Costco’s return policy for computers

[dennis thompson]

I have always run Microsoft Windows on all my computers. I decided I’d like to try to learn the Apple system. I looked at the Apple mini and it was only $500 so i decided to buy that but I was unsure that an old geezer like me could learn the system and I did want the opportunity to return it if I couldn’t learn it.

I looked at Best Buy and their return period was 15 days, then I looked at Amazon and they had 30 day returns and finally I was in Costco and saw that their return policy for computers was 90 days. So I bought it at Costco.

The prices were all the same, so I’m hopeful that within the 90 day period I’ll be able to learn the system.

[mike stenson]

It's easy. Don't try and make it windows

There used to be some decent customer education provided by Apple.

[Jim Koepke]

I have always run Microsoft Windows on all my computers. I decided I’d like to try to learn the Apple system. I looked at the Apple mini and it was only $500 so i decided to buy that but I was unsure that an old geezer like me could learn the system and I did want the opportunity to return it if I couldn’t learn it.

I looked at Best Buy and their return period was 15 days, then I looked at Amazon and they had 30 day returns and finally I was in Costco and saw that their return policy for computers was 90 days. So I bought it at Costco.

The prices were all the same, so I’m hopeful that within the 90 day period I’ll be able to learn the system.

You might try > http://virtualharbor.org < it is a free group of Macintosh users. It was Boston based back in the day of two main user groups being in Boston and Berkeley, CA.

I used to be a member of the Berkeley group, but it shut down when the person who maintained the server moved away.

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

I've used both, started with Microsoft and then had a stint with Apple. I didn't find the Apple very hard to learn.

Mike

[Bruce Page]

My first MS operating system was Windows 1.0! My current shop PC is a Windows 7 pro..
I took the Apple leap 2 years ago for my "office" PC. There is indeed a learning curve, but it is not insurmountable.

[Rob Luter]

I use a PC at work and an iMac at home. Both systems have their advantages. I think the Windows platform has a much better file management system and is easier to customize. The iMac has superior graphics and is pretty speedy. My wife and daughter are both longtime Mac advocates, both having Apple laptops.

Mike Stenson offers some good advice. Don't try to make it Windows.

[Bill Howatt]

It was years ago when I first heard the "Don't try to make it Windows" advice. IIRC, it was often in attempt to set up file management the way their Windows machines had been tailored by the user. The advice was to let the Apple machine's OS do what it was defaulted to do. I never really appreciated that until I got a non-Windows cell phone.

[Jim Becker]

I just bought Professor Dr SMWBO a Mac Mini to replace an unruly Dell laptop which was causing major heartache due to both some functional issues as well as some behaviors that were difficult because of her medical conditions. The transition was virtually seamless for her. It. Just. Works. And having certain things like Messages (text messaging) on the screen that's completely in sync with her other Apple devices was icing on the cake. (yea, there are utilities that can do that on Windows, but only for single recipient threads and virtually 95% of our family messaging is multiple people)

The learning process should be relatively easy. It's not really different from current generations of Windows other than the Finder (file manager) which works a little differently than the Windows equivalent.

Costco is truly customer oriented and they do stand up to return flexibility. The 90 day for computers is generous, but it's virtually unlimited for most things. I recently returned an HP printer to them that was purchased over two years ago because of it refusing to print 'cause it couldn't talk to HP's servers. Two minutes and the money was back on the CC.

[Bill Howatt]

I don't know the offerings for the machine you are thinking of buying but Costco's extended warranties are often very reasonable so it may be worth looking at even it they aren't something you would normally consider.

[mike stenson]

I don't know the offerings for the machine you are thinking of buying but Costco's extended warranties are often very reasonable so it may be worth looking at even it they aren't something you would normally consider.

The only extended warranty I would advise with an Apple product is AppleCare.

[Rick Potter]

Let us other codgers know how it works out for you

[Brian Elfert]

A big difference between the Windows and Mac interfaces is a lot of the stuff is reversed between the two. The window control buttons are on the opposite side of the window. Someone who can close a window almost without looking on a Windows OS will find it takes time to learn the new location on a Mac. The lack of a right mouse button can be a pain too although a two button mouse can be used.

I have worked with a Windows PC for a good thirty years. I took a training class on a Mac about a decade ago and it took me most of the first day to fumble my way through using a Mac. I had to ask people where things where located when the instructor said to open something. My role after I left the class was to support the server side of the application running on Linux. I didn't need to know how to use a Mac for that. I bought myself an M1 Mac Mini about 18 months ago to try to learn Mac. I plugged it in, updated the OS, and it has sat unused since then. It is a complete pain in the rear to move my keyboard, mouse, and monitor from my Windows PC to the Mac so I have never done it since the first day or two. I have a KVM for my two Windows PCs. I want to get a four position KVM, but a good one is about $700 for dual monitors.

[Jim Becker]

The only extended warranty I would advise with an Apple product is AppleCare.

Costco offers AppleCare for Apple products purchased through them as the extended coverage.

[Jim Becker]

The lack of a right mouse button can be a pain too although a two button mouse can be used.

This has not been the case for many years now. Right clicking is fully supported both on Apple pointing devices as well as non-Apple pointing devices. It's a simple check box in the system configurations to turn the feature on. The Magic Mouse understand right and left and for the Trackpad, it's a simple press (gesture) with two fingers simultaneously to get the context sensitive menu that a right click brings forth. There is a lot of flexibility in how one can configure their pointing devices to match how they like to work.

[mike stenson]

Costco offers AppleCare for Apple products purchased through them as the extended coverage.

Yes, I know. The mini that's sitting next to my work mbp was purchased there. It remains the only extended warranty I'd recommend