# To buy a Mac at Future Shop: Pros & Cons



## mabmac (Nov 8, 2007)

Hello,

A friend is about to buy a MacBook at Future Shop. My first reaction was to tell him to not go there to purchase one, but I then realized that I don't know much about this store. 

So guys, I would be very glad if you could tell me more about advantages and disadvantages of buying a Mac at this kind of store. Any feedback will be welcome!

Thanks!


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## fellfromtree (May 18, 2005)

It's not a bad place to buy. They have a pretty liberal return policy, just don't buy the Future Shop add ons- warranty, set-up etc.


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## chrisburke (May 11, 2010)

Honestly I'd never buy from Future Shop., but it's simply because I hate the store.. Their customer service bugs me.. Days I go there and just want to browse, every 30 seconds someone asks me if I need help, like they are watching me as if I was a thief.. and days I need help, no one can be found.. So I just don't go there.. I use Best Buy or a local store that sells apple products.. They aren't authorized, but they know their stuff.. So I like em!


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

If they have the product you want at the price you are willing to pay go for it. Don't buy any extended warranty from them though and don't expect to get answers to your questions...at least don't trust them as being right


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## chrisburke (May 11, 2010)

Very true.. They know nothing tech wise about macs.. But they will pretend they do.. I guarantee it!


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## eggman (Jun 24, 2006)

Some Futureshop locations actually have Apple specialists (and I believe that some if not all of these people actually work for Apple, not FS) So there is a chance that someone there might know what they're talking about.

That said - because of an EPP discount I would generally go straight to Apple, or to Apple's refurb store - depending on price and availability of the product.


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

fellfromtree said:


> It's not a bad place to buy. They have a pretty liberal return policy, just don't buy the Future Shop add ons- warranty, set-up etc.


+1



eggman said:


> That said - because of an EPP discount I would generally go straight to Apple, or to Apple's refurb store - depending on price and availability of the product.


you can actually get futureshop to match the EPP discount. Just show them a link to the price online and they should be willing to do it.

I would never put much stock into what the actual salesperson says about the mac, as they generally are out to lunch....but that extends to pretty much all the products they sell.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Futureshop can be very good on pricing if you have done your homework and know what you want to buy and why.... Never, ever ask for advice as they know next to nothing other than the sales pitch.

Whenever I go to Futureshop I know what I want and go straight where to get it and never, ever make eye contact with the sales people. I go in, pick up what I want and get out. 

Even better go online to reserve the item for local pickup, go to the service counter and get out.

Their return policy is one of the best around, 14 days no questions asked.... ever. A good way to try something out in the "flesh" that you are uncertain about... if they have it.


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

Apart from the fact that the people who work there know nothing about the product they're selling, will try to upsell you a Future Shop warranty to go with, and try to convince you to have some kind of nerd crew transfer your files from your old computer for a mere $150 or so (while the Appel Store will do it for free), sure, Future Shop is a great place to buy Mac computers.


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## smashedbanana (Sep 23, 2006)

Nothing wrong with buying a mac from Futureshop.

Just do not get talked into the Futureshop extended warranty instead of the Applecare.

If he talks to a Mac specialist they won't try that. Normal futureshop salesperson will though..


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

fjnmusic said:


> Apart from the fact that the people who work there know nothing about the product they're selling, will try to upsell you a Future Shop warranty to go with, and try to convince you to have some kind of nerd crew transfer your files from your old computer for a mere $150 or so (while the Appel Store will do it for free), sure, Future Shop is a great place to buy Mac computers.


As I said, *if* you know what you want and why and completely ignore the staff it can be a good place to buy tech stuff in general, not just Mac stuff.

I learned how to ignore box tech store staff (not just Futureshop) a long, long time ago now. It isn't hard and you learn way more doing your own research as opposed to trusting a sales pitch. If you know what you are doing it doesn't really matter that much where you buy your stuff from... especially when you have such a generous return policy.


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## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

There isn't enough soap on the face of the planet to wash away the stink after entering a Future Shop.

If they were giving out free Macs I'd be on the other side of town, enjoying a nice, cold pint.

