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Apple Expands Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program for 2009-2011 iMacs

S

SOLLERBOY

macrumors 6502a
Aug 8, 2008
715
68
UK
BillyBobBongo said:
Don't mean to panic you, but mine took over a month to get right. Finally got it back today...although it's still not perfect.

I took it back in to have to cleaned (finger prints on the inside of the glass) and during the process they manage to scratch the LCD screen, chip the glass and damage the bezel.

The iMac was taken back in for service where they replaced everything and cleaned it up. I went to pick it up, and the second they turned it on, spotter 8 dead pixels over the new LCD.

The iMac was taken back in for service and they replaced the LCD. I went to pick it up, and the second they turned it on, spotted 4 dead pixels on the new LCD.

The iMac was taken back in for service and they replaced the LCD. I went to pick it up and, they second they turned it on, spotted 2 dead pixels on the LCD. At this point (today) it was more than a month since I'd had my iMac and was committed to getting it back today. Apple offered to fix it during the course of the afternoon so this evening when I went to pick it back up was shocked to find that it still had dead pixels, minor damage to the glass in one corner and an abundance of fluff under the screen. After speaking with a manager that flat out told me he couldn't see any of these problems they took the iMac away for cleaning whilst I waited. The iMac was brought out once again, the abundance of fluff was still ever present, the dead pixels were still dead, but mysteriously the damaged glass that apparently wasn't damaged had been replaced.

The iMac was taken away for cleaning and when returned to me it was somewhat cleaner, but still had two dead pixels, and I was told that this was the last time they would do this. I'll now have to take this up with someone else.

You might want to rephrase your sentence. I hope it doesn't go terribly wrong. ;)
Click to expand...


Your story sounds similar to mine. I took mine in and got it back with a big gouge in the aluminium, the glass was chipped, not centred correctly and a flickering screen for good measure.

The machine was flawless and worked great for 3 years until i took it in under the recall. Unfortunately the Apple Store staff in the Uk are useless compared to the US. They claim that they don't know how to fix the screen and they don't know how long it could take to fix it. Sadly, there is no way to speak to anyone of authority at apple.
 
BillyBobBongo

BillyBobBongo

macrumors 68030
Jun 21, 2007
2,535
1,139
On The Interweb Thingy!
SOLLERBOY said:
Sadly, there is no way to speak to anyone of authority at apple.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I should finish off my story.

I took the iMac home that night and noticed that it was making the most awful noise, closer inspection revealed that if you turned the brightness of the screen down you could reduce the noise. Yet another flaw that had originated from the repair.

After everything that had happened I decided to write to Tim Cook. I laid out everything that had occurred, and that my last interaction with the Manager at the Apple store in Amsterdam had left a bitter taste in my mouth. I sent the email late at night..and the very next day my phone rang. The gentleman (Pascal) on the phone was from Apple's customer service department in the Netherlands and he quizzed me on what had been going on with my iMac. He began talking about the feedback forms that I had filled in after each trip to the store and then he got down to the fact that they had been sent a copy of my email and been told to 'make it right'.

Pascal asked what the ideal outcome would be, and I quite simply stated that all I wanted was my iMac returned to me in the same state that I had originally handed it to the Apple store in Amsterdam. We both were in agreement that that was a reasonable request. Despite having had Apple Care on my iMac poor Pascal had to ask me to once again transport the iMac to the Apple store, where he would meet me in person to go through the next stages. I was introduced to their head technician, poor lad was dragged out of some training examination to come and talk to me, and we went over the issues with my iMac. The plan was to put everything right. The screen and aluminium bezel (chin) would both be replaced and it would be cleaned to my level of satisfaction.

Later that week I received a call from Apple stating that they had replaced the frame and screen but they just could not make the whining sound go away. They were therefore going to order new parts in that should fix the issue. A few days later Pascal phoned me to explain that no matter what they did they couldn't make it stop whining. He said that he thought the best solution now was to arrange a new iMac. I was asked to come and pick up my old iMac, so that I had something to use, whilst they sorted me out with a new one. I was expecting to receive a refurbished iMac...but I was given a brand new 21.5' (2012) iMac for my troubles.

