Best Buy Declined Macbook Air Return by Mail, Stated Passcode Lock, but I never

[MacGekko]

There are numerous reports at the Best Buy forum website of return problems, especially at the Shepardsville, Kentucky Best Buy return center. Anyway after sending back a Macbook Air and Ethernet Adapter via UPS, I only got credit for the Ethernet adapter.

When looking at the UPS tracking number, the weight of the box was 6.49 pounds when it left the local facility and one pound when it arrived in Kentucky. Somewhere along the line it lost the 5.5 pounds that the 2021 M1 Macbook Air weighs, I was thinking theft, someone had to have stole it somewhere along the line.

I called Best Buy, they said someone would look into it, no email response, called the Best Buy credit card, put the charge in dispute, now I get an email which has this:

I apologize but your return was declined since your Apple MacBook Air laptop has passcode lock. You may return the item back to us once the passcode lock is removed. Please also return the send back letter so that your return will be valid. Due to our current backlog, it may take us a few weeks to send the order back to you.



You may also refer to the link below to know more information regarding our Return and Exchange Policy.



[www.bestbuy.com/returns]www.bestbuy.com/returns


Except there was no passcode locked ever placed on the device, there was an admin user password but that was deleted when I reset the Macbook Air and totally wiped my information. To the extent that this is true and not some game whereupon they never send the device and claim I never sent it back the second time, are they referring to a firmware password?

Because I was under the impression that if you delete your information in the way in which Apple recommends before returning a device, they can reinstall the MacOS very easily. I definitely did not set a firmware password, unless this brand new device was not so brand new and the previous owner set one, I don't know, I appreciate your insights into this debacle, thank you.

 

[DeltaMac]

hmm... Seems that, despite your initial thoughts that your MacBook Air is missing/stolen, the repair center actually received your MacBook Air, and wants you to respond so they can ship it back to you for an unlock.
That is likely a good next step -- return the "send back letter", and wait to see what you get.
I assume that the repair center stated that your MBAir has an activation lock (Find My is turned on)
Not sure why the repair center wants to send it back to you. You can remotely turn off activation lock, after logging in to your AppleID account: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201441

It might be that the repair center does not want to accept responsibility for a remote unlock, and chooses to have you do that while your MacBook Air is in your possession. They would have to send it back to you for that to happen. And, that's probably the reason for the "send back letter", which is the authorization to ship back to the repair center after you turn off Find My...
I hope you do actually get your MBAir back - and you can then decide what you want to do about your repair.

 

[MacGekko]

hmm... Seems that, despite your initial thoughts that your MacBook Air is missing/stolen, the repair center actually received your MacBook Air, and wants you to respond so they can ship it back to you for an unlock.
That is likely a good next step -- return the "send back letter", and wait to see what you get.
I assume that the repair center stated that your MBAir has an activation lock (Find My is turned on)
Not sure why the repair center wants to send it back to you. You can remotely turn off activation lock, after logging in to your AppleID account: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201441

It might be that the repair center does not want to accept responsibility for a remote unlock, and chooses to have you do that while your MacBook Air is in your possession. They would have to send it back to you for that to happen. And, that's probably the reason for the "send back letter", which is the authorization to ship back to the repair center after you turn off Find My...
I hope you do actually get your MBAir back - and you can then decide what you want to do about your repair.

The problem is I never connected an Icloud account to the Macbook Air, I've never used Find my Mac with any Macbooks that I have owned. And that does not clear up the UPS discrepancy, 6.49 pounds leaving, 1 pound on arrival. I will call Best Buy and try my best to convince them that the computer was returned in a proper manner and according to their return policy, if they send it anyway, I will refuse the delivery.

This is the first time I've ever had a problem returning a product to Best Buy via return by mail. From now on in, I will buy Apple products from the Apple store, and other products I will buy from Amazon.

 

[DeltaMac]

Well, I guess I completely missed that you were doing a product return (sorry, I mistakenly thought it was a repair shipment), so I have a different response that should fit your question a bit better....
Are you saying that you have actually checked in iCloud, looking at your list of devices that you show in your AppleID account - and that MBAir does not appear?
"Never used Find My (Mac)" does not necessarily mean that it is not turned on (enabled)

You will need to actually check in your AppleID account to see if Find My has any Apple devices listed.
Follow the link that I provided. It tells you what to look for, and how to proceed.
Best Buy reported that you have some kind of lock on your returned MBAir -- so, that also should mean that they received it... They can't see any kind of activation lock unless they have the device in their possession, eh?)

If you don't find that MBAir in the list of your devices in iCloud (you might be surprised at what you find there!), then you can explain to BestBuy that their information is incorrect. Or, you can remove your device from your device list, and take care of that from your end.

