I wanted to post my story, not to alarm people, or instigate paranoia. I just wanted to tell my short story to promote informed purchasing.
Anyway, I purchased an MBP from a big Apple store near me 1 week ago. Worked great - everything went smooth. Today, I went to the same Apple store to buy an MB for my girlfriend. Purchased a white, 2.4 and went on my way.
First thing we noticed: there were two pieces of tape sealing the box -- strange. Opened her up, and immediately noticed that the power cable (attached to the square power supply) was messily wrapped up. Normally, with high end electronics, all of the power cords are pristinely wrapped, as if by machine. Not this cable. It looked like someone wrapped it around their hand and jammed it in the box.
At this stage, I still did not think that the computer was a refurb or repack. The thought crossed my mind only momentarily.
Next, we open up the computer.
I immediately noticed that the trackpad button had numerous scratches on it. Not scratches with a sharp object, but scratches as if with fingernails. Booted the computer up, and immediately saw three dead pixels. This fact alone meant nothing, but it certainly corroborated the notion in our minds that someone had previously used this computer.
Luckily, the end result was good. I called up the Apple store, recounted the story above, and was told an exchange would be no problem. The manager was even willing to keep the store open for us for an additional 30 minutes past close. The staff was extremely helpful, kind, and non-confrontational.
When the exchange was nearing completion, I started chit chatting with the manager, and was very surprised at what he said. I had stated, "I can't believe there were two pieces of tape! My refurb phone came like that..." And he responded: "Oh, no. We opened up all the boxes when Leopard came out, and plopped in the new discs." Whaaa? Seriously? I wanted to inquire further, but everybody had been so nice that we decided to just leave it at that.
We opened up the computer in-store to verify that everything was good; it was.
This new box had only 1 piece of tape (I thought all the boxes were opened!?) Everything looked pristine - no scratches. No dead pixels. However, and oddly, the power cord again was wrapped up like it had been wrapped around someones hand.
And on a final note, I got this overall feeling that the reps there seemed familiar with the overall issue. They never put up a fight. Nor did they seem to ask many questions. When they looked at the trackpad button, they were like "Oh yea. This is definitely scratched." Of course, this is not an admission that it had been used, but the reps' demeanor seemed to imply that they knew.
Anyway, all is well. The computer is excellent. And my girlfriend really likes it. Hope this story was interesting/helpful in some way. (I hope I don't find that this is a recognized issue when I search the forums now...)
Anyway, I purchased an MBP from a big Apple store near me 1 week ago. Worked great - everything went smooth. Today, I went to the same Apple store to buy an MB for my girlfriend. Purchased a white, 2.4 and went on my way.
First thing we noticed: there were two pieces of tape sealing the box -- strange. Opened her up, and immediately noticed that the power cable (attached to the square power supply) was messily wrapped up. Normally, with high end electronics, all of the power cords are pristinely wrapped, as if by machine. Not this cable. It looked like someone wrapped it around their hand and jammed it in the box.
At this stage, I still did not think that the computer was a refurb or repack. The thought crossed my mind only momentarily.
Next, we open up the computer.
I immediately noticed that the trackpad button had numerous scratches on it. Not scratches with a sharp object, but scratches as if with fingernails. Booted the computer up, and immediately saw three dead pixels. This fact alone meant nothing, but it certainly corroborated the notion in our minds that someone had previously used this computer.
Luckily, the end result was good. I called up the Apple store, recounted the story above, and was told an exchange would be no problem. The manager was even willing to keep the store open for us for an additional 30 minutes past close. The staff was extremely helpful, kind, and non-confrontational.
When the exchange was nearing completion, I started chit chatting with the manager, and was very surprised at what he said. I had stated, "I can't believe there were two pieces of tape! My refurb phone came like that..." And he responded: "Oh, no. We opened up all the boxes when Leopard came out, and plopped in the new discs." Whaaa? Seriously? I wanted to inquire further, but everybody had been so nice that we decided to just leave it at that.
We opened up the computer in-store to verify that everything was good; it was.
This new box had only 1 piece of tape (I thought all the boxes were opened!?) Everything looked pristine - no scratches. No dead pixels. However, and oddly, the power cord again was wrapped up like it had been wrapped around someones hand.
And on a final note, I got this overall feeling that the reps there seemed familiar with the overall issue. They never put up a fight. Nor did they seem to ask many questions. When they looked at the trackpad button, they were like "Oh yea. This is definitely scratched." Of course, this is not an admission that it had been used, but the reps' demeanor seemed to imply that they knew.
Anyway, all is well. The computer is excellent. And my girlfriend really likes it. Hope this story was interesting/helpful in some way. (I hope I don't find that this is a recognized issue when I search the forums now...)
