[Pamela]

My husband received a call today out of the blue from an apparent private investigator. He asked if we had recently purchased a cinema display screen from apple. He said uummm....yeah....why? Then he asked if we had it delivered to mailboxes plus in blaine washington, and he said...umm....yeah...why?

SO the investigator proceeded to tell him that my display had been stolen from mailboxes plus in washington and was snuck across the border back to Canada by this person and the mailing name label had been ripped off the box, but that it was in his custody now and he would like to deliver it to us.

My husband thought it was a hoax, so he called mailboxes plus to be sure. Sure enough, apparently the woman who runs the place was sick and had a replacement. This guy came in to pick up his package (similar in size yet a fraction of the weight...a bunch of posters apparently) but his side of the story is that he "accidently" got the wrong box and didn't realize the 30lb difference or apple BOX till he got it home. Anyway. My display was delivered to me this afternoon by the investigator....didn't have to pay taxes or duties because it was already in the country?! Lucky me??

Here's the hitch. The seal on the box was broken. I have yet to receive my powerbook to test it out to make sure it's ok. What the heck happened here?!! It seemed new and originally sealed (but I don't know what it originally looked like sealed?) My worst fear is that the guy swapped it for his multi bad pixel monitor or something.

Is it me or was this one strange thing to have happened?!??!

 

[RicktheChemist]

Man.. or err.. Woman.. well, that is something...

Does it really matter, you still have a full warranty... from Apple.

Cheers,

RtC

 

[Pamela]

Does it really matter, you still have a full warranty... from Apple.

No I suppose not. But it would be a pretty $hitty way to start off...that's for sure

I'll let you know after I'm able to test it.

btw...great review on the icurve RTC Mine's sitting right here waiting for my 17"

 

[Kuni]

All I have to say is, you better have demanded to see the private investigator's ID!

I hope everything turns out okay....good luck!

 

[MasterBlaster]

a

 

[Ohenri]

whoa... that sucks. Are the pkgs shipped with Apple logos showing? I would hope not. I always hear about these things going missing in transit. I would lose it. Anyhow, have you phoned Apple? I mean the box was damaged in transit. You need to back all this info up - from PI's # to case file etc... the only thing that I would think of would be this damaged boxed - even if I saw the littlest scratch.

 

[(( p g ))]

Pamela: I don't like the sound of this at all. Why would someone bring in a private investigator rather than call the police? If I were you, I would call the local police in Washington where the alleged incident tool place and see if they have a case-file on record.

 

[Dr.G.]

Pamela, I would agree with PG and call the police. One never knows about this sort of situation, and you should leave a paper trail of your concerns.

 

[Heart]

PG and Dr. G are correct, get the paper trail.

If there is anything wrong with the Monitor I would think that Mailbox Plus would be liable and not Apple.
(Scratches, Dents etc. is the Mailbox Plus)
(Dead pixel is Apples problem.)

Did you get some kind of report.

 

[Bjornbro]

Pamela said:

My worst fear is that the guy swapped it for his multi bad pixel monitor or something.

Don't forget to compare the serial number on the box to the LCD, that'll confirm or deny your fear.

 

[Pamela]

well to let you all know. I phoned the person who dealt with this all at mailboxes plus just to clear up what happened. It's too long of a story to type, but basically...

someone had realized that the guy took the wrong package...tried to catch him before he got to the border...didn't happen. She called him at his house here in canada and told him that there had been a mix up. So actually ended up CALLING HER BACK?! (Either he's a moron or he just felt bad...or he didn't notice??) SO...apparently he "got through customs" without having to pay anythin and had the monitor there at the house. She asked him to open it to make sure what was inside (apparently people ship in reused packages all the time so it was possible that what was inside was not in fact an apple display). So who knows if he had opened it already or not...but he "opened it" when she asked him to and sure enough...not the posters that he was supposed to get.

SOOO, apparently while she was discussing this on the phone, one of her customers overheard....he happened to be a good, frequent customer and also a private investigator. He was Canadian and going back up with a bunch of other boxes of stuff. He offered his services to her for free.

SOOOO, he came up with the other guys box, passed through customs, told him he had $600 worth of stuff, and they just waived him through (??!?!?! HE DIDN"T HAVE TO PAY TAXES FOR HIS STUFF EVEN THOUGH HE CLAIMED IT?!?!!). He went to the guys house, opened the box, made sure it was all there and that the serials matched...gave him his package, took mine, and then fedex'ed mine to me. So a little philipino guy shows up at my house with my display, and all is well.

I've never had a full moon day live up to "a full moon day". But I think that is a VERY good full moon story!

 

[gordguide]

Canada changed the regulations for personal exemptions from the US a few years ago. It used to be $500 once a year, now it's $750 for any trip of 7 days or more.

Depending on what he declared, it's entirely possible that his exemption plus the FTA covered it all. For example, computer parts and software are always duty-free, regardless of the country of origin.

 

[Pamela]

Canada changed the regulations for personal exemptions from the US a few years ago. It used to be $500 once a year, now it's $750 for any trip of 7 days or more.

Yeah, but he just went down for the afternoon to pick up his pacakges.

Who knows why they let him through...I think the Canadian border is starting to get Very relaxed....

 

[Strongblade]

Well, sounds like your Monitor managed to arrive safely to you. I am relieved to hear that. However, this sounds like a real Rod Serling moment.

Maybe a nearby ehMac citizen with an ADC capable AppleBook can help out with the testing until your machine arrives? It would certainly put to rest any fears about the monitor's condition and operation. However, I do suspect that it'll be fine.

Any more news on the coveted 17" and arrival times?

 

[paradidle]

I think if i was buying a new 17" tibook i would check out the
applelinks.com article on page 3. Food for thought.