Hi Tim,
My name is X Y. I have been a loyal Apple customer since 1988 (my first purchase was a Mac Plus, which I used to lug to the office as a young chemical engineer, because I refused to work on a standard issue DOS box). I've made many purchases since then, including yesterday, when I placed an order for what I thought was a newly updated Mac Pro. I'm sure you are aware that the Apple online store showed the entire Mac Pro line as "New" yesterday, a label which has been removed earlier today. The only reason why I placed the order for what I thought was the new Mac Pro, is because I thought it was substantially upgraded (I assumed, wrongly as it turns out, that the upgrade had to do with the latest Xeon processors Intel released in April). I was very excited about the purchase (I own a 2006 Mac Pro, which I really love, but which is starting to show its age), only to find out that the label "New" was removed from the website, which prompted me to do some research. What I've learned is really very disconcerting, namely that the computer I bought (6-core) is exactly the same as the one Apple sold on Monday, and that this model has not been upgraded since the Summer of 2010. What a letdown!
I called Apple customer service tonight to discuss the matter, and spent close to two hours on the phone. The experience was as disappointing (if not more) than finding out that the "new" Mac Pro I thought I bought wasn't so new after all. I went through three levels of customer service, and I am sad to say that the representatives (including level 3) showed little understanding of Apple's product line (repeatedly referring to my new computer as "iMac" and confusing my 6-core with the 12-core model). Level 3 representative kept me on hold for a very long time, continuing to make me believe that some sort of "restitution" would be offered. In the end he came back claiming that the 6-core had indeed been upgraded, only because "it now supports up to 32 GB of RAM" (not true, 32GB was possible before). He offered me a $50 coupon toward a future purchase. I'm sorry, Tim, but I find this insulting, It goes without saying that Apple made a huge mistake by advertising the Mac Pro as "New" yesterday. I'm sure I'm not the only person who fell into this trap. Of course I can cancel the order, but I genuinely need a new Mac Pro (even if, as it turns out, it is a 2010 model). I am really really disappointed and sad that this happened.
Best Regards,
X Y
P.S.
The order number is ***********. The Customer Service case is **********.
