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I think I bought a stolen PB G4

M

Mozze

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 8, 2007
35
0
So I was at school and saw a poster for a PB G4 for sale. I called the number he said he was moving back to Colorado from Oregon, and that he was selling it to get him self started in Colorado. The advertisment said he wanted 1200 for it, so being the haggler that I am I brought 800 in cash with me.

When I got their I looked it over it had a charge he said he had lost his power cord somewhere in his apartment while packing. He turned it on and showed me the specs and that it worked it's a 1.67 ghz 512mb PB G4. I talked him down on thre price of the laptop mostly because the hinges dont keep the top down very well and it was kinda blemmished. And he didnt have the power cord. so I ended up getting him down to $950 I told him I could write a check for the $950 because I only had $800 cash on me. He opted for the cash so im thinking wowie I just got my first mac at a smoking deal!!!

So I went down to the local Mac store and bought a power cord when I got home I tried to plug it in but it wouldn't fit so I took back down to the Mac store and asked if this was the correct cord, he said it was it just probobly had the tip of the plug broken off inside the power adaptor. So he took off the battery and said "huh thats odd where the serial is supposed to be is missing." My heart sank and instant fear kicked it he turned on the mac and got the serial number he says it has apple care until the end of this may so I figured I would turn it in and get it repaired but, while im sitting here waiting for the parts to come in I can't but think I have purchaced a stolen laptop, I dont really know what to do.

I want to do the right thing and call the police but if it does turn out to be stolen I am out $800 bucks, $800 bucks I would have used to built my own PC laptop, but as I heard mac laptops are very nice I figured I would go this way and the price was right. I really want to do the right thing but im so scared that I will end up in trouble for purchacing stolen goods. At the same time knowing that someone had this laptop and it's been lifted from them makes me feel really bad. Do I have any rights in this I mean if I do check this out and it turns out to be stolen do I have any rights or am I just out $800??
 
You might be able to recover your $800.

You'll never be able to recover the lost dignity if you fail to do the right thing. You know the guy, you know you could direct police to him, and you know you might stop him from doing this again, at least in the near future. If it were your stolen system, what would you want the other guy to do?

If it's just a misunderstanding, no harm done. But it's likely stolen.
 
The other thing is I don't know the guy and I have no way of getting in contact with him if I did this wouldn't be such a problem for me. ( I would just point the police to him and get repaid in time by restitution)

When I get it back from the mac store I am going to run I cant remember the name but I googled for a how to tell if your mac is stolen program. I cant remember the name calmshellid I think but that doesn't sound right. If I run that program and it comes back stolen I will go to the police with it. but im so pissed about losing out on $800. and ill never see the ass clown who has my $800 again ERRRRR!!

So far my first Experience with a Mac sucks :(

And to boot and further my dissapointment I see in here that all macs come with an OS disc I didn't get any of that :(
 
It sound like you want to do the right thing, and you know what it is. It is sometimes painful to do so. I agree with jsw's post. You may recover some, or all of your money. Do not let the police just take the machine. If it has a 'want' out on it, then it will be taken. But, the original owner may offer you some compensation, or if an insurance claim was paid, they may do the same. You may also qualify for 'victim's compensation'. More importantly, you get the satisfaction of looking into the mirror each day and seeing a man of principal looking back - priceless.
 
It called good karma. What would happen if this was your laptop that got stolen. If that's the case I think would turn it in
 
hmph...maybe its mine...it was a 12 inch pb g4. I got it stolen about 7 months ago. Man, was i devestated. Its probably not though, cause im in NY, and it would be very strange for my laptop to travel a few hundred miles in 7 months...

as far as what u should do. I have to be honest, i dont see the point in giving it back. 800 dollars is alot of money to lose. I know, i work. I could be bitter about my laptop, but im not. i guess "stuff" happens, and the guy who got it stolen will probably get over it.
 
k

err what would happen if my laptop is stolen hmmmm let me see ??

someone would get one hell of a deal !!

seriously in the world we live maybe 1 in a million would do what you guys are suggesting !!

what if it is not stolen you're assuming it is without knowing the facts first !

although i agree with the good karma comment it just never ends up the way you think it will :confused:
 
Well I doubt it was yours as this one is in Eugene Oregon. it's a 17in PB G4 1.67ghz 512mb ram If someone on this site can describe it's contents inside the HDD as soon as it gets finished being repaired I will look at it if it fits your description ill hand it over but would appreciate recovering some of my $800:D
I am an honest person and I feel really ripped off at the moment, but maybe my suspicion is unwarranted I wont really know until I run that program when I get the computer back.
 
I am all for doing the right thing but c'mon. There is no way I would call the police for something I paid $800 for. Even if it is stolen, the owner and probably claimed it on insurance and bought a new one already.

Or it was owned by a business and replaced.

Enjoy it and don't worry about it.
 
skubish said:
I am all for doing the right thing but c'mon. There is no way I would call the police for something I paid $800 for. Even if it is stolen, the owner and probably claimed it on insurance and bought a new one already.

Or it was owned by a business and replaced.

Enjoy it and don't worry about it.
Click to expand...

Completely disagree.

Call the cops and talk to them. My integrity is worth more than $800.

