A reader over at MacInTouch noted a spooky similarity between his recent order from the Apple Store and his past purchases from MacWarehouse. Not only were the boxes similar, but the shipping invoices were darn near identical. Spookier still is the fact the that the addresses listed for MacWarehouse and the Apple Store are both on the same street in Lakewood, NJ. And the return center addresses for both companies are in, of all places, Wilmington, OH. (Insert spooky X-Files music here.)

So what's up with this? Well, another MacInTouch reader points out the rational explanation. All larger companies contract out their order fulfillment business to "fulfillment centers," which are huge warehouses at or near airports usually run by overnight delivery services; they are stocked with equipment and staffed with people designed to ship ordered equipment to buyers as quickly as possible. After all, why should Apple build their own warehouses and put together their own fulfillment centers when they can simply contract out from another company that already specializes in that service?

But, as you all know, we at AtAT shun the rational explanation whenever and wherever possible, and so we propose to you that all Mac-based mail order houses are being insidiously transformed into Stepford Companies. This supposed Lakewood "fulfillment center" is nothing but the center of operations for a vast and far-reaching anti-Mac conspiracy whose latest plans to further marginalize the world of Apple involve the slow but sure amalgamation of every mail order Mac supplier, followed by the eventual erosion of service and selection as pricing and shipping charges creep upward with no end in sight.

This conspiracy has previously all but eliminated the presence of Mac equipment in retail stores, and now they're working to destroy the last bastion of Mac hardware and software availability. Well, no one's fooling us; we've joined the underground resistance force. Some tips: when you receive any boxes from Lakewood sent via Airborne Express, don't handle the glossy catalogs without wearing gloves, be careful not to break any of the packing peanuts unless you're wearing scuba gear, and check thoroughly for electronic surveillance devices in all of your software boxes; this Lakewood conspiracy has given new meaning to the phrase "buggy software." Never forget: the price of Macdom is eternal vigilance.

DecisionOne, the company now charged with providing hardware service to owners of Power Computing Mac clones, is finding they may have bitten off a teensy bit more than they can chew. ThessaSOURCE reports that sentiment among Power customers who have tried to get their computers repaired is, well, kind of ugly. Shoddy workmanship on repairs, long hold times, and extended repair delays are all areas of concern that have Power customers up in arms.

DecisionOne, however, is working to correct these issues; apparently Power customers are generating twice as many service calls as Power Computing told DecisionOne to expect. You can read their official instructions here, which tells Power customers what they need to do to receive hardware service. DecisionOne is also working to reduce the call delays, though they say that hardware repairs take an average of five to six days-- not counting the time it takes to ship the equipment back and forth. Ouch! We at AtAT sure hope we never have to go without our PowerTower for two weeks just to get a flaky floppy drive replaced...

Suppose it's possible that DecisionOne is finding that Mac users are a little more demanding when it comes to customer service? Just a thought.