[AppleJockey]

i just had a bad experience with them
Im wondering if anyone else has as well?

[boots]

I've had nothing but good experiences with them. I'm not a frequent customer, but I've used them about a dozen times.

[OSX Abuser]

Originally Posted by AppleJockey

i just had a bad experience with them
Im wondering if anyone else has as well?

Could explain why you think you had a bad experience with then??
What did you buy?
Some info please..........

[sek929]

I bought my G4, monitor, scanner, and two iPods from them. No problems...in fact, I have had nothing but great experiences with them.

[RAILhead]

You people should use Amazon.

[xi_hyperon]

I've purchased a number of things from them over the years, including a PowerBook back in 2001, and have never had any problems.

[ort888]

We buy from them exclusively at my job. They have done some annoying things through the years. Personally, I think it is the most RETARDED thing ever to buy everything from one vendor, but then again, my employers aren't exactly Mensa members. They even buy their RAM from MacMall.

They would rather be able to pick up the phone and talk to their "sales guy" then do 5 minutes of research or bother looking around. They waste thousands of dollars a year buying crap from MacMall without shopping around... but then they bitch and moan whenever you want to buy ANYTHING that will make your job easier. It took them a year and a half to buy a 20 dollar media reader that would have saved them about 45 minutes a day. It's so ridiculous.

[AppleJockey]

Originally Posted by RAILhead

You people should use Amazon.

care to elaborate?

[SSharon]

I use both amazon and macmall (not so much recently) and have had great experiences with both. I use newegg whenever I can now.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by RAILhead

You people should use Amazon.

I have had horrible experiences with Amazon. From charging me for items and then never shipping them, to shipping things the slowest route possible after I have paid for premium next day air delivery. Stay away from Amazon!

I have had excellent experiences with MacMall.com If I order before 4 pm and pay for next day air delivery I usually get it before 10:30 am the next day. And, I have a sales associate who I can call personally and who looks for other products that might be a better fit for what I want. I like Macmall.

[Railroader]

I also like buy.com and newegg.com.

Stay away from Amazon!

[sek929]

Amazon takes forever to get things to me.

When i ordered my G4 and 19" Viewsonic it was at my doorstep in three days, now that is impressive.

[leehotti]

Ebay for everything. Big businesses don't have 'feedback' and they really don't give a **** if they piss you off. Sellers on ebay go out of their way to make you happy.

[cjrivera]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Stay away from Amazon!

You have to shop carefully with Amazon.

They have free shipping on many items if you are not in a hurry and can wait 5-7 days. They also a little cheaper than a lot of other places. (Especially if they are doing the "rebate" thing, which I despise, but it still saves me money). When you factor in no taxes, Amazon can be worth shopping, as long as you did your research and don't need things in a hurry.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by leehotti

Ebay for everything. Big businesses don't have 'feedback' and they really don't give a **** if they piss you off. Sellers on ebay go out of their way to make you happy.

No one's ever been ripped off or scammed from eBay sellers. /SARCASM]

Ever heard of the Better Business Bureau?

[Cody Dawg]

Why wouldn't you tell us what happened before calling them "thieves?"



What if I called you a thief and never supported my assertion with a fact?

???

I'm sure we'd all like to hear what happened, exactly, especially if anyone plans on buying from them.

But, let me take a guess...

They promised you free shipping, right? Then they charged you for it.

Or, they promised you SOMETHING, like an upgrade or a free printer, and then they never sent it. Every single time you try to get it straightened out they don't actually give you a credit or the item you were promised. It's a big mess.

Why do I think that?

Because that has been my experience with them.

On top of which they once promised to upgrade shipping to overnight and then sent it out regular ground which took up to a week.

That's why I never use MacMall, personally.

Sometimes shopping AT an Apple Store is better. Even if you do end up paying sales tax. My local Apple Stores match Club Macs prices - once even matched SmallDog.com so if they're going to match and I'm only out sales tax then I'll support my local store and make sure I get the best product and service.

Besides, they have awesome open box deals at 10 to 15% off and sometimes the item was never even turned on. Just opened, looked at, and returned. for someone else's stupidity which = $$$ in my checking account.

[andi*pandi]

haven't used macmall in years.

and have had very good luck with amazon.

find it tiresome trying to buy anything technical over ebay, weeding out the scams and looking for detailed listings is obnoxious.

hmm, apple stores do matching?

