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Amazon sent me a USED and BROKEN MacBook

M

mrbrown

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 27, 2004
567
241
Springfield, Missouri
I ordered a black MacBook from Amazon.com a couple of days ago, and received it today. A few years ago, I ordered my PowerBook from Amazon.com, but it was stolen by a UPS employee in transit, and Amazon.com refused to give me a refund for nearly 2 months. I decided to try Amazon again because, well, it was cheaper than Apple's education store, at least in my state [9% sales tax] (and quicker too).

I opened the package, and what falls out - my order form, along with an order form dated July 18, 2006 for a "Bill Worboys", who ordered the same item. On the slip, it is written, "Return for complete refund. UNIT SHUTS OFF RANDOMLY!"

I figured that it could just be an old box. I take the MacBook box out, and the seal is already broken. Opened it up, everything looked fine... took the laptop out, and it has fingerprints all over the screen. I try powering it on, it powers on and shuts off by itself.

Now I'm trying to get a replacement, and I want it by Saturday (I have Amazon Prime, I had this one shipped one day). Is there anyway I can convince them to ship it with One-Day Saturday delivery?? I pretty much demanded it, but haven't heard anything back yet.
 
Key Words and Phrases:

"Completely unacceptable."
"You have completely misrepresented the item to be new."
"You have wasted my time and money."
"I need to speak to your manager if you cannot resolve this."
"I need to have this taken care of immediatly."
"As the retailer, you are responsible for your merchandise. I don't care to hear excuses about how your supplier has messed up."
"I fully expect to be compensated in some way. What do you suggest? How would you like to have had this happen to you."
"Frankly, I expected much more from Amazon than this. You have done your company a disservice."

Then get your one-day.
 
Bitch loud and bitch clear, that is completely unexceptable. And if that doesn't work, demand your money back, what a crappy way to deal with a customer. I realize that they must ship thousands of orders with no problems, but don't let them know you know that. Give 'em hell, and demand nothing but Saturday delivery, seeing as how you already paid for one day delivery, and they screwed up big time.

Edit, yeah what they said ^^^^ :D
 
esaleris said:
Key Words and Phrases:

"Completely unacceptable."
"You have completely misrepresented the item to be new."
"You have wasted my time and money."
"I need to speak to your manager if you cannot resolve this."
"I need to have this taken care of immediatly."
"As the retailer, you are responsible for your merchandise. I don't care to hear excuses about how your supplier has messed up."
"I fully expect to be compensated in some way. What do you suggest? How would you like to have had this happen to you."
"Frankly, I expected much more from Amazon than this. You have done your company a disservice."

Then get your one-day.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Um, on the web site they give a whole 250 characters, not words but 250 letters, spaces and returns, to explain why you want to return the item. Suddenly you are trying to get your money back by placing a classified ad.

I just sent my MBP back and am waiting for a decision by Amazon. My unit had the high pitched buzz and a recalled battery. Try explaining that in 250 characters without leaving weasel room. When I called Apple tech support the guy I talked to had to fake an earlier sales date as my system had been built in March/April and was sitting in a warehouse somewhere for four months. I put a cover letter inside the shipping box and inside the package giving more of an explanation.
 
That's really unprofessional... especially for such an established business.

I hope that everything works out for you:)
 
Amazon has always been good with me when returning faulty electronics. In most cases, it just took a few mins going through their process with a brief explanation and the item was sent next day service. This sounds like a pretty cut and dry case. I doubt you have to bitch and complain - in fact, that is usually counter-productive. Just tell them what happened. oh, and to be on the safe side, take pictures of the computer and photocopy the slips.

yt
 
yojitani said:
Amazon has always been good with me when returning faulty electronics.
Click to expand...

Actually, that sounds to me like the problem, not the solution.

The better claim would be "Amazon has never shipped me faulty electronics"...

Granted, accidents happen. "Hardly ever" would be acceptable too.

How many times did it happen to you?
 
I'd dispute payment with my CC if they don't make you completely happy the first time you call. You paid for a new MacBook, they didn't send you one, therefore you aren't responsible for paying for it.
 
Wow, this is a shock. I usually have a lot of faith in amazon, it being a big company and all. Going to have to take a second look from now on.
 
I worked for a large company that handles replacement electronic devices of a certain kind I won't divulge here. I worked on a computer all day (duh) in the Receiving department where *everything* came in and was processed by us *except* for the broken electronic devices.

So all new electronic devices, all repair parts, boxes to put repaired electronic devices in, everything.

Now, I worked all positions in the department before being "promoted" to a desk job (fixing inventory issues from the previous 2 years mostly). I did know one electronic device from another, but I was not a certified/trained inspector schooled in firmware, flex, PRLs etc (giving away what I did a bit).

One time a *single* device was supposed to be one brand, but was not clearly marked. Someone asked me if it was Brand V - I said "I can't tell you because that is not my job, I am not an inspector trained to tell one device from another."

Boy did the fhit hit the san! *Two* different people directly above me in status went balistic, one grabbed the device and pronounced it Brand V and made a big huff and stormed off (and to tattle on mean ol' me for following procedure).

Maybe it was Brand V, maybe it was out of date or programmed wrong. Who knows? Someone with a little power/authority completely ignored the ISO-9001:2000 guidelines (that they yelled at us for not following to the letter), ignored the established processes and just wanted the problem resolved and handed off to another department.

Needless to say I no longer work there.

