Apple Store gave me brand new 2012 27in iMac Free of Charge!

flavr · Mar 8, 2013

On tuesday my local Apple Store replaced my 2009 iMac for brand new 2012 free of charge!

I brought my 2009 iMac in for the the hard drive replacement program and mentioned the screen looked yellow and should be replaced while in. They agreed and did the repairs. When I picked it up and turned it on in there was a scratch on the new LCD panel. The genius mentioned it was a special order part and would be over a month to get another in. I do Art Direction for a bunch of national brands and need a pristine screen to work my creative magic. Anyway I asked if given the circumstances could I trade out my old one for a brand new in stock iMac. He agreed! then he passed me to a sales guy and I walked out with a brand new 27inch i5 3.2 iMac for NO CHARGE!

Manager came over and said it not something they normally do and it was because of the wait for the part and because I had Apple Care...Amazing customer service!

I thought about adding some of my own $$$ and getting a built to order with i7 or 680XM but this iMac is FAST and FREE and will last a few good years. Id rather save the extra $500...I have a feeling two years from now we will be seeing retina and some touch capabilities on the iMacs and Im going to def want one of those...

6ftunder · Mar 8, 2013

wow you walk out with one, I get to wait for 6 weeks, and still waiting.

Htin · Mar 8, 2013

congrats mate! apple rocks!

luminouslight · Mar 8, 2013

Wow that's a hell of a deal

abz1981 · Mar 8, 2013

That's what I love about Apple and the after care they provide.

virginblue4 · Mar 8, 2013

Congratulations! I bet you love it!

deconstruct60 · Mar 8, 2013

flavr said:
Manager came over and said it not something they normally do and it was because of the wait for the part and because I had Apple Care...

Perhaps more precisely

"it was because we scratched your screen and the wait to cover for our screw up and because we can use Apple Care to make up for it ...."

Brand new iMac.

Fantastic customers services would to be not have jacked up your screen while they repaired something else. It is a nice outcome, but giving away freebies to cover up mistakes is not great customer service. It is not making the mistakes in the first place.

Overall, higher than expected Apple Care costs will be passed along to all users including you in the future.

virginblue4 · Mar 8, 2013

deconstruct60 said:
Perhaps more precisely

"it was because we scratched your screen and the wait to cover for our screw up and because we can use Apple Care to make up for it ...."

Brand new iMac.

Fantastic customers services would to be not have jacked up your screen while they repaired something else. It is a nice outcome, but giving away freebies to cover up mistakes is not great customer service. It is not making the mistakes in the first place.

Overall, higher than expected Apple Care costs will be passed along to all users including you in the future.

That's not true. Everyone makes mistake. Even you. They made a mistake, they then made up for it. That's fantastic customer service.

I've had problems with Acer laptops, where it was sent off for a repair, came back faulty (they admitted the new fault was due to them) so I had to send it back to them and wait 6 weeks for something that was their fault. That's crap customer service.

flavr · Mar 8, 2013

deconstruct60 said:
Perhaps more precisely

"it was because we scratched your screen and the wait to cover for our screw up and because we can use Apple Care to make up for it ...."

Brand new iMac.

Fantastic customers services would to be not have jacked up your screen while they repaired something else. It is a nice outcome, but giving away freebies to cover up mistakes is not great customer service. It is not making the mistakes in the first place.

Overall, higher than expected Apple Care costs will be passed along to all users including you in the future.

You couldn't possibly be more incorrect. It was a decision made on the spot by the head mac genius immediately after I asked (not something they offered to cover up a "mistake", or routinely offer), so no cost/casualty calculation other than the one on the spot in his own head after I asked had taken place. He could have just as easily said no and I would have had to wait. A lot of repairs go through there and mistakes happen...mistakes will always happen. Good customer service is not only trying to LIMIT mistakes but making sure customers are above and beyond happy with their experience with the brand, a good experience that will also be spread to others by word of mouth.

Mission accomplished..

xShane · Mar 8, 2013

flavr said:
On tuesday my local Apple Store replaced my 2009 iMac for brand new 2012 free of charge!

I brought my 2009 iMac in for the the hard drive replacement program and mentioned the screen looked yellow and should be replaced while in. They agreed and did the repairs. When I picked it up and turned it on in there was a scratch on the new LCD panel. The genius mentioned it was a special order part and would be over a month to get another in. I do Art Direction for a bunch of national brands and need a pristine screen to work my creative magic. Anyway I asked if given the circumstances could I trade out my old one for a brand new in stock iMac. He agreed! then he passed me to a sales guy and I walked out with a brand new 27inch i5 3.2 iMac for NO CHARGE!

