<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hello Tom,<div><br></div><div>I operated a Campus store and was also trained as a tech. We prided ourselves on service and were very focussed on our market and clients. Apple have never (especially in TAS) had NBD through its stores although most parts would come NBD, unless there was no stock. There is not much Apple could take from Dell, but the service model (and as a Mac person I hate to say it) is exceptional in most cases.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>But remember that the likes of the Dell GX270 with the known capacitor issue, Dell did not do an inservice repair program, rather let the warranty bear it, until they fell out of the cycle, sometimes being repaired multiple times per machine.</div><div><br></div><div>There is not a perfect hardware vendor, but this move does seem destined to undermine the pro Apple sentiment which is growing globally, our Uni is sadly predominately Dell, the Campus Store is now gone and so are the majority of the macs.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>If you are listening Apple, we are a market that will largely support ourselves so long as the hardware is kept running, with minimal downtime. We are also a market that gives back as we research and produce that which becomes product to bolster the market for your hardware and software. I feel that we are a fragile market and moves like this only make things more tenuous. </div><div><br></div><div>Please excuse my digression</div><div><br></div><div>Lee</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div>On 29/06/2009, at 3:31 PM, Thomas Kalikajaros wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; "><div>An Apple repair, TriCare or NBD Onsite always came with an argument and administration costs (staff time, freight). I was always challenged, go away and come back to justify a visit or warranty repair dispatched to closest repairer. Being a qualified tech in a previous life meant nothing and probably brought some bloody-mindedness my way. This was never the case with Dell or HP. I only had one bad experience with a HP repair where a tech no showed on first visit and failed to call. On second visit he brought wrong part. He nailed it on the third and life went on. If it was an Apple product I'd still be arguing for the initial visit.</div><div> </div><div>Not sure how my experience racks up against others and certainly would love to hear from others.</div></span></span></blockquote></div><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Lee Dyson</div><div><br></div><div>Faculty of Health science</div><div>University of Tasmania</div><div>Newnham 7248</div><div><br></div><div>Australia</div><div><br></div><div>Phone Xtn. 4888</div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><br></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></div></body></html>