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That seems like such a good deal because I think Apple has a refurb up for $2700. But yeah, I think it would be a good idea to get a hold of a receipt as proof.
 
CanadaRAM said:
And you would do that ... how exactly?

I belive that if your computer is stolen and you report it to apple, they attach that information to the serial number, assuming you told apple that it was stolen and gave them the serial number. Presumaby, if you call up apple, ask about that specific serial number, they can tell you. Not sure if this is true, but I remeber being told this, so I'm just passing it on.
 
Is anybody worried if he made it back or not? With or without the computer.
 
Hi Everyone,

First of all, let me say that I found the ad on Craigslist.

I drove to the guy's house in Pasadena with a friend of mine, and when I began driivng around his neighborhood, I noticed that this didn't seem like the kind of neighborhood where a father would buy a top-of-the-line Quad for his son.

It was a lower-lower middle class neighborhood (emphasis on the lower), and I told my friend this immediately.

He and I decided to leave the cash in the car (the trunk).

We drove around his house, and I saw two friendly young people standing in the front driveway, and so I felt that it probably was o.k. to drive up to the house.

We parked about a block away, and saw basically people of lower incomes walking on the sidewalks of the residential area.

When we came to the house, the guy seemed friendly enough. His house was the best one in the neighborhood-- freshly painted, etc.

But, he asked us to sit on his porch, and he went out to the street and was liesurely buying fruit from an unmarked fruit truck that was parked in the street. He was taking his time, and my friend started to get nervous.

When we arrived in his house, he changed his story about why he wanted to sell the G5... He said that he and his friend had bought 10 G5s at an auction (from a company that was going out of business), and I basically knew right there that I wasn't going to feel safe buying the computer.

He had a sealed Quad box sitting in his dining room floor, and he had another one hooked up to a monitor, and said that this was the same kind of computer that was in the box.

I asked him if we could open the box and test the computer in the box, and he said that he couldn't do that, because the box was factory sealed (which it appeared to be), and that the hard drive was empty and not loaded with software. He said that if we opened the box, then I would have to commit to buying it.

He had emailed me before I came that the monitor that came with the computer was sold, but then when I arrived, he said that the guy who wanted to buy it did not show up.

He was telling me that he had given one of the computers to his children, and one minute after he said that, a cute young 9 year old came out and asked the man "Daddy, can you show me how to turn the computer on?"

He told her "just press this button, honey."

He then left the room with my friend and I there, and went to his daughter's room to "help her with the computer."

I certainly wouldn't have left two strangers in my livingroom with $6,000 worth of computer equipment and an open door.

At this point, I was looking for a polite and safe way to get out, and my friend and I were worried about our safety.

I told him that I wished him luck, but I didn't feel comfortable that he told me that he had to sell it because his son wanted a laptop, and then I discover that he bought 10 of them at an auction.

He replied that he did offer one of them to his son, but.... I didn't trust him since he was not honest about why he wanted to sell the computer. HE said in his ad that he was "Stuck" with the computer because his son didn't want it.

I shook his hand, smiled, wished him luck, and left the door, hoping that we wouldn't get ambushed by someone as we were walking to my car, and was hoping that my car was still there :)

After we were out of sight of the house, my friend and I began walking quickly towards my car.

My friend told me let's get in the driver's side of the car (because this muscle car with two Latino gang-banger types was driving slowly down the street towards us.

I unlocked the car, we got in quickly, and then I drove away and could finally relax :)

I am going to buy a refurbished Quad and 30" monitor from Apple :)

I think that probably someone had stolen the 10 Quads, and that he was the smooth-takinf front guy who was selling them.

I just didn't have a good feeling about the whole thing and was happy to get away. :)

Khashyar
 
Phone up Apple and ask if they've had reports of 10 Quads gone missing from anywhere recently...? :eek:

Sick trick he employed, getting a kid to come in and play it all cute "can you show me... daddy?"

Well done for turning down a shady deal.
 
you handled things really well. man, i would have been freaked out. i'm glad you made it out of there in one piece and that you shared your story with us. it's definitely something to tell the kids one day. :)
 
Glad to see you extricated yourself from an awkward situation.

Shame it wasn't legit though. I'm sure we were all hoping it was, and that would mean sometime we might stumble across a great deal too.
 
I've been following this thread, and I too would like to add my congratulations and well wishes for a good ending to the story.

I admit that reading your story was exciting, thanks for my vicarious thrills.

Sounded like the start to a Robert Ludlum novel :)
 
smart move

ya, congrats on staying cool and being smart.

they probably think us uber-geek-loving-mac folks can't think street wise, but you showed him. :)

i would call apple too and let them know. seems very odd.

cheers,
keebler
 
Wow, what a story! Good read. I'm glad you didn't take the (most likely) stolen quad. I would have done the same thing.
 
williamw said:
I seriously would have trouble not taking up that dea, stolen or not. The story was quite thrilling, and funny(especially with the daughter part).

* 2.

The daughter part was great...
Daddy.. how do i use the computer? Just press the power button.. LMAO...

Good thing everyone came out unharmed...
 
To the Original Poster,

You might consider passing your experience to the Pasadena Police Department. That guy sounds pretty shady to me.

Call Det. Alexander, Robbery, at 626-744-6874. She is very nice.

Congrats on your legal purchase and making it out alive and unscathed from that neighborhood.
 
tweakers_suck said:
Call Det. Alexander, Robbery, at 626-744-6874. She is very nice.

Call Detective Robbery? I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that's funny. If I am, I apologize. :eek:
Very compelling story though. What's the current highest bid for the movie rights?
 
bobdgil said:
Call Detective Robbery? I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that's funny. If I am, I apologize. :eek:
Very compelling story though. What's the current highest bid for the movie rights?

I believe it is Detective Alexander in the Robbery department.
 
bobdgil said:
Call Detective Robbery? I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that's funny. If I am, I apologize. :eek:
Very compelling story though. What's the current highest bid for the movie rights?


Uh, that's Detective Alexander, Robbery Detail...

Great story. I would be really, really surprised if the "sealed box" actually
contained a Quad––sounds like a total BS scam. Like all new Macs, it would most
certainly have OS 10.4 pre-installed. I envision a scenario where someone
would take the box home to discover that it contained something like dead weight.
Then the guy would claim that he had "no way of knowing", and make up some
story about why he couldn't return the cash, ect. Not letting you open the
box to inspect the contents is so utterly absurd, that I'm surprised you didn't laugh out loud,
saying something like: "Do I look stupid or what?... Pullleeeeeze!!" :eek: :confused: :rolleyes:

This reminds me of the guys who sell the fake Rolex watches on the street
for a couple hundred bucks. When someone buys something that is most
likely stolen––and then gets ripped off with a fake, what are they going to do,
call the police? I think you were really smart in the way you handled this
(especially leaving the cash in the car, and parking it out of sight of the house).

At the very least, you should notify Craigslist about the guy,
and contact Apple as well as the police. You will likely be doing
someone (who is unable to resist) a big favor.
 
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