Warning: Willow Bend Apple store trashed my mini
I posted this message on Apple's Discussion area of their website under Mac mini > Expansion. It's probably going to get deleted, but I thought people should read this and take notice. Either they have monkeys working in the back of their shop or have a special ed program for installers.
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Today I took my mini to the Apple Store at Willow Bend Mall (Plano, TX) today (2:30PM on Saturday, 6-11-05) and purchased a Airport/Bluetooth combo upgrade and had them install it. Tonight I pulled it out to set it back up and and here's what I found.
1. My formerly pristine case top was covered with fingerprints and scratches.
2. My formerly pristine base of the computer now has a black ball point pen mark and sticky cola residue on it.
3. My formerly pristine mini box now has a large area of partially dried spilled cola both down the inside of the box and across the bottom of the box.
I'll leave it to your imagination as to how this all must have happened. I'm picturing a slob holding a drink over my computer with the cover sitting on a block of sandpaper.
I've taken great pride to keep this computer in pristine condition, and at no time was there any kind of soft drink near the computer while in my care, either at home or in the car on the way to and from the store. I'll be taking the computer back to the store tomorrow for "repair".
If you live in the Dallas area, consider yourself warned.
I will also be posting this warning in all the popular Mac forums/websites.
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Today I took my mini to the Apple Store at Willow Bend Mall (Plano, TX) today (2:30PM on Saturday, 6-11-05) and purchased a Airport/Bluetooth combo upgrade and had them install it. Tonight I pulled it out to set it back up and and here's what I found.
1. My formerly pristine case top was covered with fingerprints and scratches.
2. My formerly pristine base of the computer now has a black ball point pen mark and sticky cola residue on it.
3. My formerly pristine mini box now has a large area of partially dried spilled cola both down the inside of the box and across the bottom of the box.
I'll leave it to your imagination as to how this all must have happened. I'm picturing a slob holding a drink over my computer with the cover sitting on a block of sandpaper.
I've taken great pride to keep this computer in pristine condition, and at no time was there any kind of soft drink near the computer while in my care, either at home or in the car on the way to and from the store. I'll be taking the computer back to the store tomorrow for "repair".
If you live in the Dallas area, consider yourself warned.
I will also be posting this warning in all the popular Mac forums/websites.
Comments
I think you are wasting your time posting here, or anywhere else on this matter.
Shit happens, and when someone who is making a little over minimum wage gets lazy, this kind of stuff can happen.
Make a complaint with the store Manager. Write a letter to Apple... but don't bother trying to warn others, as noone cares.
Just an FYI.
Originally posted by SCARECROW
Well,... gee thanks for the warning.
I think you are wasting your time posting here, or anywhere else on this matter.
Shit happens, and when someone who is making a little over minimum wage gets lazy, this kind of stuff can happen.
Make a complaint with the store Manager. Write a letter to Apple... but don't bother trying to warn others, as noone cares.
Just an FYI.
Here's an FYI: go to hell.
Originally posted by inslider
Here's an FYI: go to hell.
I think we now know why they treated you so badly.
Please go to finishing school before posting here again.
There is absolutely no excuse for this hostility. Scratches happen and it sucks. We know those things scratch easily. But sticky soda in a computer, much less from a professional service such as Apple's, is inexcusable. A good slap on the wrist for the careless tech, and a perhaps a letter to the store (Take pictures if you can) should wrap this up.
I'd like to think it was a new tech and they learned from this experience. Perhaps your next visit will be a positive one.
Say it together now people: Com-mu-ni-ty.
If the normal way failed, it's time to complain.
I use to have problems with a sony professional screen, much more worse than yours. I did not complain, and make warnings all arounds, since Sony finished to fix the problems.
Originally posted by ragingloogie
im always taking care of my 2 macs, my PB and my iMac.. i love them both greatly and while im sitting at the computer i always make sure that theres never a drink near it.. but far enough away so that if it does spill it doesnt get my imac.... so i also understand how you feel about your mac
Thanks for understanding the frustration. I have no doubt they'll make it right. I just want to make sure if you live in this area that you might want to think twice when using this store for an install - at least until they fire or reassign this employee.