So, no...


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## macmac (Oct 22, 2006)

I am all for buying from Futureshop/Bestbuy... if I find I was sold a lemon or I don't like the product I can just take it back, no questions asked. Apple on the other hand has a 14 day window and even then, they make you jump through hoops (if purchased online)


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

FeXL said:


> There isn't enough soap on the face of the planet to wash away the stink after entering a Future Shop.
> 
> If they were giving out free Macs I'd be on the other side of town, enjoying a nice, cold pint.
> 
> So, no...


Now there is a well reasoned argument.... oh I guess it is supposed to be funny... ha ha.


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## Britnell (Jan 4, 2002)

*Future shop*

Why not buy from a Mac retailer such as Carbon Computing? They know more about the product and what else is available. They will not give you "oh, you need Windows for that" line.

Future Shop tech support is laughable.


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## robert (Sep 26, 2002)

Umm, maybe because not everyone lives in a city/town/village which has an Apple reseller. 

I have no problems with FS. Going in educated and picking it up without sales help is the way to do it. 

I picked up my ipad2 there on opening day because they had stock and the line up was all of 15 minutes.:clap:

I also picked up an ipod touch from there as they were on sale for $25 off anyone else AND they had it in stock. 

YMMV but I've no complaints with them.


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2011)

Britnell said:


> Why not buy from a Mac retailer such as Carbon Computing? They know more about the product and what else is available. They will not give you "oh, you need Windows for that" line.
> 
> Future Shop tech support is laughable.


And they often have higher pricing on a lot of the additional stuff and staff that are quite happy to be extremely condescending because they _know_ that they are more knowledgable than anyone walking into the store (or so they think). My last purchasing experience there was a joke and I ended up walking out without making the purchase, thanks to their condescending staff that was trying to bully me into buying something that I didn't want that was triple the price and didn't suit my needs. They were coming up with all kinds of crazy reasons why I didn't want what I was looking for that had zero legitimacy, probably because they got commission and wanted to make more $$.

In a similar vein I don't find that the tech support from Carbon is really that much better than Futureshop. I've had to deal with some pretty terrible experiences from Carbon as well for clients of mine that have been shafted getting things replaced or upgraded that they didn't need or things that were replaced done poorly so they failed again.

I suppose your experiences may vary, but just because it's a mac centric store doesn't mean you're going to get any better service or advice. At the end of the day the people that get hired to work the Apple area in Futureshop and work in sales at Carbon are not really very different. Sadly the ones that work for "Apple" probably have more training.


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

mguertin said:


> and they often have higher pricing on a lot of the additional stuff and staff that are quite happy to be extremely condescending because they _know_ that they are more knowledgable than anyone walking into the store (or so they think). My last purchasing experience there was a joke and i ended up walking out without making the purchase, thanks to their condescending staff that was trying to bully me into buying something that i didn't want that was triple the price and didn't suit my needs. They were coming up with all kinds of crazy reasons why i didn't want what i was looking for that had zero legitimacy, probably because they got commission and wanted to make more $$.
> 
> In a similar vein i don't find that the tech support from carbon is really that much better than futureshop. I've had to deal with some pretty terrible experiences from carbon as well for clients of mine that have been shafted getting things replaced or upgraded that they didn't need or things that were replaced done poorly so they failed again.
> 
> I suppose your experiences may vary, but just because it's a mac centric store doesn't mean you're going to get any better service or advice. At the end of the day the people that get hired to work the apple area in futureshop and work in sales at carbon are not really very different. Sadly the ones that work for "apple" probably have more training.


+1


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2011)

rgray said:


> +1


I'll also add that I'm not saying that you _will_ get that kind of experience, but there's nothing to say that you won't get that kind of experience with a mac retailer as opposed to FS. It happens everywhere


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

screature said:


> As I said, *if* you know what you want and why and completely ignore the staff it can be a good place to buy tech stuff in general, not just Mac stuff.
> 
> I learned how to ignore box tech store staff (not just Futureshop) a long, long time ago now. It isn't hard and you learn way more doing your own research as opposed to trusting a sales pitch. If you know what you are doing it doesn't really matter that much where you buy your stuff from... especially when you have such a generous return policy.


