I first want to start off by saying everything I am about ready to tell you is 100% true, no embellishing at all.
I made up my mind late last night that I was going to pull the trigger on a new 2012 13" MacBook today, just wasn't sure which configuration I wanted. I was vascillating between the maxed out version (available at retail), or the near maxed out version (everything maxed but the SSD).
I work in downtown Dallas, and called the Knox-Henderson Apple store (very close to the office) right at 8am to confirm if they had any of the next 13" MacBook Airs (fully loaded) in stock, which they did.
I then proceed to tool around the internet (mainly this site), vascillating back and forth like the pansy I am between getting the maxed out model or not. I finally settle (or so I thought) on getting the almost maxed out version for $1,699 (everything upgraded except the SSD), which I had to order online. I hit the submit button, and I am a happy man. Well, I then proceed to read more and more online, and wouldn't you know it, by 11am I am now convinced I want the fully maxed out version. I quickly log back into the Apple website and successfully cancel my order, and then hurredly walk (ok, I damn near sprinted) to the parking garage to drive over to the Apple store.
I show up at the Apple store a few minutes later, and ask for a brand new 13" Macbook Air, fully loaded. To my relief, they tell me they have it in stock, and that it will be brought up front shortly. Here is where things get interesting....
I planned on paying with cash and credit card. I had $700 in cash, and the rest was going on my credit card. As I give the person helping me the $700 in cash, I start gabbing away (why I don't know) about why I get $50 bills (which is what I had) instead of $100 bills, as these days everyone seems to spend in inordinate amount of time scrutinizing $100 bills (to make sure they aren't fakes I presume, yeah, I'm smart).
Anyhow, he counts the $700 I gave him, and then asks for my credit card for the rest, which I give him. At the end, he shows me my email address and asks me if it's okay they email me my receipt to that address, which I noddingly approve. Before I leave, I ask him out of curiousity how much was put on my credit card. He tells me $800 or thereabouts. I look at him funny, and then say to myself, I'm not going to pester this guy with questions, the receipt will be sitting on my iPhone in the next 30 seconds.
I proceed to walk out the door and down the street to my car. I get in, start the car, and then pull my phone out to check the receipt before I pull away. Much to my shock, the receipt shows that my credit card was only charged for $800 and something dollars, and shows that I put down $1,400 in cash (instead of the actual $700 I gave him).
So there I am sitting in my car as it dawns on me, I finally got lucky for once in my stinking life, I was the one that caught the break, and got a brand new $2,200 laptop for $1,500, free and clear.
Unfortunately, I have something that I believe is often referred to as a conscience, and it made it's voice heard right away. Long story short, after the initial 30 seconds of euphoria wore off, I drug my a$$ back into the store, found the sales person that helped me, and rectified the situation.
Why do I tell this story? Well, first off, I think it's a pretty cool story with some entertainment value in and of itself. Second, we often hear similar stories from other on the Internet and proudly boast what we would or would not do, but never really know for sure as the situation never presents itself. Well, the situation presented itself to me today, and I have to tell you, it was a lot harder than I thought to do the right thing.
I'm glad I did the right thing, and I have no regrets as I know it was the right thing to do, but being 100% truthfull with myself, it was a much harder decision than I thought it would have been.
I made up my mind late last night that I was going to pull the trigger on a new 2012 13" MacBook today, just wasn't sure which configuration I wanted. I was vascillating between the maxed out version (available at retail), or the near maxed out version (everything maxed but the SSD).
I work in downtown Dallas, and called the Knox-Henderson Apple store (very close to the office) right at 8am to confirm if they had any of the next 13" MacBook Airs (fully loaded) in stock, which they did.
I then proceed to tool around the internet (mainly this site), vascillating back and forth like the pansy I am between getting the maxed out model or not. I finally settle (or so I thought) on getting the almost maxed out version for $1,699 (everything upgraded except the SSD), which I had to order online. I hit the submit button, and I am a happy man. Well, I then proceed to read more and more online, and wouldn't you know it, by 11am I am now convinced I want the fully maxed out version. I quickly log back into the Apple website and successfully cancel my order, and then hurredly walk (ok, I damn near sprinted) to the parking garage to drive over to the Apple store.
I show up at the Apple store a few minutes later, and ask for a brand new 13" Macbook Air, fully loaded. To my relief, they tell me they have it in stock, and that it will be brought up front shortly. Here is where things get interesting....
I planned on paying with cash and credit card. I had $700 in cash, and the rest was going on my credit card. As I give the person helping me the $700 in cash, I start gabbing away (why I don't know) about why I get $50 bills (which is what I had) instead of $100 bills, as these days everyone seems to spend in inordinate amount of time scrutinizing $100 bills (to make sure they aren't fakes I presume, yeah, I'm smart).
Anyhow, he counts the $700 I gave him, and then asks for my credit card for the rest, which I give him. At the end, he shows me my email address and asks me if it's okay they email me my receipt to that address, which I noddingly approve. Before I leave, I ask him out of curiousity how much was put on my credit card. He tells me $800 or thereabouts. I look at him funny, and then say to myself, I'm not going to pester this guy with questions, the receipt will be sitting on my iPhone in the next 30 seconds.
I proceed to walk out the door and down the street to my car. I get in, start the car, and then pull my phone out to check the receipt before I pull away. Much to my shock, the receipt shows that my credit card was only charged for $800 and something dollars, and shows that I put down $1,400 in cash (instead of the actual $700 I gave him).
So there I am sitting in my car as it dawns on me, I finally got lucky for once in my stinking life, I was the one that caught the break, and got a brand new $2,200 laptop for $1,500, free and clear.
Unfortunately, I have something that I believe is often referred to as a conscience, and it made it's voice heard right away. Long story short, after the initial 30 seconds of euphoria wore off, I drug my a$$ back into the store, found the sales person that helped me, and rectified the situation.
Why do I tell this story? Well, first off, I think it's a pretty cool story with some entertainment value in and of itself. Second, we often hear similar stories from other on the Internet and proudly boast what we would or would not do, but never really know for sure as the situation never presents itself. Well, the situation presented itself to me today, and I have to tell you, it was a lot harder than I thought to do the right thing.
I'm glad I did the right thing, and I have no regrets as I know it was the right thing to do, but being 100% truthfull with myself, it was a much harder decision than I thought it would have been.
