The purpose of Total Split is to serve the locals, expats, tourists, and anyone else looking for handy information about the city of Split, right? Today I am bringing all of the loyal Apple users in the city just that. Meet De Pol Trade.
As an avid Apple user and someone who swears they could never stray away from their trusted MacBook Air and iPhone, I knew it would be a bit more difficult living in a city, er country, without an Apple store.
Sure there are trusted Apple resellers and, of course, we can wiggle our way through an Amazon purchase, but when you find yourself in an urgent Apple situation, where do you go?
I’ve heard many stories from expat and local Apple users alike of their journeys to Zagreb to get their gadgets serviced, and those stories usually ended with waiting days on end for their fix – not to mention the 10+ hours of travel time getting to Zagreb which isn’t exactly in favor of everyone’s budget or time.
Today I found myself in such a situation where I needed an Apple product, and fast.
My mid-2012 MacBook Air charger has been, quite literally, hanging on by a thread the last few weeks. While I had hoped it would hang on just a bit longer until I head back to the states next week, I finally woke up to that fateful morning where my jerry-rigging and staying at least 10 meters away from my charger at all times in fear that the slightest hint of breath would disturb its charging came to an end. My charger had given up. The reassuring green light had gone out.
What was I supposed to do? Okay, I could look at Amazon, but that wouldn’t arrive for at least a few days. I called HG Spot, an Apple reseller, who could get the charger delivered, but that wouldn’t come until noon the following day. As most of you know, this job requires a lot of writing, which requires a fully charged laptop at all times – I didn’t have much time.
I then turned to the trusty Expats of Split group for some critical answers.
Sure enough, thanks to the fabulous expats in the Facebook group, I found out that in Blatine just a 5-minute drive from my house exists a sanctuary for Apple users – De Pol Trade. Perhaps something I should have known after two years of living here (I’ve never had to worry about this before, in my defense) I quickly picked up the phone and blurted out to the man on the other line, “Please tell me you have a 45W MagSafe Power Adapter?”
De Pol Trade
And they did.
In the next five minutes, with just 22% left on my laptop battery, I was in an Uber and at the front door of De Pol Trade. And boy, was this place glorious!
Riccardo De Pol, the owner, has been an Apple user for 30 years, and his loyalty seeps through the walls of the store as he has everything you could possibly need – from chargers to iPhones, phone covers and trackpads. And it’s the real deal.
While I paid a bit more than what I would have in the states for my charger, that little extra I consider “paying for convenience” was well worth it. Riccardo services Apple products as well.
The next time you find yourself in a pickle, I hope this post will find all of you Apple users in the city of Split well. I know we need that extra helping hand.