I couldn't disagree more. Customer service is one of the most important aspects of shopping, in my opinion, and buying a new computer or gadget shouldn't have to be an experience where you must go out of your way to avoid the sales staff. They are supposed to be there to help you out, which is why I prefer the Apple store ten times out of ten. Because there is essentially only one brand to choose from (save for peripherals), the staff there know the products inside out. I don't feel the pressure to buy like I do at FS, and you'll get a better price at the Apple store. If there's an Apple store anywhere nearby, I would always check there first, or order one online if you really want to avoid talking to sales staff.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

fjnmusic said:


> *I couldn't disagree more*. Customer service is one of the most important aspects of shopping, in my opinion, and buying a new computer or gadget shouldn't have to be an experience where you must go out of your way to avoid the sales staff. They are supposed to be there to help you out, which is why I prefer the Apple store ten times out of ten. Because there is essentially only one brand to choose from (save for peripherals), the staff there know the products inside out. I don't feel the pressure to buy like I do at FS, and you'll get a better price at the Apple store. If there's an Apple store anywhere nearby, I would always check there first, or order one online if you really want to avoid talking to sales staff.


That's fine but I think we are coming from different perspectives on the matter.

Generally I agree with you about customer service and product expertise when it comes to shopping. But after over 20 years of buying for myself and helping others with their purchases of which there have been many, many (I once thought of getting into consulting on that front but decided even though I would enjoy it very much there probably wasn't much money in it) I really don't see much "value added" with any tech store... including Apple... they don't always know their stuff inside out relative to *your* individual situation... only you can know that.

You still have to do your own research and not trust the sales pitch or hype... the more you know the better. This is the way I have been buying *everything* for 30 years starting with my first HiFi system when I was 16.... I researched and researched and then researched some more. 

I almost always know more about what I am looking to buy for my specific situation than *any* salesperson and on the rare occasion where they can tell me something I don't already know or where I know they are not lying, they will have my respect if not necessarily my trust.

The point I am ultimately trying to make is educate yourself and buy wherever you can get the best price and return policy and save yourself a bunch of money.


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## l84toff (Jul 27, 2008)

Nothing against FS but just wanted to throw this out there: Mac Refurbished store. Same great AppleCare with significantly lower prices. I will never buy another Apple product any other way. Just my 2cents. Happy shopping.


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

screature said:


> That's fine but I think we are coming from different perspectives on the matter.
> 
> Generally I agree with you about customer service and product expertise when it comes to shopping. But after over 20 years of buying for myself and helping others with their purchases of which there I have been many, many (I once thought of getting into consulting on that front but decided even though I would enjoy it very much there probably wasn't much money in it) I really don't see much "value added" with any tech store... including Apple... they don't always know their stuff inside out relative to *your* individual situation... only you can know that.
> 
> ...


I couldn't agree more, Screature. The internet is a an incredible aid in all of this of course! The only downside is it sometimes leads to analysis paralysis.  

The thing I find most annoying is going into one of those big box stores and overhearing someone being told to buy something they don't need or being told something completely inaccurate. I try to bite my tongue, though have been known to offer a bit of advice/correction when salespeople disappear if the buyer seems at all receptive or interested. The wackiest bit of "information" I've ever been given was from a teenage salesperson at Best Buy who tried to tell us that the pixels on the TV changed shape and "settled in" over time - that the resolution would get better. And no, he wasn't referring to either break-in or burn-in on a plasma screen - we were looking at LCDs at the time.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

It *USED* to be that Apple stores had a non-liberal return policy and hefty restocking fees. Then, it made no sense to buy at an Apple Store unless you were getting, say, the Back to School discount and were willing to take a chance on the product.

*Then*
You: "There are 5 dead pixels on the MacBook I bought 5 minutes ago."

Apple Store: "Sorry, it's yours now, unless you pay $hundreds for us to take it back, which we might not (if you mention the dead pixels)."
FutureShop: "We'll happily refund in full." For 14 days after purchase.

