hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has bought a mac from the states and has any issues with warranty? i've checked a couple of mac stores and they're much cheaper with better specs. when i calculated cost plus fedex shipping it still turned out 100 ringgits cheaper than buying a lesser specced macbook in kl. plus shops around here are lousy when it comes to sales and service. for example macmall.com has great deals. my sis lives in the states and she can ship to me.

mirage3d

called customs and told me there are no duties or taxes if it's for personal use. i'm planning to get only one macbook. don't think anyone can do business with 1 macbook

This post has been edited by mirage3d: Mar 19 2007, 03:12 PM

keantan,

everything is around 20% cheaper. google for online apple stores and resellers. you'd be surprised. better specs, cheaper prices. the catch is that many of them don;t ship outside the US. but if you know someone who can ship it to you or 'bring' it to you then i say it's not worth buying it over here. many stores also offer you many configurations. shops over here wanna charge me 800 rm's to upgrade a 1.8 macbook to 1gb ram. they say they have to take out the 2x256 and install new 2x512 mb'. meanwhile, i guess, i can put the swapped out 2x256 on a shelf and admire the the pins. doesn't make sense at all!

well this is why i'm posting this topic. wanna know if anyone has had any issues with warranty or anything else. customs told me that computers intended for personal use are duty-free. anyway, the best people to ask would also be the courrier co's, since they would be handling the customs clearance.

This post has been edited by mirage3d: Mar 19 2007, 03:44 PM

a saving of 100 rm's is not really that much of an issue as you will see below. the risk of being taxed by customs can be either confirmed or dispelled by asking the courier co's. i have asked on several occasions for different items and they were quite informative and helpful. if anyone knows what really goes on, it would be them since they are the ones who will be doing the customs clearing.

as for the handling, i have received 6 dell machines over 3 years - all couriered. no complaints or damages so far. and the choice of courier eventually will be cost and handling safety.

having mentioned dell, i wish apple is like dell. allow customizations online and customer service is A+. i have no experience with the local apple rep, but their site is disappointing to say the least. it looks like a copy of apple inc's site but when you choose to 'get a mac', you're directed to 'where to buy' which only offers a 'pdf' list of distributors and resellers. and the list doesn't even have links to their sites - you have to call them or google for them. no mention of prices either. ok, apple malaysia clearly wants us to buy through their resellers, but at least make it easier for us to find them and give us the chance to contemplate how deep we have to get into our pockets by publishing some prices. the prices are clearly controlled by apple malaysia so what's wrong with publishing them? there's no competition to hurt.

and why do prices have to be controlled? ideally, resellers would offer better prices than apple and would be offering also many custom packages and bundles. that's the whole idea of having resellers. to make it easier for people to get this wonderful machine. more competition means more sales. if all the resellers sell the same packages, at the same price, what's the point of having resellers? it's probably best to operate an apple malaysia franchise. the current system means i don't have to go low yat or damansara or bangsar or ikano or pj for a mac. i just have to go to the nearest mac dealer because it'd be just like walking into a macdonald's. has anyone checked the flyers and leaflets that mac shops offer? they're identical!

i don't mind paying extra if the service is ok and makes sense over here. i walked into 3 different mac stores and all i got was blank looks to some of my questions and answers that make no sense. the salespeople were coached to give certain answers to certain questions. but if you ask something else they just give you the blank look or the 'i'm sorry, that's what we have. there's no other way around it'. so the 100 or so rm's i save are not just for the better specs, or coming in 4 days. it's for the freedom of choice and the fact that i got what i want the way i want it, not the way a shop tells me to have it.

and for those interested in my calculation. here's the deal...
apple inc (USA) macbook black - $1499
macmall (USA) macbook black - $1394 (after $100 rebate) link: macmall - macbook
macshop (MY) macbook black - $1709
courier - $190

the difference (in RM) between buying from macmall with shipping and buying it locally is RM443.
now if i were in the states, i can get the same black macbook with 2gigs of ram instead of 1, plus parallels, a free hp printer, a 512 thumbdrive and a carrying case at $1594 after the rebates - compare this to the local price of the black 1gig macbook above. and i don't have to pay anything - if i'm too broke - for the first 6 months. wow! now that's what i call service. i sure wish i'm over there now.

