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My First Mac is a Disaster! Trash it or dig in?

Billy.Bob

Billy.Bob

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 1, 2015
6
0
Mayberry By The Sea, Florida
My "New to Me" Mac Pro 3,1 arrived in the mail yesterday... The seller carefully tossed it into an old vacuum cleaner box, and apparently wrapped it in a single layer of old bubble wrap to keep it from getting cold on it's trip from Minnesota to Florida. Looks like it was dropped at least twice. A bottom leg popped several rivets as it bent away from the case, and bent up, blocking the panel from opening. An upper leg did the same... only lost one rivet.. and bent down... jammed along the upper edge of the panel, as if to say "Hey buddy... take a hint... my friend and I don't want you opening the case"

It came without a keyboard, mouse, or monitor (I knew that)

All I've got is old PC stuff. I was waiting for it to arrive, before buying the appropriate keyboard and monitor for it. The seller is ignoring my emails...

I have absolutely no idea how rugged (or not) these beasts are. Should I expect to find extensive damage on the inside? Or are the legs the only thing that get damaged when these things get dropped during shipping?

Should I buy a keyboard, and an adapter for an old monitor, so that I can plug it in, and watch it smoke? Or should I give it to my neighbor, and let her use it as a spare anchor for her boat?
 
Return it for a refund. Obviously the seller doesn't give a rat's rear end about how he protects and ships stuff.

Lou
 
Thanks Lou. If I can't get the seller to respond, should I buy a Keyboard and monitor adapter, to see if it works? Or would you suspect that I've got something that's probably not worth spending any more time even thinking about?
 
Force him to take it back. But try to buy a keyboard and if its a complete failure return the keyboard

----------

i know for sure its damaged and something may be wrong with the product. How much did he sell you the mac
 
If it was Ebay and/or paid via Paypal/CC then ABSOLUTELY return it.

Use the refund on a 4,1/5,1.

You WILL WIN a dispute on Ebay/Paypal if you do it right.

It is 100% his responsibility to get the item to your door in 1 (ONE) piece.

If it via CL and paid via Western Union/Money Order then you need to learn to live with it.
 
$270... $60 of that was for shipping.

The seller wrapped an old box with brown paper, and used plenty of packaging tape. Apparently he couldn't find a felt tip pen, a pencil, or Burnt Umber Crayola Crayon to write the word Fragile anywhere on the package.

If he decides to answer my emails, and tells me to ship it back, I wonder if I should package it carefully, and write "No Need To Drop... Contents Already Broken" on the outside.
 
Well, good news and bad news ...

Bad news first - your lovely Mac is very difficult to ship safely and the seller didn't know that .

And, she's now a cosmetic disaster . That won't change , sadly .

And she's hard to open up .

And - finally - you may have to hunt for rivets because they are no good bouncing around inside .

Good news is - she's almost certainly operational and Mac Pros are lovely critters :)

Apple designed the enclosures - it seems - to absorb major impacts without damaging the innards .

And the Mac you have is more powerful than any iMac or Mac Mini, once properly upgraded .

It won't be fun opening her up - you need a very large screwdriver or some thick metal bar . And some elbow grease . And some care not to pinch your fingers . But I do this all the time , Your enclosure is made of aluminum and lucky us , it's relatively soft as metals go .

Do not turn on your Mac until we can verify it's internal condition . There could be a short circuit situation which would make this Mac worse .

So, send some photos and we'll take it from there .

Welcome to the Mac Community ! You're thinking differently already ;)
 
2 things.

1. Your question makes it sound like the Mac failed you when this chump seller did. Return it, not even a question.

2. You don't need or want an old Mac Pro. They are going nowhere but downhill. I had one for pro work, maxed to the gills and it was still slower than the recent (2012) iMac it got replaced with. Get an iMac or MacBook Pro. I know it's counterintuitive coming from a PC but trust me, it's the best experience.
 
Billy.Bob said:
$270... $60 of that was for shipping.

The seller wrapped an old box with brown paper, and used plenty of packaging tape. Apparently he couldn't find a felt tip pen, a pencil, or Burnt Umber Crayola Crayon to write the word Fragile anywhere on the package.

If he decides to answer my emails, and tells me to ship it back, I wonder if I should package it carefully, and write "No Need To Drop... Contents Already Broken" on the outside.
Click to expand...