*Nowadays* it's different story.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

HowEver said:


> It *USED* to be that Apple stores had a non-liberal return policy and hefty restocking fees. Then, it made no sense to buy at an Apple Store unless you were getting, say, the Back to School discount and were willing to take a chance on the product.
> 
> *Then*
> You: "There are 5 dead pixels on the MacBook I bought 5 minutes ago."
> ...


Yes times have changed but if you can get the product you are looking for at an Apple store for a better price at FS there really is no reason not to do so.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

I think where to buy really depends a lot on the customer. 

For some things that I know I just want, it's handy to look online at Futureshop or Best Buy, see that they have it in stock, and go pick it up. And yes... they do have an extremely liberal return policy. 

Many product I will do my own research and know what I want. 

Some items, I like to go to a place for advice. 

I will say that in general for a Mac store, for a lot of new users, Carbon Computing is 100x better place to buy a Mac and get sound advice than a new user going to Future Shop. I disagree with mguertin on some things he said about Carbon... at least for the Kitchener shop when I was working for Carbon and running retail. :heybaby:  Pricing wasn't higher on most items, and if someone pointed out a price, pretty much all the time we could match. Staff were never condescending, there was no incentive to sell more expensive item, but were trained to recommend the correct item (Which sometimes is the more expensive item). Also, Carbon staff are trained much more that Future Shop, and regarding "Tech support", that's an oxymoron about Future Shop in regards to Macs.

Having said that, I was just out with a friend last night for a drink, and I was lamenting about work ethic in younger employees these days. I saw two waitresses in their 30's working their butts off and then two girls in the 20's who were standing around, watching TV, no looking after customers well. The one older waitress heard me, and we had a good laugh and talk about work ethic. 

It is hard to find good staff in any retail store and there will always be some bad experiences... more and more it seems. 

Apple does have a very good "training camp" and continued training program. 

I think Future Shop is doing better at training people for specific areas, but yeah... I still wouldn't trust their advice as far as I could throw one of them.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Paddy said:


> I couldn't agree more, Screature. The internet is a an incredible aid in all of this of course! *The only downside is it sometimes leads to analysis paralysis.*


'Tis true, it does happen from time to time... like me trying to decide which is the better P&S camera for me as an "always with me" companion to my DSLR... the Canon S95 or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5.... 

So many reviews, so many conflicting results... I probably can't go too wrong with either... I just have to get my a** out to my local camera store and have a bit of a hands on to figure it out.


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2011)

ehMax said:


> It is hard to find good staff in any retail store and there will always be some bad experiences... more and more it seems.


Yep I think this is what it primarily comes down to.

I centred out Carbon (downtown TO, not kitchener) as a personal example. These types of experiences haven't been limited to Carbon by any means ... you can get that level of "service" pretty much anywhere these days because it is hard to find good staff in retail  

Some of the things that really get me is hearing sales people talk to other, less informed, clients. Quite often it's the blind leading the blind -- or as I stated previously the condescending "just do this" approach. A quote I used recently that got a lot of chuckles on the ACN mailing list in regards to Apple retail was "Of course this Mac can do that, and how would you like to pay for that?"


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

screature said:


> That's fine but I think we are coming from different perspectives on the matter.
> 
> Generally I agree with you about customer service and product expertise when it comes to shopping. But after over 20 years of buying for myself and helping others with their purchases of which there have been many, many (I once thought of getting into consulting on that front but decided even though I would enjoy it very much there probably wasn't much money in it) I really don't see much "value added" with any tech store... including Apple... they don't always know their stuff inside out relative to *your* individual situation... only you can know that.
> 
> ...


Fair enough. I have been inside and outside of Radio Shaft since I was about 12, followed by music stores, stereo/audio stores and even Certified Radio just this spring to do a modification on my OEM Kia radio to put in a unit with amp better suited to my needs and do the install myself. The guy at Certified was very helpful and encouraging, didn't try to upsell me stuff I didn't need and was there for me when I needed to go back and get stuff like noise filters (for alternator whine). I have an interest in tinkering as do many of us out there. 

