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Apple Reseller 'Simply Mac' Shuts Down

BellSystem said:
Buys dying company from another dying company and surprised it didn’t do well. Apple resellers have been dying out since 2001. Apple Stores put them all out around here. The few survivors have other niche services that keep them going. Since opening the stores, Apple made resellers enemy number one. The margins on repairs are not even close to what they were in the early 00’s. In fact one of our early Apple Store training items was to tell us why we were better than a reseller and how we should tell that to customers. Apple has been trying to get rid of all of them for years. They stopped the authorized resellers and repair programs years ago. The only way to be one is to buy an operating business.

You can shoot fanboy Apple Kool-Aid out your ears all day long….the truth here is Apple killed them all by not supporting them, PURPOSELY opening near them, and PURPOSELY steering customers away from them. This chain may have had other issues…but at the core…Apple led them and the rest to failure. You can’t blame the store for all the customers going to the Apple Stores because Apple presents no other options to people.
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a lot of truth here but as an employee for the company for its final 2 years, that is absolutely not the reason for this
 
Want to hear a crazy story..

I have a 17" MacBook Pro that's been at the nearby Simply Mac for repairs for about a month or so. This was a repair issue that Apple generously agreed to take care of and they directed me to Simply Mac. The day before yesterday, Simply Mac called to tell us the MBP was ready for pickup. Yesterday (9 Jun) we went to pick it up, and they were closed. Now, I'm finding out that they are closed for good!

So, HOW do I get back my MacBook Pro NOW? So aggravating!
 
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FtlPhysicsGuy said:
Want to hear a crazy story..

I have a 17" MacBook Pro that's been at the nearby Simply Mac for repairs for about a month or so. This was a repair issue that Apple generously agreed to take care of and they directed me to Simply Mac. The day before yesterday, Simply Mac called to tell us the MBP was ready for pickup. Yesterday (9 Jun) we went to pick it up, and they were closed. Now, I'm finding out that they are closed for good!

So, HOW do I get back my MacBook Pro NOW? So aggravating!
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From what I've been reading, it sounds like you, me and all other customers with pending orders and/or repairs are now SOL :oops:

I don't think I'm going to get my unfulfilled purchase refunded back :mad:
 
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MrENGLISH said:
I had placed an order with SimplyMac back in March and used Affirm for financing. I had followed up with SimplyMac at the beginning of April, May, and June for a status update on when my order would ship. They would say that they were experiencing a delay and were hoping to have stock by the end of April, then it was end of May, and then most recently the end of July. I was tempted to cancel my order but when I looked at Apple's shipping times they were currently saying late August. So I figured I would just keep my order with SimplyMac since it was tied up with Affirm's financing anyways and I have been making good on my payments to Affirm for this order each month up to this point.

Now I'm worried that I'll be completely screwed over by all of this.

I spoke with Affirm today and the customer service rep said that there is nothing they can do because SimplyMac needs to refund them for the loan first. But I can't reach SimplyMac anymore. I escalated this to a supervisor and requested to speak someone from their fraud department. They said it could take two weeks to even hear back from them and that normally they only have a 60 day window for purchase issues. SimplyMac really screwed me over! And if Affirm doesn't make this right, don't ever use Affirm to make a purchase as they offer no buyer protection.
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That sucks though you might want to look at your locality's consumer protection and fraud laws. They may give you additional protections or at least leverage regarding getting your money back. Personally I would have canceled the order by the end of May and gone with Apple as you would have known even with the delay you would have gotten your machine...eventually.
 
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Gk200062YVR said:
nxr93 tells us that he is a whistleblower in the company because he got no wage for months.
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How is nxr93 being a"rat" for reporting stuff that is freaking illegal?! :eek: Heck, in some states (like Minnesota) the employers are required to pay their employees at intervals of not more than 15 days.

There are times I wonder about the internet.
 
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h3ysw5nkan said:
Do the employees get paid first after bankruptcy?
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From a google search: "As with other creditors, any employees who have been laid off and have earned wages that have not been paid will share in the remaining assets of the bankrupt employer. These debts will be given a higher priority than unsecured creditors but secured creditors like banks and other finance providers will be paid first."

So employees don't get paid first but they are high up on the pecking order. Also as Nolo outlines there are rules to filing of a bankruptcy and the court takes a very dim view of misuse of the process
 
Maximara said:
How is nxr93 being a"rat" for reporting stuff that is freaking illegal?! :eek: Heck, in some states (like Minnesota) the employers are required to pay their employees at intervals of not more than 15 days.

There are times I wonder about the internet.
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Sorry. SimplyMac HR thought nxr93 a rat but nxr93 is a victim of a crime.
 
Maximara said:
From a google search: "As with other creditors, any employees who have been laid off and have earned wages that have not been paid will share in the remaining assets of the bankrupt employer. These debts will be given a higher priority than unsecured creditors but secured creditors like banks and other finance providers will be paid first."

