MisterMe said:
Admit it or not, you gambled. You lost. Learn from this experience. My guess is that at 7,481 CAD, your G5 is the most expensive thing that you ever bought. You have to treat your money like its your money. You expect other people to take care of you. Well, as difficult as this is for you to conceive, most people cannot care less about you or your money. You see that jimsowden followed the DOA procedures and received satisfaction.
In closing let me tell you this: when you need help, you need to be nice to every one that you encounter along the way. Alternatively, you can talk with them in a manner that shows them you know the game. However, this won't work if you don't actually know the game. In and of itself, it was not a mistake for you to take your computer to the Apple dealer. However, you cannot walk in showing the attitude you showed in your first two posts in this thread. My experience is that if you deal with service people as an adult, you will get excellent service. If you don't, well you are still waiting for a working computer.
seelab... the only valid point is from MisterMe (rather narrowly focused name, now that I think of it) is that you have to be careful. However, how much more careful you could have been in this situation is really debatable. Assuming you've recited everything as it occurred - and there is little reason to doubt otherwise, there seems little else that could have likely been done.
I share the other comments that have been posted: criticisms like the ones from MisterMe and jkaz are both unhelpful, presumptuous, and demeaning. MisterMe falls down on several fronts in terms of logically arguing his point:
- As one other member pointed out, it is hardly a gamble when the company itself offers you two choices and even indicates the DOA option is suspect.
- There is no guarantee whatsoever that you would received superior service from a DOA replacement rather than a local repair. In fact, the advantage to local service is usually that you have immediate access to the persons involved: personal interaction can go a long way in smoothing out problems. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help here.
- There was no indication that you "did not talk nicely" or mistreated Apple representatives or 3rd party in any way, and therefore one should not presume that you are at fault in this regard. Clearly, you were expressing frustration that any person in your situation would likely feel. I assume that while you were angry, you would not have necessarily stood in the store "screaming and shouting".
- To use MisterMe's and jkaz's somewhat flawed arguments, opting for the faster and more personal local service would be LESS of a gamble as you were warned by Apple reps that DOA replacement could be lengthy and prolonged.
- MisterMe uses "jimsowden followed the DOA procedures" and succeeded as proof that you pursued the poorer option. This is faulty logic in that what is presented is only anecdotal in nature: basically, it happened to this one person. There is no statistical basis for furthering this argument to justify that jimsowden's solution would have worked for you.
- It is true that no business (or person for that matter) should operate without a contingency. However, under REASONABLE circumstances (and this would likely be the standards used in any civil court proceeding), assuming that your problem (a personal computer problem in the 21st century) could be fixed with due cause within 2 months is not unreasonable. Although statistically unreliable and incomplete, the statements of many members on this forum clearly suggests what you experienced was NOT the norm.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am also a fellow Canadian in Ontario who last summer, tried to order a 17" PB and failed miserably after waiting almost 5 weeks. After multiple shipping delays, I discovered that Apple Canada has placed the wrong internal order. I cancelled my order immediately. Furthermore, I have not had favourable experiences with Purolator. In one instance, a couriered document that only would have required 3 hours by car to reach its destination did not arrive for 5 days. Given that I was couriering a research proposal that was time sensitive, such mishandling is unacceptable.
The previous suggestion that you try contacting your credit card company is a good one. I'm not sure what they can do; however, I have spoken to credit card companies on other matters. Essentially, if the product delivered is not the item promised (tricky in your situation) or not delivered at all, perhaps you have some recourse.
And lastly, I felt I had to write such a lengthy post because I am both surprised and outraged at the callous replies you received and even more so, the presumptuous and borderline demeaning tones taken by MisterMe and jkaz. Let's assume that you did do something wrong... such persons are still in no personal or authoritative position relative to you to respond in such a tone. Criticize perhaps; demean - no.
I have posted on many other (heaven forbid) Windows forums, and I have yet to see the level of poor taste that a few MacForum members have sunk to.
Bonne chance.
