iMac>>broken superdrive>>repair>>scratched

[phalewhale]

To kick off, I'm devastated! My iMac was in the middle of burning a CD on Sunday and spat it out halfway through. Next it was spitting every disc out, including the OS disk at firmware.

Anyway, Applecare confirmed the superdrive needed replaced. The machine is only just over a month old (but it is the old top end 3.06GHz model)! So, it went off for repair in perfect order, all packaged up in the original packaging. Based on the advice on others, I also took many photographs before I dropped it off at the repair place.

When I picked up the machine today the back of it has been scratched in a number of places. The screen also has loads of dust/debris underneath the glass display.

Anyone with experience of this sort? Where do I stand? Any thoughts/advice appreciated.

 

[jmpage2]

To kick off, I'm devastated! My iMac was in the middle of burning a CD on Sunday and spat it out halfway through. Next it was spitting every disc out, including the OS disk at firmware.

Anyway, Applecare confirmed the superdrive needed replaced. The machine is only just over a month old (but it is the old top end 3.06GHz model)! So, it went off for repair in perfect order, all packaged up in the original packaging. Based on the advice on others, I also took many photographs before I dropped it off at the repair place.

When I picked up the machine today the back of it has been scratched in a number of places. The screen also has loads of dust/debris underneath the glass display.

Anyone with experience of this sort? Where do I stand? Any thoughts/advice appreciated.

Here's a thought.

Call Apple.

Bye.

 

[Insulin Junkie]

Bring it back to the repair center and show them your photos. You have quite a good chance of them taking it in, debris under the glass display is unacceptable.

On a side note, I love V! Have a V mask hanging in my room

 

[phalewhale]

@Insulin Junkie:
The repair centre is a contractor, not Apple itself. Was just gonna call Apple tomorrow and have written up what's gone on. Really cheesed off about it!

V Rules!

 

[Insulin Junkie]

@Insulin Junkie:
The repair centre is a contractor, not Apple itself. Was just gonna call Apple tomorrow and have written up what's gone on. Really cheesed off about it!

V Rules!

I can imagine! Out of curiosity... what was the contractor? If that was me I'd take it back to the contractor first and demand they fix what they mucked up. I'd say you have every right to make them go through the hassle of sending it to apple, if it needs be done, seeing that they screwed it up in the first place!
And good thing you made those photos, it'll make your case a lot stronger.

 

[jmpage2]

@Insulin Junkie:
The repair centre is a contractor, not Apple itself. Was just gonna call Apple tomorrow and have written up what's gone on. Really cheesed off about it!

V Rules!

What exactly do you expect us to do for you? There are literally hundreds of threads at Macrumors dealing with the same situation. The situation is always handled best by calling Apple and complaining, frequently this results in you getting a brand new Mac.

 

[phalewhale]

I can imagine! Out of curiosity... what was the contractor? If that was me I'd take it back to the contractor first and demand they fix what they mucked up. I'd say you have every right to make them go through the hassle of sending it to apple, if it needs be done, seeing that they screwed it up in the first place!
And good thing you made those photos, it'll make your case a lot stronger.

A place up in the North East of England. They were pleasant enough and the turn around was real quick. The screen should be easy enough to do, I'd do it myself but I'd rather be covered by having someone else do it. The back is a different matter though. Not sure how the black back of the iMac is fixed to the Aluminium, and therefore I'm not sure how easy that would be to replace?

So is that how it works? It goes back to the contractor first and they send the whole thing off to Apple? Thanks for the responses by the way!

 

[Insulin Junkie]

So is that how it works? It goes back to the contractor first and they send the whole thing off to Apple?

Yes, best thing to do would be leave apple out of the game for now and have it out with the contractor, they should take all the necessary steps to fixing up every thing they screwed up, even if that means sending it back to apple. It was their fault after all, not yours and not apple's!

Having said that, good luck!

 

[jmpage2]

Yes, best thing to do would be leave apple out of the game for now and have it out with the contractor, they should take all the necessary steps to fixing up every thing they screwed up, even if that means sending it back to apple. It was their fault after all, not yours and not apple's!

Having said that, good luck!

