[swapd002]

I love my Mac. Its an iBook. I first came back to Mac when I went to India in 2002. I was looking for a notebook to take with me for my social work studies. I wanted a great big 15" widescreen, 64Mb Video, 40Gb HDD Intel Pentium machine that was going to cost around $3600 Australian. It was also going to be my first name brand purchase since I left Macs, a Compaq. Well my wife was worried. She was concerned about the weight. 5.6Kg. I was not. I am a fairly big boy and 5.6Kg did not seem to big. Anyway she told me to look elsewhere. I then went past an Apple store. Knowing they were going to be out of my price range I though I would honour my wife and look inside. To my horror ther was this 12" notebook called an iBook. iCan tell you what I was thinking but I will simply say that I was not happy. Oh well I though, 'I bet its out of my price range'. The crappy little 12" was only $2600 Australian. Crap Crap Crap Crap I said. Now what do I do. So I told my wife and she said get it. I tried really hard to say no but in the end I did what she asked me to do. To my even further horror, the computer just worked and everything my friends could do on their computers I could do. I was even using my computer as a network bridge for the rest of them to share the internet through. and because I told everyone to get themsleves 16Mb (I know its small, but remember this is 2002) USB memory sticks everyone (5 other students) were using my computer to print from. I came back from India a complete Mac convert... But things are not this good now.

On th 16th of Feburary I ordered what was meant to be my second Mac. A brand new just released Mac Mini. I order everything. 1.4Ghz, 80 Gb HDD. 1 Gb Ram, DVD burner, Bluetooth, Airport Express. Everything. I could not wait to play with this little marvle. i was told that it would be two to three week before I would see it. I was not fussed by this because my first Mac, the iBook, was also this long so I was use to the Mac culture of waiting. Three weeks pasts. Still no Mac Mini. 6 weeks past. Still no Mac Mini, all the while the place I purchased it from saying it will be 3 weeks at least... until finally on the 6th of May 2005 I rang and they said "Sir we are sorry but there is no due date on your machine". What I said. you got to be kidding me. But no they were serious. I said fine I cancelle my order. They said 'you can do that sir, it will be a 25% restocking fee." "Restocking of what" I asked " You have not even got the computer yet and you want me to pay for the privilege to order a computer and then wait 9 weeks for it just to be told it is still on order". They then did something amazing. They offered me a brand new 1.8Ghz G5 iMac instead at only $150 extra on top of the Mac Mini I had purchased. They said they were doing this because they knew I had been waiting for a long time and because new 2Ghz iMacs were on their way. So I agreed thinking that an iMac is way better than a Mac Mini and for only $150 it was a bargain. So I got it took it home and plugged it in... Oh now now I was happy... till I realised that it was not booting. It had crashed. After three clean installs I resigned myself to the reality that it was a dead machine that had just been palmed of to me. I was not happy. Three months of waiting ending in a dead machine and when I rang the shop to tell them they said to me that because it was their last one I had the choice to either get it repaird or to go back to the Mac Mini which they now told me would be their by the end of the week. My inner child was now dead. I sat in a ball of tears and said I would keep the iMac and get it repaired. "Fine sir", they said, "we don't do that here you will have to go to this place." Since my inner child was dead I just grunted and took the iMac to them.

At the new store they were very helpful, I told them the problem and they said it sounded like the ram and changed it over. It seemed to work so I thought I was taking a working machine home. Yay I thought... until they said "we will book that in for you." I said "book it in? Its working." "Yes sir its working but because your not our customer this must be done through our tech department in another store." Again my inner and now very dead child said nothing and I agreed. They then gave me this form to sign. It had some really silly things on it for like "if your iPod gets scrached it is not covered. if the store repairs your item and you do not pick it up within 30 days they can sell it to reclaim their losses"... and other such things, but there was one that took the price "If during the time your computer is with the store and the store is robbed and your machine is taken", then the store was not responsible for replacing that machine. 'What?', I thought, no insurnace! I said was not signing it and they said we can not service it. But you are the service agents for Apple in Adeliade and my machine is under warranty. They said it didn't matter. All of a sudden my dead inner child gave one last gasp of air and said "go! we will find another way", and we did.

