APPLE HEADS WHAT THE F*CK IS THIS? IS IT REAL?
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burgessa23
- Posts: 176
- Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2002 12:33 am
- Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Guest
gawd, don't do it people... it is SO glaringly obvious that it's a scam...
...and then some "newbie" piping up with "my friend says it looks good, I'm going to do it..." ???
This is a classic Gypsy Shell Game technique... ever seen it? The people are crowded around the littlep portable card table and the guy is doing the shell game... a couple of people are betting, and WINNING! Wow! Then a third guy sees you watching, and says, hey, those guys are winning... we oughta try it too...
HE bets and wins once... and then you're in there and... funny... you just lose and lose and lose...
Sucker!
All the "winners" are part of the team! They're winning all right... at YOUR expense.
Don't be stupid. Resellers sell their product at very slim margins on hardware already, usually less than 10%... there just isn't the ROOM these people are claiming for those kinds of discounts...
Be very careful.... their math just doesn't add up (and the inconsistencies alone should have you running for the hills!)
peace
...and then some "newbie" piping up with "my friend says it looks good, I'm going to do it..." ???
This is a classic Gypsy Shell Game technique... ever seen it? The people are crowded around the littlep portable card table and the guy is doing the shell game... a couple of people are betting, and WINNING! Wow! Then a third guy sees you watching, and says, hey, those guys are winning... we oughta try it too...
HE bets and wins once... and then you're in there and... funny... you just lose and lose and lose...
Sucker!
All the "winners" are part of the team! They're winning all right... at YOUR expense.
Don't be stupid. Resellers sell their product at very slim margins on hardware already, usually less than 10%... there just isn't the ROOM these people are claiming for those kinds of discounts...
Be very careful.... their math just doesn't add up (and the inconsistencies alone should have you running for the hills!)
peace
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Guest
Burgess, look carefully:
they've been around for A MONTH... yet the phone person said "a few months"...
And how much effort would you make to convince people you were for real if it meant you could score $100,000 in a month or two?
If 400 people send them the "reservation fee" that's how much they'd rake in.
Do you think it's unlikely that 400 people would "take the risk?" These forums they're "advertising" in are attended by hundreds of thousands of people... if just 1 in 1,000 go for it, they've made a bundle...
And they're all set up to keep those people waiting ("oh, we haven't gotten 100 reservations yet...") for a good month or more... essentially buying time to rake in more and more suckers... then they disappear.
We've seen it before....
they've been around for A MONTH... yet the phone person said "a few months"...
And how much effort would you make to convince people you were for real if it meant you could score $100,000 in a month or two?
If 400 people send them the "reservation fee" that's how much they'd rake in.
Do you think it's unlikely that 400 people would "take the risk?" These forums they're "advertising" in are attended by hundreds of thousands of people... if just 1 in 1,000 go for it, they've made a bundle...
And they're all set up to keep those people waiting ("oh, we haven't gotten 100 reservations yet...") for a good month or more... essentially buying time to rake in more and more suckers... then they disappear.
We've seen it before....
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jordanhanger
yep... its real
this is very very real... i drove up the road a ways to check it out, and sure enough, Marebelle technologies exists. at this time im having a nice chat with there tecnical support guy.
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Guest
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jordanhanger
this crazyness
if its a scam then its a really good one. I live in winter park, about 20 minutes away from there place of busness, so i went to check it out. They have a suite in one of those big BIG busniess complexes... (its called northpoint) i went up to the third floor and asked the person at the desk at the end of the hall if they had a "marebelle technologies" in suite 300. she corrected me on the pronouncation and said that they did. She was a mac user, so we hada nice little conversation about how crazy the prices were and that it was too good to be true, she was aware of the company and how they did busness. soo... im leaning twords legit at this point. Im throwin down the deposit and gonna see what happens. Hope im not taking one for the team...
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Alex Reynolds
- Posts: 989
- Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2002 5:48 am
- Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Contact:
If you're thinking about buying into this, the following Macintouch thread may be interesting reading material:
-- http://www.macintouch.com/fraudreports2.html#feb07
-Alex
-- http://www.macintouch.com/fraudreports2.html#feb07
-Alex
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all wrong!