Moral of this off-tangent story: Human beings in many large businesses would rather just get Something Done, even if the end result is utter crap, than to be asked by someone wearing a Suit why an electronic device (that may/may not be FUBAR'd) didn't go out to an Important Customer on time.

It seems the large business would rather ship faulty product than no product at all. And sadly this concept doubled my workload as I had to deal with *all* returned fault electronic devices inventory AND everything else.
 
generik said:
Anyone found the name Bill Worboys funny?
Click to expand...

Hey now, don't make fun of Bill Worboys. I actually found the guy on google based on the shipping information on his order slip and dropped him any email, to let him know Amazon unloaded his broken laptop on me. lol
 
mrbrown said:
Hey now, don't make fun of Bill Worboys. I actually found the guy on google based on the shipping information on his order slip and dropped him any email, to let him know Amazon unloaded his broken laptop on me. lol
Click to expand...
heard anything from amazon yet? it's so sad things like these happen... imagine if this is supposed to be a gift for someone special
 
Amazon sucks.

Check resellerratings.com and you'll see plenty of complaints. They're good for books, CD/DVD and a few trinkits, but never a computer or other consumer electronics.

I ordered my Mac Pro from B&H Photo who are the largest east coast seller of Mac computers. I've bought thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment with no problem, so I ordered the Mac Pro from them with free shipping. Again, check the ratings before buying. In the end, you didn't save anything if you don't get a virgin Apple.
 
MacCurry said:
Amazon sucks.

Check resellerratings.com and you'll see plenty of complaints. They're good for books, CD/DVD and a few trinkits, but never a computer or other consumer electronics.
Click to expand...

I couldnt agree with you more... Thats why I only buy Apple products from an apple retail store, or rarely, if i have to, (BTO products) from their online store.
 
MacCurry said:
Amazon sucks.

Check resellerratings.com and you'll see plenty of complaints. They're good for books, CD/DVD and a few trinkits, but never a computer or other consumer electronics.
Click to expand...

I ordered my Nintendo DS at Amazon - a black one and a white one, because I couldn't make up my mind. After unpacking both and comparing them next to each other (didn't switch the white one on), I sent the white one back, and they reimbursed me within a few days. Great service, if you ask me (though I'm pretty sure that they sold that white DS to somebody as new - well, I really took care not to leave any fingerprints on it).
I once ordered a REALLY cheap DVD player there, which, not surprisingly, broke after 5 months. I totally disassembled the thing because it still held one of my DVD and the slot refused to open. Then I poorly put it together again and sent it to Amazon. They reimbursed me the price I had paid for that thing (they didn't have any others left), including the amount that I had paid using a voucher.
I'm ordering a lot from Amazon, books as well as electronics, and I can only recommend them.
 
MacCurry said:
Amazon sucks.

Check resellerratings.com and you'll see plenty of complaints.
Click to expand...

That's a bit like saying... "Apple computers suck. Just check MacRumors.com and you'll see plenty of complaints."

Amazon sends out millions of items, of course there will be some returns and complaints. I've only had one problem with an Amazon electronics order. They sent the wrong item. They gave me a full refund, even though I had opened and used it before I realized the mistake.
 
I've had no problems with Amazon. In fact I ordered my dual 2.5GHz G5 from them (is it getting close to two years ago already?), no problems there either. (Aside from Apple having problems shipping enough units at the time, which was hardly Amazon's fault. The delays would have made me miss the deadline for mailing in the rebate, but they still honored it, as they should have.)

--Eric
 
MacCurry said:
Amazon sucks.

Check resellerratings.com and you'll see plenty of complaints.
Click to expand...

People are more likely to post complaints than praise, so these Internet ratings sites don't give a fair picture.
 
Here's my update...

Amazon basically refused to give me anything I demanded, even after I escalated the issue to a manager. I changed my mind about getting a replacement from them and have requested a refund. I plan on disputing the charge with my bank on Monday.

And finally, I said hell with it, and drove out to CompUSA to purchase a Macbook. Didn't want to wait on Apple, and I sucked up paying the taxes.
 
mrbrown said:
Amazon basically refused to give me anything I demanded, even after I escalated the issue to a manager. I changed my mind about getting a replacement from them and have requested a refund. I plan on disputing the charge with my bank on Monday.

And finally, I said hell with it, and drove out to CompUSA to purchase a Macbook. Didn't want to wait on Apple, and I sucked up paying the taxes.
Click to expand...

You've got to be ***** kidding! What were you demanding? Wouldn't they send you a replacement?

To answer notjustpay, I've returned two digital cameras and one printer to amazon. One camera died after the first snap, the other had a broken battery door. The printer shipped without a cartridge and an cable, as I remember. I guess the problem is that in all those cases, it wasn't really amazon's fault. They were sent a faulty product that ended up in my possession. mrbrown, on the other hand, was sent a machine that amazon messed up. That means amazon would have to admit that they made a mistake, hence the difficulties mrbrown seems to have encountered.

back luck, mrbrown. you ought to send a complaint to amazon's complaints department (they must have one). the way they dealt with your problem sounds totally unacceptable.

yt
 
mrbrown said:
Amazon basically refused to give me anything I demanded, even after I escalated the issue to a manager. I changed my mind about getting a replacement from them and have requested a refund. I plan on disputing the charge with my bank on Monday.

And finally, I said hell with it, and drove out to CompUSA to purchase a Macbook. Didn't want to wait on Apple, and I sucked up paying the taxes.
Click to expand...

That's nuts. What excuse did they give? I can't think of ANYTHING that would make sense...
 
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