That's a dirt cheap price for a 64 bit , Yosemite capable Mac , if the seller claimed it was working .
 
Billy.Bob said:
$270... $60 of that was for shipping.

The seller wrapped an old box with brown paper, and used plenty of packaging tape. Apparently he couldn't find a felt tip pen, a pencil, or Burnt Umber Crayola Crayon to write the word Fragile anywhere on the package.

If he decides to answer my emails, and tells me to ship it back, I wonder if I should package it carefully, and write "No Need To Drop... Contents Already Broken" on the outside.
Click to expand...

I often get used GPUs sent to me in an (unpadded) envelope. People would like to believe that everyone working in shipping is a kind, concerned grandmother who carefully walks things to the next bin and sets it down softly. NOPE, you need to pack things as if they will be dropped 4 feet from conveyor belt to floor. UPS has a page that explains this. Secure tape and solid box are the beginning but there MUST be something to absorb energy and disperse force.

The unpadded envelopes frequently have "FRAGILE" written on them but that is only an attempt to move the packer's responsibility to the shipper. I have had Mac Pros shipped to me properly before. They take it somewhere where the MP is placed in a large plastic bag, then some expanding foam is sprayed inside the large box such that the MP is suspended and separated from the box sides by 3-4" of foam, MINIMUM.

If it is an Ebay sale you will get 100% of your money back. Depending on how they set up returns, yo may even get free return shipping. A good deal on a broken product that you will forever be reminded of the poor experience isn't a deal at all.
 
Get the 15" retina if you want a mac. Mac mall or B&H photo have very good deals and its a safe website
 
Natzoo said:
Get the 15" retina if you want a mac. Mac mall or B&H photo have very good deals and its a safe website
Click to expand...

That seems like an impractical recommendation. They're in a totally different budget range compared to this, and you do have things that die on notebooks, mainly batteries ($200 service) and chargers ($90 or so). It's impractical to suggest something that is likely to run several times what he spent. Even then the 2008 mac pro has some better drop-in gpu options if they are desired.
 
hobbbz said:
2 things.

1. Your question makes it sound like the Mac failed you when this chump seller did. Return it, not even a question.

2. You don't need or want an old Mac Pro. They are going nowhere but downhill. I had one for pro work, maxed to the gills and it was still slower than the recent (2012) iMac it got replaced with. Get an iMac or MacBook Pro. I know it's counterintuitive coming from a PC but trust me, it's the best experience.
Click to expand...

Fascinating , as there is a Mac Rumors member here who has his Mac Pro 3,1 (2008) running a 4K 60 Hz display . He loves it .
 
Save yourself the frustration. Send it back for a refund. You do not want something that has been damaged because it was poorly packaged. It was the sellers responsibility to make sure it was properly packaged. You have a every right to put in a claim, especially if you paid with credit card, Paypal or purchased off of Ebay. Take photos of damage and repack for shipping it back.

Do not settle for anything less than a full refund. And I would also demand my shipping cost plus the cost of shipping it back to the seller. I detest when sellers do this. It just makes it hard for honest sellers.
 
Thank you all for your replies.

Yes, I realize that it is the sellers fault for shipping it the way he did...
Yes, I want him to take it back, and return my money... and
Yes, I understand that it is not the latest and greatest product that Apple has on the market.

I'm slow and patient. I do a lot of research before I spend what little money I have... and right now, a functional Mac Pro 3,1 is more than capable of doing everything I need it to do. (I could edit audio on the crappy old Dell Laptop I'm mashing the keys on right now) The Mac was going into a recording studio I'm building in the garage. I saw it as an affordable workhorse... and a reliable workhorse is all I need at the moment.

Right now I've got a big piece of something completely foreign to me, sitting on the floor, waiting for me to do something with. For better or worse, I own it... If I can get the seller (more than a thousand miles away) to respond, and refund my purchase price, I'll be happy. If he won't talk to me, I need to know what to do with this sad looking thing I own.

Machines helped me to understand that I might be able to salvage this beast. Thank you Machines.

I'm going to wait a few days... see if I can get the guy I bought it from to man up and talk to me. If he doesn't respond, then I'll carefully pry the bent legs back to a position where they are not locking the access pane in place, and take a look inside. Photos to follow. Right now I'm going back to doing what I know best... Building the room where this thing was going to go to work.
 
