no they dont necessarily represent apple. The premium reseller badge is for have turnover rate, Epicentre and Switch has it too. Your representatives of Apple are apple malaysia themselves, located at Bukit Damansara. Your logic flawed, bad experience at an apple reseller = still is bad experience at an apple reseller, bad experience at an Actual Apple Store = Bad Experience with Apple Inc, as they come under direct control/QC. I cannot say im dissapointed at BMW if Auto Bavaria suxks can i?

That one is up to Apple Malaysia or Apple South Asia to decide, but that doesn't mean Apple has jurisdiction over Apple Reseller employees' conducts. Whatever services that requires Apple's intervention, especially replacements of parts, it is all under the purview of Apple. Even Apple Authorised Service Providers like VR Tech, Sapura, and Machines - require clarification from Apple before any major parts are to be replaced under warranty... hence the red tape...

But if there's any misconduct out of any staff concerned, it is solely the responsibility of that particular Apple Reseller.

Yes you can since BMW has a say on how its reseller perform .. remember VW who cancelled VW Car The Curve dealership which was announced not long ago..

My point of contention is, as was pointed by Eithanius, if the staff that is under the direct purview of the reseller or the service rendered. i cant complain if im carless for a month if BMW didnt choose to have a service centre in Malaysia which has all the parts stored locally. Auto Bavaria still has to order from Germany fro an engine replacement, and its clearly not Auto Bavaria's fault but if Auto Bavaria service suxks its their fault cause Auto Bavaria CS is under them, BMW can only do so much to ensure its franchisee comply with its agreements, same rules applies with apple reseller.

This post has been edited by nimrod323: Apr 27 2010, 11:35 PM

Hehe.. I guess this is what we get for being a consumer in Malaysia We're always at the losing end ..

At least we can buy directly from Apple now online. No more waiting 2 months for the new machines to arrive or whatever, like in 2008.

agreed. i think i need to rephrase. wut i mean was since machines, epicentre, switch etc got the premium reseller badge, i guess ppl would think their service are 'approved' by apple. if they give bad service, ppl would think "lousy service also apple can approve?". something like that lar i guess.

i thought someone mentioned here if we get bad treatment, can complain to apple?

What??? A PC user...Mmm mati la Machines macam ni

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Added on April 28, 2010, 7:49 amProbably u studying at CENFAD

This post has been edited by nawzi: Apr 28 2010, 07:49 AM

Yes, I would think that most consumers would believe there is a strong association between Apple and the resellers because of their premium reseller badge, and their strong presence in the city. Even the interior modelling of the reseller store, Machines and Mac City included, closely resembles an official Apple store.

Their rude staff can lead an undesirable impression that *all* Apple stores are like that for the uninformed. I don't know how much jurisdiction or say Apple has in QC of the staff at Machines, but since Machines is a distributor of almost all products exclusively Apple, it would be wise if they said a word to them. I would think that to resell Apple products, you would have to officially file to Apple to become one, otherwise, why aren't there more Mac selling stores in Low Yat? Or are Apple products really that expensive and exclusive?

This post has been edited by OmniAtlas: Apr 28 2010, 10:07 AM

Actually if an apple reseller were to be established in overseas lets say UK/Australia instead of the Apple Store, Im sure their services would definitely be much better based on their culture which really emphasizes on customers satisfaction comes first. Its just thats our Malaysian culture to not emphasize on good and friendly service. Thats my opinion.

you'd think for a second that people who use macs would end up in a sloppy job like a salesman that wud probably incur wages between 5-8 Ringgit? Please la try to work in an apple reseller first and then comment. At least even if they are a PC user they are making an honest living lets face it, salesman can only feed you only so much info, if you are buying something be it even RM1 of value, you better research and know what you are buying.

Well, I'm in Australia at the moment and 'Next Byte', an Australia reseller replaced my hard drive within 1 day. They are pretty good with their service when you can get hold of their sales person, they are just understaffed (in Brisbane).

Yet when foreigners enter an Apple reseller they only get what they want, and know what they are buying instead of asking questions like, hello got freebies arrr, discount arrr, 24 months installment arrr without even asking how the mac works etc etc. Our customer etiquette is also marred by sense of entitlement too.