Manager came over and said it not something they normally do and it was because of the wait for the part and because I had Apple Care...Amazing customer service!

I thought about adding some of my own $$$ and getting a built to order with i7 or 680XM but this iMac is FAST and FREE and will last a few good years. Id rather save the extra $500...I have a feeling two years from now we will be seeing retina and some touch capabilities on the iMacs and Im going to def want one of those...

Glad to hear it worked out for you

Apple has always had very good customer service, telling from my personal experience and what I hear from others.

deconstruct60 · Mar 8, 2013

virginblue4 said:
That's not true. Everyone makes mistake. Even you. They made a mistake, they then made up for it. That's fantastic customer service.

No it isn't. If this had been a customer that needed to run 10.6.8 due to some specific business critical need, a new iMac is not a positive outcome.

It is "OK" and "acceptable" customer service to make good on mistakes. But the mistake basically removes it from the "great" / "fantastic" status. Giving away something for "free" in this case ( and back handed passing along the costs to other customers ) is far more misdirection away from what would have been great. Minimally should have been precise and confessed up. "We blew it. We will make you whole".

----------

flavr said:
You couldn't possibly be more incorrect.

My problem is far more with the "amazing" / "great" / "fantasic" histronics here. It is acceptable but not amazing.

Apple's realtively standard policy is to trade up customers. It doesn't happen all the time but it happens enough. They don't put alot of effort into improving some parts of their support operations. The cover for this by doing periodic "give always" like this and buying broader goodwill with the stories that leak out. The same higher than necessary fault rates continue without improvement.

It continues to draw folks in because folks think they have a chance to hit the lotto far more than the service quality if far above average.

flavr · Mar 8, 2013

deconstruct60 said:
No it isn't. If this had been a customer that needed to run 10.6.8 due to some specific business critical need, a new iMac is not a positive outcome.

It is "OK" and "acceptable" customer service to make good on mistakes. But the mistake basically removes it from the "great" / "fantastic" status. Giving away something for "free" in this case ( and back handed passing along the costs to other customers ) is far more misdirection away from what would have been great. Minimally should have been precise and confessed up. "We blew it. We will make you whole".

You seem to have a strong opinion on this deconstruct60...So let me ask you...as a customer (if this happened to you)...which would have made you a happier more loyal Apple customer?

- You brought in your iMac and they fixed it perfect, handed it back and you were on your way.

OR

- They accidentally messed up your repair and immediately hand you a brand new machine to replace the 4 year old one, along with an apology.

Which one would you prefer and tell others about if it was you? Which one would be more "acceptable" to you?

virginblue4 · Mar 8, 2013

deconstruct60 said:
No it isn't. If this had been a customer that needed to run 10.6.8 due to some specific business critical need, a new iMac is not a positive outcome.

It is "OK" and "acceptable" customer service to make good on mistakes. But the mistake basically removes it from the "great" / "fantastic" status. Giving away something for "free" in this case ( and back handed passing along the costs to other customers ) is far more misdirection away from what would have been great. Minimally should have been precise and confessed up. "We blew it. We will make you whole".

Yes, it is. If you needed to run 10.6.8 you could have refused the new iMac, and waited for the repair. Don't make up a situation that did not happen.

They made a mistake, they could have apologised and made him wait for the repair. Instead, they gave him a brand new iMac. This will not increase the cost of AppleCare for anyone. It's not like they've only just started doing this.

It sounds more like you're jealous to be honest.

firedept · Mar 8, 2013

flavr said:
On tuesday my local Apple Store replaced my 2009 iMac for brand new 2012 free of charge!

I brought my 2009 iMac in for the the hard drive replacement program and mentioned the screen looked yellow and should be replaced while in. They agreed and did the repairs. When I picked it up and turned it on in there was a scratch on the new LCD panel. The genius mentioned it was a special order part and would be over a month to get another in. I do Art Direction for a bunch of national brands and need a pristine screen to work my creative magic. Anyway I asked if given the circumstances could I trade out my old one for a brand new in stock iMac. He agreed! then he passed me to a sales guy and I walked out with a brand new 27inch i5 3.2 iMac for NO CHARGE!

Manager came over and said it not something they normally do and it was because of the wait for the part and because I had Apple Care...Amazing customer service!

I thought about adding some of my own $$$ and getting a built to order with i7 or 680XM but this iMac is FAST and FREE and will last a few good years. Id rather save the extra $500...I have a feeling two years from now we will be seeing retina and some touch capabilities on the iMacs and Im going to def want one of those...