Billy.Bob said:
Thank you all for your replies.

Yes, I realize that it is the sellers fault for shipping it the way he did...
Yes, I want him to take it back, and return my money... and
Yes, I understand that it is not the latest and greatest product that Apple has on the market.

I'm slow and patient. I do a lot of research before I spend what little money I have... and right now, a functional Mac Pro 3,1 is more than capable of doing everything I need it to do. (I could edit audio on the crappy old Dell Laptop I'm mashing the keys on right now) The Mac was going into a recording studio I'm building in the garage. I saw it as an affordable workhorse... and a reliable workhorse is all I need at the moment.

Right now I've got a big piece of something completely foreign to me, sitting on the floor, waiting for me to do something with. For better or worse, I own it... If I can get the seller (more than a thousand miles away) to respond, and refund my purchase price, I'll be happy. If he won't talk to me, I need to know what to do with this sad looking thing I own.

Machines helped me to understand that I might be able to salvage this beast. Thank you Machines.

I'm going to wait a few days... see if I can get the guy I bought it from to man up and talk to me. If he doesn't respond, then I'll carefully pry the bent legs back to a position where they are not locking the access pane in place, and take a look inside. Photos to follow. Right now I'm going back to doing what I know best... Building the room where this thing was going to go to work.
Click to expand...

You are not alone in this project, Billy . I can webcam with you to bring her back to life and walk you through . It won't be easy , but it is possible .

I've worked with many of these systems and I deal with a lot of financially poor clients . It's the economy .

Your Mac Pro 3,1 beats the pants off of anything else you currently have for audio production/editing and a more capable Mac (Dual 4,1 or 5,1 ) is not within your budget . These other Macs cost a lot of money 800 + USD , bare minimum .

I am Creation Machines .
 
Billy.Bob said:
Thank you all for your replies.

Yes, I realize that it is the sellers fault for shipping it the way he did...
Yes, I want him to take it back, and return my money... and
Yes, I understand that it is not the latest and greatest product that Apple has on the market.

I'm slow and patient. I do a lot of research before I spend what little money I have... and right now, a functional Mac Pro 3,1 is more than capable of doing everything I need it to do. (I could edit audio on the crappy old Dell Laptop I'm mashing the keys on right now) The Mac was going into a recording studio I'm building in the garage. I saw it as an affordable workhorse... and a reliable workhorse is all I need at the moment.

Right now I've got a big piece of something completely foreign to me, sitting on the floor, waiting for me to do something with. For better or worse, I own it... If I can get the seller (more than a thousand miles away) to respond, and refund my purchase price, I'll be happy. If he won't talk to me, I need to know what to do with this sad looking thing I own.

Machines helped me to understand that I might be able to salvage this beast. Thank you Machines.

I'm going to wait a few days... see if I can get the guy I bought it from to man up and talk to me. If he doesn't respond, then I'll carefully pry the bent legs back to a position where they are not locking the access pane in place, and take a look inside. Photos to follow. Right now I'm going back to doing what I know best... Building the room where this thing was going to go to work.
Click to expand...

I'd boot it up and make sure the damage is only superficial if it is not then carry on from there. If it is $330 for a computer isn't bad Mac or PC but you've also lost any resale value. In the end I'd be on the phone/email to eBay to force the issue and I wouldn't send it back on my dime either.
 
I just wish OP would clarify if this machine came from eBay or not. It's been discussed by many posters here but OP has never stated eBay that I can see.
 
I don't buy second-hand computers. It may work, but you don't know what the previous owner has done to the inside.
 
I bought it on eBay... I usually have great success buying and selling things there, but once received a defective item, and eBay was no help (Seller lied, eBay believed them) So with the seller ignoring my messages, I thought I was once again in that bad spot... out cash... sitting on something broken... trying to figure out how to salvage what's sitting in my lap.


The seller finally decided to get back to me this afternoon... He initially offered to cut the selling price in half. I rejected that flat out... so he asked for photos... I sent him photos of the mangled, unopened box, and photos of the mangled, unopened Mac. He offered to refund my purchase price, minus shipping...

In essence, I'm buying a mangled Mac for $65, and the seller has given away a once good machine. The alternative is that he refunds every dime, and pays for return shipping, and I send him back a box full of questionable contents.

