Opened? MB sold as new in retail store.

[StudioGuy]

Just brought back a "new" MacBook from my local retail store.

As I went to open it, I noticed the large clear seal seemed oddly thick.
Upon closer inspection, I could see that it had a previous seal that had been cut open, and another seal over top.

So, it appears I got someone's return sold to me as new.

Is this common? Will be going back tomorrow to see if I can get an unopened computer. Not sure what the problem I purchased which someone else returned.

Any other suggestions?

[lamina]

I worked at a big box store for 2 years, and anything returned would never be sold as new, unless it wasn't opened.

I would definitely bring it back and either exchange or see what they can do for you as far as a price reduction. Don't speak with a lower-level employee, go to a manager.

PS: Sorry, didn't see that you actually bought it from an Apple store.

Definitely talk to them, I'm sure they will understand.

[csanchez70]

It would concern me a little, I'd definitely take it back especially considering how strict Apple's return policies are. I just bought mine today and the sticker was fine, however Leopard was missing boot camp so I'm not to happy at the moment.

[StudioGuy]

OK, thanks for the encouragement. Hope it will be that easy.
Yes, I meant "Apple retail" store.

Will post the result tomorrow.
Have a very anxious son waiting to move from the iLamp to the MacBook!

[DaLurker]

The real question is was there a leopard upgrade disc inside? If so that means the tape was cut and resealed in order to put the upgrade disc in. If however you have a new macbook with leopard preinstalled, that is a different story.

[iViking]

Just brought back a "new" MacBook from my local retail store.

As I went to open it, I noticed the large clear seal seemed oddly thick.
Upon closer inspection, I could see that it had a previous seal that had been cut open, and another seal over top.

So, it appears I got someone's return sold to me as new.

Is this common? Will be going back tomorrow to see if I can get an unopened computer. Not sure what the problem I purchased which someone else returned.

Any other suggestions?

Same thing happened to me today and when I saw it, I walked away.

(I mostly walked away because I had my very tired and irritable daughter in arms and told the Apple dude right off the bat I just wanted the macbook and wanted to pay for it promptly, and I swear he went into a 15 minute sales pitch about applecare, .mac, laptop bags, etc. etc. even though I told him I knew about all that stuff. The guy COULD NOT take a hint! Lost the sale, (not apple, the apple dork).

I'll just order it tonight online.

I've never had anything but slow and frustrating experiences at the retail stores.

Sorry for the rant...

[Kingsly]

Just brought back a "new" MacBook from my local retail store.

As I went to open it, I noticed the large clear seal seemed oddly thick.
Upon closer inspection, I could see that it had a previous seal that had been cut open, and another seal over top.

So, it appears I got someone's return sold to me as new.

Is this common? Will be going back tomorrow to see if I can get an unopened computer. Not sure what the problem I purchased which someone else returned.

Any other suggestions?

Leopard DVD drop-in. Since current stock doesn't have leopard installed Apple seeds drop-in kits to all the retail stores and some poor sod has to open every box and literally "drop in" a 10.5 DVD.

Don't worry, your MacBook is brand new. :)

[FirePak]

Same thing happened to me today and when I saw it, I walked away.

(I mostly walked away because I had my very tired and irritable daughter in arms and told the Apple dude right off the bat I just wanted the macbook and wanted to pay for it promptly, and I swear he went into a 15 minute sales pitch about applecare, .mac, laptop bags, etc. etc. even though I told him I knew about all that stuff. The guy COULD NOT take a hint! Lost the sale, (not apple, the apple dork).

I'll just order it tonight online.

I've never had anything but slow and frustrating experiences at the retail stores.

Sorry for the rant...

I have resorted to only buying online for awhile and i have 2 apple stores within about 20 mins of me. I've had the same issues that you had at one and got into a yelling match and nearly a fight at the other one with one of the associates.

