March 20, 2000
by Stephen Hildreth
Editor-in-Chief

Back on January 23rd, we ran a story on the problems with Apple Refurbished PowerBook G3's. Over the past few weeks, we've received quite a few responses, and you can read about some of their horror stories here:

Back in October I ordered a refurbished PB G3 250 (13.3 inch model) from Smalldog. I received exactly that, however, the four screws that hold the display assembly in place were missing. Not loose or anything--missing entirely. Consequently, the screen had a couple inches of play in it. I also suspect that this sloppy refurbishing caused the six bad pixels that freckled the screen. The pixels weren't stuck--they would randomly appear and vanish. The PB was also in worse shape cosmetically than I expected [from a refurb]. There were very visible scratches on the top, and the ports (especially the video port) looked as though they had been previously abused by a busy multimedia agency.

I managed to get the screws replaced by an authorized service shop but was told that the bad pixels were "within spec." I can understand the need for a certain tolerance regarding LCD panel imperfections, and I was trying to be reasonable but this seemed an extreme case. All of the pixels were located in the center 50% of the screen, their randomizing was maddening, and it all seemed to be the result of shoddy workmanship by Apple's refurb contractor.

In the end, I opted to return the unit. Surprisingly though, Smalldog hassled me over this. They wanted me to pay a restock fee in addition to shipping charges incurred, all for a computer that I considered DOA. After a short argument, they agreed to a full refund. I would have accepted an exchange but they were (of course) out of stock. And there lies the biggest problem with refurb units--if there's something wrong with the computer that fate deals you, you're probably out of luck, depending on the [limited] supply and your merchant's return policy.

Two months later I ordered a new 333 Bronze from PCMall. Using NextTag (thanks to your reports on their service), I got it at $2189.

In your recent article concerning the misshipment of a refurbished Powerbook G3 by Outpost, you advised readers to check their machine either by System Profiler, or the label on the bottom.

The latter option is not advisable based on my own experience, even with a brand new machine such as the one I purchased from Macwarehouse last January. In that case, when I opened the box and drooled over the looks of my 'book I noticed the label said 333Mhz. I ordered, and paid for a 400Mhz!! Before calling to complain, I booted up the machine and checked with Profiler. Profiler, in contrast, suggested it was the 400 chip, which I believed to be true. The simplest way to check, of course, was to run a DVD disc on the machine; 333Mhz units did not come with DVD drives at the time.

After the hardware check, I called Apple to confirm the serial no. (on a separate label) on their records. They too acknowledged the laptop was a genuine 400, and I asked them to log my call. I did this extra bit of checking because if my 'book was ever stolen, the insurance company could give me a hard time with replacing the unit if the serial no. suggested it was a lower model.

As always then, buyer beware.

I ordered my PowerBook G3 300/CD from PowerMax for a mere $2299. A great deal until I found they shipped me a 292. In fact, for at least a few hours, they tried to convince me that a 292 was a 300 and I just had a faulty Apple System Profiler. 8 MHz may not seem like a bid deal but because I took the 292 and didn't wait for a 300, (they didn't have any), I have basically given up hope for gaming (the 292 cannot switch resolutions, try running Starcraft at 1024x768) not to mention the fact that the temp of my PB AVERAGES at 212 degree F. I would second the advice to carefully check over any refurbished product you receive.

I ordered a refurbished G3 300 from Small Dog Electronics a few months ago. When I received the laptop, it read G3 266 on the bottom and had a couple scratches on the case. Although it read G3 266, there was a 300 mhz processor and 8 gigabyte hard drive inside. I'm not sure if the product was a 266 that had its processor stepped up (or motherboard replaced) and hard drive replaced, or if a 266 case was taken and used with a 300 mhz model. I returned it with some difficulty.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Outpost was selling refurb PowerBook G3 DVD laptops. I called Outpost to verify that these were refurbed by Apple, and was told they were. I placed my order online.

