Apple Replacement Policy

[pknz]

Apple has agreed to replace my sick iMac G5 after a lengthy period of time in repair.

Can I ask to be credited the price of my iMac to be put towards a different Mac (and I would pay the difference) or will they only replace with the same model?

Anyone had any experiences doing this sort of thing?

[mac-convert]

I think that depends on who you talk to, and how you talk to them, plus the availability of a replacement.

Just before Christmas I ordered a refurb 60GB photo iPod (the older version) that was listed at a good price. I received it two days later. It turned on once, turned off, and never would power up again. I even took it over to the local CompUSA, where I knew someone, and they verified that is was dead.

So, I called Apple Care and spoke with an extremely friendly person, and we had a good chat about it. He agreed that it should be replaced, and I mentioned that I would be willing to pay for an upgrade to the newest video model, unless Apple wanted to do that for sending me a bad one. I got put on hold for about 2 minutes, and he came back on saying that a new model was on the way, and return the old one in the box that it comes in. The next day I had a brand new 60GB video iPod as a free upgrade, and the dead one was on its way back.

So, I recommend having a nice friendly talk with whomever you get in touch with, and give them some options. Good luck, at least they are agreeing to replace what must be a lemon.

[pknz]

Bah! Apple is only offering a stock 20" iMac.

This is worse as

a) at the time of my purchase we bought the high end iMac, the replacement is no longer the top model.
b) the RAM we bought will not be in the replacement iMac
c) the iMac dropped in price during the period from which we bought the iMac to the current iteration, so slightly losing money.

[AlBDamned]

Bah! Apple is only offering a stock 20" iMac.

This is worse as

a) at the time of my purchase we bought the high end iMac, the replacement is no longer the top model.
b) the RAM we bought will not be in the replacement iMac
c) the iMac dropped in price during the period from which we bought the iMac to the current iteration, so slightly losing money.

They should replace like for like. If you paid for a model with extra RAM or yours had third-party RAM in it, they should give you back a model with the same amount of RAM. No argument.

What speed was your G5? If it was the last revision 20" - at 2.1Ghz, then you should argue for a 2.16 20" iMac.

If it was a 1.6, 1.8 or 1.9 model G5, the likely replacement IMO would be a 2Ghz Core 2 Duo.

[pknz]

Yea I agree, but I think they should atleast give you the option of configuring that model, ie the graphics card, HD, RAM.

Alternatively allow you to "up" the computer and pay the difference.

[pknz]

Well a few emails back and forth and voila, they have allowed us to get a Mac Pro.

Thank you Apple, eventually you came through.