 

[MacGekko]

Well, I guess I completely missed that you were doing a product return (sorry, I mistakenly thought it was a repair shipment), so I have a different response that should fit your question a bit better....
Are you saying that you have actually checked in iCloud, looking at your list of devices that you show in your AppleID account - and that MBAir does not appear?
"Never used Find My (Mac)" does not necessarily mean that it is not turned on (enabled)

You will need to actually check in your AppleID account to see if Find My has any Apple devices listed.
Follow the link that I provided. It tells you what to look for, and how to proceed.
Best Buy reported that you have some kind of lock on your returned MBAir -- so, that also should mean that they received it... They can't see any kind of activation lock unless they have the device in their possession, eh?)

If you don't find that MBAir in the list of your devices in iCloud (you might be surprised at what you find there!), then you can explain to BestBuy that their information is incorrect. Or, you can remove your device from your device list, and take care of that from your end.

That's OK, thanks for responding, I don't use Icloud, I've used a Macbook Pro for years, never used any Icloud features, I do have an Icloud account that I use for an Apple TV to download apps but again, I have no Icloud services connected to the Apple TV.

In the five days that I used the Macbook Air, I never once entered an Icloud password nor did I add the computer to the Icloud account that I rarely use.

I've been reading nightmare return problems on the Best Buy forums, I posted there as well, I read a post of a person that tried to return it to the store and they told him that it had an activation lock, that he should mail it in, mailed it in and had similar problems.

I'm not convinced that they actually have the Macbook Air that I returned, the shipping weight discrepancy and the massive incompetence I am reading about makes me question their veracity, nevertheless that is nobody's concern over here, I simply wanted to see if anyone ever had a similar problem or could figure out where they are getting this passcode lock nonsense.

 

[DeltaMac]

Ah, OK --- An activation lock would be tied to your (or someone else's) AppleID account, and that AppleID would be showing, too -- at least part of it, enough to decide that it is your AppleID, and not some other unknown AppleID.
So, if you continue to be unconvinced that BestBuy return center actually has your MacBook Pro - have them send it back to you.
And, then you can inspect your MBPro, check for the possibility of wiping the drive yourself, and decide once and for all that there is no activation lock (or one tied to an unknown AppleID.)

I'm still curious, however....
You have an AppleID account, so you can and should check to see if your latest MBPro is listed with any other devices that you are signed in to.
Is it listed? You can remove devices from there, too - which will sign out from that device...
I also don't actively use iCloud - but it is part of your AppleID features, so you can check for sure at the Apple web site.

https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage

 

[MacGekko]

Ah, OK --- An activation lock would be tied to your (or someone else's) AppleID account, and that AppleID would be showing, too -- at least part of it, enough to decide that it is your AppleID, and not some other unknown AppleID.
So, if you continue to be unconvinced that BestBuy return center actually has your MacBook Pro - have them send it back to you.
And, then you can inspect your MBPro, check for the possibility of wiping the drive yourself, and decide once and for all that there is no activation lock (or one tied to an unknown AppleID.)

I'm still curious, however....
You have an AppleID account, so you can and should check to see if your latest MBPro is listed with any other devices that you are signed in to.
Is it listed? You can remove devices from there, too - which will sign out from that device...
I also don't actively use iCloud - but it is part of your AppleID features, so you can check for sure at the Apple web site.

https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage

I checked the Apple ID again, no devices, if they send it back to me and I can't unlock it, I can't send it back in for the return.

I know I erased the volume group properly, the only thing I have in my notes is a recovery key, I think it was given to me when I refused to connect it to an Icloud account, but again, after erasing the volume group, there should be no reason for a recovery key to install the new MacOS.

 

[DeltaMac]

I'm guessing about this: Assuming you get the MBAir back - try to wipe the drive yourself. Don't do anything that involves a recovery key. I think you should be able to ignore or bypass that part, just leave the drive erased, don't reinstall the system.
Send it back for refund (if that's still your plan)
I think it's likely that you will experience the same passcode issue that the return center found.

No AppleID involved (apparently), shouldn't be a firmware password, so, if that prevents you from wiping the drive, and you can't do anything else either, then you will try Applecare support. That means, call Apple, not Bestbuy. It's their "baby", after all.

 

[philosopherdog]

Never buy or repair Apple products outside Apple, but especially Bestbuy. They're the worst. Hope you sort it out. Go to your credit card company if they dick you around.

 

[0128672]

I've had very good Apple product return experiences at Best Buy, but in the store, not by mail (because it's within reasonable driving distance).

 

[MacGekko]

I'm guessing about this: Assuming you get the MBAir back - try to wipe the drive yourself. Don't do anything that involves a recovery key. I think you should be able to ignore or bypass that part, just leave the drive erased, don't reinstall the system.
Send it back for refund (if that's still your plan)
I think it's likely that you will experience the same passcode issue that the return center found.