[e12a]

as long as the sticker on the foam "pouch" is intact, and you get the welcome screen when you boot up, you're fine. :)

[ab2650]

I agree that it's almost for sure the reason it was opened was for the Leopard drop-in. And if you open it up and find a stack of tiles, well then, write to the consumerist. :)

In seriousness, just see that the inner contents don't look mucked around with, no finger smudges, and the computer should boot to the welcome intro. If that's the case, then I would put it out of your mind.

[lcseds]

Wow. Occasionally boxes have to be re-sealed because the seal broke, or ripped. Open the darn thing. If the rest of the packaging looks opened or used, exchange it. Right now, you're sweating a piece of tape. I agree it's likely a Leopard drop in.
Too much.

[StudioGuy]

Well, the store's second MB had the same resealed box. He mentioned that maybe it was the Leopard upgrade as mentioned above, but it seemed weird to me that why would have an upgrade disc, if the box shows a Leopard desktop. :confused:

Anyway, they accepted my return at no penalty. We didn't want to open it and risk a restocking fee if anything was not good to us, but still considered "acceptable" - been there with iPods.

So, I called another local Apple store, and those MBs only had the usual single seal. Bought one and all is looking good so far.

So, even if the original ones were ok, it seemed odd enough, and I'm glad we certainly received a new one.

Thanks for the advice & support!

[iViking]

I have resorted to only buying online for awhile and i have 2 apple stores within about 20 mins of me. I've had the same issues that you had at one and got into a yelling match and nearly a fight at the other one with one of the associates.

LOL--they sure know how to hire/train them at the apple retail stores, don't they?
(I have run into intelligent retail store employees from time to time that actually seem to use the computers for things like video editing, etc.)

the whole genius thing is an insult to most people, too.

i've heard that the retail stores snag a lot of potential switchers, so that's good, i guess, but the apple retail store amounts to a lot of frustration, usually, for the long-time apple user with half a brain or at least half an idea of what they want and what they need before going into the store.

[Sun Baked]

LOL--they sure know how to hire/train them at the apple retail stores, don't they?
(I have run into intelligent retail store employees from time to time that actually seem to use the computers for things like video editing, etc.)

Just don't walk into the stores eating a banana, your likely to get mugged by the sales staff.

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=12555&stc=1

[brgnewman]

This is just like what happened the other night at work.

I work for Future Shop in Canada and we just got in the new Xbox 360 Elite - Holiday '07 bundle (The regular Elite unit with the 120gb HD, HDMI port + cord, black finish, etc etc but the Holiday '07 bundle includes Forza Motorsports 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance in the box) in last night.

I sold one to a customer and within 15 minutes he was back telling me the seal had been tampered with and he wanted a new one; I take a look at it and under the intacted seal there was another seal that had been cut opened it looked like. I went to the warehouse and took a look at a couple other boxes and they were all like that.

So basically what happened was Microsoft resealed all their Xbox 360 Elite systems with the 2 game disks, slapped a sticker on them and called them the "Holiday '07 Bundle".

So imho, I think Apple just more then likely opened up the box and slipped the Leopard Upgrade disks in and sealed them back up. Actually at work we have a lot of iMacs that just came in with a sticker on the box saying "Leopard upgrade included inside".

And as stated above, as long as the bag around the macbook is sealed and you get the welcome screen, you should be fine.

- Barret

[tommyz23]

LOL--they sure know how to hire/train them at the apple retail stores, don't they?
(I have run into intelligent retail store employees from time to time that actually seem to use the computers for things like video editing, etc.)

the whole genius thing is an insult to most people, too.

i've heard that the retail stores snag a lot of potential switchers, so that's good, i guess, but the apple retail store amounts to a lot of frustration, usually, for the long-time apple user with half a brain or at least half an idea of what they want and what they need before going into the store.

I went to the apple store just north of Chicago in the suburbs and had poor customer service. I am a Windows user and was thinking about trying the Apple out because I am in need of a new laptop. I went into the local store to check out the Macbook. I let this salesperson know why I was there.

