[iBook] <OT> CompUSA

[Samantha Cornell]

This weekend, my husband and I decided to take the plunge and  
purchase 2 iBook G4s.  Because our local Apple Store is not due to  
open until the fall, we went to CompUSA.

I must say, our experience was very discouraging. We felt that we  
were an inconvenience to them, and while we didn't expect them to  
pamper us by any means, common courtesy would have been appreciated.   
We wound up having to return to the store twice, once to get a copy  
of Tiger that was not included as promised (took 33 minutes), and  
once to exchange one of the iBooks (less than 4 hours after  
purchasing it) because we found that there was an unresponsive  
section of the trackpad (took 62 minutes).

Both times, they made us very aware that our concerns, which we felt  
were very valid, were an inconvenience to them.  They actually went  
so far as to tell us that all iBooks have a dead spot near the center  
of the trackpad (not true, obviously), and that they would go to the  
trouble of exchanging it once, but it wasn't going to do us any  
good.  Of course, the replacement worked perfectly, as we would  
expect a brand new Apple product to do.

My question is: is this they type of experience that others have had  
at CompUSA?  We had a similarly difficult experience there when we  
bought our iMac last year. If so, why on earth are they the Apple  
authorized store?  It would seem that there are much better  
alternatives. i would expect this level of customer service at a fast  
food resturaunt or even a convenience store, but it seems out of line  
when purchasing a computer.