Any advanage of buying @ Applestore vs. online or reseller ?

Do you see an advantage of buying from an Apple store
- or no difference if I order online from Apple orsay
a reseller like MacMall ?

I tend to agree with Bmer that there's an advantage to buying from Apple, in terms of getting service.

Would I "build a relationship" with a store if I
purchased from them and I need service ---- bring to
the store where I purchased - vs. ---- I did not buy
from the store...would not want to assist ?

I don't think you'll "build a relationship" either way. My experience with the Apple Store has been variable. On a repair issue I got much better service from a different Apple Store than the one I bought the machine from.

I will buy the extended support ----

I think that's a good idea. I did with my MacBook purchase for the first time, after years of buying trouble-free Macs, on the suspicion that the Intel change could be problematical. That is now looking prescient.

I've found if you buy direct from Apple--either online or at a store--you have better chance of getting it replaced, or repaired faster, if you have a problem. Usually if you buy it from an online retailer like Mac Mall, Club Mac, etc., they will make you get the unit repaired--even if it's DOA out of the box.

- Bmer
Mac Owners Support Group
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agreed w/ Plecostomus.

also, note that BTOs may not be exchanged/returned at an apple store.

i'd just get it at an apple store if there's one around. the advantage is that you get to check you MB right there (my 1st MB's lid was misaligned).

I always thought that Apple took pride in their service. I recently bought a 20" iMac from an Apple Store over here in the UK and the service was terrible.

I live about 1 1/2 hours away from the store, so it is quite a trek, however I bought the new mac as I thought it was time to upgrade my hardware. I normally buy my mac peripherals from another store over here called John Lewis, same price and better customer service. Also give 2 year warranty on full systems so that appeals more.

Upon buying it, I got home, and found that their was no keyboard in the box. The box had never been opened before, yet the keyboad was missing. I rang through to the store, which took an age, for the manager to say pack it all up and bring it back in, and they will replace it in full and give another system.

This never happened, when I got there, there was a keyboard waiting, and she just replaced that, so I was a little miffed as it isn't a light system to just carry around.

Maybe you would experience better service, but so far it has left a really sour taste in my mouth, with dealing with Apple Store.

Cj.

 iMac, 20", 2.16GHz  macBook, 1.8GHz (white) Mac OS X (10.4.7)  iPod Photo 30Gb  iPod Hifi

I always thought that Apple took pride in their
service. I recently bought a 20" iMac from an Apple
Store over here in the UK and the service was
terrible.

I have bought most of my Apple kit from their London stores and have always found their staff helpful and knowledgable with problems (I have had to return two laptops with logic board faults).

I would steer away from resellers such as John Lewis as there are difficulties if repairs are needed. The Apple stores have authority to replace items; resellers don't.

I have only recently come back to Mac (after some 15 years away) and one of the reasons I did so was, should the device kack - and it most certainly will - I can go to my local Apple Store a mere 10 minute walk away (and where I bought it) and nail someone's sorry a** to the wall to get it fixed.

Is this the relationship you were referring to?

😉

In truth, I have been back to the store with a couple of software details since - and though this particular store is usually crazed with activity, there are a couple of staff who recognise me.

Actually, there are several highly regarded Apple resellers quite handy to me, but I guess I figured that if I'm going to buy a new Apple product, then an Apple Store (with its own repair facility) made sense in the long run.
There are certanly reports elsewhere in this Forum that suggests that often Apple Store Geniuses are, well...not - but still there is some value to me to having a 'bricks and mortar'location rather than relying entirely on a 1-800 to some place like Mombai and Support that consists of 'return to depot' or a 3rd Party repair facilty.

If your computer is dead on arrival or if a defect becomes apparent within the first week or two it is easier to get a replacement if you've bought direct from Apple whether online or at the store. If you read the return policy for third party vendors you'll see that they all indicate that you must return to Apple for repair. Now the laws of your locality might trump this policy as they do in my state, but the run around you get from the vendor can make the law nearly unenforceable. If you wish to buy online I highly recommend doing so direct from Apple.

If you want to buy from a local store there are often advantages to buying from an Apple reseller rather than at an Apple Store. Obviously one of the reasons Apple decided to start their own stores was because many areas weren't being served by a reseller, or a good reseller. OTOH there are many good resellers - and I must admit that I work for one that I think is excellent. If you have a local store that is interested in building relationships and doesn't just think of you as an income source then buying there would be a good idea.

Personally I just bought from Amazon because of the rebate and no tax as I live in CA. Your computer should be covered anyway for the normal warrenty period and if you were worried buy Apple care and you get that creamy Apple service no matter where you buy for years 🙂.


eMac 1Gz

I bought my MacBook from an Apple Store mainly because I am about 25 minutes away from it on the train. I also figured that a computer is a big and expensive investment. I didn't really trust the delivery to UPS or anyone else. If it were to be damaged during transportation, I wanted the honor of being the one to break it.

I would have been really bummed out if my MacBook came thousands of miles (from China) to my door and didn't work because it had too many things piled on top of it or whatever. To be honest, those boxes are padded really well.

Now that I think about it, they didn't build my computer it the store... so it had to be transported anyway...

The only good reason (that you'll find in my post) to buy from an Apple Store is that you can try out all of the computers and THEN decide which one to buy. If you don't need the portability, you may find that an iMac is just perfect for you. Or, after testing the 1.83 GHz MacBook, you may find that you like it, and save yourself a couple hundred bucks.