Expercom.com Experiences?? (kinda long)

[prof]

I ordered a refurb dual 2.5 G5 from Expercom.com that arrived
yesterday. It wasn't shipped in an original Apple box, which isn't
the end of the world but when I moved the box I could feel the G5
rattling around inside which made me uneasy. I opened the box to
find the G5 and it's keyboard wrapped in bubble wrap I was alarmed
to see that there was no other padding in the box to hold the unit in
place. So for the week that this heavy but delicate piece of electronics
was handled by Fed Ex Ground it had to be bouncing all around the
inside of this box. This was my first buying experience with Expercom.com
and as far as I'm concerned this is no way to do business. I was so
disturbed by this that I haven't even bothered to see if there's any actual
damage. If this is their standard operating procedure,I'd rather take my
business elsewhere. So I called them and they apologized for the way it
was shipped but said if there was any problem with the unit they would
"stand behind it". Which is all well and good but I'm still very uneasy about
what this computer must've gone through in it's 7 day trek across the country.
I'm considering just shipping it back the same pitiful way they shipped it
to me and going elsewhere. Am I bring unreasonable??

TIA,
Prof

[Effin Haole]

Not at all.

But if it works and is covered by AppleCare, WTF?

[prof]

[quote Effin Haole]Not at all.

But if it works and is covered by AppleCare, WTF?
Sorry, I should've mentioned that there is no Applecare on this unit.
It's only backed by the seller's 90 day warranty. Epercom.com does
sell they're own 6 month and 1 year warranties on their site. Maybe
I should ask them to comp me one and consider myself covered??
It would've been a nice gesture if they had offered that to me when
I called rather than having to ask for it myself.

Thanks for The Reply,
Prof

[Silencio]

I would only buy Apple factory refurbs. No dealer refurbs. There's a big difference.

[Gareth]

All my new and Apple refurb'd purchases from Expercom.com have gone well. When their free RAM didn't work once, instead of replacing it, they just refunded me the actual price of the RAM so I could buy matching sticks elsewhere b/c I wanted more anyway. When a friend needed to buy a computer for her boss, but needed it shipped elsewhere, and said I'd referred her, they were flexible on their "only shipping to credit card billing address policy" b/c I was a good customer.

Never bought a reseller refurb before (from Expercom or elsewhere), not sure I'd expect the experience to be significantly better elsewhere, though. Given that Apple factory refurbs already come in generic brown Apple boxes with different interior packing than new, I wouldn't necessarily expect a reseller refurb to use Apple original packaging. How much bubble wrap was it? How much difference does it make a difference if the bubble wrap protected computer slides around in its own box, or if the whole box slides around the truck its shipped in?

[prof]

[quote Gareth]
Never bought a reseller refurb before (from Expercom or elsewhere), not sure I'd expect the experience to be significantly better elsewhere, though. Given that Apple factory refurbs already come in generic brown Apple boxes with different interior packing than new, I wouldn't necessarily expect a reseller refurb to use Apple original packaging. How much bubble wrap was it? How much difference does it make a difference if the bubble wrap protected computer slides around in its own box, or if the whole box slides around the truck its shipped in?
It appears to be a couple layers but you have to consider that this is a heavier than average computer.
Having electronics not bounce around excessively is important to them arriving in good condition otherwise
every electronics manufacturer is being duped by the styrofoam consortium ;-)
The most galling aspect is that even wadded up newspapers would've been an improvement.
That takes the minimum effort to help ensure a customer's purchase arrives safely.
I've sold computers on ebay and I wouldn't even ship a computer like that.

[AllGold]

I have done business with Expercom and they were a pleasure to deal with.

However, in this case, I would return it--but not because of the way it was shipped. My reason is because of past experience (direct from Apple, not Expercom) I would never buy a G5 computer without AppleCare (or at the least a full warranty only if I planned to keep it less than a year).

(BTW, I would rather see it packed in the original styrofoam inserts. But if it's a reseller refurb and they don't have the original box and packing materials there's probably not much choice because there's no good way to get them.)

[Jack D.]

Seems like not much has changed over at Expercom. I had an "experience" with them when i bought my neice a refurbed iBook. The case was cracked and incredibly scuffed, the screen was twisted on its hinges and there were loose parts rattling around inside. I tried to work it out with the salesperson to no avail and had to get the attention of the owner Roger by posting my ordeal on DM forum here http://forums.dealmac.com/read.php?1,1939749,1939838 and the follow up here http://forums.dealmac.com/read.php?1,1942179,1943259

I'm all done with Expercom, YMMV.

[prof]

[quote Jack D.]Seems like not much has changed over at Expercom. I had an "experience" with them when i bought my neice a refurbed iBook. The case was cracked and incredibly scuffed, the screen was twisted on its hinges and there were loose parts rattling around inside. I tried to work it out with the salesperson to no avail and had to get the attention of the owner Roger by posting my ordeal on DM forum here http://forums.dealmac.com/read.php?1,1939749,1939838 and the follow up here http://forums.dealmac.com/read.php?1,1942179,1943259

I'm all done with Expercom, YMMV.
Many thanks for your reply. It turns out that my G5 was damaged just as I feared.
The bottom steel supports were bent to such an extent that it split the
casing. Not suprisingly, it refused to power up. After calling Expercom,
speaking with an underling and essentially getting nowhere, I read your
post and called back and spoke to Roger who seemed to be much more
understanding. He assured me that he will remedy the situation. So I'm
giving them a second chance but if there's any sort of problem with the
replacement, I will be getting a refund.

Thanks Again,
Prof