So employees don't get paid first but they are high up on the pecking order. Also as Nolo outlines there are rules to filing of a bankruptcy and the court takes a very dim view of misuse of the process
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I don't know, I guess it depends on the country. I know in most part of East and SE Asia, employees get paid before the banks, lawyers and liquidation fees.

"The payment of outstanding wages of workers/laborers shall take precedence over all other types of creditors, including secured creditors"

https://aksetlaw.com/news-event/new...r-secured-creditors-in-bankruptcyliquidation/
 
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It is hard to get Apple orders fulfilled with supply chain issues. It doesn’t surprise me if that was the final straw. Supply constraints are hurting all resellers.
 
If my local branch (Tri-Cities Tennessee) was anything to go by, their closure has nothing to do with the alleged pandemic. It had to deal with a sales force with obsolete or non-existent product knowledge, indifferent attitude, big turnover, common parts like batteries being out of stock, and poor selection.

And, as a supposed Apple Partner, they were not equipped to handle affinity discounts, Veterans Advantage being an example.

What good were they?
 
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yabeweb said:
Well if you knew the margins Apple gives you.... at least here in Italy, it's hard to make a living with the % they offer to resellers.
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Then, if the margins are so bad, they can shift their business to something else. No one is forcing them to be Apple partners.
 
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yabeweb said:
Well if you knew the margins Apple gives you.... at least here in Italy, it's hard to make a living with the % they offer to resellers.
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I know the margins, at least as of the last point I was working in reselling before COVID. 6.5% for consumer lines, 13% for pro lines, 30% for AppleCare and other beyond the box product.

Compared to the margin we could get on literally anyone else's computer product — usually 2-3% — that was luxury.

It's why I moved on to doing refurbs. New computer sales are almost a loss leader meant to sell attached product; have been for years. The days of high margin brass and glass Mac stores went away even before Apple started cannibalizing its own channel resellers.
 
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kirbyrun said:
That he felt compelled to specify that the pandemic began "in Wuhan, China" is...interesting.

I mean, everyone knows where the pandemic began. How is its origin point relevant to this bankruptcy? Its existence? Sure! But its origin?

Weird.
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“Wuhan-Wuhan-Wuhan” [Horses Whinney]
(Apologies to Frau Blücher)
 
MrENGLISH said:
From what I've been reading, it sounds like you, me and all other customers with pending orders and/or repairs are now SOL :oops:

I don't think I'm going to get my unfulfilled purchase refunded back :mad:
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I have the same problem. I ordered and paid for a computer in March and it was never delivered. According to an inside source at Simple Mac, a major reason for bankruptcy is that Apple refused to fill orders. I also filed a complaint with the FTC on Apple computers for not filling the order through their authorized dealer. I also called Apple computers. They are concerned because when the public finds out that Apple did not fill orders of loyal Apple customers, it will cause a major public relations problem. Please call apple orders and tell them you expect Apple to honor the order you placed through a trusted authorized dealer. It is time to shout what Apple did to Simple Mac and their customers from the housetops!!
 
denbee27 said:
I have the same problem. I ordered and paid for a computer in March and it was never delivered. According to an inside source at Simple Mac, a major reason for bankruptcy is that Apple refused to fill orders. I also filed a complaint with the FTC on Apple computers for not filling the order through their authorized dealer. I also called Apple computers. They are concerned because when the public finds out that Apple did not fill orders of loyal Apple customers, it will cause a major public relations problem. Please call apple orders and tell them you expect Apple to honor the order you placed through a trusted authorized dealer. It is time to shout what Apple did to Simple Mac and their customers from the housetops!!
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I would be wary of what of 'an inside source at Simply Mac' said regarding what Apple was doing given all the shady stuff Simply Mac supposedly was doing. Looking up reviews I found these at trustpilot (74% bad rating):

'I placed an order for an item that was supposedly in stock. After I reached out for a status update, they said we are "unable to ship inventory at this time due to a huge processing error at the warehouse. Nor do we have guaranteed shipment dates for your order."'

Now step back and look at what that is saying — Simply Mac was claiming the product was already in stock and only after the customer did a follow up did they get some song and dance about some "huge processing error at the warehouse". More over they asked "why cant I cancel the order online? What year is it that you're making people email you to cancel an order?"

Another reviewer stated that when they contacted Simply Mac they were told the computer they ordered was "on stock" "but don't have any idea when the order will be shipped". ie in both cases Apple had supposedly already shipped the product to Simply Mac.

Yet another reviewer stated "When you ask Simply Mac to cancel the order, they tell you that a restocking fee will be incur" ...even if Simply Mac didn't have the item to restock.

Over on Appleinsider, dybarra1317 said this: "Their lack of inventory is because their department that handled orders and preorders didn't submit for any inventory for over six months and upper management missed it. The store here had over 25k stolen from a third party fed ex delivery service, and her manager at the time ignored it and fudged inventory stock to make him look good so he could get district manager"

Heck, "Citing funding issues, Voigt said that Simply Mac is unable to adequately stock its shelves with products" does not translate into 'Apple refused to send us product'.

IMHO this is simply somebody at Simply Mac trying to put the blame on Apple.
 
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