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How does the whole, "BTO" thing work if I want to go to an Apple store?

fowler.

fowler.

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
My patience is sorta thin when it comes to getting new stuff.. especially new pretty stuff. So I was wondering if it's possible to go to an Apple store and order the custom machine that I want without having to wait for the shipping.
 
The only thing you can BTO on site at an Apple Store is going to be extra RAM. Otherwise they'll just submit your order and you'll have to pick it up at the store later. It won't save you any time.
 
Just got my BTO Powerbook today. Apple CR did me a favor and shipped 2 day express. It came from Shanghai, via Anchorage, via Dallas, NJ, and NYC.

What an adventure it must have had -- like that lost dog on the MasterCard commercials....
 
Once in a while, Apple stores will have popular BTO models in stock. Last week, my local store had 15" Powerbooks with 128mb VRAM available. Might be worth a phone call to your nearest store.
 
Adventures in shipping

I know what you mean. Last November I ordered my PB, and got Apple to say on or before 26 Dec. Mildly surprised 10 days later to see "shipped from Taiwan", and Fed Ex then telling me of delivery by 10 am on Nov. 23. I watched my PB go to Alaska, and then to Indianapolis. I woke up Nov 23 and it hadn't left Indianapolis yet. I got home from work to find that it hadn't arrived during the day whill I was at work. The Fed Ex office is just around the corner from my apartment, off to them I went.
I was leaving that evening for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I asked them to hold my PB until I came back the following Wed. Fed Ex guy says"Sure, no problem." I got back Wed. to find that they had returned it to Apple on Tuesday, I found out they had tried to deliver it to say wrong address. They changed the tracking number so when I told Apple about it, they said "When it comes in, we'll turn it right back around to you." When I found out about the new tracking number, I found out that Apple had gotten it 3 days before I had called them.......
Round and round. Apple reshipped my PB, and I was waiting at Fed Ex for when it came in.
 
If you're impatient, stay away from the Apple Store. When the new powerbooks came out, I clicked through every permutation of BTO options until I decided what I wanted. Then I thought, "Why not mosey on over to the Apple Store to check out this PB?". The rest is kind of a blur. I remember walking into the store. The next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of my living room bathed in the soothing glow of my new "stock" 15" PB. No regrets, though. It's awesome.

When I was buying that mac, I was sort of whining/complaining to the Apple Store guy about how dumb it is sell PBs with 256MB of RAM and I really wanted 1 512MB stick. Several Apple Store employees got in a huddle and came back offering me this weird deal: If I buy AppleCare for $100 off and 256MB of RAM for $(exorbitant Apple price), they would replace my onboard 256MB with 1 512MB. I didn't bite. It was still cheaper to buy 512 from Crucial (and AppleCare at full price)...ending up with 768MB (but with no empty slots).

Oh, I just realized I'm rambling. Sorry.
 
i am a high school student and am going to buy a mac soon (dec/jan). because i am a high school student, it is "not right" to buy a computer with student discount. but i figure i'll use the student discount anyway. my only problem is that i do not trust the fedex guys or whoever apple ships with to deliver my computer....i want it to be apple's responsibility to pick up the computer so i can go to the apple store and pick it up.

so my questions are:

1) can i arrange for in-store pickup at the apple website?
2) will apple's cashiers give me a hard time about the educational discount if they discover 😱 that i am not really a college student and thus i owe them money? 😕
 
wide said:
my only problem is that i do not trust the fedex guys or whoever apple ships with to deliver my computer....i want it to be apple's responsibility to pick up the computer so i can go to the apple store and pick it up.
Click to expand...

you do realize that if you wanted to picked up a BTO Apple from a local Apple store, that Apple would ship said computer to the Apple store via FED EX right?

might as well cut out the middle man and have it shipped to your door.

and by the way , it is fraud to use an educational discount that you aren't qualified to receive. Apple is wise to more people doing this and they are auditing more Apple.com EDU customers' proof of enrollment, so your chances of getting away with it are slim. If, they don't audit your proof of enrollment during a web-order, there's a good chance they will later (it has happened to many on this forum before) and if you don't provide proof of enrollment from when you purchased the computer, they will bill you for the difference... if you don't pay the bill... it will go to collections, not a good way to start your credit history. This is all for web-based orders... In my experience, the local apple store's ALWAYS request proof of enrollment in person.
 
yeah inside the apple store they will ask for your COLLEGE ID, not having one or a proof of acceptance letter to a university you won't get a discount. Apple does check people's web orders on a random basis and the more of a discount you get the more curious they are to check you.

this whole not trusting fedex thing is weird.
 
Gherkin said:
Why in God's name do you not trust Fed Ex?
Click to expand...

