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Maybe my last Mac ever

U

ucla95

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 4, 2009
68
0
Ugh, so Apple tech support determines I have a lemon of a 3.06/GT130 computer, but I bought it from Amazon so they say I have to send it back to them; Apple has no responsibility to swap it out. Amazon says to me that it's Apple's responsiblity to swap it out and if I return it I pay a 15% restocking fee (then they'll just sell it to some other sucker I suppose), just like as if I was returning something I just didn't want. And Amazon IS an AUTHORIZED Apple retailer (and I didn't buy it from a merchant, bought from Amazon themselves).

Anyone with any thoughts on this one? About to become so anti-Apple I cannot tell you, but trying to keep even-keeled. My wife, who's very sweet, already thinks this nonsense is so ridiculous (15% restocking fee costs us $330 + shipping back to Amazon too) - she wants to ban Apples from our household permanently if this isn't resolved.
 
ucla95 said:
Ugh, so Apple tech support determines I have a lemon of a 3.06/GT130 computer, but I bought it from Amazon so they say I have to send it back to them; Apple has no responsibility to swap it out. Amazon says to me that it's Apple's responsiblity to swap it out and if I return it I pay a 15% restocking fee (then they'll just sell it to some other sucker I suppose), just like as if I was returning something I just didn't want. And Amazon IS an AUTHORIZED Apple retailer (and I didn't buy it from a merchant, bought from Amazon themselves).

Anyone with any thoughts on this one? About to become so anti-Apple I cannot tell you, but trying to keep even-keeled. My wife, who's very sweet, already thinks this nonsense is so ridiculous (15% restocking fee costs us $330 + shipping back to Amazon too) - she wants to ban Apples from our household permanently if this isn't resolved.
Click to expand...

In the past when I've been caught in the middle like this (typically between the credit card company and the vendor, or insurance company and repair shop, etc.), I just get everyone on the phone at once and tell them to hash it out because I'm the customer and between them they need to figure it out. I've had good results with that approach.

Don't "cut off your nose to spite your face" by banning Macs simply because Amazon is not cooperating (or, between the two of them, they're not cooperating).
 
It's Amazons responsibility if it's return or replace. If it's warranty issue it's Apple's headache.

Be aggressive, that usually helps.
 
Hah. Ridiculous. Why does Apple have to handle the exchange/return if they didn't sell it to you? This is similar to the thread where someone purchased a Mac from the reseller and complained that Apple couldn't/didn't do anything because there was a delay of shipping (backordered). It's not Apple's business to do the exchange/return if you purchased it from 3rd party reseller. Amazon is in the wrong and it's not Apple's business. The most Apple can do is contact Amazon to find out what's wrong but they don't have to exchange it. Your problem is with Amazon, not Apple.

You always go back to the place where you purchased the product.
 
If there is something wrong with the machine then you shouldn't have to pay anything. I were you I would call Apple Tech support. Tell them your problem so that they register it and then they will probably advise you to take it into Apple Store or retailer so that they can examine it.

The 15% restocking fee should only apply to an Apple machine if the owner just wants to send it back, because he/she doesn't want it after the first two weeks/month depending on where you live.

If the machine is damaged then I think the deal is between you and Apple, and Amazon have nothing more to do with it. If they had shipped the machine to you and it was damaged due to transport, etc, then that would be something else.

I sent three 24" iMacs back to Apple because I was not happy with what I got, and they even paid me compensation for my inconvenience. Apple Support in my case was amazing. Today I own a Mac Pro and a MacBook Pro. Because of the way they treated me I remained a Mac user, and a very satisfied one (99,9% of the time)
 
I don't know here people are getting the impression that you will get charged the restocking fee if you do an exchange. Why would you be charged? because the product is faulty? Makes no sense. You would only get charged if the computer is fine but you just want to return it but it's already opened.

Even if it was was damaged, still not Apple's problem. Still Amazon. You deal with the person you purchased the product from. I don't go to RIM when my BlackBerry is faulty, I go back to my carrier to have the problem fixed and they deal with me.
 
ucla95 said:
Anyone with any thoughts on this one? About to become so anti-Apple I cannot tell you, but trying to keep even-keeled. My wife, who's very sweet, already thinks this nonsense is so ridiculous (15% restocking fee costs us $330 + shipping back to Amazon too) - she wants to ban Apples from our household permanently if this isn't resolved.
Click to expand...

This is at least half Amazon's fault - are you prepared to ban Amazon from your household as well? Otherwise I think you're acting rashly.

You should look around for a local authorized Apple reseller/service center to deal with. I would never buy a computer online myself, because I want to be able to deal with a human being when I'm dropping over $2000 on a computer. Most of the time things work out with internet buying, but when they don't it's a pain in the butt.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
I don't understand people who buy from places other than Apple.
Click to expand...

I don't understand either but it's probably because they can get it cheaper. I don't mind people buying from a 3rd party reseller, but what annoys me is that they like to blame Apple when they have a problem with sales. Apple will support it but they don't handle the sales aspect of it. 3rd Party resellers are not associated with Apple, they're just given the OK to sell.
 
I once bought an iBook from Amazon and found an alignment problem between the top and bottom shells. I made an appointment at the Genius Bar and they swapped it on the spot after verifying the problem and checking the purchase date on my receipt. Of course, this was more than three years ago so the policy might have changed.
 
even if it's bought through Amazon or wherever doesn't Apple honour the first year warrenty/issues. I'm sure they (apple) will help you out if you would explain all of this to them...

out of curiosity why is your iMac a lemon???
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

That's why I buy from apple and only apple. So much easier if you have a problem. And in store is even better
 
charlesbronsen said:
even if it's bought through Amazon or wherever doesn't Apple honour the first year warrenty/issues. I'm sure they (apple) will help you out if you would explain all of this to them...

out of curiosity why is your iMac a lemon???
Click to expand...

