Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How do most of you feel about MACMALL?

N

NJRonbo

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 10, 2007
3,284
1,323
I did a search on this site for MacMall and really didn't come up with
any threads devoted to the subject.

I have to be honest here. I am a happy MacMall camper. Been buying
from them for years and never had a problem. In fact, with rebate and
not having to pay sales tax, I save a few hundred dollars off of buying
directly from Apple. Also like their payment program that allows me
to pay off big ticket items over the course of 6 months with no interest.

I guess I had too much time on my hands today and did a GOOGLE
search for MACMALL reviews. I was surprised that there was a vocal
minority of really harsh reviews concerning deceptive practices, etc.

I never had a problem, and I know for the most part the Internet is
the one place for people to go and complain.

So, I thought I would start this thread to find out how MACMALL
customers on this forum feel about the quality of what they sell
and their service.

And while we are at it, is there another online venue that's even
better to shop through with similar pricing?
 
I purchased a monitor from them at the beginning of this year and the sale went very smoothly. They even called me to make sure I received everything in good order.
 
MacMall

I have dealt many times with MacMall and have always had a very satisfactory experience in the sense that I got what I ordered, delivered in good condition in a timely manner, and when I dealt with sales personnel on the phone they have been polite and reasonably helpful. And sometimes I get free shipping, and don't have to pay state sales tax, which is a major reason for dealing with them rather than the Apple Store since I live in California. BUT I really don't like their heavy reliance on rebates as a come-on (something some competing catalogue-jobbers also do). It seems that nearly every time I get involved with a purchase with associated rebates I find myself caught in the middle of some hideous bummer, one that often takes a number of phone calls to sort out (having my rebate request rejected because I couldn't figure out which of the three bar codes on the carton was the correct one, etc. etc.) and it's weeks before I see my money, if I ever do. If MacMall and similar outfits had more concern for their customers' welfare they'd cut this the hell out, it's a lousy way of doing business, and offer simple up-front cash discounts. Easier for us, and probably easier for them too. After all, they have to pay people to help customers cope with rebate hassles.
 
Here! Here!

I never understood rebates other than the fact that companies
hope that customers fill them out wrong or forget to send them in.

If a company really wants to give a genuine discount to its customer
it should be done without rebates.

BTW, I have been very fortunate with MACMALL and rebates.
 
MacMall ruined Christmas....

I tried to use them to buy my kids their iMac, as their main present. I paid them, and they lost it. How do you lose a payment. I could see it, but they couldn't seem to locate. I made a purchase 20 day before Christmas, and they couldn't pull it off. They made little effort to correct it. I made 47 phone calls, in regards to this. I spent over 11 hours on the phone with them and my credit card company.

I ended up borrowing against my 401k, on the 23rd, and paid in cash, at an Apple Store, where I should have gone to begin with. Save $100 just isn't worth it if the company puts no value in customer service.

I was refunded on the 27th, and I will never consider them again.
 
Several years ago I had a very nasty experience with Macmall, which included shipping my items to a wrong address, trying to stick me for shipping to said wrong address, telling me that items were never returned so they could not refund me (which they needed to do before reshipping to correct address), then telling me items had reshipped when they had not, and management promising to return my calls (when I could reach a live person) and never doing so. The last was most annoying because you had to wait on the phone for ever so that you could then leave a message that was never returned. It took close to 2 months calling every few days before everything was finally sorted out and the guy I talked to didn't even want to apologize. It was a terrible attitude.:mad:

I had been a regular customer for years, but after that experience I swore never to buy from them again. A few years later they called me out of the blue to "establish a relationship" since I hadn't ordered from them in so long. I told them to forget it. Now mind you all of this was many years ago. Their customer service might be great now for all I know, but I still wont buy anything from them.

If you have had good experiences with them that's great I hope that does not change.
 
Ont thing you have to keep in mind is if you buy from MacMall, and you have an out of box failure or defective machine, you have to deal with MacMall not Apple. An Apple Store will fix it under warranty, but will NOT swap you for a new machine, even if within the 14 day window. Apple will direct you back to the seller for exchanges.
 
My Christmas present for my Teacher Daughter of a MBP Unibody, went smooth, they even stepped in ,in my behalf to "speed up" a laggy rebate.
Had the check in hand 4 days after making a call.
Free shipping, no tax, plus a $150 rebate, $1786 for a 15" MBP within a month of launch, very pleased with Mac Mall and the MBP Unibody:cool:
 
With the volume they do, every now and then things will go bad.

