to fix your date of purchase systematically. The reason it's at when compusa got it is compusa's systems don't integrate in to apples database, and it'd be stupid to base it on registration, cause then who would register? So Apple sets the date of purchase @ when CompUSA gets it. I'd call Apple back and have them fix your date of purchase.

[Paul Huang]

See subject line. They are three distinct terms and Apple does interpret it liberally.

Apple does not cover any refurb items (if it is not from Apple directly) or previously-registered crap, period.