The Logic Off Topic list

I was wondering if anyone may be able to offer me some advice on a dilema I 
am in.

I ordered a G4 1.25Ghz computer from mac mall a few weeks back. My only 
problem was the $111 shipping charge for grund, but because of my work 
situation which doesn't allow for much free time to shop around, etc I 
decided to just bite the bullet. I ended up calling back and asking them if 
they can include the extra ram option (for $40 installation fee) as 
advertised on the web page, and confirmed that price.

Sortly after I called UPS to ask about the cost of shipping a package of 
that size and weight across country. THe cost was $40. For some reason I 
checked the order status to double check the exact amount only to find that 
they charged me $138 for the RAM. Between the over inflation of the 
shipping and over charging of the RAM I did what anyone would do. I called 
to cancel the order. However I was told that only the original sales man 
could cancel it and he was gone for the weekend. But the person I was 
talking to said not to worry, just refuse the package and they can give me 
a refund when it comes back to them. So I waited a week for the package to 
return and called to check on it. Then I am told that it can't be returned 
without an RA# and without one shipping just bounces it back to me. They 
said to accept the package and then I can get an RA# to return it. After 
accepting the package I called only to be told that the item is 
non-returnable because it has already been shipped. When I give them the 
above argument I am told too bad , it's not returnabe and there will be no 
refund on the over charge. I am then transfered to a manager to leave a 
voice message and not get a call back. The reason for the no return was due 
to Apple's policy according to the salesman,

So I called Apple asking for help since thier return policy doesn't allow 
computers to be returned. The first response is 'That's absolutely untrue'. 
I end up talking to an Apple rep in charge of the macmall account (BTW the 
people at apple were very cool to talk to as oppose to mac mall who didn't 
really seem to care). He basically told me that it was a stock computer, 
not custom assembled and ordered in a bundle of 100 simillar computers. But 
there is a chance they may legally be right at macmall since the box has 
been opened by them. For those who don't know, Macmall I think opens every 
box to inspect it, then closes it up and puts an inspection sticker on it. 
This starts to smell like a scam to me.

I called the credit card company, but because I accepted the package they 
can't do anything about it. I couldn't cancel the order, and I can't return 
it. I would imagine there must be some kind of laws against this or some 
kind of consumer rights to protect against this. Does anyone have any 
experience or knowledge in this area that may be able to help? In the mean 
tiem I am waiting to hear from a manager and apple is going to talk to them 
about it. Hopefully that will resolve things, but any advice is 
appreciated. Thanks!

Colin Miller