New iMacs shipping with Mavericks?

I ordered an iMac by phone from the Apple Online Store on November 4th and was assured it would arrive with Mavericks preloaded. I still didn't feel 100% confident, so I called back and spoke to Sales Support. I was again told it would certainly be Mavericks. My doubt remained so apparently obvious that I was put through "to someone who would give me peace of mind." The gentleman who talked to me was emphatic that all iMacs from the Apple Online Store are preloaded with Mavericks - a clean install - absolutely no lingering Cats.

Three days later it was delivered. I found myself staring in disbelief at the Mountain Lion Galaxy Desktop on the side of the interior box. I didn't even open it. I picked up the phone and called Apple. They seemed astonished and instructed me to open the box, take it out and plug it in. Ten minutes later - the moment of truth: Mountain Lion!!

Apple immediately emailed me a FedEx return shipping label. A couple of hours later my iMac was at a local FedEx location on its way back. My credit card charges were reversed about 5 days later.

Their final advice: "None of us want to risk going through all of this again. Call an Apple Store near you (in my case 40 miles away) and buy from them to be absolutely sure." Well, I've called twice so far. They only have Mountain Lion with the "FREE!!" Mavericks upgrade - as though I'm obligated to be thrilled by that. I'm not. Now when I ask how long I'll be waiting, everyone acts like they've never seen or heard of such a thing as an iMac with Mavericks preloaded.

I've had a few minor issues with Macs over the years, but their emphasis on keeping their customers happy has kept me loyal - even devoted. For the time being I owe them the benefit of the doubt, but let's all hope that this specific marketing strategy isn't any indication of a new trend.

I ordered a custom built iMac one week after Mavericks release and it was delivered on Nov 4 with Mountain Lion.

When I posted last night regarding my frustration with Apple on this matter, I ended with a somewhat "forgiving" gesture. Your analysis of what is happening, however, seems right on the money - and considering corporate behavior these days - any good "conspiracy theorist" might easily be inclined to speculate on a plethora of even more arrogant explanations for this sudden shift to deliberately devious tactics.

If Apple employees are indeed being told to lie to their customers - (as you and I both surmise) - this is very troubling news for Mac enthusiasts. Perhaps their new OS is ironically and aptly named. They themselves fuel the image that we - their customer base - are Mavericks! They should not be surprised by a "Huge Wave" of protest. Mac bloggers come forth!!

Now that Apple has been both deservedly attacked and loyally defended by both of us, we've done our part. Thank you for that good-natured last sentence which gave me a genuine laugh - and even a fragile renewal of faith!

Thought i would just add my own experiences to the thread. I ordered a brand new bto imac on the 24th October having been reassured that it would now ship with mavericks. I had originally thought about ordering one when they updated the specs to 4th generation haswell chips but with all the talk on the imminent arrival of the new mavericks os i decided to wait it out.

On arrival, I was suprised to see the old galaxy box but just assumed they were using up old stocks of boxes. I have no problem with that. However, i was dismayed when setting it up to discover it came preloaded with os v 10.85 Mountain Lion. So i phoned up applecare wondering if an old rogue machine had slipped past the net and spoke to a very helpful guy who sympathised with my predicament. He assumed that i must have missed the shipment of the new mavericks version by a couple of days and said that Apple would replace it for me free of charge as was my right. So we organised a collection of the old machine,ordered a new one (7th Nov) and i excitedly waited for my new mavericks one to arrive.

It arrived 14th November. Imagine my shock when i discovered they had sent me an identical replacement. Why anyone would assume that i would be happy with a machine that has the same problem as the first one i sent back is beyond me. I seriously thought about just downloading mavericks. I know its not that big a deal but it just feels like my new machine that i have waited and saved for for 3 years is already out of date before i even start and besides i was promised it would come with Mavericks pre-installed. So with heavy heart i phoned applecare again. Unfortunately, the best they could offer was another free replacement. This time however, they could not guarantee that it would come with Mavericks on it. In which case i said i was not interested. On asking when he could guarantee that imacs would ship with Mavericks he said he had no idea. I was prompted several times to just download Mavericks. It is a quick and easy experience he said. If it is so easy why can't Apple do it themselves, especially on a BTO machine. The 2nd replacement will be returned tomorrow (Nov 19th)

So now nearly one month on from the release of Mavericks, i am still without a new imac, i have had the inconvenience of having to wait in for collections and deliveries for 3 days and still no definitive answer as to when they might be ready to ship a mavericks installed machine. Now when i look at the online order site i just get angry when i see imacs screens displayed with mavericks and imacs mavericks boxes and yet i still have to hear from one person that actually has got what they might have expected ie an imac with Mavericks preinstalled.

As hcsitas says C'mon Apple. All you needed to do was tell us that new imacs would ship with Mountain Lion with a free upgrade to Mavericks and at least we would all know where we stood. This mix up is costing you a lot of damage to your previously unblemished customer experience in our household!

Wow, hcsitas, I never imagined I'd hear a conspiracy theory that brilliant!! It's downright scary because you just might be right. Apple culture is beginning to strongly resemble Washington culture. Front-line representatives are no longer rewarded for truth - but lobbied to lie. To ensure their paychecks and self-esteem, it's easy to understand how they necessarily rationalize that misrepresenting the facts is "justifiable-vital-spin" to maintain the pre-eminence of Apple's "noble" corporate agenda.

treearty: thank you for your personal story - more revealing than my own. In light of what I just wrote in the previous paragraph though, I suddenly can't help but wonder what it would take for me to succumb once more in reverence to Apple. What if Apple management read this thread and offered you, me and hcsitas "a totally free new iMac" - with Haswell / Mountain Lion / Upgrade to Mavericks - a gracious act "for all our time and trouble." Would we refuse this consolation and stand our moral ground? I'm fairly certain I'd sell out. Since this isn't going to happen, they have shrewedly forced me to settle for self-respect.

Thank you again, hcsitas. I admire and appreciate your diplomacy. After my last post, I did reflect that calling Apple's Customer Support Staff "liars' was not my wisest word choice. Referring back to my more reasoned original post - I strongly prefer to give them all the benefit of the doubt. About 30 minutes after last night's entry, I attempted to go back and delete my foolish diatribe. The system would not let me. Apparently there is a 15 minute window. So, this is an official apology. Everyone at Apple who had to deal with this awkward situation and with my adamant unwillingness to accept Mountain Lion did their "apparent best" in the face of a problem for which there is obviously no satisfactory solution. I've made my contributions to this forum for better and for worse - so right now I'm looking with renewed heartfelt fondness at my faithful Snow Leopard - still alive and limping along in its old white imac body.

I also ordered via the Apple online store about a week after the Mavericks release. The computer shipped with Mountain Lion. They accepted the return and took notes on my wanting the custom order to come with Mavericks preinstalled. The second iMac came shipped (expedited) with Mountain Lion again. Apple accepted it as a return at the local Apple store. Apple was very understanding. The just "download it free" discussion was had, but on something that expensive it should have shipped that way or noted very clearly that it had to be an upgrade. Also, the licensing is different as an upgrade and though the installer is better than in the past, it still adds and deletes things and looks for certain versions. With a stock price at over $500 a share, I think they can slick a warehouse full of drives and image those disks pretty cost effectively for those of us willing to pay the Apple tax. If not, I just want it to reflect whether the model I get will come with ML or Mavericks so I can decide when to order. But if you do not get want you ordered or wanted -- they will take it back. They were very accommodating and understanding.