check out the macbook pro prices. you'll weep.

mirage3d

This post has been edited by mirage3d: Mar 19 2007, 08:22 PM

thanks yetieater. i'll check that out.

youngkies,

i know what you mean, but i was also refering to what ed0gawa mentioned about computers and IT products not being taxed. that's what i heard and that's what the customs also mentioned to me. IT is encouraged and you won't be taxed as long as you're not making money selling it.

pukarix,

i would not have considered ordering from the states if i was satisfied. it's like going to an expensive restaurant. you kow the food might be twice as good as anywhere else but paying 4 times as much as anywhere else still makes you feel good because you were satisifed. what i didn't like is:

1. i'm getting below average service - salespeople don't care what you think of them or the prices.
2. uninformed salespeople who have to run back to their supers to ask for answers to my questions.
3. clearly much higher prices for no added value. why am i asked to pay that much more when i'm not satisfied?
4. why doesn't anyone care to satisfy customer? they don't have to. the current fixed price policy encourages no competition and hence no need to compete.

imagine walking into a normal fast food outlet and pay as much as you would pay in a gourmet restaurant? when the waiters don't even bother smiling at you when they serve you. you wouldn't take your girlfriend there or be smiling while you pay the bill.

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Added on March 20, 2007, 11:55 amxaw5126,

that still doesn't make sense to me. if it works in the states why can't it work here? competition is not always in price. competition is in service. i'm a person that wouldn't go for cheaper. but i also wouldn't go for most expensive if i feel that i'm not getting my money's worth. if the rent rule applies, that means that apple malaysia bumped the price so high to accommodate for the most expensive malls.
and if that's the case, then it would be much smarter to open a shop in a shop lot, and invest the money you were going to pay for a mall rental in a really nice decor and you would make a bigger margin.
fixing price is no protection against chaos. competition is very good for both ends - consumer and vendor. price competition applies only if the service is the same all over. if i'm gettign the same service all around then i would go for cheapest, since it doesn't make sense to pay more when someone offers me the same service for a cheaper price.
competition is in service and added values. like the restaurant example above, people wouldn't mind paying more if they get satisfied. imagine one of my scenarios...

"if i want to upgrade this macbook to 1 gig, how much would that be?"
"you can either add a 512 and take out 256 and get 750 mb's or take out the two 256 and put in 2 512 to get a 1 gig or put one 1 gig and get 1.2 gigs of ram"
"if i want two 512 how mcuh would that be ?"
"that would cost you around 800 more"
"so for an additional 512 i need to pay 800"
"no. that's for an additional 1 gig"
[i'm sure you can tell already what's going on in my mind by now]
"so 512 costs 400"
"yes"
"and what do i do with the two 256 ?"
[i get the silence treatment]
[swallow my ego and disappointment and ask for a demo for my wife]
"do you have a machine here with keynote? i would like to see a demo"
"yeah we do, let me look for it"
[browse a few folders to install the try-out version on the macbook]
"here's a list of how some templates look like"
"are there any examples that show how nice keynote is ?"
[i know how amazing keynote is but i wanted to show my wife since we're thinking of getting her a macbook]
"uhmm, no i'm sorry"
[ok let's choose one good looking template to show my wife]
"this is only a blank template. you have to neter something in there"
"ok thanks, let's try"
[wife fiddles with it while he's standing there watching. looks like he's learning while my wife is trying to learn as well]
[of course wife is not impressed trying to fiddle with a system she never tried before]
[now why would i wanna give business to this shop?]
[of course by this time the whole shop was taken out of my list and probably the idea of buying a mac in malaysia since this was the 3rd sop i walk into]
[and of course now's the time to seriously consider buying from the states since i end up servicing myself anyway and i get to pay less in the process]

the issue is bigger than price chaos here. fixing prices doesn't address issues such as customer service. since this thread showed a few positive experiences and answers, then it's just a matter of time before more people will discover that getting it from the states makes more sense.

mirage3d


This post has been edited by mirage3d: Mar 20 2007, 11:55 AM

tishaban,

thanks. i've read a few posts praising apple malaysia quite a bit. and a few posts that confirm that some mac shops around here give bad reputation to the others. i wish apple malaysia would do something to make things better.

mirage3d