The Wrong way contrasted with the Right way
gryhound said:
I see that there are multiple problems with your post.
1st lets get into the crux of the matter.
There is a proper chain of command to follow when dealing with retail stores and resellers to get your issue resolved. <snipped> You totally undermined your credibility in the situation by posting flames on the internet instead of letting CUSA resolve the issue.
<snipped>Why would the manager want to help you now? You have a lot to learn about human nature. But I see from your profile that you are only 22 years old so this is par for the course.
Were you there when the system was sold to your friend? Maybe your friend mis-understood the sales professional or needed the product ASAP. Obviously the manager tried helping your friend out by filling out the rebate forms and making sure all that was inorder. (Any of you reading this post ask yourself the following "How likely are you going to get help from a manager at a store in filling out rebates?")
<Snipped>.
Firstly, there are a few issues that struck a cord with me in this unfortunate story. And it is still unfortunate in that the Girl in question has still been given a soiled experience:- by being sold a pup in the first place, and then being screwed by the statements here, and then by not being compensated with a new computer.
(Steve J; if you see this thread while looking for ideas for your next keynote, do what you have done-in-kind in the past - call her up and send her a new MacBook Pro 1.8)
Secondly,
I have just experienced the other side of the coin - The right way from a similar type store here in New Zealand. I will deal with that in a moment.
gryhound; Well really...
I believe it is you and upperblue79 who have a lot to learn about human nature. Remember the important thing here is the appearance of things. From the collusive appearance of your posts I think many here, have or will, think badly of your apparent motives and therefore also of CompUSA. Your reasoned and informed, after the event statements; from your positions of age and experience, look just like like an attempt to discredit and divide a couple of kids. Hopefully they are still friends - no thanks to you. In particularly, your latter post attempts to besmirch their actions and motives and turn them into a couple of theives are despicable.
upperblue79; you in all your wriggling and posturing admit to have something to do with the store management. A pity that you did not handle the issue in a better way at the time. Now, you should pay the price for that. You have your knickers in a knot because the young lad asked for advice on this list, and it escalated quickly, to your shame. Not because the store mucked up, but because of your own words here. I assume from the statements, from the pair of you, that you knew about the thread soon after it started. A mature store manager would have just cut his losses, apologized here and said it was going to be fixed. Not thumped the kids for six over a pittance, was this years bonus at stake.
Now the RIGHT WAY, Twice over: From Apples reps in NZ and Dell NZ!!!
In November I purchased a PB 1.67 as soon as the lastest G4 revision arrived in Harvey Norman (an Australian Box store - trading in NZ).
After a week I was having difficulty with data in a Excel SS built by another person. I thought it was the SS so kept working at a fix. After two weeks I found the DVD would not boot the OS X restore CD when I tried to reformat the drive in an attempt to fix the problems so took the PB back to Harvey Norman.
The Harvey Norman manager talked directly to Apple and put in a new DVD (took a couple of weeks to get parts and fix). During the subsequencent three weeks after that repair, I found that the data was still being corrupted, so went back to Harvey Norman. They arranged a Brand New PB replacement from Apple. They were proactive with Apple NZ in both cases and actually acted on my behalf. Who knows who actually paid for the repairs and then replacements in the end, but the store worked for me, the customer, and I did not have to run too and fro fighting for my rights.
And BTW I understand that NZ retailers earn less commission from Apple NZ, a non-Apple company, than your CompUSA does dealing directly with Apple Corp.
With the PB, I separately purchased a new 2405 wide screen from Dell. It had a faulty USB and caused errors and bad interaction with both PB's and also my G4 AGP tower. One email to Dell, and I was asked to try a new USB cable, this did not work so another email got me a brand new (not refurbished) 2405 from Dell, shipped individually from Singapore, because Dell NZ only had a refurbished monitor in stock.
Interesting, that in both our situations, the time frame from purchase to breakage was about the same. And it happened to me with two different items. Both compainies here in NZ offered a better buyer experience than these kids received.
Customer service rules!