No AppleID involved (apparently), shouldn't be a firmware password, so, if that prevents you from wiping the drive, and you can't do anything else either, then you will try Applecare support. That means, call Apple, not Bestbuy. It's their "baby", after all.

Thank you for the advice, I probably will have to accept the delivery if they do indeed send it back, I'm confident that what happened was that I erased the Volume and I might not have reinstalled the new OS, there is a part of the process where you have to reformat the drive with APFS checked, I'm not 100 percent sure if I got to that step, I know you wrote not to install the OS but I don't think there is a passcode lock. I think the employee at the return center does not know how to finish the reinstall process.

 

[laptech]

Are you the original owner of the macbook, I mean you are the one who purchased the macbook from Apple? because if not and you purchased the macbook from another source what tends to happen is that when the macbook is set back to factory default, you have to install the OS but what tends to happen is that it will come up asking for the apple ID of the original owner of the macbook.

I have had this happen numerous times from people the company have purchased macbooks from. They say they are the owner, show sellers reciepts, claim they have cleared everything and when we come to do a complete wipe and install to bring it back to factory default it comes up with a pass lock, asking us to enter in an apple ID and what we find out when contacting the person we purchased the macbook from, we are told that they are not the original owner, they purchased it from someone else who they intern purchased it from someone else.

Thus, are you the original owner or did you purchase the macbook from someone else?

 

[MacGekko]

I'm guessing about this: Assuming you get the MBAir back - try to wipe the drive yourself. Don't do anything that involves a recovery key. I think you should be able to ignore or bypass that part, just leave the drive erased, don't reinstall the system.
Send it back for refund (if that's still your plan)
I think it's likely that you will experience the same passcode issue that the return center found.

No AppleID involved (apparently), shouldn't be a firmware password, so, if that prevents you from wiping the drive, and you can't do anything else either, then you will try Applecare support. That means, call Apple, not Bestbuy. It's their "baby", after all.

So UPS did a professional job of leaving it on the driveway without having anyone sign for it, anyway I started the computer, it presented me with a choice to activate and choose the hard drive, I did that and put in my admin password, then it asked me to connect it to Wifi to further the activation process.

I did not do that, I hit the Apple Menu and hit erase, it erased, then it gave me the activate menu but no request for a password, I believe that Best Buy could have just hit erase and ignore the original password request but whatever, that is over, so I put in my wifi and then went to a screen that offered the disk utility option, restore the OS, and two other options that I can't remember.

I decided to follow the original Apple instructions and do another erase of the hard drive through disk utility, then rename the hard drive and format it to APFS, there was no "Erase Volume", it was just Erase.

And currently it is reinstalling the OS, my question is, I think now that the Erase and Format has taken place, I don't have to spend the 10 hours waiting for the OS to install, can I quit that process right now and mail this back to Best Buy?


And I tried earlier to hold down the Power key, it did give me the startup or loading options image but it was stuck with the spinning thing and never presented the disk utility option at that point, so I had to erase it twice in the manner I wrote above.


Update: The OS was just fully installed, I went through a few of the screens, declining to set up WiFi, I am now up to the screen where you have to set an Admin name and password, obviously I can't do that because it would bring me back to the same place, so that's it right, just put the computer to sleep, leave it on that page and they should be able to enter their own info at Best Buy.

Or do I erase the drive one more time and don't install the new OS at all?

 

[lambertjohn]

Never buy or repair Apple products outside Apple, but especially Bestbuy. They're the worst. Hope you sort it out. Go to your credit card company if they dick you around.

Costco and Micro Center are great places to buy Apple products. Especially Costco with its 90-day no questions asked, return policy. But avoid Best Buy like the plague. They will always find some reason to screw you on your return.

 

[mjcharlton71]

Or do I erase the drive one more time and don't install the new OS at all?

Erase again and switch off fully at the country selection screen. Just done that with an 2020 MBA i3 I've sold, buyer says it was the same as a vanilla startup from new, pretty much.

 

[MacGekko]

Erase again and switch off fully at the country selection screen. Just done that with an 2020 MBA i3 I've sold, buyer says it was the same as a vanilla startup from new, pretty much.

A buyer and Best Buy are two different universes unfortunately, I'm going to leave it where it is, if they are too stupid to figure it out, so be it.

 

[mjcharlton71]

A buyer and Best Buy are two different universes unfortunately, I'm going to leave it where it is, if they are too stupid to figure it out, so be it.

Sadly, I fear you’re right. Only had occasion to use BB a few times when I’ve been over there, and I’ve not found them to be as clued up as “experts” should be!