The first thing he said was. "Having problems with Windows and that is why you are here?" I told him "no, I was just looking to give the Apple a try" and the fact that I could put XP on the notebook allowed me to continue to use my existing software.

He went on and on about how you have all kinds of problems with Windows and not the Apple system. This went on for about 10 minutes. I thought he would stop. Guess what. I walked out. After this experience, it was the final straw. I'm not sure I will be taking the Apple route if I keep running into people with this attitude.

I had a similar experience at another area Apple store, but that salesperson stopped bashing Windows once he found out I would be using Windows on teh new machine. Why does the first thing out of there mouth have to be them bashing Windows.

I am not running Vista, because it is new. I also wish I could get the Apple with the previous version of OS-X since it appears there are some issues with 10.5. Any new operating system will have issues, when they first come out.

I will probably give Apple another chance, but will NOT be purchasing from the Apple Store and will probably not be going in there for help.

RANT OVER...

[Dybbuk]

He went on and on about how you have all kinds of problems with Windows and not the Apple system. This went on for about 10 minutes. I thought he would stop. Guess what. I walked out. After this experience, it was the final straw. I'm not sure I will be taking the Apple route if I keep running into people with this attitude.

I had a similar experience at another area Apple store, but that salesperson stopped bashing Windows once he found out I would be using Windows on teh new machine. Why does the first thing out of there mouth have to be them bashing Windows.

Because Windows machines have many problems that Apple machines do not, and they were trying to explain to you the advantages of their product over the competition's product.

Oh, the horror.

[dcorban]

(I mostly walked away because I had my very tired and irritable daughter in arms and told the Apple dude right off the bat I just wanted the macbook and wanted to pay for it promptly, and I swear he went into a 15 minute sales pitch about applecare, .mac, laptop bags, etc. etc. even though I told him I knew about all that stuff. The guy COULD NOT take a hint! Lost the sale, (not apple, the apple dork).

I've never had anything but slow and frustrating experiences at the retail stores.

I had a similar experience when I bought my MacBook on friday.

I literally walked up to an associate and said "I want a MacBook. Do I just walk up to the cash register?" He grabbed one of his buddies and told him to take care of me. Instead of taking me to the register and handing me a MacBook, we head to a random Mac on display and he starts dicking around with iChat. Apparently they use it to track sales or tell the person in the back to get your order or something. Either way, it wasn't working even after trying three different computers, and him wasting five minutes in the back resetting the chat server or something. Finally he says "ok I will just get it myself". Ahh, here he comes with the box. Instead of just ringing me up at the main registers, he has this little handheld scanner thing. While a normal transaction at the full register would take about 1 minute (the time it took to buy my iPod last year), he fumbles around with this thing using a tiny stylus for several minutes. I was pretty clear about not getting Applecare. Oddly, he never mentioned .Mac and I almost forgot to buy it.

I was there with my neighbor and our kids expecting it to be an in-and-out transaction, but it ended up taking around 15 minutes for no good reason.

...but it was worth the trouble. :)

[iViking]

I went to the apple store just north of Chicago in the suburbs and had poor customer service. I am a Windows user and was thinking about trying the Apple out because I am in need of a new laptop. I went into the local store to check out the Macbook. I let this salesperson know why I was there.

The first thing he said was. "Having problems with Windows and that is why you are here?" I told him "no, I was just looking to give the Apple a try" and the fact that I could put XP on the notebook allowed me to continue to use my existing software.

He went on and on about how you have all kinds of problems with Windows and not the Apple system. This went on for about 10 minutes. I thought he would stop. Guess what. I walked out. After this experience, it was the final straw. I'm not sure I will be taking the Apple route if I keep running into people with this attitude.

I had a similar experience at another area Apple store, but that salesperson stopped bashing Windows once he found out I would be using Windows on teh new machine. Why does the first thing out of there mouth have to be them bashing Windows.

