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Just What is a Custom Configured Server?
djhanson wonders: "I just got back from a small claims court proceeding against Apple Computer. They successfully won their argument in front of the court that selecting additional memory and disk drives for a computer/server at the time of purchase, off of their website, constitutes a 'custom configured computer built to the customer's specifications'. Said computer is therefore not eligible under the company policy to be returned. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? As near as I can tell, Apple is the only company that has such a restrictive policy. I called both IBM and HP, and neither of those companies has such a policy. Am I the only one that thinks there is something terribly wrong with a policy like this?
Any opinions? Suggestions? Comments? Whatever?"
Sounds pretty dumb. But Apple policies are usually that way. You should see how they treat their employees.
Posting as AC because I work for Apple.
That's not what Apple's "custom configuration" is. Selecting which hard drive you want is not a custom configuration, it's just an option. Selecting power windows on a Honda does not make it a custom car.
Now, if you called Apple up and told them to paint your computer purple with yellow stripes, I can understand why they wouldn't want it back. But when you choose from a list of options, it does not make sense to call that a custom configuration.
Obviously, unlike a PC, a Mac computer "just works."
Therefore, it doesn't need a return policy.
I think there is some distinction to make- the Apple Store sucks. Apple owns the Apple Store, sure. Not so say Apple's not off the hook, but something to note.
I for one will never buy anything more than an accessory at the Apple Store. A few years back, I bought a new G4 tower. My first Mac. I had been running Rhapsody DR2/x86 on my PC for a while, and when OS X DP3 came out thought that now was the time to switch. I ended up going with the Apple Store because of the edu discount, although that was entirely equalized by taxes, which a place like Mac Mall wouldn't have added. (Apple has to add them, not them being tricky)
Anywho, I got the computer and it was slow. Not ha-ha-macs-are-slow but although utilities were reporting that it was running at 400 MHz, it felt like it was a 90 MHz 601 in OS 9. What I wanted was to send it back and have Apple send me a new one. I had nothing customized; I put the RAM in myself for what Apple charges. But the Apple Store wouldn't take it back- I had to take it to an authorized Apple service rep. Which is a pain in the ass for me, being a frosh college kid with no car.
A lot of dicking around, getting my roomate's buddy to drive me downtown a few times. First time I took it down, they replaced the mobo. Then a week later, they call back and need it back again, as they put the wrong board in. Which perplexed me, because this one worked fine and looked like a G4 board. Who knows. Both times it came back with all sorts of ugly ass "COMPUTER WORLD" stickers on it. fuckers.
A good retailer would've taken it back and send me a new one and dealt with the thing on their own end. Mac Mall has taken shit back in the past, even when the manufacturer wouldn't; not sure if they'd do that in the case of a whole PowerMac, but next time I'll take my chances with them. (and I did when I bought an iBook two years ago)
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