iMac Woes

[robenson]

Hello All,

I bought 2 imac's January this year (2008) one for myself and another for my wife. Although my wife's iMac has been working perfectly, I have been having major problems with mine.

After a month my iMac would take from 15-45 minutes to start up, and went quickly down hill from there. I took it into repair, where I had a call 2 days later saying I could pick it up again.. Blimey, that was quick I thought.. Fantastic service. On returning home, plugging it in etc I found that I had the same problem... Hmmm... Back to the auth Apple dealer it went. This time 10 days went past before I got the call. Came home plugged it in... same problem... I contacted the dealer again. This time, albeit friendly, they told me to take it back to where I bought it. Hold on a mo, arent you the authorised dealers/repair agents for the area? Yes, but as you didnt buy it here, you should take it back to where you bought it, or contact Apple Care.

Sounds weird to me, but ok.. Apple care.. Gave them a call, explained the problem, and they forwarded me to another repair center, much further away, but hey.. I'm game. 3 weeks pass before I received the call asking me to pick it up again. Has the problem been solved I asked? Yes, we replaced the motherboard- Have you tested again to ensure the problem has been solved I asked? Yes, it works fine now.... I am a happy chappy on the way home.... UNTIL I plug my imac in to find the same old same old problem....

At this point you must understand that I love my Imac, and I want it to work, so I contact the repair center, which in turn insists I contact apple care to obtain a service repair number, which in turn I get sent back to repair center.. ho hum. 4 weeks pass and I finally get my iMac back.. they've fixed the problem (which was a dodgy power supply) I am over the moon, YES!!!

I go online and what happens.... not connected to a network!!! Well this is new, my airport extreme is but 3 meters away and my wife is connected up no problems. ok, scan for networks, none found!!! What?? Try it on my wife's 8 found, try it on mine again 2 found (not ours), try again none found, try again mine shows up... great log on, network not found AAARRRRGGGHHHHHH

Contacted apple care again again again, I'm sorry your 90 days purchase coverage has expired, you need to buy Apples Care Protection plan for $332 (our country price)... You are joking arent you??? Nope!!!! Ok, purchased this APP and now I have been informed to take it back to the repair center for the 5th time.

I was also informed to contact Customer Relations, where I was flobbed off with "I'm sorry we cant help you", I insisted that the least they could do considering that I was having continuing problems with my iMac, is that they reimburse the cost of the APP whilst still maintaining its cover.... Forget it might as well been the answer.

Now, I am new to Mac, and I love its products, have joined up .mac in anticipation of .me, and the iphone... well, like a child in a candy store, but "customer relations" has tinted this fantastic image I had of Apple.

regards
robenson

[houltmac]

Robenson, I am sorry to hear you have had such a bad time of it - this is a very unusual story. I can say this with confidence because I work for an AASP as the Workshop Manager and see my fair share of repairs.

It would appear that while the unit was passing all the standard automated tests thrown at it there was an underlying issue that these tests will not show. Since the issue turns out to be related to the power supply there is nothing that could be done to prove such in an automated fashion. That is not to say it couldn't have been caught with good old manual testing and it's not to excuse a machine being returned un-repaired (especially if the fault is as quick to find as you say).

I can say with confidence that most engineers would have taken more than 2 days to find the fault and that many would have concluded a main logic board issue based on the description and basic testing coming back negative. I can't say that having to part with your machine for so long is really acceptable however (since our company aims for 24-48 repairs most of the time).

May I ask if there is an issue with lack of support for your country, or are you in the US/UK/other country with a large Apple presence?

I would not want to comment on the tactics of Apple in this matter, but I would seriously consider whether to return to the repair centre you visited again. I hope you have much better luck in the future, and enjoy your Mac to it's fullest. Again, I will re-iterate that this really is an unusual occurrence (and no, I don't work for Apple).

[robenson]

Hi Houltmac,

The technicians I spoke to at Apple care are competent and I am pleased with the support they have provided. Weather the support here is lacking compared to what you are used to, I cannot really say. I am however not happy with the fact that I have been forced to pay for support that I should be receiving FOC, and of course the time I have gone without my iMac since the initial purchase in January I would normally find unacceptable... but I do so like the iMac

I will give it one more shot, and deliver the Mac to the repair center now that I have the service nr from Apple care to see what happens, but to be honest, my tolerance is running thin now.

[Yuiichi]

Robenson, I'm really sorry to hear about all of these issues that you're having with the iMac.

However, I do agree with Apple not refunding the purchase of your AppleCare warranty. I've never heard of that being done and as you have found out, it probably never happens. That said, I don't think they have treated you fairly. After that many times in the shop without a proper repair, I would have just asked for a replacement at the store where you bought it. Fairly simple to do (as they would probably just swap the hard drives) and would have been less stressful for you.

That would be my suggestion if you happen to have any more issues with your iMac.

[SandraV]

Robenson, I'm new to the iMac as well and am very sorry to hear that you had those awful service problems. I do understand the Mac is an awesome machine, however, I also note that the today's culture is not inclined to fix problems after purchasing a major computer device or even appliances now without the warranty. I believe that because many services are outsourced, the warranty is a way that the company doesn't have to pay for the outsourcing. We pay in purchasing the warranty. Not we obviously aren't paying the full cost of outsourcing but I do believe that the warranties pick the bulk of the cost for major companies, whether it is Apple or any other.

Good luck in the future with your Mac.

SandraV

[philbowell]

I thought we got a 1 year warranty by default? Not 3 months. Or is the country based?

[houltmac]

@Phil: Everyone gets a one year warranty (basically for parts and labour), however telephone support is 90 days unless you purchase AppleCare.

[robenson]

Hello again,

I got back from my holiday, delivering my imac for repairs before hand, and I am pleased to say that after the 5th repair my imac works as it should again.

I am now finally able to enjoy all that imac has to offer.

Thanks for everyones input

[notabadname]

Glad to hear you are back in action. Sorry to hear of the difficulties, and I hope it stays up and running for you now. Enjoy!

[baseballboy828]

Glad to hear everything worked out!