I am not running Vista, because it is new. I also wish I could get the Apple with the previous version of OS-X since it appears there are some issues with 10.5. Any new operating system will have issues, when they first come out.

I will probably give Apple another chance, but will NOT be purchasing from the Apple Store and will probably not be going in there for help.

RANT OVER...

I'm with you. I think it's a flawed salesperson technique that has the salesman bashing the product the potential customer currently has or has used in order to sell another product.

Avoid the retail stores. It's a nice computer but the apple retail store employees are usually really patronizing if not downright condescending.

Just order online.

If you want a basic model--it's good to order from Amazon.com for free shipping, no tax, and usually a rebate, plus the ability to return it within 30 days if you don't like it.

[iViking]

I had a similar experience when I bought my MacBook on friday.

I literally walked up to an associate and said "I want a MacBook. Do I just walk up to the cash register?" He grabbed one of his buddies and told him to take care of me. Instead of taking me to the register and handing me a MacBook, we head to a random Mac on display and he starts dicking around with iChat. Apparently they use it to track sales or tell the person in the back to get your order or something. Either way, it wasn't working even after trying three different computers, and him wasting five minutes in the back resetting the chat server or something. Finally he says "ok I will just get it myself". Ahh, here he comes with the box. Instead of just ringing me up at the main registers, he has this little handheld scanner thing. While a normal transaction at the full register would take about 1 minute (the time it took to buy my iPod last year), he fumbles around with this thing using a tiny stylus for several minutes. I was pretty clear about not getting Applecare. Oddly, he never mentioned .Mac and I almost forgot to buy it.

I was there with my neighbor and our kids expecting it to be an in-and-out transaction, but it ended up taking around 15 minutes for no good reason.

...but it was worth the trouble. :)

LOL--yep, that sounds about right!

Here's my favorite incident from my own frustrating experience:

APPLE DORK: Do you know about Applecare?

ME: Yep. Extends phone and computer support for three years. Can be purchased any time within the first year of ownership.

APPLE DORK: Yea. Basically what it is, is an extension of the warranty, plus you get more phone support. I really suggest you buy it.

ME: Yep. I know all about it and intend to buy it, just not right this moment.

etc. etc.

I once had the audacity to tell an apple dork that I usually get it on ebay because it's cheaper, and he then proceeded to suggest that there's no way i could do that--it couldn't possibly be sold on ebay--it's a set price and there are no deals, ever, it's always the same price--even though i just told him i'd done it and done it successfully repeatedly. therefore, depending on how you look at it, he was calling me a liar.

I think what it all comes down to is that most of us know more about the product than the salespeople. It makes no sense to me but it's the same when you must go in and buy a new car. Car salespeople never help, either. If anything they are a distraction and you must fend them off, oftentimes only after further educating them about certain features of the car and comparisons to other/older models, etc., that they knew nothing about.

It's bizarre, really, that you need to practically BEG to be allowed to purchase something. That part I will never understand.

[emac82]

Instead of complaining about the sales people who "make you beg to buy something" be thankful that they are just doing their job. They are trained to sell a customer a "solution" and to make them aware of the products and services that are available to them. I know sometimes you may not have a lot of time to make a purchase, but understand that they are just trying to do their job. I'm not speaking directly to you iViking, just being general...

[dcorban]

I just kept in mind that the people working there now are likely the seasonal folks who won't even be working there by february.

[iViking]

Instead of complaining about the sales people who "make you beg to buy something" be thankful that they are just doing their job. They are trained to sell a customer a "solution" and to make them aware of the products and services that are available to them. I know sometimes you may not have a lot of time to make a purchase, but understand that they are just trying to do their job. I'm not speaking directly to you iViking, just being general...

