Apple service?

[george]

Long time  since my last posting.Please bear with me on this woeful saga. A couple of weeks ago I thought I would treat myself to a "last hurrah| in that I splashed out on an iMac Pro it arrived on Monday 8th April , with palpitation I set it up  only to find that it was already partitioned for Windows one on top of that there was an item (Superduper) in the trash, my first thought was is this  a refurbished machine?. I called up Apple care and the "techies" could not supply an answer, iMac Pro collected and replaced the following day only to find exactly same problem this time 2 unidentifiable items in the trash, anther collection and new machine only to find this was also windows partitioned. iMac Pro collected an monies refunded. This all happened in the space of 7 days and 5 hours on the phone with various levels o management Techies and sales, I let the techie "into" my machine to see for themselves but no answers were forthcoming.  Senior manager (I want give her name" offered me as a gesture of good will the magnificent sum of £80  which has yet  to appear in my account. might I ask for your comments as to my next move should be (if any)
George

[Xairbusdriver]

I assume this is ordering through the "official" Apple site in the UK? Can you supply a link to that site (specifically the one you used)? I keep getting bounced back to the US site despite repeatedly selecting "UK" as a location.

5 hours on the phone with various levels o management Techies and sales,

By "sales", do you mean actual sales personnel or something else?

[george]

Hi Jim, the iMac was purchased on line  via the official apple site (the link I no longer have) by sale I mean I was eventually escalated up to senior lady manager based in Cork Ireland (Apple European HQ)
George

[Xairbusdriver]

Sorry I have no suggestions about a way around this problem. Obviously, the specs don't say anything about third-party software being pre-installed on a Mac Pro. I'd think it would be difficult to specify a 'refurbished' model on the regular configure page.

I can only assume that these machines might be a canceled corporate order and were never shipped. Did the packaging look like it had been "unboxed"? Even that is not proof that they might have already been sent to a customer, of course. Even if they had been unboxed, they could have easily been re-packaged by Apple. If they were never shipped (and certainly if not unboxed) Apple may be able to still (legally) call them "new" rather than refurbished.

My only suggestion is to just opt for a souped-up iMac rather than a Pro. I doubt I have any apps that I could not run simultaneously and bog down a "regular" iMac. With the price difference, buy all the ram you can fit into the iMac and you should still have a nice bundle left over for a nice gift for your favorite spouse! It might not be best to tell her it was "left over" money, however.

[Paddy]

That's just peculiar, George - and I can't find any reference online to this happening to anyone else either. I've ordered many a refurbished Mac in my day and NONE of them have had anything on them - and certainly no NEW Mac has either. Truly bizarre to have it happen once - let alone three times.

Is there a reason you want the iMac Pro over a nicely spec'd iMac? The iMac Pro is really geared to those doing heavy duty processing, and particularly video. (Also good for those doing scientific stuff where any data corruption is unacceptable). But for most of us, they're overkill - and I say that as someone who does a lot of photo processing, too. Of course, there are a few other nice things about the iMac Pro (more ports, T2 etc.) but overall, I still think I'd probably opt for a regular 2019 27" model if I was looking to replace my 2014 model, which I'm not (yet).

I dunno - if you really want the iMac Pro, and order it and yet another one arrives with peculiarities indicating prior use, I'd push for more of a credit than the £80 and then just reformat the darn thing. (You did check that all three had different serial numbers, I'm assuming?)

[Xairbusdriver]

Another article about the T2 chip in the latest TidBITS, GEOFF DUNCAN 5 April 2019. Several important reasons why you might want to avoid any model which includes that chip.

Current iMac's do not have that chip, yet. The Mac Pro does, as well as 2018 iMac Mac mini's, MacBook Air's and MacBook Pro's.

If you still have the 'paperwork' from your previous deliveries, they might have serial numbers on them. Being shipped the same hardware all three times would be the logical reason for finding the same software on "them". Easiest way to check the serial number, short of using a magnifying gas on the turning the machine upside down (I think), is to open System Information... by clicking the black Apple icon and pressing the option key. The displayed window should have "Hardware" selected and the main section displaying various model info. The T2 presence is found in the "Controller" item in the sidebar of the Hardware section.

[Xairbusdriver]

Attn: GEORGE!!!

What is the verdict?!
Did you ever get a real, live, pure, new machine?!

[george]

Thank you Paddy and Jim, the latest is that my daughter Pauline took over the discussion on my behalf (failing eyesight and poor hearing) and the outcome was that Apple after a thorough investigation could not (or would not) supply any reason as to why 3 new machines were dispatched with windows partitions and 2 2 of them with item in the trash. With regard to their £80  gesture of goodwill this has now changed tome being offered £150 discount off any new Apple  excluding Apple Care or iTunes.Am now mulling over my options.
Watch this space.
George

[Xairbusdriver]

Thanks for the update, George! Great to have 'the kids' help out! I'd encourage a re-reading Paddy's thoughts on iMac's vs iMac Pro (Reply #4 above). Makes me think about making screen shots right after opening any 'new' boxes... including info like serial numbers!