So...long story short...write an email to Tim Cook.
 
S

SOLLERBOY

macrumors 6502a
Aug 8, 2008
715
68
UK
BillyBobBongo said:
Perhaps I should finish off my story.

I took the iMac home that night and noticed that it was making the most awful noise, closer inspection revealed that if you turned the brightness of the screen down you could reduce the noise. Yet another flaw that had originated from the repair.

After everything that had happened I decided to write to Tim Cook. I laid out everything that had occurred, and that my last interaction with the Manager at the Apple store in Amsterdam had left a bitter taste in my mouth. I sent the email late at night..and the very next day my phone rang. The gentleman (Pascal) on the phone was from Apple's customer service department in the Netherlands and he quizzed me on what had been going on with my iMac. He began talking about the feedback forms that I had filled in after each trip to the store and then he got down to the fact that they had been sent a copy of my email and been told to 'make it right'.

Pascal asked what the ideal outcome would be, and I quite simply stated that all I wanted was my iMac returned to me in the same state that I had originally handed it to the Apple store in Amsterdam. We both were in agreement that that was a reasonable request. Despite having had Apple Care on my iMac poor Pascal had to ask me to once again transport the iMac to the Apple store, where he would meet me in person to go through the next stages. I was introduced to their head technician, poor lad was dragged out of some training examination to come and talk to me, and we went over the issues with my iMac. The plan was to put everything right. The screen and aluminium bezel (chin) would both be replaced and it would be cleaned to my level of satisfaction.

Later that week I received a call from Apple stating that they had replaced the frame and screen but they just could not make the whining sound go away. They were therefore going to order new parts in that should fix the issue. A few days later Pascal phoned me to explain that no matter what they did they couldn't make it stop whining. He said that he thought the best solution now was to arrange a new iMac. I was asked to come and pick up my old iMac, so that I had something to use, whilst they sorted me out with a new one. I was expecting to receive a refurbished iMac...but I was given a brand new 21.5' (2012) iMac for my troubles.

So...long story short...write an email to Tim Cook.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info, I'm currently waiting for a store manager to call me but that doesn't seem to be happening. I'll start penning an email. Thanks!
 
N

neoelectronaut

Cancelled
Dec 3, 2003
3,417
2,093
michial said:
I did when mine wasn't broken. They replaced it and broke it but then replaced it with a brand new computer, a more expensive one too, for free.
Click to expand...

Hah, that's already happened to me once when my logic board died on my 2008 iMac and they replaced it with a new 2010 iMac.

But hey, thanks thread, for making me super-nervous about bringing my computer in to get something fixed that isn't actually broken and having other things get screwed up in the process.
 
B

brbrcoil

macrumors newbie
Feb 16, 2013
3
0
Apple has wrong info in their databases on Seagate 1T Hard Drive Replacement Program!

I too was told by Apple.com my 21.5" IMac did not qualify for HD replacement. But I checked online and the HD (ST31000528AS) was in fact a SeaGate. Called Apple Advisor and he looked it up and said my computer didn't qualify as it didn't have a seagate HD. I told him I thought his records were wrong and after he googled the same model # (the IMAC info screen didn't have the make - only model # which I believe is what has Apple screwed up) he forwarded me to his Sr. Advisor. Sr. Advisor said I was not eligible... I shared with him all my research which clearly showed my HD was in fact the same hard drive being recalled and I gave him not only my info and findings, but also another case # (361827989) whom indicated the exact same issue and they then replaced his HD...

