Tyler Bye
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RSSThe Short Version
If you’re willing to pay the “Apple Tax” to get the best technology experience available, then make sure you only deal with Apple directly. Whether it be your friendly neighborhood Apple Store (North Utahns look no further than the Gateway in Salt Lake City) or the online Apple store located at http://store.apple.com, that is the only way to guarantee you get all the benefits you are paying for when buying Apple products.
The Long Version
My dad calls me to tell me he’s going to upgrade his computer. ”But didn’t you just buy that MacBook Pro?” I ask him. After an affirmative answer, I begin to suggest that what he’s really after is a new 27” Apple Cinema Display. I send him to Simply Mac in Orem, Utah, a local reseller, because they can’t possibly botch this sale can they?
Yes, they can, and oh yes, they did.
I wasn’t present when the salesman spotted my Dad entering the store. I wasn’t there when he suggested that my Dad buy an iMac instead because he could give him a great discount… on END OF LIFE hardware. I wasn’t there when my dad claims he was told that everything he was buying was the latest and greatest, but knowing my dad, he would’ve asked this specific question. My mom does own an i7 15” MacBook Pro, for crying out loud.
Christmas eve I head over to inspect the hardware which unfortunately had been pulled out of the box. My brother-in-law, a super smart dude and long time Apple owner, had set the machine up. I was getting ready to copy my mom’s iPhoto Library when I realized her MacBook Pro was running iLife ‘11, while the “NEW” iMac came with iLife ‘09.
I told my folks that we were going to hold off till Monday with the photo copying, call Simply Mac up and I was sure they’d get us a copy of iLife ‘11 free of charge. I was looking past the fact that they sold my parents a Core 2 Duo despite the fact they already own current hardware. I looked past the fact they took advantage of consumers who didn’t know better. I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they would handle their oversight and make things right for my parents.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
My dad asked if I would head down to Orem with him to talk to the salesman at Simply Mac. I said sure, but thought I’d give them a call, explain the situation and then send my dad over to pick up the comlimentary copy of iLife ‘11. I talked to Isaac. We couldn’t find the order, so after a quick call to my dad I called Isaac back to look the order up under my mom’s name. Bingo, we had an order number. I asked him to make my life, and his life easy and give my dad a copy of iLife ‘11. He said, sure come by and grab it for $49.00. I said, “Oh no, I’ll return the hardware, buy a refurb from store.apple.com, and get iLife ‘11 in the box.” That’s when I found out about Simply Mac’s return policy on opened hardware. We could return it for a 15% restocking fee, maybe. Arguably this is End of Life hardware, and under the terms of their policy they could deem it as unsellable, thus also preventing us from returning the box. Rather than deal with Isaac’s short, curt answers concerning my issue any further I told my dad I’d order a copy of iLife ‘11 for him. He’s stuck with the hardware, which arguably, is more than they need anyway. (We started out with my recommending just the display, sigh.) One thing is for certain. When asked about buying a computer I’ll be saying, “Buy a Mac!” like I’ve been doing for years. Only now I’ll clarify, “Buy a Mac, but DO NOT buy it at Simply Mac.”
Don’t waste your time dealing with Simply Mac. Go to the Apple Store where keeping you as a repeat customer outweighs their return policy.
Update 12/28/2010 : Phone Call From Tyler Dickman
After my initial tweet I got a response from Tyler Dickman, who, according to their website, is Director of Operations. We exchanged emails and he called me this morning. We talked through the concerns and he kept telling me that this was providing a “training opportunity” for the company. He offered to get me some software. I told him Amazon would have it on my doorstep before I’d have a chance to get into the store anyway. At this point, he was unable to make it up to me, although he tried. I told him that the most impressive thing for me was him taking the time to give me a call. Time will tell if that’s sufficient enough to get me to shop there ever again.
