Not about keyboards this time.

Stupidity had better come to either full circle or some hilarious singularity, because the Mac store is full of it.

To recap the previous hilarity: salespeople full of crap, incapable to memorize details of the most restrained line of hardware in the computing industry and pretty much unable to understand the difference between the picture on the website and the keyboard in their hands.

Sadly, I was forced to deal with them once more -courtesy of my own persistence to deal with the reseller before brand. I might as well have put a puppy in a blender for effect, the outcome was just as predictable.

So what happened

To my horror, I noted that the power adapter of my MBP had developed a weird defect - the insulation of the power cord had started to retract from the adapter, giving unconcerned people ample time to handle a bare electrical wire. There were no signs of the typical "frayed magsafe" scenario, but it certainly looked like a warranty case.

Fortunately, the Mac store had other ideas about that.

First glance from a sales clerk gave the expert conclusion that this was a clear-cut case of wear and tear. I reminded him of the fact that the adapter came with a laptop a few months back. I did't add that this kind of "logic" implied that the average life span of power adapters from Apple is a fifth of an iPod's. Nor did I suggest that they were just being their lovable old selves again -namely incompetent. All of that was filed under "must not murder people with some hope of becoming useful".

I was ushered to the service desk, where a perfectly bored copy of Mirage (of Focus and Analogue fame -demoscene reprazent whoot etc) was unable to fix a macbook problem before my turn and then started to drone on about how my problem was a clean cut case of user abuse.

Since I never really took to using the charger as a bolo implement, there ought to have been no reason to suggest this. There was no wear on the cable. There was no fraying. There were no machete marks anywhere. The worst thing was that the thing had, were scratches across the casing. Not a great feat, since the chargers and remotes come in the same kind of plastic and the very light of day scratches those critters. Considering my skepticism, he suggested to ship the thing to head office for a re-check. I was just happy I had already ordered and received a spare power adapter, since this smelled of delays.

A week later, they called. As far as they were concerned, it was a case of user abuse, not covered by warranty. I suggested they might not be up to speed with the whole "oldschool magsafe adapters are fucking weird" policy of Apple. Unable to appreciate any kind of retort, the guy merrily proceeded along the checklist for "dealing with people from outside the store". He was nice enough to drone the Apple Support phone number when I told him I'd take it up with Apple. After I emphasized it was no use, since I had no pen (or one of his colleagues to use as a memo pad). Twice.

Naturally, Apple Support spent far too much time making sure the thing would be replaced as soon as possible. They even have a form option for this kind of defect. God bless the sweet-natured helpdesk girl -they have all the info they're not supposed to tell me.

After sharing the bizarre hilarity of once more dealing with the infamous Mac Store, Andrew pleaded that I'd tell him the name of the store with such a wonderful regard of their goods. Just so he could make sure none of his friends would ever visit "that cesspit" during their stay-overs

Just so the rest of you people know: It's iCentre CS, the authorized Apple Reseller right across Amsterdam Central Station. I'd avoid them like the plague. They've repeatedly proven themselves unfit to deal with anything more than the purchase of an iPod sock. In the future, I'll deal with Apple directly -or Apple resellers worth their salt.