I found there was a second centre for apple warranty items. They did not make me sign anything and they had insurance. I was finally getting some good service, and then the truely amazing happened. The Tech manager called me to the back and said "You have only had this machine for 9 days haven't you." I said "yes" and she said "well this is a DOA", (dead on arrival), "you get a new machine". I said "I know but I was told also that this was the last 1.8Ghz machine left and if I wanted it I would need to get it repaird". "No" she said "you don't understand, you get a NEW machine". Could my ears have been decieving me, A new 2Ghz Machine I would be getting for my discounted 1.8Ghz with crappy used keybaord and mouse because it was a show model (as I found out later). So I asked and she said "Well I can not tell you that, but if there are no 1.8Ghz units available you get a new machine and I can not say more than that". She then told me "You need to ring this number and tell them what has happened". So two day later Apple had agreed to give me a new machine. They said there were no 1.8Ghz Super drive iMac's in the country to give to me so they would have to order one and it would take two weeks to get here. So now I wait thinking that there might be life in my inner child after all. I can not imagine getting a 1.8Ghz built just for me to cover DOA's when the manufacturing is now all 2Ghz Machines, and if I get a 2Gh Superdrive with 128Mb video built in Bluetooth airport and OS X Tiger without having to pay the $15 delivery price for it, for $1670 Australian, well, i think that just might bring the child back from the dead...but I will have to wait and see.

I will let anyone who has bothered to read this know how my inner child is going.

Blessings to all
Alpich

[Goldfinger]

I would be very happy if I were you. An iMac for almost the price of a Mac mini.

[Randman]

I would be happy if you used some paragraphs but overall, it sounds as if you made out despite the inconveniences.

[fulmer]

Word's auto summarize at 25% of the original:

I love my Mac. I wanted a great big 15" widescreen, 64Mb Video, 40Gb HDD Intel Pentium machine that was going to cost around $3600 Australian. Well my wife was worried. To my horror ther was this 12" notebook called an iBook. Crap Crap Crap Crap I said. I came back from India a complete Mac convert... On th 16th of Feburary I ordered what was meant to be my second Mac. A brand new just released Mac Mini. 1.4Ghz, 80 Gb HDD. 1 Gb Ram, DVD burner, Bluetooth, Airport Express. I could not wait to play with this little marvle. I was not fussed by this because my first Mac, the iBook, was also this long so I was use to the Mac culture of waiting. Still no Mac Mini. My inner child was now dead. Since my inner child was dead I just grunted and took the iMac to them. It seemed to work so I thought I was taking a working machine home. Again my inner and now very dead child said nothing and I agreed. if the store repairs your item and you do not pick it up within 30 days they can sell it to reclaim their losses"... and other such things, but there was one that took the price "If during the time your computer is with the store and the store is robbed and your machine is taken", then the store was not responsible for replacing that machine. I said "yes" and she said "well this is a DOA", (dead on arrival), "you get a new machine". Could my ears have been decieving me, A new 2Ghz Machine I would be getting for my discounted 1.8Ghz with crappy used keybaord and mouse because it was a show model (as I found out later). So two day later Apple had agreed to give me a new machine. So now I wait thinking that there might be life in my inner child after all.

[swapd002]

lol fulmer. The Word edition of my post does not make much sense to me... and it is my story after all.

[brapper]

Good luck to you. Sounds like my initial Mac purchase of an iBook.
It all worked out in the end however, and I'm currently typing away on my second (flawless) machine, a 17" Powerbook.

[wdlove]

Just happy that all worked out in the end. Welcome to MacNN.