What do you mean about Apple not honoring first year issues? The one-year limited warranty doesn't apply? If that's what you mean, that's incorrect, Apple's limited warranty is honored regardless of where you purchased the computer from.
 
iLog.Genius said:
Hah. Ridiculous. Why does Apple have to handle the exchange/return if they didn't sell it to you? This is similar to the thread where someone purchased a Mac from the reseller and complained that Apple couldn't/didn't do anything because there was a delay of shipping (backordered). It's not Apple's business to do the exchange/return if you purchased it from 3rd party reseller. Amazon is in the wrong and it's not Apple's business. The most Apple can do is contact Amazon to find out what's wrong but they don't have to exchange it. Your problem is with Amazon, not Apple.

You always go back to the place where you purchased the product.
Click to expand...

Because Apple manufactured it and nobody else does.

Even if Amazon exchanges it for the customer, who do you think they'll send the defective unit to? That's right, back to Apple so they can fix it. Apple will absorb the costs on this no matter who exchanges it.
 
charlesbronsen said:
even if it's bought through Amazon or wherever doesn't Apple honour the first year warrenty/issues. I'm sure they (apple) will help you out if you would explain all of this to them...

out of curiosity why is your iMac a lemon???
Click to expand...

Apple will honor the warranty and fix it if that's what the OP wants. Apple will most likely not replace the Mac if it wasn't purchased at Apple.

It's almost the same as if the OP bought a new car at dealer A and then went to dealer B to replace/exchange it when the OP discovered a problem.

Dealer B will service the car under it's warranty but would not give the OP a replacement/exchange.

If you want a replacement/exchange because of a defect, go back to where you bought the Mac.

If you want the Mac repaired, go to Apple.
 
Plutonius said:
Apple will honor the warranty and fix it if that's what the OP wants. Apple will most likely not replace the Mac if it wasn't purchased at Apple.

It's almost the same as if the OP bought a new car at dealer A and then went to dealer B to replace/exchange it when the OP discovered a problem.

Dealer B will service the car under it's warranty but would not give the OP a replacement/exchange.

If you want a replacement/exchange because of a defect, go back to where you bought the Mac.

If you want the Mac repaired, go to Apple.
Click to expand...

Let's re-analyze that car analogy. If I buy MfrA's car at dealer 1, and I move 3 months later across the country. If MfrA determines my car is a lemon, they will work with whatever dealer, including dealer 2, to get it replaced. Ironically, my manager had this happen with his GMC Yukon several years ago. GMC told him to pick a dealer and they would contact the dealer for an exchange.

Same thing here. Apple tech said it was a lemon. Plus what difference does it make who exchanges it, as it will ultimately end up in Apple's hands anyway.
 
belvdr said:
Because Apple manufactured it and nobody else does.

Even if Amazon exchanges it for the customer, who do you think they'll send the defective unit to? That's right, back to Apple so they can fix it. Apple will absorb the costs on this no matter who exchanges it.
Click to expand...

That's true but there's probably ways to document it to keep the accounting tidy and that's something done internally between Amazon and Apple. Again, I don't go back to RIM when my BlackBerry is faulty, I go back to the carrier. I'm pretty sure RIM does absorb the cost but there are ways to document that.
 
iLog.Genius said:
That's true but there's probably ways to document it to keep the accounting tidy and that's something done internally between Amazon and Apple. Again, I don't go back to RIM when my BlackBerry is faulty, I go back to the carrier. I'm pretty sure RIM does absorb the cost but there are ways to document that.
Click to expand...

Well, that's because not all Blackberries are equal. ;) Every iMac is equal to a model of the same generation when it ships from Apple.
 
iLog.Genius said:
I think I might see where you're coming from, clarify please :) LOL
Click to expand...

Well Blackberries are customized for each carrier, and which country they are shipped to. For example, Verizon still uses CDMA while others use GSM. Then there are varying frequencies to operate on as well.

If I bought two iMac machines today, sat them side by side totally disassembled, the only difference should be serial numbers on various parts and the iMac itself.

The other point is that if you had a Blackberry issue, you would call the carrier, not RIM.

In this case, you wouldn't call Amazon for support, as they are only a reseller. You would call Apple, which the OP did, and they are stating its a lemon. So why get Amazon involved with something that stemmed from a repair process? It seems Apple support would be able to authorize an exchange simply enough.
 
Amazon not Apple is at Fault

I think a lot of confusion stems from people thinking Apple is denying support, Apple would gladly repair the machine if asked to do so. They're simply saying it's in the best interest of the customer to pursue an exchange through Amazon vs. having a brand new machine repaired. If you bought a Samsung LCD from Best Buy, opened it up, used it for a week and then it died, what would you do? You would take it back to Best Buy for an exchange. The same is the case with this computer. As you did not buy the computer from Apple you were not extended any type of return/exchange policy through them. Apple as the manufacturer simply extends to the end consumer a warranty that allows for repair. If you want your new computer repaired, Apple would be happy to do so. As you purchased it from a third party retailer, no exchange can be offered through Apple. This is not because Apple wants to shaft you but simply because Apple may not have that model for sale in their systems. Amazon may custom order models, sell older models, order models without RAM to use their cheaper RAM (as is common with MacMall), have specific "Amazon" part numbers, etc. As such Apple will can only repair the computer. Again, would you call Samsung and expect them to ship you a new TV or would you go back to Best Buy? I know hands down, I'd be back at Best Buy.
 
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