- Doc
 
do the right thing and get it checked out with the cops and with apple.

i know it sucks, but put yourself in the shoes of someone who had their laptop stolen....

what would you want done?

you might be able to get your money back, but if not, as someone else said - your integrity is worth alot more.

the other poster who suggested keep it and enjoy it is probably the type who would steal something. a little too much aloofness for me. that is a key problem with people today...turn the blind eye and forget about it.

not the way to lead a life.

best of luck.

cheers,
keebler
 
You have to go to police

If not, your as bad as the thief.

No offense, but you should have known something was up-it
sounds like you did.:(
 
You Could Have Had A Core 2 Duo For The Same Money

Mozze said:
He turned it on and showed me the specs and that it worked it's a 1.67 ghz 512mb PB G4. I talked him down on thre price of the laptop mostly because the hinges dont keep the top down very well and it was kinda blemmished. And he didnt have the power cord. so I ended up getting him down to $950 I told him I could write a check for the $950 because I only had $800 cash on me. He opted for the cash so im thinking wowie I just got my first mac at a smoking deal!!!

So I went down to the local Mac store and bought a power cord when I got home I tried to plug it in but it wouldn't fit so I took back down to the Mac store and asked if this was the correct cord, he said it was it just probobly had the tip of the plug broken off inside the power adaptor. So he took off the battery and said "huh thats odd where the serial is supposed to be is missing." My heart sank and instant fear kicked it he turned on the mac and got the serial number he says it has apple care until the end of this may so I figured I would turn it in and get it repaired but, while im sitting here waiting for the parts to come in I can't but think I have purchaced a stolen laptop, I dont really know what to do.

I want to do the right thing and call the police but if it does turn out to be stolen I am out $800 bucks, $800 bucks I would have used to built my own PC laptop, but as I heard mac laptops are very nice I figured I would go this way and the price was right. I really want to do the right thing but im so scared that I will end up in trouble for purchacing stolen goods. At the same time knowing that someone had this laptop and it's been lifted from them makes me feel really bad. Do I have any rights in this I mean if I do check this out and it turns out to be stolen do I have any rights or am I just out $800??
Click to expand...
What's really pathetic about this story is that you threw $800 perfectly good dollars away for a very WEAK obsolete technology Mac when you could have bought a current model refurb MacBook for $950 that is way more powerful.

Refurbished MacBook 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1280 x 800 resolution
512MB memory (2x256MB SODIMMs)
60GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Price: $949.00

or for only $150 more one that goes even faster x2 + double the ram and double the L2 Cache:

Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1280 x 800 resolution
1GB memory (2x512MB SODIMMs)
80GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Price: $1,099.00

If you really want to do the right thing, you call Applecare and give them the serial number which appears in the About This Mac window when you click on the OS Version Number above the Software Update... button twice and you ask them to tell you the owner's name address phone number and email address because you think you bought it stolen and if they refuse you ask the Apple Customer service rep to email and/or phone the real owner for you. The real owner will probably give you a reward. If you call the local TV station and tell them what you did, they might do a feature on you and some store will give you a new Mac for being a hero to the original owner.
 
Unfortunately, Oregon has really lax laws that cover pawn shops, so lots of criminals from throughout the West bring stolen goods to Oregon to sell to pawn shops. The seller could be a worker at such a pawn shop, and knew it was hot, so he just kept it to sell it personally. (Unfortunately, all the news stories about Oregon's lax pawn laws are in various pay archives, otherwise I'd link to one.)

So it is entirely possible that this could be from just about anywhere in the U.S.

I say go with Multimedia's idea. Call AppleCare, say you think it might be stolen, could they please call the phone number AppleCare was registered under and verify that it is not stolen. Also, call the police and report that you THINK it might be stolen, and give them the serial number. If nobody has reported that serial number stolen, the police won't take it away.

Don't bother calling the media, though. They're jaded around here for this sort of stuff.
 
Ok update people

I took it into the Mac center they ran the serial #:eek:
and it came back clean.:apple:
as soon as I get it back from the Mac center I will be copying down the serial and going down to the police department to see if it is registered with them as stolen, if that comes back clean I am looking forward to enjoying my new MAC:)
 
Nothing Is "Clean" Untul You Talk To Previous Owner Of That Number

Mozze said:
Ok update people

I took it into the Mac center they ran the serial #:eek: and it came back clean.:apple: as soon as I get it back from the Mac center I will be copying down the serial and going down to the police department to see if it is registered with them as stolen, if that comes back clean I am looking forward to enjoying my new MAC:)
Click to expand...
Nothing is "Clean" until you've had a conversation with the original owner of that serial number.
 
Ask AppleCare To Help You Find Him/Her

Mozze said:
you can do that? how do I go about doing this
Click to expand...
Repeat: you call Applecare and give them the serial number which appears in the About This Mac window when you click on the OS Version Number above the Software Update... button twice and you ask them to tell you the owner's name address phone number and email address because you think you bought it stolen and if they refuse you ask the Apple Customer service rep to email and/or phone the real owner for you and ask them to give him/her your phone number and email address. The real owner will probably give you a reward.

It is not uncommon for stolen computers to never be reported to police nor Apple. That's why I think the above would be the best way to find the previous owner.
 
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