Those people usually get pissed off enough to cybersquat on them and fire off negative articles.
 
several years back i ordered a brand new ibook. I opened the box and the laptop box had already been opened and the cable obviously taken out and used as well. The laptop had already been registered to another user, so obviously the machine was a demo or it was used.

I called up MacMall and told them about the situation. They could care less!! All they said was sorry, was don't accept returns or exchanges on ANY apple products you will have to contact apple. I couldn't believe they were saying this as i obviously had a used laptop.

So i requested to talk to a Manager and the dude said the same thing. He just apologized and said sorry we can't do anything for you. So I calmly said well I guess my credit card company will then. Manager immediately authorized a return and apologized.

Will NEVER buy from them again.
 
agl82 said:
I bought two unibody MacBooks and several iPods from MacMall. They are not bad overall, but their return policy is borderline criminal:

"No returns on Apple products"

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/372857/
Click to expand...
yeah it's ridiculous. I had another bad experience recently at my campus computer store. The lid on the MBP would completely shut when having laptop at a certain angle. The computer store said sorry no returns and apple said it was a normal function. RIDICULOUS!
 
I purchased my first MacBook at MacMall. They DO NOT charge sales tax which is good :) They also don't price match apple :( that's why I ordered my MBP (2nd macbook) from apple instead of MacMall otherwise, MacMall would have been my very first choice.

Their mail in rebate was simple and I got my rebate in less than 3 weeks :) Perfect!

I recommend it if you don't want to pay sales tax.
 
I am the original poster and I gave the advice received here a
lot of thought.

I think I am going to buy from APPLE.

With an expensive 17" MBP on the line, I like the security of
knowing should something go wrong with it I can just return
it to the Apple Store.

Question: I presume anything I purchase online from Apple
Store can be returned to the store itself?
 
NJRonbo said:
I am the original poster and I gave the advice received here a
lot of thought.

I think I am going to buy from APPLE.

With an expensive 17" MBP on the line, I like the security of
knowing should something go wrong with it I can just return
it to the Apple Store.

Question: I presume anything I purchase online from Apple
Store can be returned to the store itself?
Click to expand...
if you order online i believe you will have to ship the products back to where they came from...can't take in store etc. and if BTO=no returns.
 
I bought an ipod from them and it went fine. But they are risky and I only use them as a last resort. They dont take returns which is crazy, and you are taking a huge risk with any mail in rebate. You should never rely on a rebate when making a purchase, at least not a mail-in one, they seem to only have a 50% success rate, the whole point of rebates is to not have to pay all of them.

I would trust them a lot more if they let you fill out the rebate online, because then youll have proof that you used an abbreviation for a state instead of writing out the whole name which disqualifies the rebate, and theres no way they could lose something in the system already.

ONLY use a credit card when ordering from them. You definitely need some sort of protection when dealing with Mac Mall's shady practices.
 
You guys DO know that if you buy something online and don't pay sales tax that you're supposed to report that when you do your taxes, right? Maybe its my inner (or outer) accountant, but online purchases aren't a "tax-free zone" at all.
 
jasony0423 said:
You guys DO know that if you buy something online and don't pay sales tax that you're supposed to report that when you do your taxes, right? Maybe its my inner (or outer) accountant, but online purchases aren't a "tax-free zone" at all.
Click to expand...
they why are they trying to pass a law to have online companies collect sales tax?

when you by something at a garage sale do you report the sales tax then?
 
I had a good experience with them.

I ordered a new Mini and they called me to make sure i knew that I was eligible for a "free after rebate" printer with the purchase before they shipped it out.

I thought that was pretty cool.
 
rmhop81 said:
they why are they trying to pass a law to have online companies collect sales tax?

when you by something at a garage sale do you report the sales tax then?
Click to expand...

They are trying to get the online companies to do it because most citizens DON'T report their online purchases when doing taxes. The online companies say that it is far too confusing as various cities and counties within a given state charge different sales tax rates.

I don't believe sales tax applies at a garage sale...
 
jasony0423 said:
You guys DO know that if you buy something online and don't pay sales tax that you're supposed to report that when you do your taxes, right? Maybe its my inner (or outer) accountant, but online purchases aren't a "tax-free zone" at all.
Click to expand...

what the IRS doesnt know wont hurt them

of course if sales tax wasnt so high in some places then buying online wouldnt be so tempting
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back