I had a Retina 15in Prototype in my hands!

[Synchromesh]

Today something interesting happened. I purchased a used late 2013 MBP 15in Retina with regular specs off of somebody I know. The serial number came up as invalid upon checking the website and was printed in 2 places on the machine instead of the usual one. That made me a little suspicious but it looked like a regular system otherwise. Interestingly enough the screen was peeling anti-glare coating all over the place, including middle of the screen, top and bottom.

So I took it in to the local Genius Bar to see if they can do anything about that. Big mistake! They looked at it and couldn't find the serial either. Then they took it inside, came back and told me it was an (allegedly stolen) prototype machine! Of course that was exciting but now I'm out $1500 I paid for it as they won't return it and won't give me any credit. They told me somebody from Loss Prevention will be in touch but smart money says that at most they'll acknowledge the situation and won't reimburse me a single dollar.

What do you guys think? Is there any sort of recourse for this? Any experience from anybody?

 

[yukyuklee]

I have no idea... one I bet if you called the seller back he's not going to pick up or contact you. Two I don't think Apple is going to do anything about it. Just keep you fingers crossed and hope for the best. Best of luck!

 

[DeltaMac]

... I purchased a used late 2013 MBP 15in Retina with regular specs off of somebody I know. The serial number came up as invalid upon checking the website and was printed in 2 places on the machine instead of the usual one. That made me a little suspicious but it looked like a regular system otherwise. Interestingly enough the screen was peeling anti-glare coating all over the place, including middle of the screen, top and bottom.

... told me it was an (allegedly stolen) prototype machine! Of course that was exciting but now I'm out $1500 I paid for it as they won't return it and won't give me any credit. They told me somebody from Loss Prevention will be in touch but smart money says that at most they'll acknowledge the situation and won't reimburse me a single dollar.

What do you guys think? Is there any sort of recourse for this? Any experience from anybody?

Why would you expect recourse or credit from Apple? If it was stolen from Apple, then you simply lose it to Apple.
You claim to have bought it from someone you know - so that person is your recourse, if there is one.

 

[Synchromesh]

Why would you expect recourse or credit from Apple? If it was stolen from Apple, then you simply lose it to Apple.
You claim to have bought it from someone you know - so that person is your recourse, if there is one.

Yeah, I'll try to see what I can do with him. However, I'm not sure what Apple doing is lawful. They're a private corporation and not a government entity. I don't think they can force taking possession of a machine like that without involvement of police. Even cops give you a report of some sort if they take possession of stolen property.

 

[yukyuklee]

Yeah, I'll try to see what I can do with him. However, I'm not sure what Apple doing is lawful. They're a private corporation and not a government entity. I don't think they can force taking possession of a machine like that without involvement of police. Even cops give you a report of some sort if they take possession of stolen property.

If you do that than the police will go straight to your friend, If your so called "Friend" was really a friend he wouldn't have sold you the laptop knowing that it will give you headaches.

 

[DeltaMac]

OTOH - you were also returning stolen goods to the original owner (or at least a representative of that owner)
Perhaps you will hear from Loss Prevention, eh? You can state your case.

 

[aziatiklover]

Wait so you bought a

used late 2013 MBP 15in Retina with regular

for

I'm out $1500 I paid for it

and the screen is pilling off?! Is this real life? SMH!

 

[yukyuklee]

Wait so you bought a for and the screen is pilling off?! Is this real life? SMH!

I honestly don't know but if he paid 1,500 he could have bought a new machine depending on the specs lol

 

[brand]

Wait so you bought a for and the screen is pilling off?! Is this real life? SMH!

Yeah something about that doesn't add up.

 

[Synchromesh]

The screen issue can be rectified, especially if the machine has Applecare. Peeling screen isn't as big of a deal to me as it would be to some other people. The specs were 2.6/16GB/512SSD/nVidia 750. Basically fully loaded minus the 1TB SSD. So it was well worth the $1500.

I have a feeling that the guy who sold it to me had no idea what it was either. He used it for a while as a regular system and it did have proper late 2013 specs. It looked exactly like a regular 15in Retina sans the second serial number on the back plate. So while I will talk to him I don't think he intentionally screwed me over.

 

[DeltaMac]

Your friend should remember how he got that MBPro. That might be an interesting story, too.
If it is nothing more than "I got if off Craig's list", then that's just another caution tale about CL.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

What a story!

Yeah, I'll try to see what I can do with him. However, I'm not sure what Apple doing is lawful. They're a private corporation and not a government entity. I don't think they can force taking possession of a machine like that without involvement of police. Even cops give you a report of some sort if they take possession of stolen property.

Well, they could not have done that. First, they should have proven that it was stolen. Second, if so, they should have involved the police.

 

[Meister]

Lawyertime.