If I just shove it back in the crappy box he sent it in, wrapped in the useless layer of bubble wrap it came in, it's only going to get even more damaged on it's trip home. It would be irresponsible of me to send it back that way... The result of this miserable situation would be that the poor guy in Minnesota is paying $65 to have the post office beat the crap out of his Mac. He could have just taken it out to the garage, and pushed it off the work bench about six or seven times, before dragging it down to the recycling center for the price of scrap aluminum.

It's a no win situation all the way around.
 
I would demand ALL of my money back (item and shipping), and give him the option of paying to have it shipped back as-is or me disposing of it as I see fit. You have no idea at this point if it really is salvageable in any way. When "negative feedback" was allowed, I would agree to leave no feedback, but that isn't the case anymore.

Show eBay or PayPal the photos and claim "significantly not as described", and you should get your money back that way. The seller would probably prefer to handle it directly rather than pursue this route however. But be sure to do it within the time deadline. eBay/PayPal is much more "buyer" orientated, since this is the money source. Unfortunately, this makes it much easier to scam the seller, but not the case here.

If you accept the refund, then you can look for a undamaged Mac Pro to start out with ... much better!
 
Last edited:
Billy.Bob said:
I bought it on eBay... I usually have great success buying and selling things there, but once received a defective item, and eBay was no help (Seller lied, eBay believed them) So with the seller ignoring my messages, I thought I was once again in that bad spot... out cash... sitting on something broken... trying to figure out how to salvage what's sitting in my lap.


The seller finally decided to get back to me this afternoon... He initially offered to cut the selling price in half. I rejected that flat out... so he asked for photos... I sent him photos of the mangled, unopened box, and photos of the mangled, unopened Mac. He offered to refund my purchase price, minus shipping...

In essence, I'm buying a mangled Mac for $65, and the seller has given away a once good machine. The alternative is that he refunds every dime, and pays for return shipping, and I send him back a box full of questionable contents.

If I just shove it back in the crappy box he sent it in, wrapped in the useless layer of bubble wrap it came in, it's only going to get even more damaged on it's trip home. It would be irresponsible of me to send it back that way... The result of this miserable situation would be that the poor guy in Minnesota is paying $65 to have the post office beat the crap out of his Mac. He could have just taken it out to the garage, and pushed it off the work bench about six or seven times, before dragging it down to the recycling center for the price of scrap aluminum.

It's a no win situation all the way around.
Click to expand...

The right thing to do would be to demand all of your money back. If I were you, though, I'd take your chances paying $65 for a banged up 3,1 and put it to work. I think it's a decent gamble.
 
The seller has agreed to a full refund, and said that he's going to initiate the return process in the morning. That... and he's going to pay for return shipping, and send me a link to a shipping label that I can print and attach to the package. He took the opportunity to point out that I will receive all of my money back (Purchase price, plus shipping) and he's going to be out $130 for round trip shipping, only to receive a broken computer.

I let him know that it would be irresponsible of me to simply wrap it up in the single layer of bubble wrap he used, and put it back in the box he used to send it to me, because it was that poor packaging job that caused the damage in the first place. The Mac will get back to him in even worse shape, AND he could justifiably blame me for the additional damage, because of My poor packaging job.

I see nothing good here for either of us.... but I did find an excellent source for information regarding All Things Mac... Thanks for all your replies... I now know where to turn for answers when I finally get the machine I need.
 
Billy.Bob said:
The seller finally decided to get back to me this afternoon... He initially offered to cut the selling price in half. I rejected that flat out... so he asked for photos... I sent him photos of the mangled, unopened box, and photos of the mangled, unopened Mac. He offered to refund my purchase price, minus shipping...

In essence, I'm buying a mangled Mac for $65, and the seller has given away a once good machine.
Click to expand...

What an unfortunate experience for you and the seller. :(

The seller is responsible for the packaging of your purchase and they failed to adequately protect the item from damage during shipment. I would not accept their last offer and require a complete refund item cost+shipping and offer to ship the item back at their expense. If they do not agree, then you need to begin a dispute/resolution with eBay detailing the damage with the pictures you have taken. If their is a return period within the bid listing you will need to open the dispute before that period expires, so do not delay.

Hopefully the seller purchased insurance but if they did not adequately package the item, their claim will more then likely be denied.
 
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