I think we should hold the Apple stores to a much higher standard than our other vendors.
Originally posted by MACchine
I think we now know why they treated you so badly.
Please go to finishing school before posting here again.
Some people are such morons. Are you? I guess so since you didn't even read my post. Did I ever say they treated my badly? No. You just pulled that out of your a$$. I showed up, dropped it off, came back picked it up. I think the most emotional thing I said was "thanks".
If The Crow thinks my post is such a waste of time, why not just leave it alone? Doesn't silence speak volumes over drivel? I think a nice "go to hell" with a smokey icon was appropriate. You're free to disagree with my reaction. You're also free to go to hell yourself.
Originally posted by Ebby
Whoa! Back up a second...
There is absolutely no excuse for this hostility. Scratches happen and it sucks. We know those things scratch easily. But sticky soda in a computer, much less from a professional service such as Apple's, is inexcusable. A good slap on the wrist for the careless tech, and a perhaps a letter to the store (Take pictures if you can) should wrap this up.
I'd like to think it was a new tech and they learned from this experience. Perhaps your next visit will be a positive one.
Say it together now people: Com-mu-ni-ty.
I will be at the store today to see what they'll do for me. I'll post back publicly where I've posted this message. This store has been great for me in the past, but what they did deserved public attention - whether they make it right or not.
1. They have a new casing ordered and on the way to fix the scratched top.
2. I'm stuck with my box because of the ser.#. Most of the cola came off with minor cleaning. I'm left with some stains on the bottom of the inside of the box, which will be an annoyance when it comes time to sell the computer someday.
3. They noticed the top plastic was not flush along one side and found a wire that had been incorrectly routed during the install. That was fixed.
4. The faux paux? Well, after fixing the incorrectly routed wire I was given a short lecture on the ills of having installed my own 1GB RAM chip. "You know that voids your warranty... but I'll go ahead with the case replacement anyway. You see these are precision machines, and we like to treat them as such and keep them that way." Wrong thing to say after having physically damaged a customer's computer. I replied, "Well, at least I had the good sense to use a towel to protect the casing from scratches, unlike your installer... So I guess they're not that precise of a machine after all, are they?" No response. I say, "Is that all?". He says, "Yes."
So, I left happy that my computer is going to be pristine again, but slightly annoyed that I have a cola-stained box and took a tongue lashing about my bootleg RAM upgrade (If there were an electronic-related problem with the mini I would have reinstalled the OEM chip anyway. Duh.).
The top manager of the store will be in tomorrow, so I'm going to replay the story for him via phone, which I'm sure will be the highlight of his day. I think if it were my store, I'd want to know.
I'm not sure if I will use them again for in-store upgrades. If I do, I will make it a point to: 1. meet and discuss the install with the person who will be performing it. They will be "introduced" to my computer, it's condition and be advised as to the fact that I expect it to be returned in the same shape; and 2. open the box up and inspect the contents before leaving the store. Shame on me for being so trusting. It won't happen again.
So, to describe the series of events in Smilies:
Originally posted by inslider
Some people are such morons. Are you? I guess so since you didn't even read my post. Did I ever say they treated my badly? No. You just pulled that out of your a$$. I showed up, dropped it off, came back picked it up. I think the most emotional thing I said was "thanks".
If The Crow thinks my post is such a waste of time, why not just leave it alone? Doesn't silence speak volumes over drivel? I think a nice "go to hell" with a smokey icon was appropriate. You're free to disagree with my reaction. You're also free to go to hell yourself.
You ARE very hostile.
I am not surprised they treated you BADLY !!!
Originally posted by inslider
OK, here's the resolution. Good news and bad news. The bad news isn't so bad, just a "minor" customer service faux paux adding some insult to injury.
1. They have a new casing ordered and on the way to fix the scratched top.
2. I'm stuck with my box because of the ser.#. Most of the cola came off with minor cleaning. I'm left with some stains on the bottom of the inside of the box, which will be an annoyance when it comes time to sell the computer someday.