[dav]

i have had excellent experiences with amazon.com.
never tried macmall.

[leehotti]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

find it tiresome trying to buy anything technical over ebay, weeding out the scams and looking for detailed listings is obnoxious.

Look for a seller with feedback above 25 or so. Never had a problem. I've purchased computers, parts, engagement rings, dv cams, cameras, car parts, software, books, furniture, etc etc etc. Actually... I did have one problem. iPod HDs. AVOID THEM ON EBAY. They're all junk.

- Rob

[birdman]

I had exactly one experience with MacMall, in December of 1999, and never bought from them again. Their catalogs go immediately in the trash (I still get them). It went something like this:

1) I shopped around the 'net for an iMac DV. I also needed a USB Zip drive and a scroll mouse. I decided I wanted this ContourDesign mouse because it was the only scroll mouse I could find in 1999 that matched the iMac (stupid logic, I know), and there were only a few online stores that had it.

2) MacMall had a special double RAM promotion and "free UPS shipping." It was not specified how long this promotion would last.

3) I did not have a credit card at the time (only a debit, which had a daily spending limit), so I planned to use my dad's card and write him a check. If I could wait a week to make the purchase, I was to use one card, so it would go on next month's statement. If the promotion was a limited time only and I had to buy it right now, I was to use a different card.

4) Since the website didn't specify how long the promotion would last, I called MacMall to ask. The sales rep (Darren) didn't know, but he said they were calling it a "Christmas promotion" so he figured that meant through Dec. 25 (this was early December). So I said, cool, I'll wait and buy it in a week. BUT!! "we only have about 400 of these left in stock, so I'd buy it now if I were you." I said, well that's fine, I can do it now. Since I was already on the phone with him, I decided to just place my order right there.

5) I asked about the double RAM promotion, because the website was a little confusing. The product was listed at the usual iMac price, and similar when it was added to my shopping cart. But there was some fine print saying there would be a $33 installation fee. I was confused as to why this $33 didn't also show up in the shopping cart. Darren said yeah, the website was confusing, what happens is, MacMall buys the RAM from the manufacturer with a rebate and installs it for $33. So actually, they were going to charge me $85 (the cost of the RAM) and presumably send me a rebate check at a later date, AND charge a $33 installation fee. I did not see this much detail about the process on MacMall's page, nor was $85+$33 showing up on the shopping cart page, but that's what the guy told me. It seemed a little shifty to me, but $30 was still cheaper than buying the memory separately.

6) OK, so I'm getting the iMac DV and a Zip drive and a scroll mouse. That comes with free UPS shipping, right? Ah! but Darren says, "When you do the free shipping option, they'll send it whichever way is cheapest, so it might even be *shudder* U.S. POSTAL SERVICE!!" ... "And I wouldn't want to risk that with an expensive item like this." Well as far as I was concerned, if the USPS damaged the shipment, it would be their fault, not mine, but I was 19 years old and not clear on exactly how USPS worked or if they had insurance or whatever. Also, later I thought, why does the website say "free UPS shipping" if they're going to send it via Postal Service? In any case, I agreed to pay for UPS Ground.

7) But now there's a problem: with shipping charges and $85+$33 for "free" RAM, I can no longer afford this purchase. Darren realized he was going to lose the sale now (and presumably, his commission). So he offered to throw in the Zip drive for free; he "doesn't usually do this but since it's Christmas." That brought it back down to within my budget and I accepted. Cool.

8) A few minutes later, he called me back and said his manager told him he couldn't do the free Zip drive. I said, well in that case I can't afford this anymore, so cancel the order. He did.

9) This is where I did something stupid: I thought, well if the website says I'm paying a certain price, then I'm paying that price, right? So I went to macmall.com, put the iMac+freeRAM, Zip drive, and mouse in my shopping cart. It says I'm paying $X,XXX. I click to checkout, it says I'm still paying $X,XXX, I put in my credit card, submit the order, and get a page that says "Your Receipt" at the top, and still gives a price of $X,XXX. Hence, I thought the credit card would be charged that amount. A few minutes later, I checked the status of my order through their website, and it still said $X,XXX.

10) A few hours later, I checked the status again. Now the price had gone up by...... drum roll plz........ $118 (85 + 33). I was not notified of this change, and if I hadn't checked my order status I wouldn't have known until my dad got the credit card statement and said I owed him another $118.

