Monday, September 17, 2007

MacMall Sucks

Today MacMall delivered me a new MacBook Pro. It is a brick. Won't boot, right out of the box. I called MacMall. They told me it is Apple's problem, not theirs, they're just a reseller. After complaining vociferously for half an hour, they agreed to repair it. So now I get a refurbished computer for the price of a new one. They refused to replace it, they refused to let me return it.

Their rationale? I quote:

If you asked a friend to buy something for you in a foreign country and they brought it back and it didn't work, would you blame your friend?
Dear MacMall, I am not your friend. I am a customer. Don't pretend that you are doing me a favor by selling me a computer.

Maybe I've been spoiled by companies that actually care about their customers, like Amazon.com, who--the few times I have had problems--ships me a new product before they even receive the defective one back. That's why I've been a loyal Amazon.com customer for twelve years.

Absent the "customer service" people getting a clue, I'll never buy from MacMall again.

8 comments:

Melanie said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I'm posting this in case others query or google MacMall should they only pray to find this first.

Today I placed an order for a MacBook Pro through MacMall only to not receive an order confirmation, thank you page or otherwise. "That's strange I said", noticing I had been redirected to my account page as if MacMall wanted me to login again. I did so and followed the steps only to be taken back to my cart where the order was apparently still pending. So the order had not gone through. Interesting work on the Information Architecture and lack of proper information hierarchy.

I called MacMall and was told after some run around to wait an 1hr and I should receive an email confirmation. I tried debating the likelihood of this with the sales rep who obviously didn't understand their online sales process, and he could find no order number or order what so ever with my phone number, name or zip. I asked to speak to a manager and eventually or "accidentally" was disconnected before I could speak with this person. I called back only to be once again connected with the same boy genius who I had spoken to minutes prior. I must have done something to anger the gods. Again he claims waiting an 1hr should resolve everything...similar to pixie dust I thought.

So it gets better. Something tells me instead of just re-placing the order which did not go through...I should check my bank account. Sure enough a pending debit for the amount of the purchase was under my transaction history. Call my bank...there is nothing they can do until MacMall posts the transaction(which is non exsistent mind you)or release(cancel)the pending amount for the imaginary transaction which does not exist but is showing as a pending debit. I call MacMall up and have their sales rep...same boy genius...must be my lucky day, cancel the transaction or start the process to do so after explaining that there was a pending debit for a transaction that whould not be shipped since thir bunk checkout process is absolutely worthless. Nice enough of it to capture my credit card info and send a pending debit to my bank but not smart enough to pass my order along.

Do not use Macmall if you're expecting competance in an online transaction. By trying to save $150 bucks I caused myself a slight frustration and had to take steps beyond what an online customer should have to go through in order to just place a simple order. When my money is removed from "pending" status guess where I won't be ordering my MacBook Pro from?

Anonymous said...

STAY AWAY FROM MACMALL AT ALL COSTS. You will regret ever hearing of them, let alone stepping into their store. I just spent $3200 for a MacBook Air and software at MacMall in Santa Monica. When I got it home, half the software that they said was pre-loaded was missing. I went back to the store and went through 3 of the rudest "customer service" people in retail history. I asked for the manager, who was even more rude, and later learned it was the stock room guy that they sent out to impersonate the manager. Bottom line - - they screwed me out of about $500 of products and were unbelieveably rude on top of it

Anonymous said...

MacMall sucks big time - do not buy from them - they have a bogus return policy if you can find it.

They switch and bait and misrepresent what they sell - neither will they take it back even if unopened.

I found out about their "no return" policy after I complained and they sent me a link. Try to find that "no return" policy, even on the "proceed to checkout" page.

Crooks Bums and Thieves

Unknown said...

Never again! Their return policy should be on every page of their website. I received a DOA iMac and got the run around. I gave up an went to Apple for help with getting it repaired. Isn't that a shame, buying a brand new computer and then having it repaired for a defect. Basically if you order(from MM) one of the major brands of electronic equipment you cannot return it for any reason! It says so right on their receipt. I feel like a sucker!

Anonymous said...

I did not find this on time, so here is my story:

Bought cell phone displayed as in stock - turned out to be back ordered for 3 weeks
came with a rebate, they had the wrong from on their for it, called customer service - guy had no clue, asked for a supervisor, they said they'll call back, never did, called again more incompetent people and dead end extensions, the rebate expired, and they never call back. I will STAY AWAY from this place.

Squirrel11 said...

I've gotten good products from MacMall, but their rebate policy and practices are an absolute joke. Twice I've sent in the correct forms for a rebate and twice I've been denied. I should have never given them a second chance. Shame on me.

Anonymous said...

MM does blow