Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

pamelah · Apr 17, 2003, 03:18 AM

My husband received a call today out of the blue from an apparent private investigator. He asked if we had recently purchased a cinema display screen from apple. He said uummm....yeah....why? Then he asked if we had it delivered to mailboxes plus in blaine washington, and he said...umm....yeah...why?

SO the investigator proceeded to tell him that my display had been stolen from mailboxes plus in washington and was snuck across the border back to Canada by this person and the mailing name label had been ripped off the box, but that it was in his custody now and he would like to deliver it to us.

My husband thought it was a hoax, so he called mailboxes plus to be sure. Sure enough, apparently the woman who runs the place was sick and had a replacement. This guy came in to pick up his package (similar in size yet a fraction of the weight...a bunch of posters apparently) but his side of the story is that he "accidently" got the wrong box and didn't realize the 30lb difference or apple BOX till he got it home. Anyway. My display was delivered to me this afternoon by the investigator....didn't have to pay taxes or duties because it was already in the country?! Lucky me??

Here's the hitch. The seal on the box was broken. I have yet to receive my powerbook to test it out to make sure it's ok. What the heck happened here?!! It seemed new and originally sealed (but I don't know what it originally looked like sealed?) My worst fear is that the guy swapped it for his multi bad pixel monitor or something.

Is it me or was this one strange thing to have happened?!??!

Edit: I have since opened the box to unpack it and it seems that all of the protective plastics that come on the monitor are still totally entact. I guess it is fine then. But why did they open the box?!?!

Anyway...on a happier note...this is my FIRST PIECE OF APPLE MERCHANDISE!!! It is pretty exciting actually. I don't think i've enjoyed unpacking something so much. Now i understand why you guys take pictures. Apple is meticulous in its packaging and applying of very good quality clear protective layers. For some reason this makes me happy I'm purchasing apple. You get nasty styrofoam and twist ties with PC stuff

I can't wait to be able to plug this beauty in....it's HUGE! (23" cinema display)

swsteckly · Apr 17, 2003, 03:22 AM

Ouch. That really sucks. On the powerbooks, on the plastic bag that the powerbook itself is in, there is a large seal reminding you that you have to agree to the license agreement. Is there something similar on the display?

If it's in the plastic bags and stuff, then it's OK. Don't worry about it. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it had a bad pixel or two - that's a LOT of glass, as steve would say.

Crusoe · Apr 17, 2003, 03:35 AM

Well Ms. Anderson,

I suspect your husband sent it to Washington and had his friend smuggle it across the border to avoid tax/duty. The friend got busted by customs, customs opened the box and his middleman paid a juicy fine. In order to cover his twisted web of tax/duty evasion, had another friend pose as a private investigator so you would not get suspicious as to why the seal was broken. It's all so clear.

Seriously, I doubt the guy (husband's friend (just kidding)) swapped the display but it was perhaps opened to verify the contents.

Those are amazing dispays.

Mohammed Al-Sabah · Apr 17, 2003, 03:36 AM

sorry about all that mess .. and GRATS on your new screeeeeeeen!!!!!!! hope u enjoy it!

pamelah · Apr 17, 2003, 03:38 AM

Originally posted by Crusoe:

Seriously, I doubt the guy (husband's friend (just kidding)) swapped the display but it was perhaps opened to verify the contents.

That's the thing. Apparently he snuck it through customs and didn't pay a dime. So why is it unsealed??

JakBeatZ · Apr 17, 2003, 07:53 AM

How in the world did you get it delivered to a PO box? I thought no one would ship things to PO boxes or mailbox houses anymore!

AssassyN · 08:41 AM

Wow man!!!

That's CRAZY! I'm so glad you got it though...would've really been bad had he gotten away with it! And yep, the 23" HD Display was the first peice of Apple equipment I unpacked as well, it was an amazing feeling.

CONGRATS GAL!

JakBeatZ · Apr 17, 2003, 08:33 AM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
CONGRATS BRO!

Uhm, IIRC, He's a She!

Parky · Apr 17, 2003, 08:37 AM

Check the serial numbe ron the Monitor and the outside of the box, if they are the same then you have your own.

If they are different then you may need to take this further !!

AssassyN · Apr 17, 2003, 08:40 AM

Originally posted by JakBeatZ:
Uhm, IIRC, He's a She!

DOH! I so knew that, haha...it's early man, too early.

JakBeatZ · Apr 17, 2003, 09:51 AM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
DOH! I so knew that, haha...it's early man, too early.

No doubt!

djjava · Apr 17, 2003, 11:08 AM

I was expecting a similar climax of the story to be, "and when I woke up my cinema display was rsting peacefully on my desk..."

that's a wild story... thanks for sharing... may your powerbook arrive safely.

ASIMO · Apr 17, 2003, 11:44 AM

Originally posted by Crusoe:
Well Ms. Anderson,

I suspect your husband sent it to Washington and had his friend smuggle it across the border to avoid tax/duty. The friend got busted by customs, customs opened the box and his middleman paid a juicy fine. In order to cover his twisted web of tax/duty evasion, had another friend pose as a private investigator so you would not get suspicious as to why the seal was broken. It's all so clear.