11) I was pissed. I know I had talked to Darren previously, who explained the confusing fine print of the website, but as far as I was concerned, if the "Your Receipt" page said it was going to charge my card $X,XXX, that's what it was going to charge. They changed the price AFTER I submitted my order. I called to speak to Darren, but he wasn't there, so I just asked to speak to a manager. I was on hold for a few minutes, and the guy said his manager wasn't at his desk. He asked what this was regarding. I explained that I ordered an iMac through the website and it said I would be charged a certain amount, but when I checked my order status later, it was higher by $118. He said that's how it was supposed to be done. I said I would've appreciated knowing that before I ordered, because now I can't afford it (I didn't tell him I actually knew their round-about way of doing the "free" RAM via rebate). I said I was extremely displeased and asked him to cancel my order. He said, "Well OK, but you won't find a deal like this anywhere else." I said, "Actually I just called MacZone and they offered me the same deal. Thanks."

11a) Although MacZone did give me the same offer once I negotiated with them over the phone, because they had a warehouse in Ohio, they charged sales tax. That once again put it above what I could afford. Argh! In the end, I ordered from ClubMac with no problems, albeit with no free RAM -- but I asked for Best Buy gift cards for Christmas and got my RAM that way, and installed it myself in under 5 minutes.

12) I wrote to the Better Business Bureau about my experience and said I didn't think raising prices after a person has been given a receipt without notifying them was a good way to do business. They replied saying this was "out of the scope of our organization" (not sure how, exactly... don't they deal with shady business practices?). Since I didn't lose any money in the deal, I didn't really care that much; I just wanted it documented. So after the BBB's rejection, I gave up and just decided not to ever buy from MacMall again.

12a) About six months later, the "Consumer Protection Agency" of Los Angeles (whom I'd never heard of) sent me a letter requesting documentation of my incident. Although I *thought* I had kept a copy of all the relevant web page printouts, there was one key page I couldn't find, so I didn't bother replying. I found that printout about six months later (so now a full year from the time of the incident), but by that point I had already been using my new iMac for a year and didn't feel it was worth pursuing.

I usually buy from MacConnection now. They have a warehouse in Ohio, so although I have to pay sales tax, they always put their shipments on the truck the very next morning, and even with UPS Ground I get packages next day. I remember the first time I bought from them, I ordered after 5 p.m. on a Thursday, and had the item by Friday afternoon. I was floored. I've bought from them (or Amazon) ever since.

-birdman

[IceEnclosure]

newegg, OWC, amazon, outpost

[xi_hyperon]

I found an M-Audio MobilePre USB on MacMall's website a year or so ago, and the price was obviously wrong. It was about half the normal retail price for that interface. I was in the market for one, so I called them up, pointed out the price, and asked if they would honor it.

The salesguy said that it was most definitely not the right price, but that he would honor it anyway. By the next day, the price was corrected on their site. Anway, the way they handled my inquiry earned them some points in my book.

[SSharon]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Besides, they have awesome open box deals at 10 to 15% off and sometimes the item was never even turned on. Just opened, looked at, and returned. for someone else's stupidity which = $$$ in my checking account.

I got the world adapters for 9.95 instead of 39.95 because someone opened the box (each adapter was still in plastic and I don't think they even had fingerprints on them). Sometimes it's even better than 10-15% off

[Cody Dawg]

!!!

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by sek929

Amazon takes forever to get things to me.

That's the same problem I have with them. IF it arrives.

[shunt]

First stop is OWC

Craigslist second (always someone more hardup than me to buy from)

Microcenter third (if I go in the city)

Applestore last

[wdlove]

I haven't used MacMall in awhile. They now charged Sales Tax in Massachusetts.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by leehotti

Scamers on ebay go out of their way to make themselves rich.

Fixinated.

-t

[alphamatrix]

I think I may have got my iPod from MacMall, I can't remember, I think mail-order style re-sellers like MacMall are on the way out. I got my Powerbook from Smalldog, RAM from OWC, camera from Buy.com. Amazon.com has worked well for new and used books and CDs, but Amazon.com as a whole is somewhat unruly due to the fact that they partner with so many other sellers and sometimes product listings a descriptions are quite lacking, they also tend to list a lot of discontinued products which mess up search results.

[tooki]

Nobody here knows about www.resellerratings.com ?

MacMall fares quite badly, frankly, substantially below the other Mac vendors.

NewEgg and B&H Photo are examples of vendors with outstanding ratings there.

tooki