PowerBooks probably don't use this service but FedEx ground is the most worthless shipping service on the planet. They're slow and incompetent.
 
DGFan said:
PowerBooks probably don't use this service but FedEx ground is the most worthless shipping service on the planet. They're slow and incompetent.
Click to expand...

HERE HERE. They came to my work address but wouldn't drop off my package because it didn't have "work address" on it (there was nowhere to indicate this on the Apple ordering website page, WTF?). I saw the guy stop....and then leave before I could get to him. It took 2 more days for me to see my package... 😡

I think there's a whole thread devoted to FedEx Ground bashing.
 
educational discount

youre in high school? i was just over at the apple store and it seemed to me that the high school i went to (walla walla high school) is able to get the same discount that my college does (seattle university) there seems to be no need for deception.

not trust fedex? i love fedex, the second i press send on my newegg.com orders it seems like a get a knock on my door and hearing 'Fedex'. Once fed ex lost an order of mine for a day, i went to pick it up as i missed the delivery and they just couldnt find it. they gave me two fed ex water bottles (i was on my road bike) and they gave me some free cupouns to use for 20 bucks worth of free shipping, then they but it in a cab and sent it over at 630 the next morning (urgg) its like 20 miles to the fedex shipping house... i have a high opinion of fedex, i trust them alot, any mis givings about international shipping are more valid for others carriers
 
when i said i don't trust fedex, i meant i don't want to be help responsible in any way (i.e. i don't want to have to argue with anyone at the apple store) if my computer arrives broken. if it is already broken at the apple store, then they will be forced to assume all responsibility (either them or fedex, but definately not me). i also want to walk into the apple store, present my receipt, and walk out with a shiny powerbook 🙂
 
how could you be held responsible for a broken Mac showing up via FedEx? ... its insured. They ship it in its own apple box (complete with fitted styrofoam) WITHIN another larger box full of plastic peanuts. Unless an anvil falls on it from 50 feet above (WarnerBrothers style), the powerbook will be fine. And if that did happen, you would have the right to not accept a crushed box from the fedex man.

have you ever received anything of value via fed ex?
 
Lets say when I go to college and I just got my new powerbook G? with edu discount. Then before I get my student ID apple callsto see if I am really a student at my school. Should I give apple the phone number of the school so they can confirm me under their school? Should I say I just go to my college and as soon as I get the number I will call you with it? Luckly this won't be happening intill 4 years.
 
quagmire said:
Lets say when I go to college and I just got my new powerbook G? with edu discount. Then before I get my student ID apple callsto see if I am really a student at my school. Should I give apple the phone number of the school so they can confirm me under their school? Should I say I just go to my college and as soon as I get the number I will call you with it? Luckly this won't be happening intill 4 years.
Click to expand...

How lucky for you 😉 I'm not very familiar with the US college system, but as far as I'm aware from stuff I've heard/read, you will receive a letter of acceptance from your institution. This is adequate to receive EDU discounts at the Apple Stores or online, no phone calls or anything. That is, IF they ask you anything about it at all (definitely will at the Apple Stores, but not necessarily online). I think their audit system is in place to ensure that the discounts aren't abused, but generally speaking alll you need is some form of identification as a student to satisfy them. Hell, I when I was a student in Australia the US Apple Stores even accepted my Australian student card as proof of eligibility (which I thought was strange because the online terms seemed to suggest that it was restricted to US students). But I think they are fairly flexible in that they are happy to encourage students everywhere to buy their products and they don't require onerous proof of it.

On another note, not related to Quagmire's post, I have to ask - the point of EDU discounts is to allow 'poor' university/college students/other educators access to technology to advance their education that they otherwise couldn't afford because they don't have full time jobs (or in the case of academics and teachers, sometimes sacrifice higher paying jobs to be involved in education). Given that most high school kids don't exactly need technology to forward their education (fundamentals would be nice to see! 😉), have whatever technology is required provided by their schools, and tend to have their other stuff paid for by their parents, it seems a little odd to me that they seem to feel entitled to these discounts. Sure, it would be great for the parents to save some money, but they're not students and not really entitled to it either.

Anyway, whatever, if you can get your hands on the discount in one way or another, props to you.
 
as a side not, if your BTO has dead pixels or stuck ones you cant return it. the advantage of going the store is you get to check out as many laptops as you want until you find the perfect lcd 🙂

but this isnt really an issue for everyone
 
virividox said:
as a side not, if your BTO has dead pixels or stuck ones you cant return it. the advantage of going the store is you get to check out as many laptops as you want until you find the perfect lcd 🙂

but this isnt really an issue for everyone
Click to expand...

Not at either of the 2 Apple Stores near me...
 
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