Wrong. The best thing to do is call Apple directly, complaining about the shoddy quality of work performed and that it is completely unacceptable that such a high end machine was banged up this way. You are concerned that they might have damaged something else which won't show up until after the warranty is up.

This type of call, when escalated to a supervisor frequently results in you receiving a brand new Mac as a replacement.

 

[Insulin Junkie]

Wrong. The best thing to do is call Apple directly, complaining about the shoddy quality of work performed and that it is completely unacceptable that such a high end machine was banged up this way. You are concerned that they might have damaged something else which won't show up until after the warranty is up.

This type of call, when escalated to a supervisor frequently results in you receiving a brand new Mac as a replacement.

In any case, the scenario I recommended worked for my sister's machine. The contractor screwed it up, she sent it right back to them and they sent it to the manufacturer and she got it back all fixed.

 

[phalewhale]

What exactly do you expect us to do for you? There are literally hundreds of threads at Macrumors dealing with the same situation. The situation is always handled best by calling Apple and complaining, frequently this results in you getting a brand new Mac.

Listen fella, Any half wit would know they have to call Apple. I'm just after some thoughts on what other people have experienced. Why respond and waste your time, mine, and the time of other who may be interested in the thread?

"The situation is always handled best by calling Apple and complaining, frequently this results in you getting a brand new Mac." That would have been really appreciated if it had been your first and only contribution!

 

[rgarjr]

This is clearly a repair centre issue and not Apple's so best bet it to just deal with them.

 

[phalewhale]

Wrong. The best thing to do is call Apple directly, complaining about the shoddy quality of work performed and that it is completely unacceptable that such a high end machine was banged up this way. You are concerned that they might have damaged something else which won't show up until after the warranty is up.

This type of call, when escalated to a supervisor frequently results in you receiving a brand new Mac as a replacement.

OK, I read this after my previous post. It seems you can be helpful when you're not hiding behind a veil of sarcasm! I'm sorry my responses have been sharp. Hope you understand.

It's good to hear about all these experiences and is v reassuring.

 

[jmpage2]

This is clearly a repair centre issue and not Apple's so best bet it to just deal with them.

If the machine is under Apple Care coverage than it is Apple's issue. They authorize and certify the repair center and direct users on which repair center to take the unit to for servicing.

I bought a new car once that ended up having a small ding in the hatch. The dealer sent the car off to a scratch and dent place that actually made things worse, as they damaged the paint in the process of removing the ding and did a horrible job of repainting the car.

The manufacturer stepped in, sent the car to a professional body shop, got me a rental car, and a couple of days later I got my car back looking brand new again.

OK, I read this after my previous post. It seems you can be helpful when you're not hiding behind a veil of sarcasm! I'm sorry my responses have been sharp. Hope you understand.

It's good to hear about all these experiences and is v reassuring.

Well, I'm glad to see that you've come around to understanding that Apple has great customer service, and you will get the best results by calling them and complaining.

Keep it professional but don't take no for an answer. You don't trust this shop to repair the Mac again and you simply can't be without it yet again after they bungled the repair.

The only thing acceptable is if Apple provides a comparable machine as a replacement.

 

[alphaod]

I would call Apple up and ask them for some help. They may let you ship the computer to them directly or force the authorized dealer to fix the computer.

 

[phalewhale]

Just took the photographs of the scratches. There's also a small notch on the front at the bottom right - LIVID. So, I have packaged it back up. Obviously will call Apple ASAP tomorrow and see what they want me to do with the machine. Hopefully it will go back to Apple direct - maybe their customer service department or something? So gutted because my wife is about to give birth any day and I could have done with it over this period for photographs/movies/music and stuff!

 

[rgarjr]

how about posting some of those before and after pictures bro..

 

[phalewhale]

how about posting some of those before and after pictures bro..

Here you go. Once again thank you all for the interest.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Ouch! Thank buggery you took photos before! I'd complain straight to Apple first. If its a certified Apple repair centre then they're certified to not do this kind of stuff. Where's your nearest Apple store? You might want to say you don't want to go near this other place again with your computer after the damage they've done.

 

[phalewhale]

Ouch! Thank buggery you took photos before! I'd complain straight to Apple first. If its a certified Apple repair centre then they're certified to not do this kind of stuff. Where's your nearest Apple store? You might want to say you don't want to go near this other place again with your computer after the damage they've done.

