OK, so here's my deal. We have this reseller who we have to go through who Don't Know Jack About Mac.
When I place the order with them on June 9th(exactly 1 hour after the announcement) I make it crystal clear that the machine HAS to be ordered directly from the Apple Store to get the configuration I want(Apple ROM ATI 9800XT). Plus I up the HD to 250GB and the RAM to 2GB. I also add the 23" Cinema Display that qualifies for the "Brilliant Savings" promo when ordered on the same invoice. I send them a PDF copy of my configuration directly from the Apple Store so they'll know exactly what to do AND send them a direct link to the Apple Store online. Pretty full-proof, right?
Let me pause here for some further backstory...
About a year and a half ago, I place an order with the same company(again which we have to order from) for a Dual Mac G4 with Radeon 9700 card and extra RAM. Because of the Custom order graphics card, the machine is only available from Apple direct. I state specifically in my email the configuration is only available directly from Apple because of the graphics card. They say no problem. We will order it right away. Days go by... Not worried because I knew that there was a delay in general with the Radeon 9700. Weeks go by... Still not too worried, graphics card and all. Call em just to check it. They say they are still waiting on the machine from Apple. Months go by... My blood pressure has slowly risen as the weeks have gone by. At the two and a half month mark. I call the vendor and ask what is going on.
After two days I hear back... Oooops! Gee, they never ordered the machine. But it's on order now and is set to ship out today. They(My Vendor) say sorry, their vendor thought the Powerbook we also ordered two months ago replaced the Dual G4. I say, "what vendor, you're ordering the machine directly from Apple like I told you you had to, right? " I continue by asking for a fax of the machine specs they are ordering. They send me the specs, which turns out to be a base system with extra ram. I call immediately and let them know what they are ordering is not what I asked for. They manage to stop the shipment from their vendor and promise to order the machine directly from Apple. A week and a day later, the machine finally comes in. After all the blood boiling I am finally relieved and happy the ordeal is finally over with. I set the box down in my office and get ready to open the box, savoring the anticipation, waiting for the smell of the new computer to fill the room. But then I happen to look at the little white sticker on the outside of the box. The one with the machine specs on it. I look where it says what graphics card comes with the machine. It says Nvidea Geforce4. SON OF A B*%CH! I sat there looking at the box for about 5 minutes before I could move. Nvidea Geforce4. A graphics card that was available the day the machines were announced. A graphics card I could have had right away without waiting nearly 3 months. A graphics card that at the time had numerous display issues with Maya and After Effects. A graphics card I didn't want.
So I pick up the phone and call our VAR(which of course means Value Added Reseller) and ask how they could have gotten it wrong again. They say, "Our vendor said this configuration was just as good as what I had asked for, plus it was cheaper." So once again they hadn't ordered from the Apple Store and willfully ignored my accurate expert advice. "Don't worry," they say, "we'll just order the graphics card seperately directly from Apple to make it right. I say, "you can't order the part seperately, you have to buy it with a machine. That's why I asked you to order it directly from Apple in the first place."
"No, no," they say, "we do this kind of thing all the time."
"OK," I say, "so I'm gonna open up this box. When I do it will no longer be new, and you will not be able to sell it to anyone as new. Go it?"
"No problem," they say, "we got it covered. We know what we are doing."
So I open the box, reformat and partition the hard drive and spend most of the day loading software on the new machine. I'm about halfway through loading my project files when I get a phonecall. It's the vendor.
"We can't order the part seperately. Apple doesn't sell it unless it comes with a new machine ordered directly from the Apple Store online" he says.
"Yeah," I say, "I know." Long silence.... Then I say, "So when the new machine comes in that you are ordering directly from Apple, what do you want me to do with this one that belongs to you?"
"I don't know," he says, "I guess we'll find something to do with it."
At this point, I'm grinning ear to ear. I'm thinking that this is a good lesson learned for the vendor. As horrible as the experience had been, the outcome would ensure that this would never happen again. Their mistake cost them. Obviously, I knew what I was talking about and they didn't. Next time they would heed my advice.
OK. Back to the current order. Remember how full proof I made it. Can't be screwed up. Can't be....
Or so you would think.....
So weeks ago(middle of July), I know the machines are supposed to start shipping at the end of the month after the initial delay. I call the vendor and ask for a time frame. Wait a few days and don't hear anything. I check again the next Monday. Our rep is now on vacation for a week. I leave a message on his voicemail. I hear back on July 22. The machine is set to ship 8/02. On 8/6, I leave a message and ask what the deal is? The following Monday I get an email from the vendor stating the ship date has changed to 9/2, no explanation. Tuesday I email back and ask to find out a further explanation from Apple. I hear nothing all week. The next Tuesday I call and get the vendor on the phone. The first thing they say is,"If your calling about that G5 again, I'm gonna have to hurt you." A joke, sure, but untimely. I say, "Well, if you would have responded to my email from a week and a half ago I wouldn't be calling you now." The vendor says,"Oh, didn't I call you back about that?" So I say, "How about this....Why don't you get the order number for the computer and the zip and email it to me and then you won't have to hear from me again. I can't look at the status on the Apple site with that information." "No problem," they say.
Well I still don't have the Apple Order number info, nor have I heard a thing from the vendor. A funny thing happened mid-week, though. The vendor dropped off my 23" Cinema Display at our office while I was at lunch. I was stoked. I hooked it up to my G4 right away and I must say that it is beautiful. Much brighter and much more screen real estate than my old monitors. So I have 3 happy days with the new monitor when I get a great idea this afternoon. The moniter was ordered on the same ticket as the computer, so the order number must be the same. Maybe I could look it up. So I grab the box and look at the little white shipping label to get the number. I look at the SHIP TO address. I ain't me. It is to a regional computer distribution company. I don't immediately panic. Maybe THIS company ordered directly from Apple. Then I look at the SHIP FROM address. I sit and stare in horror. It ain't Apple. It is from Ingram Micro. So once again MY VENDOR completely ignored my advice/warning about the computer. And here I am in a reoccurring horror that will never end.
So here I am, sitting here at midnight, not knowing if Ingram Micro somehow has someway of ordering custom configured systems directly from Apple and no way of finding out. Since my vendor didn't order directly from Apple like I asked, they aren't calling me back because they can't give me an Apple order number that they don't have and since Ingram Micro is so many vendors in between them and me, there is no way they can give me any information. I was so flabbergasted that I simply stared at my computer for the last few minutes of the work day. I knew that if I called the vendor right then, that what I would say would not be professional. I wonder if there is a time when it is ok with losing you temper with a vendor. Is this it?
Anyway, someone help me! I am of the opinion now that either my vendor ordered the moniter and computer seperately, which would disqualify the Brilliant Savings offer; or they ordered the computer from Ingram and I will not be getting what I asked for. AGAIN!
The order number on the monitor box is not an Ingram Micro order number by the way, it is an order number from the middle man company that my vendor ordered from.
Anyway, good luck to all of you. I apparently have no luck with this kind of thing.
Good Night.......
ps - it's late and I'm very tired and frustrated. It wouldn't surprise me if I have typos. Let em slide. Don't kick me when I'm down...
H@nk