But my guess is that the OP was asking from more of a layman's point of view and whether Future Shop would be a good place to start. I'd have to say if it's fairly generic item like an iPod or even and iPad 2, FS or London Drugs or Wal-Mart are probably all fine, but if I was looking for a MacBook, I'd want to go somewhere where they knew what they are talking about. It's true that sales can be found, but even Mac resellers in Edmonton, for example, can't undercut the corporate stores.


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

l84toff said:


> Nothing against FS but just wanted to throw this out there: Mac Refurbished store. Same great AppleCare with significantly lower prices. I will never buy another Apple product any other way. Just my 2cents. Happy shopping.


That's a good point; whenever I hear 'refurbished' I think of those crap liquidater places, but the Apple refurbs seem to have a pretty good reputation.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Its very rare I walk into a store looking for advice...I know what I want and will often pick the most convenient place that has a good price. Luckily for me there's now an Apple store only 15 minutes away which is great...that said I still don't buy that much from them given the higher prices on many items compared to online or they don't stock items I would buy (mStand for example that I had to order from apple.ca).


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## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

screature said:


> Now there is a well reasoned argument.... oh I guess it is supposed to be funny... ha ha.


My experiences with FS are a matter of record (albeit an early one) on these boards. There is no point in repeating.

No way in hell will I ever walk into one of their stores again.

The sooner they slide into the ocean & disappear forever, the better off this planet will be.


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## greydoggie (Apr 21, 2009)

I would have no problem buying a mac from Future Shop if they have what I want. Altho I would get it from Best Buy first. But I wouldn't go into either expecting advice. I would figure out what I want first and then pretty much go there just to pick it up. Yes there are some sales people who know what they are doing and willing to help but there are also some who are just there to sell stuff and will get you to buy whatever they feel like. For some reason every time I am there if I don't want help the sales people bug me, if I need help they are all huddled in a corner talking to eachother not doing anything.

I bought my ipod at Future Shop, there were some people infront of me looking and asking questions about different models, when the guy was done with them I showed him what I wanted and the only thing he tried to do was sell me their extended warrenty.

I bought my mac at carbon. I will probably buy my next one there too.


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## The Bridge (Jun 10, 2011)

I've bought two Apple products at Future Shop: the original iPod Photo (can't remember what year that was) and my 2006 20" Core 2 Duo iMac.

Typically I agree with other posters: don't buy the extended warranty. But when moving parts are involved, I do so, and I did. In both cases I was rewarded.

Two years after buying the iPod Photo, it started mucking up on me. Half the time I couldn't even shut it down and I'd have to wait for it to run out of juice in order to "restart" it. Anyway, it was still under warranty so I took it into my local FS, and they replaced it on the spot with an iPod Video with a larger capacity hard drive.

With my iMac, I bought the four year warranty. Lo and behold, three months before my warranty was up the hard drive started failing. I took it in and a couple of weeks later they had replaced the hard drive AND the display. For all intents and purposes it's like a brand new machine.


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## jeepguy (Apr 4, 2008)

Weather you hate them or not, one thing I like about them, is the fact that they always seem to have the *no interest plan* for 24 months, as long as you pay before the 24 months are up all it costs you is the admin fee. I agree on their warranty, it's not worth the paper it's printed on. I also love their return policy, when I was looking for a digital SLR, I when through 4 of them before picking the one I eventually kept. 

My last MBP I picked up at the Eaton Center, and it was like a zoo in there, I would rather buy online than buy from an apple store.


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## ssent1 (Sep 3, 2005)

I'm not a fan of Futureshop. I'd only buy a Mac from them if I got a stellar deal. If your friend doesn't need the latest and greatest Mac, you should avise them to checkout the refurbished Macs at the Apple store. Depending on where things are at in the product cycle, there's usually current generation products available. Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (Canada). If they get lucky, they could save as much as 40%.


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## mabmac (Nov 8, 2007)

A big thank to all of you for your contribution to this post. Lot of comments to be considered now to buy with all the necessary knowledge


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