That's true, of course, but then part of their training and part of "doing their job" should include listening to the customer and not going into a sales pitch when the costumer has asked that they refrain, and furthermore, that the customer has assured them they know of all the options, have everything covered, etc. It's pretty simple, really. Like most things, it boils down to common sense. If you see the customer is in a hurry and has asked that you not go into a sales pitch, then DON'T GO INTO A SALES PITCH AND GO AND GET THE COMPUTER, MAKE THE SALE, AND SEND THEM ON THEIR WAY. What could be simpler?

It's not neurosurgery and it doesn't take a psychic's sense of intuition to figure that one out.

[Wie Gehts]

A similar thing happened when I bought my macbook a couple of months ago. I saw that the box was resealed and it po'd me because the ONLY person I want touching my new gear is me and whoever packed it at the factory.

It turned out that the boxes were opened apparently to stick the new iLife 08 discs in there.

[iViking]

I just kept in mind that the people working there now are likely the seasonal folks who won't even be working there by february.

Sad but probably true.

[kylep6190]

Sounds like the Apple salesmen need a new pitch. They should be talking about how you can use Mac and Windows interchangeably, and then emphasizing the good points about a Mac ie it's security, sleek and easy easy to use design, and affordable cost nowadays. Coming out bashing windows just makes people think he is some desuche bag like the politicians on TV. I am about to make the switch to a Mac myself and what convinced me was reading unbiased articles online about their performance. Sure Mac isn't the perfect system, and it may not be for everyone. But people need to re-evaluate Mac's, because from what ive read I don't see any reason why a business wouldn't rather use Mac than Windows computers. They are much more secure, easier interface to use/learn = more productivity and happiness from employees, and cost really isn't an issue since no business is going to be buying a $500 PC that will last them 1 year and be slower than death.

[ab2650]

Sounds like the Apple salesmen need a new pitch. They should be talking about how you can use Mac and Windows interchangeably, and then emphasizing the good points about a Mac ie it's security, sleek and easy easy to use design, and affordable cost nowadays. Coming out bashing windows just makes people think he is some desuche bag like the politicians on TV. I am about to make the switch to a Mac myself and what convinced me was reading unbiased articles online about their performance. Sure Mac isn't the perfect system, and it may not be for everyone. But people need to re-evaluate Mac's, because from what ive read I don't see any reason why a business wouldn't rather use Mac than Windows computers. They are much more secure, easier interface to use/learn = more productivity and happiness from employees, and cost really isn't an issue since no business is going to be buying a $500 PC that will last them 1 year and be slower than death.

I'm not standing in defense of retail drones, but they do need to have a certain sense of psychic ability when reading the customer. The reasons I'm in there to buy a MacBook are totally different from what Grandma Betty is in there for, and totally different from Smelly Internet Guy is there for.

I definitely second "shopping at home" especially when it comes to Apple; Yeah, you get instant gratification when you pick it up retail but it means, omg, interacting with people! ;)

[cohibadad]

I also wish I could get the Apple with the previous version of OS-X since it appears there are some issues with 10.5. Any new operating system will have issues, when they first come out.

I haven't seen a pre-installed Leopard machine yet so now is the time to buy one if you want to start with Tiger. Although if you are primarily going to be using Windows software you would want Leopard if you want to Boot Camp as it was only available as beta on Tiger before Leopard was released. FWIW I have no Leopard issues and I both virtualize and Boot Camp Windows. Most store employees I find either annoying and of little use Apple or others so I wouldn't let that sway my opinion of the product. You could buy online but I would think you would have a better chance of getting a Tiger machine in the store if you are dead set on that.

[Ish]

I use the store in Birmingham in the UK and considering it's usually very busy I've never had any complaints with the service, whether I've been for repairs, (not me personally!) to buy something or just to see what's new. One thing I have noticed though, is that if you mention some issues such as the new magsafe power leads or screen issues they sound surprised.

Hope the one in Milton Keynes is as good when it opens as it's much nearer. Fingers crossed it won't be too much longer!