Needless to say, Sr. advisor called me back a few minutes later after being baffled (said he had never heard of such an issue) and said if my HD had a Revision # (Rev#) of "AP25" then it was the recalled hard drive and BINGO - it was. They are replacing my HD with a new one and my case # is 413087829 and I would guess thousands and thousands (if not millions) have been told by Apple (either when doing the online check or calling in) their iMac didn't qualify for the SeaGate 1T HD replacement - due solely to Apple not having correct info in their databases - when in fact they do.

So if you have this issue, call them and give them the two above case #'s and get your new HD!!!! Have to be turned in by April if my info is correct.

Good Luck!!

Be Persistent!!!
 
Y

yishiang

macrumors member
Oct 21, 2008
30
0
Just sent in my Late 2009 iMac 27". Just for verification, I took down the old HD Serial number and I'll verify it during collection to see if they really replaced the drive as the drive is currently working fine without any hiccups.

They said it will took 14 Working Days, hopefully it doesn't take that long.
I've sent it in to an ASSP as we do not have an Apple Store here. :apple:
 
D

Dksiazek

macrumors newbie
Mar 6, 2013
9
0
Baltimore, MD
So I got to have some fun with this program and thought I would share. I brought my 2009 iMac in on the 22nd of February. Was told I could pick it up on March 1st.

I drive out to the Apple Store, and after the few issues people here have had I ask to see it boot up before I leave the store with it. I notice there is a mark on the LCD screen. After they spend a few minutes telling me they can't see it, they bring it in back and I am then told there is a mark on the LCD itself. Am told they will order a new screen and will be all set to go.

Now we are on the 5th when I go in to pick up my iMac, once again I ask to see it started up. This time I see two marks that are under the glass. They bring it in back and sure enough, there are marks on the glass this time. Apparently they had the piece in stock as 15 minutes later I am walking out of the store with what I thought was my like it was iMac.

Come home and do the time machine restore. Now I notice that this panel seems to have a washed out look. I noticed because my iMac used to have better depth to the colors than my 2008 macbook... now the macbook looks less washed out then my 2009 iMac. So I get to live with a computer that will just bother me...
 
pnoyblazed

pnoyblazed

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2008
986
403
Anyone go to any Apple stores in NYC and have their iMacs serviced? If so, how long did they say the repair time will be?
 
irnchriz

irnchriz

macrumors 65816
May 2, 2005
1,034
2
Scotland
Got mine replaced in my 2009 27" iMac. Took 4 days to have it replaced. Now considering replacing my broken Superdrive with an SSD and Optibay.
 
pnoyblazed

pnoyblazed

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2008
986
403
Also do we need to bring the install CDs with the iMac? Or just the iMac and the power cord?
 
N

neoelectronaut

Cancelled
Dec 3, 2003
3,417
2,093
So I think I'm finally going to get around to bringing in my iMac for service this weekend, and I've got a quick question:

When I get the computer back, what condition will the hard drive be in? Completely blank, I assume?

I guess I'll have to try to find my iMac restore CDs or just make a Lion install DVD before I drop it off, right?
 
LimeiBook86

LimeiBook86

macrumors G3
May 4, 2002
8,001
45
Go Vegan
They usually ask you what version of OS X and what version of iLife you had. They will re-install this for you before they give your computer back. The process only takes 10-15 minutes (sometimes less).

When they swapped the HD out on my iMac I had the correct version of OS X and iLife. I just had to restore my data via Time Machine. (Be sure to do a fully backup before bringing your iMac in!)

neoelectronaut said:
So I think I'm finally going to get around to bringing in my iMac for service this weekend, and I've got a quick question:

When I get the computer back, what condition will the hard drive be in? Completely blank, I assume?

I guess I'll have to try to find my iMac restore CDs or just make a Lion install DVD before I drop it off, right?
Click to expand...
 
mcrazza

mcrazza

macrumors member
Aug 2, 2008
90
21
Hobart, Australia
mcrazza said:
Does anyone know what specific model numbers of the 1TB Seagate HDD that are affected?