The nearest Apple Store is about 130 miles from me so I wouldn't really want to have to travel there. I haven't even tested the machine since it came back - just been so devastated about the marks... I dunno! My luck is so low at the moment if I were to fall into a bucket of boobs I would come out sucking my thumb!

 

[phalewhale]

OK, have phoned Apple and after being transferred between AppleCare and Customer Support, they are wanting to pick the machine up, replace the whole front and back case, get all the debris from behind the screen and get it back to me in the same perfect condition it was when it left me earlier in the week. They've said I'll be without it for over 5 business days.

They also said they would give me a gesutre of goodwill when it's all sorted. Just hope it's gonna come back how it left me!

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

My luck is so low at the moment if I were to fall into a bucket of boobs I would come out sucking my thumb!

That just made me "LOL".

They also said they would give me a gesutre of goodwill when it's all sorted.

I wonder what a "gesture of goodwill" is.... I just hope the delivery person is a girl when they return it...

 

[phalewhale]

That just made me "LOL".

I wonder what a "gesture of goodwill" is.... I just hope the delivery person is a girl when they return it...

Been on the phone to them a few times today. Not very happy that they are going to be taking the innards out of my machine and transplanting them into a new casing both front and back. But anyway, if they get it right i suppose I'll be happy. It just takes the sheen off of my shiny new computer that's just over a month old. AND, they've said it's gonna take around 2 weeks to get the machine back from me after they pick it up on Tuesday next week. Anyway, they mentioned ipod cases and stuff as the gesture of goodwill which would really peave me off. A decent discount towards a PAYG iPhone might be enough to convince me though.

Just hoping this other company Amsys will do a better job. However, they did fix a computer for us at work last year and that came back scratched so I can only hope!

I've spoken to a few people who've said that I should be demanding a brand new machine - what does everyone else think? I know jmpage2 mentioned yesterday that's what Apple would probably do...

UPDATE: Have also realised two other faults now. There appear to be at least 6 dead/stuck pixels. I've counted 9 but 3 might actually just be debris under the screen. Checked by having a white background, finding the pixel, keeping an eye on the location and seeing if something is there when the display is blank. Also, my bluetooth mouse will not connect. It was working before I sent it away, and battery level is good. Have since been able to connect it to a macbook so i know it's working!!!

 

[jdaco6]

Been on the phone to them a few times today. Not very happy that they are going to be taking the innards out of my machine and transplanting them into a new casing both front and back. But anyway, if they get it right i suppose I'll be happy. It just takes the sheen off of my shiny new computer that's just over a month old. AND, they've said it's gonna take around 2 weeks to get the machine back from me after they pick it up on Tuesday next week. Anyway, they mentioned ipod cases and stuff as the gesture of goodwill which would really peave me off. A decent discount towards a PAYG iPhone might be enough to convince me though.

Just hoping this other company Amsys will do a better job. However, they did fix a computer for us at work last year and that came back scratched so I can only hope!

I've spoken to a few people who've said that I should be demanding a brand new machine - what does everyone else think? I know jmpage2 mentioned yesterday that's what Apple would probably do...

UPDATE: Have also realised two other faults now. There appear to be at least 6 dead/stuck pixels. I've counted 9 but 3 might actually just be debris under the screen. Checked by having a white background, finding the pixel, keeping an eye on the location and seeing if something is there when the display is blank. Also, my bluetooth mouse will not connect. It was working before I sent it away, and battery level is good. Have since been able to connect it to a macbook so i know it's working!!!

I find this very unsatisfactory to say the least. I would suggest you either spend a long time on the phone pushing for the machine to be fixed in 5 days not 2 weeks or you get onto Executive Relations to get the machine replaced, as you say.

Apple will always do their best to help, but sometimes they need that extra push.

Hope that helps.

 

[carlosbutler]

that is very bad service. i had a problem with my iMac about 6 months after purchase. HDD died. but i took into apple store and they fixed it over night.

if they provide that service in the apple stores, they should provide that server else where if you take it to an actual retailer/apple related company.

personally i would have rung up apple straight away. even though its not their fault directly, they should have 'fake', mystery customer type thing. someone hired by apple to test the company for any measures they have.