Seriously, I doubt the guy (husband's friend (just kidding)) swapped the display but it was perhaps opened to verify the contents.

Those are amazing dispays.

Whooooaa.

And to think your handle is...Crusoe. Say that with a Japanese tongue, and you'll understand.

Regards,

Pink Panther

xylon · Apr 17, 2003, 12:14 PM

Originally posted by pamelah:
Here's the hitch. The seal on the box was broken. I have yet to receive my powerbook to test it out to make sure it's ok. What the heck happened here?!! It seemed new and originally sealed (but I don't know what it originally looked like sealed?) My worst fear is that the guy swapped it for his multi bad pixel monitor or something.

I can't wait to be able to plug this beauty in....it's HUGE! (23" cinema display)

A 23" Cinema Display and a 17" PB? That's 40" of Mac goodness! Man, must make that switching process incredibly easy. I hope all your hardware works flawlessly and you enjoy your new computer/monitor!

AssassyN · Apr 17, 2003, 02:21 PM

Originally posted by xylon:
A 23" Cinema Display and a 17" PB? That's 40" of Mac goodness! Man, must make that switching process incredibly easy. I hope all your hardware works flawlessly and you enjoy your new computer/monitor!

Take my word for it, it's impossible not to love 40" of Apple LCD goodness.

CyberPet · Apr 17, 2003, 04:30 PM

You have a Canadian husband and I have a Canadian husband... wanna swap? I want goodies like that toooooooooo!!!!!

Congrats and glad the story ended on a happy note.

pamelah · Apr 17, 2003, 05:01 PM

well to let you all know. I phoned the person who dealt with this all at mailboxes plus just to clear up what happened. It's too long of a story to type, but basically...

someone had realized that the guy took the wrong package...tried to catch him before he got to the border...didn't happen. She called him at his house here in canada and told him that there had been a mix up. So actually ended up CALLING HER BACK?! (Either he's a moron or he just felt bad...or he didn't notice??) SO...apparently he "got through customs" without having to pay anythin and had the monitor there at the house. She asked him to open it to make sure what was inside (apparently people ship in reused packages all the time so it was possible that what was inside was not in fact an apple display). So who knows if he had opened it already or not...but he "opened it" when she asked him to and sure enough...not the posters that he was supposed to get.

SOOO, apparently while she was discussing this on the phone, one of her customers overheard....he happened to be a good, frequent customer and also a private investigator. He was Canadian and going back up with a bunch of other boxes of stuff. He offered his services to her for free.

SOOOO, he came up with the other guys box, passed through customs, told him he had $600 worth of stuff, and they just waived him through (??!?!?! HE DIDN"T HAVE TO PAY TAXES FOR HIS STUFF EVEN THOUGH HE CLAIMED IT?!?!!). He went to the guys house, opened the box, made sure it was all there and that the serials matched...gave him his package, took mine, and then fedex'ed mine to me. So a little philipino guy shows up at my house with my display, and all is well.

I've never had a full moon day live up to "a full moon day". But I think that is a VERY good full moon story!

AssassyN · Apr 17, 2003, 11:10 PM

Originally posted by pamelah:
well to let you all know. I phoned the person who dealt with this all at mailboxes plus just to clear up what happened. It's too long of a story to type, but basically...

someone had realized that the guy took the wrong package...tried to catch him before he got to the border...didn't happen. She called him at his house here in canada and told him that there had been a mix up. So actually ended up CALLING HER BACK?! (Either he's a moron or he just felt bad...or he didn't notice??) SO...apparently he "got through customs" without having to pay anythin and had the monitor there at the house. She asked him to open it to make sure what was inside (apparently people ship in reused packages all the time so it was possible that what was inside was not in fact an apple display). So who knows if he had opened it already or not...but he "opened it" when she asked him to and sure enough...not the posters that he was supposed to get.

SOOO, apparently while she was discussing this on the phone, one of her customers overheard....he happened to be a good, frequent customer and also a private investigator. He was Canadian and going back up with a bunch of other boxes of stuff. He offered his services to her for free.

SOOOO, he came up with the other guys box, passed through customs, told him he had $600 worth of stuff, and they just waived him through (??!?!?! HE DIDN"T HAVE TO PAY TAXES FOR HIS STUFF EVEN THOUGH HE CLAIMED IT?!?!!). He went to the guys house, opened the box, made sure it was all there and that the serials matched...gave him his package, took mine, and then fedex'ed mine to me. So a little philipino guy shows up at my house with my display, and all is well.

I've never had a full moon day live up to "a full moon day". But I think that is a VERY good full moon story!

Wow! That's one for the grandkids!!! Glad your display is home w/ you and safe & sound!

nobitacu · Apr 18, 2003, 03:11 AM

Wow, I'm glad you got it back. What a nice guy to help you get it back. ^_^ I know you'll enjoy the screen. It's a babe ^_^

Good luck!

Ming