MacMall gets one extremely happy customer

Some average consumers might be leery of buying their computers online, particularly from entities -- such as Macintosh retailer MacMall -- they've seen advertised in magazines but don't really know.

This is why I'm noting a co-worker's recent experiences buying a MacBook laptop from MacMall. In a nutshell, she's thrilled with how the company treated her.

MacMall offered her one advantage from the get-go: The convenience of buying a Mac laptop bundled with a Windows license, that is, with a physical retail copy of the Microsoft operating system, as well as with the software installed (alongside Mac OS X) on her hard drive. Apple Computer's online store won't do this.

MacMall went further. An account executive dealt with her one-on-one, both by e-mail and by phone. He offered her a discounted AppleCare plan, sent her links to available rebates, and even expedited shipment (minus a wireless mouse, which was temporarly unavailable) when her order appeared to be held up.

Perhaps most important, it took great pains to confirm my colleague's identity before proceeding with shipment, which might sound like an annoyance but is commendable in this age of rampant identity theft.