Suspicious history of my mac purchased at Apple.

[Wastelander]

Hey guys,

I'm from Germany and i got a little suspicious about my mac - maybe you can help?

I've bought a mac air 2011 from apple's homepage (Germany) when it was released.

Since then i've had problems with freezing and crashes of the os.
I was new to mac OS so i thought well - not that much better than windows after all - in terms of reliability.
But a collegue said i should go to an Apple Store and let them check the hardware because its not normal at all.

So I did. First I called Apple to make an appointment.
First suspicous thing happend: They told me my mac would be registered under an american adress and asked if ibought it from ebay or something?

I said no and they registered it under my name.

One week later after testing the hardware they called me and said: The hardware is ok - but your backup partion is missing and it would need a lot of technical knowhow to remove it. if i would know anything about that?

I said no and asked them what has happend to my mac in the past and if any mac with lion would be sold without backup partition.

Answer: NO.

So what happend to my mac? Why could it be already registered on some adress in america and why has someone tempered with my partition?

I'm 100% positiv that i did not delete the backup partiton and I'm 100% positiv that i did not register that mac under an american adress.

Any suggestions? I'm really pissed with Apple right now because they are like: Well you have your mac live with it.

 

[RestlessCaviar]

Hey guys,

I'm from Germany and i got a little suspicious about my mac - maybe you can help?

I've bought a mac air 2011 from apple's homepage (Germany) when it was released.

Since then i've had problems with freezing and crashes of the os.
I was new to mac OS so i thought well - not that much better than windows after all - in terms of reliability.
But a collegue said i should go to an Apple Store and let them check the hardware because its not normal at all.

So I did. First I called Apple to make an appointment.
First suspicous thing happend: They told me my mac would be registered under an american adress and asked if ibought it from ebay or something?

I said no and they registered it under my name.

One week later after testing the hardware they called me and said: The hardware is ok - but your backup partion is missing and it would need a lot of technical knowhow to remove it. if i would know anything about that?

I said no and asked them what has happend to my mac in the past and if any mac with lion would be sold without backup partition.

Answer: NO.

So what happend to my mac? Why could it be already registered on some adress in america and why has someone tempered with my partition?

I'm 100% positiv that i did not delete the backup partiton and I'm 100% positiv that i did not register that mac under an american adress.

Any suggestions? I'm really pissed with Apple right now because they are like: Well you have your mac live with it.

I think the key to all this is simple.

Do you have the receipt when you purchased it from Apple, and does the serial number on that match the macbook you gave them?

If yes, you're fine. If no - then you're out of luck

 

[Puevlo]

They probably just sold you a Mac some American cowboy used, abused and returned. Likely they forgot to erase the registration information and didn't service the unit when they sold it to you.

 

[bogatyr]

They probably just sold you a Mac some American cowboy used, abused and returned. Likely they forgot to erase the registration information and didn't service the unit when they sold it to you.

Aside from the cowboy part, I agree with this. Sounds like you got a laptop meant to go through refurbishing for resale as a refurbished unit. But you got it before they did any work with it - most likely the original owner reinstalled OS X and wiped the recovery partition in the process.

 

[KPOM]

I think the key to all this is simple.

Do you have the receipt when you purchased it from Apple, and does the serial number on that match the macbook you gave them?

If yes, you're fine. If no - then you're out of luck

Any suggestions? I'm really pissed with Apple right now because they are like: Well you have your mac live with it.

My guess is that you were resold a machine that was returned (which might be why it was showing up as previously registered). A bad logic board can cause the crashing issues.

Removing the backup partition is actually easier than it should be on the 2011s. All someone has to do is reinstall Lion using the Internet Recovery feature (CMD-R when rebooting, reformat the drive, and reinstall OS X). Someone experiencing crashing before might well have tried that.

Is it the actual Apple Store or an authorized reseller who is giving you the runaround? If it is otherwise working, someone at the Genius Bar ought to be able to help you put back the restore partition. Better yet, if the serial numbers match the receipt, then ask for an exchange (back up your computer first so you can migrate it over to the new one). I really do think it is possible you got a machine that was supposed to be sent back for refurbishing.

 

[Wastelander]

I bought it from www.apple.com/de so its Apple itsself who sold it to me.

I'm quite dissapointed to be honest. If I wanted to buy refurb I might aswell buy in the refurb store....but anyway I'm still trying to get some official answers...at least the genius guy yesterday in my local apple store showed some sympathie, which helped me still to consider apple as a premium product / service.

 

[KPOM]

I bought it from www.apple.com/de so its Apple itsself who sold it to me.

I'm quite dissapointed to be honest. If I wanted to buy refurb I might aswell buy in the refurb store....but anyway I'm still trying to get some official answers...at least the genius guy yesterday in my local apple store showed some sympathie, which helped me still to consider apple as a premium product / service.

You shouldn't have been sold a refurb. I would go back to the store and ask for a replacement.

 

[RocketRed]

Is it still under Warranty/AppleCare 3-year Warranty?

I would try to switch out for a new one at the Apple Store in person. If people can get new Macbook's because their display/SSD isn't Samsung, I'm sure they'll let you switch for a new one considering how serious an issue you're having.

 

[Jamesesesesess]

That's pretty messed up. Print out your order info/receipt and bring that with you to the Apple store. They might give you a whole new one if they know Apple sold you a used unit.

 

[theSeb]

When exactly did you buy it? You need to contact Apple or go to the store and demand that you get a new computer. Take the original receipts and boxes with you.

 

[Galatian]

Oh and remember here in Germany (or to a bigger extend: here in the EU) we have a 2 year warranty. For the first year of purchase the manufacturer has to prove you broke the unit and for the second year after purchase you have to prove that there was a defect to begin with. Usually switching out should be pretty easy.

My exchange 4S I received was actually a refurbished french 4S by the way, but I think that is Apples standard policy for switching out broken devices: giving you refurbished ones.