SMB IT | Curtis Franklin » Trouble at the Orchard?

September 01, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Trouble at the Orchard?

TAGS: Public Service Links

I've been trying to get Apple's PR folks to send me a few Mac products, so I could take a look at them through an SMB filter. That way I'd have more original content for the millions upon millions of readers this blog undoubtedly gets.

No go. The Apple is a quiet fruit. So, since the Mac Mini is onlya $500 machine, and I make such massive amounts of money, I figured I'd pick one up at CompUSA and maybe just return it if the thing sucked too badly. I'm on my way to the store yesterday when...

"Oh no," says my Apple Zealot Buddy. Seems AZB found a 30-day money-back guarantee on Apple's Web site that covered both the Mac Mini and a number of its sexier accessories. Cool. No muss no fuss. I'd love to link you to the Apple store now, complete with offer...

...but I go to buy the thing today...and the offer's gone. Here one day, gone the next. AZB, who actually saw the offer, tells me it was supposed to run through Oct. 31. I called an Apple Store at a nearby mall and asked "Whattup?" but the know-it-all Apple Guru was no guru at all when it came to online sales offers. I guess youth and acne don't imply as much knowledge as you'd think.

I haven't heard of any mass Mac Mini returns that might have prompted Apple to pull back from a money-back guarantee program, but the fact that it pulled back at all would give me pause as a purchaser. Especially if I was considering the purchase of 5, 10, 20, 50 or more as SMB workstations.

If Apple's serious about this market, it better smooth out its sales process.

Posted by Oliver Rist on September 1, 2005 12:32 PM

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