Apple Store
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 @ 1:25pm | by Cindy
Remember my favorite friends at the Apple Store at Flatiron Crossing? The ones who told me a bunch of incorrect things about the iMac and its software when selling it to me, who sold me a computer with a bad hard drive, who gave me attitude when I returned it for repair, who told me I should change the way I do things rather than make the computer work for me, and who theoretically fixed my broken computer? They broke it in the process of "repairing" it. Not only were they a day late in getting it fixed, according to an AppleCare Support diagnosis they either didn't replace my hardware sensor as they should when they replaced the hard drive, or they didn't hook it back up securely. There's a small chance that they simply replaced the bad hard drive with a hard drive that has a bad sensor, but that's "unlikely".
One good piece of news I can confirm for people living in northern Colorado - unbeknownst to the majority of AppleCare support folks, as helpful as they are, there is indeed an Authorized Apple Service Center (reseller too) in Fort Collins, Colorado. They're The Mac Shack, at 157 N College, on the west side between Mountain and Laporte Aves. I'll report back on their service when I get my iMac back from them. No more trucking all the way to Boulder or Broomfield! http://www.themacshack.net/
One other good piece of news I can in all honesty credit Apple with: the box the iMac comes in is nice and sturdy, and has withstood all this traveling around northern Colorado. Maybe that's what the $2000 was for, the hardware is crap but at least you can cart it around in a sturdy box to get it repaired frequently!
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 @ 2:06pm | by Cindy
I cannot believe their incompetence. Exactly one month and three days ago I first visited this store as a then-strictly-pc-user. I already blogged about my experience there, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But it doesn't end there. I picked up my iMac from repair this morning (a day later than they promised), brought it home and started it up. It had a new hard drive, no data. They were going to charge me for putting all my data back on there even though they're the ones that sold me a bad hard drive in the first place, but I was too quiet of a mouse to argue so I decided to try it myself. Time Machine recovery worked flawlessly, except for the new clicking sound now emitting from my external backup drive. Thankfully it didn't die in the middle of the process, so I have my computer restored.
The fan is noticeably louder, but I figured if that's the worst of my problems, I'll deal with it. Guess what, it's not the worst of my problems. My iMac now goes into sleep mode as it should, but won't come out of it. Moving the mouse, tapping keys on the keyboard, tapping the power button, none of it brings it back. I have to hold the power button in until it eventually powers off.
I called the store and was told, "Gosh, that doesn't sound right." I can either A) call AppleCare Support, or B) make another appointment with the idiots who sold me a bad computer and then broke it while repairing it, she recommends B. Not on your life, I'm never stepping foot back in that store again!
Tue, Feb 23, 2010 @ 12:07pm | by Cindy
Today marks the one month anniversary of buying my iMac, and I had to return it to the store today because the hard drive needs to be replaced. I am so impressed - badly! It didn't take them long to figure out what was wrong, but that doesn't make me any happier. They didn't have the standard iMac hard drive in stock, so I had to leave it there - with all of my private data on there, I'm not happy about that.
As I was leaving, no less than 3 employees stopped me on the way out to make sure I was pleased. Well let's see:
- My 1-month old, over $2,000 iMac is dead already because this store sold me a bad computer in the first place
- I had to drive an hour to the store, another hour home, and I'll drive two more hours to pick it up in a few days. That's ok, I surely had nothing better to do with my time, like run my business and work for my clients.
- I will have lost a total of 3 productivity days where I can't get my job done because they couldn't fix it on site.
Do you really think I'm happy?
When talking to my "genius," he tells me that I should have called Apple Care because they could have told me where a closer Authorized Apple Repair Center is. I DID call Apple Care, and they told me to come to this store!
While there, I inquire about Time Machine. You can't set the backup interval on it, it's either on and performs backups every hour, or it's off, but I can exclude certain files. I have a 10 GB mail file using Thunderbird. Thunderbird is far superior to their Mail program - I'll blog about that another day. In the meantime, I can't allow Time Machine to backup my 10 GB file every hour - my computer will be filled up in a week, but I want some type of backup for my email.
Hence, a new inquiry about a second external hard drive with backup software that will allow me to manually determine files and time intervals for backups. Well sure, they have them, but my "genius" strongly recommends I don't bother with them and stick with Time Machine, and switch to Apple's Mail program instead of Thunderbird. Well, there goes a couple hundred dollar sale for him, I'll take my business elsewhere.
So my final experience from this morning? Chatting with another woman who was bringing her iMac in to get it fixed. She had a handy little cart for moving it, and she suggested I buy one, only $20 at Costco. Why, you ask? Because, in her words, "It makes it so much easier when you have to keep bringing your iMac back here." Oh joy, I get to look forward to more returns?
Thu, Jan 28, 2010 @ 8:43am | by Cindy
While I still believe my experience at the Apple Store was superior to most computer experiences, I can't sing their praises too much. I do have to admit that my Specialist (who acknowledged he was new) didn't always give me the correct answers. Not knowing Apple software, I mistakenly assumed iMovie and Final Cut Express could handle all standard PC file formats, such as the .AVI's my clients send me, and he confirmed this. Not true, they import from a variety of current video cameras, but importing movies someone else provides in any format other than Apple formats doesn't work. For those of you who care about this, there are free "drivers" I'll call them for lack of a better word, that make Final Cut Express recognize other formats such as AVI. Google "Perian".
When I asked him about the difference between iMovie and Final Cut Express, one of the things he mentioned was you can't control your iMovies at a finer level than 1/10 of a second. Not true. You can control it by entering in times more precise than that manually, or by magnifying your viewer to 1/2 second segments.
While nothing he told me incorrectly would have been a significant deterent to buying an iMac, it was a bit frustrating to start using it at home and find he was incorrect on a bunch of little things. My advice to any PC user about to make the leap: do your research first, or make sure you get an experienced and knowledgeable Specialist to answer your questions.
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 @ 8:40am | by Cindy
 I needed a new computer, my clients are needing more video editing capabilities for me that my 3-year-old PC couldn't handle. As much as I love my Dell, it was time to face facts: Apples are better at graphics. I priced out a top-of-the-line Dell, compared specs to a less-expensive iMac, and found the iMac was faster for what I needed to do, with a better screen and came with video editing software. Considering the Dell was going to make me learn a new operating system and upgrade all of my software anyway (due to Windows 7), there really was no choice left to be made.
At the Apple Store
The store is very contemporary, very clean, all white, like you're in an unearthly world. Very streamlined too, like their computers. There are more than two dozen computers sitting out, connected to the Internet and loaded with the iLife "lifestyle suite," waiting to be test-driven. And I have to add, as a mother this was important: a video game console to keep the kids occupied! We hadn't been in the store more than a few seconds when the Concierge introduced us to a Specialist. This guy spent the next 2 hours dedicated to me, answering every question, recommending what I needed based on what I said (he listened!) and what was more than I needed or useless for me. Very down-to-earth, honest kind of guy, not salesman-y at all. When I was ready to check out, he verified what I needed, ordered it on his handheld (some guy in the back brought it up), and swiped my credit card through his handheld. I don't know if they even have a register there for checking people out, this was all done standing in front of their demo machines.
I had originally placed my order with Dell before looking at the iMacs. They told me it would be at least two months before I could receive my order. After 2 hours at the Apple store, I walked home with a superior computer in my hands, including a gorgeous 27 inch monitor, for less expense. Not bad, eh?
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