3. They noticed the top plastic was not flush along one side and found a wire that had been incorrectly routed during the install. That was fixed.
4. The faux paux? Well, after fixing the incorrectly routed wire I was given a short lecture on the ills of having installed my own 1GB RAM chip. "You know that voids your warranty... but I'll go ahead with the case replacement anyway. You see these are precision machines, and we like to treat them as such and keep them that way." Wrong thing to say after having physically damaged a customer's computer. I replied, "Well, at least I had the good sense to use a towel to protect the casing from scratches, unlike your installer... So I guess they're not that precise of a machine after all, are they?" No response. I say, "Is that all?". He says, "Yes."
So, I left happy that my computer is going to be pristine again, but slightly annoyed that I have a cola-stained box and took a tongue lashing about my bootleg RAM upgrade (If there were an electronic-related problem with the mini I would have reinstalled the OEM chip anyway. Duh.).
The top manager of the store will be in tomorrow, so I'm going to replay the story for him via phone, which I'm sure will be the highlight of his day. I think if it were my store, I'd want to know.
I'm not sure if I will use them again for in-store upgrades. If I do, I will make it a point to: 1. meet and discuss the install with the person who will be performing it. They will be "introduced" to my computer, it's condition and be advised as to the fact that I expect it to be returned in the same shape; and 2. open the box up and inspect the contents before leaving the store. Shame on me for being so trusting. It won't happen again.
So, to describe the series of events in Smilies:
You are VERY LUCKY they did anything at all, I don't think any other company would have given you the time of day once they found the problem with the self installation.
You have suggested above that your problems are the fault of some wacked-out employee.
But that is not the way to run a business, when you do a job for a customer there must always be two responsible people that look at and approve the job, the one that does it, and someone else that can independently verify that it is correct.
So they should have caught the problem and fixed it in the store before you got it.
Businesses that are SMART will soon start to use the new digital camera tech to verify their work. In other words smart companies will figure out that working in legal way is good for everyone, that means taking a picture of the product when it is received and then later just before it leaves the store.
That way if the customer complains they have a record of how the product actually looked leaving the store.
My guess is, considering your agitated approach to life, somebody spilled something on your passenger seat and its been there for a while and that is how it was messed up. And if you carefully inspected the seat you might find the assaulting ooze ! And the scratches, maybe the metal seat-belt buckle that swung around when you aggressively passed that guy that you thought cut you off !!!
Oh well, another day in a life.
Originally posted by MACchine
My guess is, considering your agitated approach to life, somebody spilled something on your passenger seat and its been there for a while and that is how it was messed up. And if you carefully inspected the seat you might find the assaulting ooze ! And the scratches, maybe the metal seat-belt buckle that swung around when you aggressively passed that guy that you thought cut you off !!!
Stop with your wild fantasies about me.
You want to be right about me being wrong so badly it's killing you. Train wreck.
Originally posted by MACchine
You ARE very hostile.
I am not surprised they treated you BADLY !!!
Please quit saying they treated me badly. This is twice now you've misquoted me. Everyone at the store was very nice and very helpful. My only juice is the way they treated my computer. Everything is church now and still you can't quit beating me up. For the love of Pete!
This story tells me that I should take pictures of my gear before I send it anywhere. That way if it comes back in some alternate condition I can take action.
I don't expect anything will go wrong when I send my iPod mini in for a new battery, but doesn't mean I'll go in unprepared.
Originally posted by Xool
Such hostility in this thread... egads.
This story tells me that I should take pictures of my gear before I send it anywhere. That way if it comes back in some alternate condition I can take action.
I don't expect anything will go wrong when I send my iPod mini in for a new battery, but doesn't mean I'll go in unprepared.
Smart man !!!
Are the kids down the street bullying your youngest son. Get big sister to show up with the digital camera or video camera to film the event.
Then print stills and post it around and show the parents and school officials, those kids won't be bothering anybody AGAIN !!!