Has anyone purchased off MacMall?

[Pngwyn]

They have a pretty good deal on a lot of Macbooks, and I'm thinking about getting a new model one, but it's a lot of money to be buying online.

So I had a few questions for people who have dealt with them before...

1. I noticed they have a no-return policy for Apple products, but if I buy the item new, do I still have a free 1 year Applecare warranty?

2. How risky is it to purchase something that expensive and have it shipped?

3. Is there any reason not to buy from Macmall?

I looked on these forums, but couldn't find this info anywhere. Buying from Macmall saves me about 200-300 dollars than from retail Apple, which sounds almost too good to be true.. is there a catch?

 

[johnsy]

I ordered from them before (ipod). Their rebate comes very fast. However I cannot say anything good about 3'd party rebates- ipod came with "free" charger for which I never received rebate.

1 yes, apple warranty comes from apple, not from macmall.
2 well there is always some risk. I would worry more about shippers than about macmall for purchases. You sound like you never bought anything from internet. If you buy with a credit card you can stop payment if someone deceives you. There is also slim chance for shipper to damage product, but in this case you would get refund/replacement/money back.
3 They have paper rebates vs amazon's online rebates. I think it sucks if you have to cut boxes. mail and waste your time. As I said rebate trough macmall from 3'd party manufacturers is not reliable. amazon has 30 day return policy (restocking fee applies).

 

[Pngwyn]

So I did end up ordering from them.

I am really worried about how things went down though.. maybe some of you guys can tell me if I'm being paranoid or not:

So originally, I called in asking about a product, the helper told me to call back and place the order instead of doing it online (probably so she gets commission) so she could make sure that the item was prioritized to me and wouldn't become out of stock.

I called them back 30 minutes later after thinking about it, but the line was busy. She calls me back from a 213 number (California area code) and I decide to purchase it.

But I am worried because it's not the 800 number from MacMall, so would there be any chance she was just stealing my CC number? I haven't gotten a confirmation yet, but she said it was because their system is updating (it's been less than 10 minutes though, I'm just worried).

Am I just being paranoid?

 

[jpur]

Welcome to 2008!

I am 99.9% sure that you are just fine. Most places cannot call out from their 1800 number. I am sure that it was just her office line.

 

[jabrowntx]

I purchased both my MacBook and my Mac Pro from MacMall and both transactions were flawless. I'd buy from them again in a heartbeat.

 

[iShater]

I just ordered a last gen MBP from MacMall, and although my credit card had issues accepting them as legit, the transaction went through and their customer service was very helpful.

They have been around for a looong time, and this is the second time I buy something from them (or is it third?!), my stuff has shipped.

The rebates is what concerns me, but I plan to send them out this weekend when I get home and open the boxes.

 

[likegadgets]

FWISW

I have purchased from www.macconnection.com (and www.pcconnection.com) many times without a hitch.

 

[tcphoto]

I had macmall as my backup plan. Apple was good enough to replace my twelve day old MBP with the new version. If they hadn't I would have returned it and bought from macmall and pocketed $350. I have had good experiences with the online dealers (macmall and macconnection) before the Apple Store arrived. The odds of any problems are very small and you will have your new machine in a couple of days.

 

[Batt]

I just ordered a last gen MBP from MacMall, and although my credit card had issues accepting them as legit, the transaction went through and their customer service was very helpful.

They have been around for a looong time, and this is the second time I buy something from them (or is it third?!), my stuff has shipped.

The rebates is what concerns me, but I plan to send them out this weekend when I get home and open the boxes.

I bought mine last year from MacMall, and the rebates came within 3 weeks.

 

[Phrasikleia]

MacMall has been around for a very, very long time. I know they've had their share of rough spots, but overall they are about as legitimate and reliable as it gets on the internet.

I won't worry about the phone call business. What you described sounds quite normal.