Awesome that Apple would do this for you. Just remember it was not free. You did pay for your 2009 iMac originally, so you only got an upgrade free for their mistake. Still awesome as the new iMac is one hell of a machine. You have to respect a company for making decisions like this one. Consumers do read about this kind of thing and it gives them faith in knowing Apple will stand behind it's products. I am speaking from my own personal experience with Apple and it's Customer Service.

flavr · Mar 8, 2013

flavr said:
You seem to have a strong opinion on this deconstruct60...So let me ask you...as a customer (if this happened to you)...which would have made you a happier more loyal Apple customer?

- You brought in your iMac and they fixed it perfect, handed it back and you were on your way.

OR

- They accidentally messed up your repair and immediately hand you a brand new machine to replace the 4 year old one, along with an apology.

Which one would you prefer and tell others about if it was you? Which one would be more "acceptable" to you?

Everybody...Lets let him answer this question. Im curious what good customer service is when its HIM in the same situation...

Ddyracer · Mar 8, 2013

flavr said:
On tuesday my local Apple Store replaced my 2009 iMac for brand new 2012 free of charge!

I brought my 2009 iMac in for the the hard drive replacement program and mentioned the screen looked yellow and should be replaced while in. They agreed and did the repairs. When I picked it up and turned it on in there was a scratch on the new LCD panel. The genius mentioned it was a special order part and would be over a month to get another in. I do Art Direction for a bunch of national brands and need a pristine screen to work my creative magic. Anyway I asked if given the circumstances could I trade out my old one for a brand new in stock iMac. He agreed! then he passed me to a sales guy and I walked out with a brand new 27inch i5 3.2 iMac for NO CHARGE!

Manager came over and said it not something they normally do and it was because of the wait for the part and because I had Apple Care...Amazing customer service!

I thought about adding some of my own $$$ and getting a built to order with i7 or 680XM but this iMac is FAST and FREE and will last a few good years. Id rather save the extra $500...I have a feeling two years from now we will be seeing retina and some touch capabilities on the iMacs and Im going to def want one of those...

So what are specs of the old iMac? I just want to make sure they didn't pull one on you.

kazmac · Mar 8, 2013

nice to see Apple is still doing this

I had a similar situation in 1999 with my teal iMac as far as repairs and getting a ultimately replacement, but over the phone. While it took longer than the estimate given to the OP, same result - brand new machine.

It is very nice to see Apple still agree to do this on occasion.

Enjoy your new iMac, flavr. Glad to see Apple did right by you.

flavr · Mar 8, 2013

Ddyracer said:
So what are specs of the old iMac? I just want to make sure they didn't pull one on you.

From a:

2009 27 iMac 2.8 i7, 12GB RAM, 1TB HD, Radeon 4850 512MB VRAM

To a:

2012 27 iMac 3.2 i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD, GeForce 675MX 1GB VRAM

After the computer finished indexing when new it feels a lot faster than the old one. The best part to me is having the newer video card, the older one was was feeling kinda tired at 512MB. Also the updated screen and other updates (wifi, camera, USB, thunderbolt make it a def trade up

Technically I should have gotten $2199 (old iMac cost) credit swap and this iMac was $1999 but they were very kind to do this and Im def happy with the upgrade.

Ddyracer · Mar 8, 2013

flavr said:
From a:

2009 27 iMac 2.8 i7, 12GB RAM, 1TB HD, Radeon 4850 512MB VRAM

To a:

2012 27 iMac 3.2 i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD, GeForce 675MX 1GB VRAM

After the computer finished indexing when new it feels a lot faster than the old one. The best part to me is having the newer video card, the older one was was feeling kinda tired at 512MB. Also the updated screen and other updates (wifi, camera, USB, thunderbolt make it a def trade up

Technically I should have gotten $2199 (old iMac cost) credit swap and this iMac was $1999 but they were very kind to do this and Im def happy with the upgrade.

Well that's all that matters. yeah, you should have gotten that 3.4 i7 which gets almost 14k in geekbench compared to 10482 3.2 i5. Both are late 2012. Your 2.8 old one may have scored this: 10085 in Geekbench although i looked around and alot of models were in the mid 8500 but still that's about 10 maybe 15 percent slower than what you have now.

I guess you'll upgrade the ram?

flavr · Mar 8, 2013

Ddyracer said:
Well that's all that matters. yeah, you should have gotten that 3.4 i7 which gets almost 14k in geekbench compared to 10482 3.2 i5. Both are late 2012. Your 2.8 old one may have scored this: 10085 in Geekbench although i looked around and alot of models were in the mid 8500 but still that's about 10 maybe 15 percent slower than what you have now.

I guess you'll upgrade the ram?

Yep...I do a lot of heavy design/animation stuff so ill need to get it to at least 12-16GB RAM.