More Gypsy Bait & Switch...
Who are you "jordanhanger"??? Two more "Wow! they're legit! Really!" posts... buncha hooey!
Now, check this out!
Marbella Software, Inc.
12472 Lake Underhill Road #210
Orlando, FL 32828
WHOOPS!!!
You not only got the suite number wrong... hell, you were on the wrong floor entirely, you lying wanker....!
Take your scams elsewhere.... or better still, go die!
a peace-loving Live user...
Now, check this out!
Marbella Software, Inc.
12472 Lake Underhill Road #210
Orlando, FL 32828
WHOOPS!!!
You not only got the suite number wrong... hell, you were on the wrong floor entirely, you lying wanker....!
Take your scams elsewhere.... or better still, go die!
a peace-loving Live user...
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count macula
A few more warning signs for ya...
As someone who has been seriously tempted to give this a try, I've spent a lot of time on it and discovered some interesting points.
Look closely at their terms and conditions page at http://www.applepurchaseprogram.com/sit ... terms.aspx
There's a lot of stuff there that one could interpret either as an outright scam or, alternatively, as a clever and legit if not completely honest, ethical or transparent business, but pay close attention to the following two paragraphs:
1. They give themselves sweeping rights to terminate the program at any time for any reason and owe you nothing.
2. They ask for "proof of identification" showing you're over 18. (Is that not weird?)
Even if this is technically legally legit (whether or not it's honest or moral), it's at the very least baaaaaad business ethic. A little bit of Enron right here in Mac heaven?[/p]
Yes, caveat emptor (buyer beware) - but the same it true for our own US government, which pulls this kinda stuff on us every day (social security, medicare and pension funds, and this multi-trillion dollar so-called "defense" budget which is really just a way to dupe taxpayers into gullibly giving their money away to Dubya's puppetmasters in the military industrial complex ...) oh, but I digress!
You can also see some interesting anomalies at the website of their parent company," Marbella Software http://www.marbellasoftware.com. The website looks very slick and professional at first glance, but closer examination reveals some curious stuff:
1. The title of the "company" page is misspelled "copmany," which in and of itself might not be too strange, except that the same misspelling occurred in my dialogue with a "live help" representative at the Apple Purchase Program site... and the transcript of another person's live help session which was posted to this forum also contained the exact same text as my session, showing that some of the answers are cut an pasted from a master document that may well have been typed by the same person who created the text for the website, which is a little odd for a company that says (on its company page) "Marbella Software has been referred to as, "the largest cohesive team of Microsoft developers on the planet."
2. Also odd that a tech company with such claims would have a website with a domain name that was registered only in august 2002 (marbellasoftware.com). the copyright statement says 2002-2004.
3. Also in the errata department, the line breaks on their website are all choppy (breaking into a new line in randowm places), suggesting that someone took a slick template and carelessly pasted text into it - not common practice for a company that claims to be "the largest cohesive team of Microsoft developers on the planet."
4. Strangest is that such a huge organization (which its live help person says has been in business for 10 years) would not only have a 6-month-old domain name, but also have a shared office setup (if what other posters have said is true) - sounds pretty fly by night to me.
-count macula
Look closely at their terms and conditions page at http://www.applepurchaseprogram.com/sit ... terms.aspx
There's a lot of stuff there that one could interpret either as an outright scam or, alternatively, as a clever and legit if not completely honest, ethical or transparent business, but pay close attention to the following two paragraphs:
1. They give themselves sweeping rights to terminate the program at any time for any reason and owe you nothing.
Conclusion: this proposition is clearly for people who are more desperate than they are careful. (Always a warning sign)Termination or Cancellation By Company
The Company may immediately cancel your order and reservation (1) if you breach these Terms, (2) if the Company is unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to the Company, (3) if such information is inaccurate, (4) if the Company determines, in its sole discretion, that you are using the Service illegally or immorally (5) if the Company decides, in its sole discretion, to discontinue offering the Program, or (6) if the Company determines, in its sole discretion, that such cancellation is appropriate or necessary for any other permissible business or legal reason. The Company shall not be liable to you or any third party for cancellation of Service. In the event Company cancels Customer's order, the reservation fee of $250 is nonrefundable.