The next day I received the PowerBook G3 300 DVD reburb from Outpost via Airborne. The box was loosely sealed, and upon inspection of its contents I found that the DVD PC card was missing.

I called Outpost, who told me to call Apple, who were responsible for the error, since they refurbed the machine, and since Outpost doesn't "supply parts." Apple told me that they have no record of the serial number of this computer. Apple did not refurb this laptop, contrary to what Outpost had told me. Apple further stated that I in fact have no warranty on this machine, and that they are under no obligation to rectify the situation.

With the PB 300s, it's necessary to have a warranty, given the file corruption issue when reading from a CD while simultaneously writing to the internal IBM hard drive. Furthermore, I found that there were dead pixels on this machine which could not be rubbed out. I wanted to rectify these problems under warranty.

I called Outpost again, who told me that, "oh, those are rebuilt FOR APPLE by Pinacor, and that I should call them. I called Pinacor, who told me that, no they do not refurb for Apple, and that it is Outpost's obligation to call Pinacor. They will not deal with me directly. I called Outpost again, the representative of which was befuddled, saying that he would have "someone else" call me soon regarding this matter." I sat around for a few hours waiting for the call, which did not come. Two days later, After two emails and two phone calls, a young rep called and assured me that "my missing product would be sent ASAP." I asked him to which product he was referring, and he didn't know. I told him this regarded a missing DVD decoder card, which is virtually impossible to find, anywhere. By this time I was furious at the complete ineptitude of Outpost.com at every stage of the transaction.

I called the young rep three days later, who told me that he had given his resignation notice, and that he would call me in a couple of days as a courtesy. The call never came, despite my leaving a message on his voice mail. I returned the PowerBook and ate the shipping and insurance cost. Never did Outpost.com offer to give me a discount, and my request for some kind of compensation was refused. Outpost.com should at least realize that selling things under false pretenses is a crime, and that customers have rights. I have never been treated with such disregard. Good reader, beware...

Just read your message (Jan. 24) about the G3/233 in G3/300's clothing. That story outstrips mine, but it's an Outpost.com issue nonetheless. A while back you posted a notice for G3/233s reconditioned at Outpost for $1699. I'd been price-shopping for my girlfriend, and pointed it out to her, especially since it listed a floppy drive among the components, and other Outpost notices (but not this one) specifically pointed out the lack of the floppy drive. Of course, the computer arrived with no floppy drive. I spent a lot of time with them on the phone, going up a ladder of compensations that began with "There's nothing we can do", through "Those are $50 on eBay, we'll credit you $50" to "Okay, we'll give you $100 which is our cost for the drive". However, though their records show the credit went through, it hasn't been made official yet from our reports. What bothered me most was their reluctance to make good on their offer - I sat there on the phone with them with their website in front of us saying "Floppy drive". Makes me cautious about dealing with them in the future.

Wow, I feel lucky in comparison to the stories I just read. I bought a referb PB G3 300MHz Wallstreet from the Apple Store online. This was the first computer I'd ever bought for myself so I was overflowing with excitement when it finally arrived. After verifying it came with all parts I fired it up and started setting things up. After about 4 minutes it froze up. I rebooted and the same thing happened. Then it wouldn't even start up. Resetting the power manager didn't help. A call to Apple didn't solve anything but they directed me to a local repair shop. The call came back from them that they tried replacing the hard drive and that they would have to ship the powerbook back to Apple to replace the processor. I finally got my powerbook in working condition less than a week later. I just don't understand how they could sell an obviously defective unit. This experience influenced me to get the extended service Applecare plan and then upgrade it to the 3 year plan when that became available. The real blow was the huge let down of receiving a new computer in the mail and having to take it into the shop for repair on the first day! The other quirk with my referb PB is that the 64MB RAM it came with was installed in the wrong slot, i.e. in the top slop so the bottom slot was empty. When I recently added another 128MB I had to have it installed underneath the motherboard at an authorized service store costing me ~$60 more all together.