The nice thing is even the old iMac was FAST with the quad i7 for being 4 years old, so I never had any speed issues, but like all iMacs the aging none replaceable video card was becoming an issue...so to have an updated video card in the new one is awesome! I love benchmarking, in fact its the first thing I did when i got it home.

I seriously thought about adding $500-$600 out of pocket to this one and get the i7, 680, and fusion, but honestly Id rather pocket that, wait 2-3 years on this free iMac, sell this one for $1200 used and add the saved $600 toward my next 2015-2016 iMac.

FreemanW · Mar 8, 2013

deconstruct60 said:
No it isn't. If this had been a customer that needed to run 10.6.8 due to some specific business critical need, a new iMac is not a positive outcome.

And if pigs could fly, but all the air traffic controllers were laid off, what kind of future would that be?

My problem is far more with the "amazing" / "great" / "fantasic" histronics here. It is acceptable but not amazing.

Did you mean to say/type histrionics?

Can I trade-in your post for a new one? Maybe one that doesn't scratch my eyes?

The guy had an issue with his iMac.

He inquired about a trade-in allowance, his 2009 + his money, for a new iMac.

Apple refused to take any of his money and simply gave him a new iMac; a straight-up trade, old for new.

What the Hell are you going on about!?!

Try that with Worst Buy or even Costco.

Ddyracer · Mar 8, 2013

flavr said:
Yep...I do a lot of heavy design/animation stuff so ill need to get it to at least 12-16GB RAM.

The nice thing is even the old iMac was FAST with the quad i7 for being 4 years old, so I never had any speed issues, but like all iMacs the aging none replaceable video card was becoming an issue...so to have an updated video card in the new one is awesome! I love benchmarking, in fact its the first thing I did when i got it home.

I seriously thought about adding $500-$600 out of pocket to this one and get the i7, 680, and fusion, but honestly Id rather pocket that, wait 2-3 years on this free iMac, sell this one for $1200 used and add the saved $600 toward my next 2015-2016 iMac.

Yeah it makes sense, if you were keeping it for like 4-5 it would be kinda slow to live with.

HenryDJP · Mar 8, 2013

deconstruct60 said:
Perhaps more precisely

"it was because we scratched your screen and the wait to cover for our screw up and because we can use Apple Care to make up for it ...."

Brand new iMac.

Fantastic customers services would to be not have jacked up your screen while they repaired something else. It is a nice outcome, but giving away freebies to cover up mistakes is not great customer service. It is not making the mistakes in the first place.

Overall, higher than expected Apple Care costs will be passed along to all users including you in the future.

Good Grief. Apple can't even give the OP a brand new computer (which was great customer service to say the least against other companies who wouldn't even be so quick to be that generous) without someone coming here with their usual "Rain on Apple's Parade" speech. It's not helpful man, honestly. Apple made 4 mistakes on my 2009 iMac repair last year and they comp'd me with a brand new made in USA 27" 2011 iMac. It's been perfect. They made a mistake and corrected it by taking care of the customer which is all a company is suppose to do. Just be happy for the OP rather than spewing nonsense about Apple covering up mistakes. I guess you've never made a single mistake at work in your entire life? That is if you work?

----------

flavr said:
On tuesday my local Apple Store replaced my 2009 iMac for brand new 2012 free of charge!

I brought my 2009 iMac in for the the hard drive replacement program and mentioned the screen looked yellow and should be replaced while in. They agreed and did the repairs. When I picked it up and turned it on in there was a scratch on the new LCD panel. The genius mentioned it was a special order part and would be over a month to get another in. I do Art Direction for a bunch of national brands and need a pristine screen to work my creative magic. Anyway I asked if given the circumstances could I trade out my old one for a brand new in stock iMac. He agreed! then he passed me to a sales guy and I walked out with a brand new 27inch i5 3.2 iMac for NO CHARGE!

Manager came over and said it not something they normally do and it was because of the wait for the part and because I had Apple Care...Amazing customer service!

I thought about adding some of my own $$$ and getting a built to order with i7 or 680XM but this iMac is FAST and FREE and will last a few good years. Id rather save the extra $500...I have a feeling two years from now we will be seeing retina and some touch capabilities on the iMacs and Im going to def want one of those...

Congrats for you!! That's really awesome. There's never enough of these good stories here. People are very quick to complain and very slow to take the time and praise and offer a good success story. Right on!!

TheLonelyIsland · Mar 8, 2013

Amazing, never hurts to ask now does it! lol

xShane · Mar 8, 2013

Although there may be some discrepancies/disagreements, I think most people here will agree that with how Apple handled the OPs situation is the ideal outcome.

Apple Store gave me brand new 2012 27in iMac Free of Charge!

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