I ordered a refurb imac a few years ago, my first since the old G4 iMac. Right away, I noticed issues and had a very odd time.
First, I see a dead pixel. One single dead pixel, off to the side. Irritating if you know it is there, but I'm used to it so it no longer bugs me. Then I noticed banding, or differences in brightness. 2 issues, time to call tech support.
I called tech support and they told me I would have to send it in (the nearest apple store was over an hour away.) I was disappointed, but agreed. I was given a specific location that would handle the shipment for me. Guess what. Using that specific address, I found no UPS store or anything similar, nowhere near it in fact. This place handled bonds for criminals! I drove home and decided to see if I could put up with it.
A week later, I notice the screen becomes easily burned, by everything. I ended up driving it out to an apple store.
While there, I was unable to reproduce the banding issue. I was told the dead pixel doesn't meet their criteria for a defective display, and that the burn isn't really a burn, but "image persistence" and is perfectly normal. No repair.
Originally, I was going to get applecare before the included warrantee expired. well, I saw no purpose behind it since my concerns were simply dismissed. I just put up with it. Some days, the burn doesn't show up at all, and others, I can make out every cell in a spreadsheet, including the text, on the left side of the screen for the remainder of the day, ghosted over whatever I'm looking at.
So because I'm not getting any support, I decided why not crack it open and upgrade the hard drive? That was a fun endeavor. The new drive makes my once silent computer loud, but at the time, I needed more internal storage. Oh well, the marbles-in-a-garbage-disposal sound is my fault. Doesn't hurt anything.
Now the "image persistence" issue is beyond tolerable, and I swear I hear a squeaking sound coming from the mac sometimes. I ran apple hardware test and found an error about the hard drive fan's speed. Also, I can't burn CD's. JOY!
As much of a disappointment as my mac has been, I still love this machine. It's easy to use, and still really peppy, and it has never flat out failed on me when I need it. It just seems to enjoy annoying the holy poo out of me.
I went in to the store more recently and got an iPad. This was a different store, one that was set up closer and more recently.
Despite playing with my roommates iPad I still had some questions about it. The employee answered all of my questions, was very polite, and the whole experience was enjoyable. I came home and think to myself "I should have bought the white one." I go back the next day and ask about an exchange. Even with my stupid reason, they agreed, and brought me out a white iPad! I get home, dead pixel right in the center. I return the next day, another one, tested in the store right in front of me. The people there bent over backwards to help me, where the previous store was very dismissive.
Here's where my rambling has a point. When I was considering getting a macbook air instead of the iPad, I was asking them questions about both devices, and reliability came up. I had mentioned my problems with the last store and they seemed very concerned. I was told to set up an appointment for the genius bar, as my iMac's collective issues are NOT considered normal operation. Again, not dismissive (and the only reason I gave Apple another chance.)
Well, I never did make that appointment as other, more pressing issues came up. Now, I am looking around at everyone else's positive customer service experiences and wondering if I will end up having to pay for every repair my iMac needs, or if they will waive some of it.
I would never have opened my mac and would have actually bought applecare if the previous store hadn't demonstrated it was pointless. However, I did technically violate the warrantee once I pulled off the plexiglass screen. And I never did buy applecare.
What do you guys think? Is it worth mentioning this to the apple genius, or should I just surrender and pay through the nose for this money pit of a computer?
First, I see a dead pixel. One single dead pixel, off to the side. Irritating if you know it is there, but I'm used to it so it no longer bugs me. Then I noticed banding, or differences in brightness. 2 issues, time to call tech support.
I called tech support and they told me I would have to send it in (the nearest apple store was over an hour away.) I was disappointed, but agreed. I was given a specific location that would handle the shipment for me. Guess what. Using that specific address, I found no UPS store or anything similar, nowhere near it in fact. This place handled bonds for criminals! I drove home and decided to see if I could put up with it.
A week later, I notice the screen becomes easily burned, by everything. I ended up driving it out to an apple store.
While there, I was unable to reproduce the banding issue. I was told the dead pixel doesn't meet their criteria for a defective display, and that the burn isn't really a burn, but "image persistence" and is perfectly normal. No repair.
Originally, I was going to get applecare before the included warrantee expired. well, I saw no purpose behind it since my concerns were simply dismissed. I just put up with it. Some days, the burn doesn't show up at all, and others, I can make out every cell in a spreadsheet, including the text, on the left side of the screen for the remainder of the day, ghosted over whatever I'm looking at.
So because I'm not getting any support, I decided why not crack it open and upgrade the hard drive? That was a fun endeavor. The new drive makes my once silent computer loud, but at the time, I needed more internal storage. Oh well, the marbles-in-a-garbage-disposal sound is my fault. Doesn't hurt anything.
Now the "image persistence" issue is beyond tolerable, and I swear I hear a squeaking sound coming from the mac sometimes. I ran apple hardware test and found an error about the hard drive fan's speed. Also, I can't burn CD's. JOY!
As much of a disappointment as my mac has been, I still love this machine. It's easy to use, and still really peppy, and it has never flat out failed on me when I need it. It just seems to enjoy annoying the holy poo out of me.
I went in to the store more recently and got an iPad. This was a different store, one that was set up closer and more recently.
Despite playing with my roommates iPad I still had some questions about it. The employee answered all of my questions, was very polite, and the whole experience was enjoyable. I came home and think to myself "I should have bought the white one." I go back the next day and ask about an exchange. Even with my stupid reason, they agreed, and brought me out a white iPad! I get home, dead pixel right in the center. I return the next day, another one, tested in the store right in front of me. The people there bent over backwards to help me, where the previous store was very dismissive.
Here's where my rambling has a point. When I was considering getting a macbook air instead of the iPad, I was asking them questions about both devices, and reliability came up. I had mentioned my problems with the last store and they seemed very concerned. I was told to set up an appointment for the genius bar, as my iMac's collective issues are NOT considered normal operation. Again, not dismissive (and the only reason I gave Apple another chance.)
Well, I never did make that appointment as other, more pressing issues came up. Now, I am looking around at everyone else's positive customer service experiences and wondering if I will end up having to pay for every repair my iMac needs, or if they will waive some of it.
I would never have opened my mac and would have actually bought applecare if the previous store hadn't demonstrated it was pointless. However, I did technically violate the warrantee once I pulled off the plexiglass screen. And I never did buy applecare.
What do you guys think? Is it worth mentioning this to the apple genius, or should I just surrender and pay through the nose for this money pit of a computer?
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