My 24" 2008 iMac recently had its 500GB WD HD replaced (suspected HD failure) with a 1TB Seagate HD (Model: ST31000528ASQ, Revision: AP24). Is that one of the affected Seagate HD listed under Apple's replacement program for 2009-2011 iMacs? I know I don't apply for the replacement program but I would like to know if my HD is one of the affected HDs listed.
Click to expand...

I suspected this was going to happen and a year later it has. :(

Last week I read an article over at Macworld about "What to do about a failing hard drive" out of pure interest. After reading the article I checked Disk Utility and was completely surprised to discover that the hard drive's S.M.A.R.T. Status was labeled as Failing. Strangely last month I checked Disk Utility and the HD was running fine. The hard drive is an Seagate ST31000528ASQ and was installed in my imac in June 2012 (see above quote). I am well aware of the history of this hard drive from numerous Google searches. Highlighting the hard drive and clicking on the Info button in Disk Utility I get:

Name : ST31000528ASQ Media
Type : Disk

Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partition Table
Disk Identifier : disk0
Media Name : ST31000528ASQ Media
Media Type : Generic
Connection Bus : SATA
Device Tree : IODeviceTree:/PCI0/SATA@1F,2/PRT0@0/PMP@0
Writable : Yes
Ejectable : No
Location : Internal
Total Capacity : 1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 Bytes)
Disk Number : 0
Partition Number : 0
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Failing
Raw Error Rate : 000005282204
Spinup Time : 000000000000
Start/Stop Count : 000000000E46
Retired Sectors Count : 000000000C08
Seek Error Rate : 0056078E51F5
Power-On Hours : 000000002EA8
Spinup Retries : 000000000000
Power Cycles : 0000000010C2
HDD Temperature : 000D0000002E
ECC on the Fly Count : 000005282204
Pending-Sparing Count : 000000000000
Uncorrectable Sector Count : 000000000000
UltraDMA CRC Errors : 000000000000
Click to expand...

The weird thing is that there has been no obvious indications recently that suggest the HD is failing. From Day 1 I noticed that the HD grumbles and runs a little more audibly than the previous WD HD and that it would momentarily stall when initially playing music in iTunes (like it was busy), but that was it. In the last 2-3 months I noticed the computer would occasionally freeze in Safari and Chrome but I put that down to those apps. Maybe these occurrences are indeed symptoms of a failing hard drive?

Anyway all my data is backed up via Time Machine and important files are backed up on thumb drives, so I'm covered.

So yeah, what are your thoughts? Is the hard drive failing, am I getting false readings or something else?

Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.
 
Last edited:
AidenShaw

AidenShaw

macrumors P6
Feb 8, 2003
18,667
4,676
The Peninsula
mcrazza said:
the last 2-3 months I noticed the computer would occasionally freeze in Safari and Chrome but I put that down to those apps. Maybe these occurrences are indeed symptoms of a failing hard drive?
Click to expand...

Those definitely can be symptoms of a failing drive. The drive gives an error, the system retries a number of times (possibly getting timeouts), then resets the drive and things work again.

Unexplained 30 second hangs are often due to a failing disk - particularly if the entire system locks up.
 
J

jsheman

macrumors newbie
Jan 24, 2014
1
0
seagate harddrive replacement

[COLOR="[SIZE="5"]Black"]What a bunch of crap[/SIZE][/COLOR]. I went to the apple store and they said it was too late. OW what a bunch of crap first they sell me a mac with a defective hard drive and i never set an email about it t ands then when i inquire they admit it was defective but it was too late. they said well we sent you an email but you water too long. they made jot would nd like it ws my fault that is just really a joke what a bunch of crooks to make it would like i was negligent all i can say is APPLE WILL NOT BE IN BUSINESS FOR MUCH LONGER WHEN ATHEY TREAT POEPLE LIKE THAT IT WAS NOT MY FAULT THEY SOLD ME A BAD HARD DRIVE AND THEN DO NOT FOLLOW UP this say:eek::eek::eek::eek::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
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