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Added on April 28, 2010, 10:27 amreason being to startup you'd have to have a startup capita that runs i millions,thats just for setting up the store, to buy stocks and products you would need to have an account filled with millions. Thats why they arent many whom are taking this business, lets face it Malaysians in general dont buy macs, its like the last choice. I have said it before, theres no point to rant and say its up to Apple to correct the resellers, its actually up to the resellers, Machines or any other resellers, have implemented customer feedback forms as well as email addresses that are read by their directors personally. This is waay faster than b****ing about it here. I have seen the feedback forms in plain sights in machines outlets, with a pen not too far away,their name tags are always there for you to refer too.

This post has been edited by nimrod323: Apr 28 2010, 10:29 AM

I must disagree on you with this one... You will be shocked to know that a lot of Australian when buying things do ask for freebies or barter as they called it, and ask a lot more questions than some Asians when buying things...

Just my point of view thou...

This post has been edited by micdy: Apr 28 2010, 10:31 AM

nimrod, just wondering if you're attached to any of the Apple resellers in Malaysia? The only reason I bought my things from Apple Store Online is because, I don't want the hassle with the 'helpers' there.. There are few smaller Apple resellers like the one at The Curve who are willing to help with answering all this kind of questions .. and I do believe they're getting more returning customers compared to Machines. IT IS NOT WRONG TO ASK QUESTIONS before buying ..

I ment smaller stores selling a range of diversified products -- e.g. Sony, Acers, Asus, etc, so why not macs? You might be right though, the market is just too small at this time. However, I've never seen a mac being sold outside an official reseller store, which is why I question if resellers are the only ones entitled to sell mac products.

Agree on that with wiraone... Asking is our customer rights so why not ask and get the best of our rights? Yea we should stop ranting here and just fill in the suggestion form and hand it up to them there and then.

@OmniAtlas
Apple doesn't work like Samsung et. al. To open an Apple store, you'd need to contact the local office and explain your business plan, at the very least. Basically, you'd be looking at becoming a local partner with Apple, and that's why you will not see Macs at Harvey Norman or Best Denki

@tarvalslain87 @wiraone
i think nimrod323 is talking about those people who come in and ask stuff like "why no VGA port?" "why no free Microsoft Office" "can you install pirated software?" ...
the impression created by this kind of questions is of a person who only wants the cheapest deal, even if its illegal. Honestly, I'd prefer to explain for 35 minutes of the benefits of Mac OS & iLife, rather than 30 seconds on why installing pirated stuff for a customer is illegal.
Also, Apple is famous for *never* giving free stuff. I guess its working here, cos Machines, Epicentre, Mac Studio, MacCity are all giving free stuff... and obviously they can't afford good employees... so :

since we're here, please consider that all your Mac resellers are employing as cheap as they can get, so that they can give more freebies. Apparently its working, cos they've been doing it for over 2 years now... and they are all still in business. for all the complaining & whining I hear here... apparently its an effective plan for them to keep doing it.

Having a difference of an opinion doesnt mean i from an establishment that advocates it, i never claimed that Machines CS is the awesomest, im just saying they could be better, in fact i have also concurrently mentioned epicentre and switch in the mix. I too like you bought a lot of stuff from online store, if some of you guys might remember the mb pro unibody that i did almost a year back would remember as well as the buying tips thats pinned up there. Its really not wrong to ask questions seriously it isnt, but well its also not wrong to know what you are buying before making a purchase, i would think the salesman wouldnt know everything about a mac like for example if you ask him how an X grid works with a slew of machines with different OSES, he'll be like huh WHAT? I have been to Technocrats in One Borneo and even Switch in Penang, small relative shops that didnt bother to say hi to me when i asked queries. But i dont blame that or make an issue on the spot, just an email or call yo their HQ would resolve the matter. Regarding returning customers, do you work there to know they get more returning customers or are did they published a chart somewhere? i wouldnt even claim such a thing, cause i dont have any inside knowledge of customer demographic of any mac stores in Malaysia. Im not tryig to discredit you here, just proving my point a few posts back that if anyone were to face problems with any mac stores, do the necessary steps to heal your grievances, there are many avenues, even the kementerian pengguna if you have to, no point complaining here, i doubt they monitor this page.

nimrod, agreed .. but the grievances that we put here is not for them to read .. it is as a pre-warning for those who haven't done a deal or visiting them. For me, I don't really care what kind of services done by Machines since I know that I won't go there .. but I do believe many new buyers or those who want to get their services at Machines to think more than twice before stepping inside .. Somehow, I just read one of my friend's posting on the facebook yesterday complaining about how Machines service centre treated him .. and how the VRTech served him well .. owell, everybody got their opinions .. if anyone is still buying or sending their Apple stuff for servicing in Machines, it is their choice really .. I couldn't say much..