[CharlesS]

Jeez Louise, if I'd paid barely more than a Mac Mini and received a 2 GHz iMac, I'd definitely consider that to be worth a little hassling with tech support reps!

Wow. Anyway, you're going to enjoy your iMac when you get it - I'm typing this on a 2 GHz iMac right now, and it rocks.

[Superchicken]

Sucks about the waiting for the Mac mini, awesome about getting an iMac. That said I would NEVER order from either of your first two stores again. I always order straight from Apple or from the U of M bookstore.

[swapd002]

OK. People seem to think that the iMac G5 2Ghz is a sure thing. Its not. Infact today I was told that my DOA machine had now been credited back to me. I ahve rung them and told them what I think of that and now they are going to ring me tomorrow to tell me if they are going to give me a machine at all. This is no longer the store telling me anything. This is APPLE telling me that I may no longer have a machine at all.

[Link]

Oh that's bunk. So because you got unlucky enough to end up with a defective machine they took the liberty of retracting their offer? Sheesh >_< I'm really sorry to hear that one man, hope you get better than THAT!

[Goldfinger]

So if it has been credited back you just go back to the store and pay for a new one, no ? Since Apple will probably give you back the full price of an iMac and not the amount you actually paid, no ?

[swapd002]

Goldfinger - Unfortunatly in Australia they know excatly where I purchased it from and the store credits you not Apple. So I will only get back the money I have spent and will have to chace that down with them. So prayerfully I will get the computer tomorrow that I want for my family and I wont have to worry about anything.

[swapd002]

In a startling turn of events I have been told By Apple that I will be refunded through the store that I purchased my item from. I am still confused as to how they have the right to just give me money for a machine that is mine. They do not own it, I do, so to offer me money without asking if I want the original machine fixed is poor form. I put it to them today that they have treated me poorly and have said to them that they need to set it right. They were doing so well until they said to me it was misinformation that couased the problem. I said if it was misinformation then how did three people seperate from eachother have this information. Now I want an appology. i don't require the new machine and what I really want is the machine that I got to work and an explination of what misinformation was given

[Goldfinger]

Try to get in touch with Apple customer support manager and explain to him/her that you do not wish a refund but that you want a refund. Ask WHY they are giving you a refund instead of a new machine. I wouldn't give up like you seem to do. You could get an infinitely better machine for less money just by whining a bit to Apple. I say go for it and don't take a no for an answer.
And it does seem a bit weird that they can just decide to give you a refund it's like them buying back your machine without your approval.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Try to get in touch with Apple customer support manager and explain to him/her that you do not wish a refund but that you want a refund.

WTF?? Explain that he does not a wish a refund but that he wants a refund?

Don't you mean does not want a refund, but wants a working computer?

[Goldfinger]

Originally Posted by Person Man

WTF?? Explain that he does not a wish a refund but that he wants a refund?

Don't you mean does not want a refund, but wants a working computer?

woops That's indeed what I meant.

[swapd002]

It has finally ended. I have been told I will not get a new computer but only my computer working. How do I feel about this. Wel considering that I never asked for anything else I am happy with this outcome. I am not happy however with the service I recieved. But they have offered me something as a token gesture. I will be getting a full copy of Mac OS X Tiger for free. That is almost just a cool as having a new iMac coz I have more than one computer and It has saved me having to purchase a full copy for them.

[Eriamjh]

This insurance thing is interesting. Apple claims that if your computer is stolen while under their posession that they are not liable. Bullsh*t! They can say that, and you can even sign a form to it, but that doesn't mean that they are not liable. They become custodians and assume responsibility! They might as well just tell their employees that they can take any machine that comes in for service since the store thinks they are not liable for losses.

[JoshuaZ]

I guess sometimes 'crap happens' when you're ordering computers and whatnot. At least you got a whole lot better computer for next to nothing. In the end you're the real winner here. If not I'm sure someone on MacNN will be more then happy to take it off your hands for you.