Another time Solutions refused to accept my Educational discount even though I am listed with Apple as a educator. “we have our own system of… blah blah” Interestingly their educational discount also have been a bit ‘off kilter’ in the past.

Local they may be but with an Apple Store now in town they are totally surplus to requirements in my opinion.

I would guess that their market is more of the “ohh I always wanted an Apple” variety. Personally I would rather buy in John Lewis or Dixons than here!

Confuse MacBook with MacBook Pro? Of course. But: you shouldn’t need to provide a reason.

A restocking fee? vs selling up? Huh?

Surely they have seen this kind of thing backfire badly in the past?

* Why was Mr Brignull expected to know that he’d been sold the wrong machine in the shop? He says he went to the shop and asked for the new entry level Macbook Pro. The shop gave him a box with “Macbook” in big letters on the side – but if he’d never seen the packaging before, why should that have alerted him?

* Why was Mr Brignull expected to read the receipt in the shop? Who does that?

When a customer enters a shop – they expect the shop to be the experts. The onus is not on the customer to “just know”; they should be told. In the highly specialised field of computing and technology, this is all the more likely.

Regardless of any of the above – Mr Brignull was entitled to a full refund or replacement because he went into the shop to buy the new, entry level Macbook Pro and was sold the old Macbook instead. It may have been a misunderstanding or an error – that does not matter.

He had, under the Sale of Goods act, the right to a replacement or refund if he returned the item “within a reasonable time”. He returned to the shop the same day – in other words, the moment he saw the laptop and realised it was the wrong model.

The continued chastisement of this gentleman for asserting his consumer rights leaves a sour taste. Furthermore it is, frankly, quite odd.

I took the trouble to google for the email address you posted with. It led to a discussion board about telescopes, where your real name was shown. I don’t want to make a big deal out of this, but that was pretty stupid as it was easy for me to then use LinkedIn to find out who you currently work for. In future, if you intend to pose as a fake customer, I recommend using a clean email address.

Dear “Paul”

I took the trouble to use an IP address lookup service to find out a bit more about you. It led directly to your real name, and funnily enough, that allowed me to work out the company you work for. In future, if you intend to do this sort of cloak and dagger thing again, I recommend not using your home computer since you have a fixed IP address that is registered to your real name. There are plenty of free wifi hotspots you could have used.

I’m bored of this. Can we all just move on now please.

I have used Solutions several times in the past and I have always found them to be an extremely friendly, courteous and helpful crew. I have found this to be so in both the Brighton and Chichester stores, and to be absolutely frank – I don’t believe a word of what you say.

Here’s why:

A laptop purchase isn’t generally something done on impluse. So presumably you did all the research about prices and specification in advance and having settled on a MacBook Pro went into the shop and asked for one, to which I assume they asked you which one you would like since there are several MacBook Pro’s varying in spec and price? They would have had to have asked this question otherwise they would simply have randomly chosen one for you and presented you with the bill.

Okay, so which MacBook Pro did you settle on? Well, lets say you settled for the entry level MacBook Pro. Presumably you asked the price? Failing that, they must have told how much an entry level MacBook was? After all you did purchase what you thought was a MacBook Pro. So now they are handing it over. Did you see the big black writing on the side saying MacBook? or when you got it home before opening it? Can you see my point? It really doesn’t add-up in the slightest.

What really gets me, is the potential harm you may have done Solutions by using your blog and the BNM group to get the MacBook Pro you realised retrospectively you should have bought because it was only £50 more expensive after you foolishly bought a MacBook.

Shame on those all people so willing to believe your story and so willing spread vitriol-filled (and quite frankly libelous) comments about a situation they had only heard one half of the story.

For your information, had you bought the MacBook direct from Apple they almost certainly wouldn’t have given you a refund either.

Chris
Brighton

I think this has been blown way out of proportion. Personally the staff in the Brighton shop have always been helpful and professional.

We should all support the local shops over the big corporate nastys !

And as for the “ex member” of staff putting up personal contact details….. surely they are someone who holds a grudge probably due to failing in his job and should get a life instead of stirring things up.

M x

Similar situation:
I bought a mid-to-high end Wacom tablet from my local Mac store. I took it home, installed it, Then realized I’d cocked up and bought the Bluetooth ONLY version. Totally my mistake.

I took it back to the shop, and swapped it for a different one that is actually cheaper.

No fuss, no charges, all done.

Welcome to Canada, where people have better things to do that be bitter, penny pinching economic doom mongering misers. I certainly don’t miss this shite.

Either the person who sold it to you was new and unexperienced, or was devious and deliberately mis-sold it to you to as you claim. You can’t have it both ways.

Besides, the black text on Apple’s white boxes says either ‘Macbook’ or ‘Macbook Pro’ in 2 inch high lettering – how more obvious do you need it?

(By the way, Apple themselves charge a restocking fee of 10% for opened goods which would have been higher than fifty quid.)

Also well done for getting people on Twitter & BNM involved. Don’t think you got the refund / exchange because of the all the ranting. You probably didn’t when all you probably needed to do is talk to the right person at Solutions.

As for the Ex-Staff giving out Private mobile numbers & Aim details. Shame on you!!

Harry, really they that post should be removed.

(1) I called the manufacturer (in your case, Apple) and let them know that the store was giving their product a bad name. Apple would rather sell you a new Macbook than a used one, I’m sure.

(2) I called corporate (not sure if this store is a chain or not) and reported the incident and the manager.

In this case, I ended up getting a refund directly from corporate and never even had to go back to the store, but in your case, they could at least put pressure on the local store. Local store managers tend to get a bit mad with power when it comes to their tiny swath of land.

When you talk to these other parties, be rational (don’t rant), present the facts, and know exactly what you want. If that doesn’t work, don’t go directly to small claims. You may be able to just have a small business lawyer draft a letter to the store. People talk tough, but an official letter from a real lawyer is often enough to change their tune.

I used to work for Solutions Inc. Part of the reason I left is that they went from being a nice little company to yet another box shifter and let their support/service suffer.

The MD, John Parvin [...], is available on email at john@solutions-inc.co.uk, by phone on 01273 [...] (DDI) and [...], or by AIM at [...].