2. They ask for "proof of identification" showing you're over 18. (Is that not weird?)
So, even if they don't wind up taking your money, they have your driver's license, which I have never been asked to give in an online purchase before. (Identity theft, anyone?)Your Obligations
You must provide Marbella Technologies your name, email address, and all contact information listed on the reservation form as well as valid identification proving that you are over 18 years of age and legally authorized to make this purchase....
Even if this is technically legally legit (whether or not it's honest or moral), it's at the very least baaaaaad business ethic. A little bit of Enron right here in Mac heaven?[/p]
Yes, caveat emptor (buyer beware) - but the same it true for our own US government, which pulls this kinda stuff on us every day (social security, medicare and pension funds, and this multi-trillion dollar so-called "defense" budget which is really just a way to dupe taxpayers into gullibly giving their money away to Dubya's puppetmasters in the military industrial complex ...) oh, but I digress!
You can also see some interesting anomalies at the website of their parent company," Marbella Software http://www.marbellasoftware.com. The website looks very slick and professional at first glance, but closer examination reveals some curious stuff:
1. The title of the "company" page is misspelled "copmany," which in and of itself might not be too strange, except that the same misspelling occurred in my dialogue with a "live help" representative at the Apple Purchase Program site... and the transcript of another person's live help session which was posted to this forum also contained the exact same text as my session, showing that some of the answers are cut an pasted from a master document that may well have been typed by the same person who created the text for the website, which is a little odd for a company that says (on its company page) "Marbella Software has been referred to as, "the largest cohesive team of Microsoft developers on the planet."
2. Also odd that a tech company with such claims would have a website with a domain name that was registered only in august 2002 (marbellasoftware.com). the copyright statement says 2002-2004.
3. Also in the errata department, the line breaks on their website are all choppy (breaking into a new line in randowm places), suggesting that someone took a slick template and carelessly pasted text into it - not common practice for a company that claims to be "the largest cohesive team of Microsoft developers on the planet."
4. Strangest is that such a huge organization (which its live help person says has been in business for 10 years) would not only have a 6-month-old domain name, but also have a shared office setup (if what other posters have said is true) - sounds pretty fly by night to me.
-count macula
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Stubby
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Guest
Here's a threda about this from The Gas Station. Seems their address is a mailboxes plus address...
http://www.the-gas-station.com/messages ... lastdays=7
http://www.the-gas-station.com/messages ... lastdays=7
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burgessa23
- Posts: 176
- Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2002 12:33 am
- Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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drush
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jordanhanger
ya all wrong... you sound lilke your peace-loving live user. You dont even know me and your telling me i should go die. That really did a good job of getting your point across. *big pat on the back* you scored another one for the masses of rude/inconsiterate/offensive people on the internet.
The address that I put in the post is the one on there website, the one i drove to, and the one that i know physicaly exists... for how long i dont know, but theyre there right now. You dont know me, for all you know im just some jerkoff trying to scam everyone, and i understand that. What i dont understand is why you think its ok to talk to someone that way (even if your medium happens to be the internet) In the future, just think before you say something that represents you poorly.
Finally, yes... all of this does seem very shady, im not denying that at all. The only point i am trying to get across is that the address on www.applepurchaseprogram.com is real.
-Joe
The address that I put in the post is the one on there website, the one i drove to, and the one that i know physicaly exists... for how long i dont know, but theyre there right now. You dont know me, for all you know im just some jerkoff trying to scam everyone, and i understand that. What i dont understand is why you think its ok to talk to someone that way (even if your medium happens to be the internet) In the future, just think before you say something that represents you poorly.
Finally, yes... all of this does seem very shady, im not denying that at all. The only point i am trying to get across is that the address on www.applepurchaseprogram.com is real.
-Joe