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iMac Repair-My UK rights?

I

iGeek2014

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 29, 2014
2,135
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=== Nowheresville ===
Good afternoon,

In October of last year I took my mid-2015 iMac 27" Retina 5K into Apple's store at the High Cross in Leicester as it kept losing power.

They kept it in for testing and it turned out it was the iMac's internal P.S.U causing the issue.

As it was out of warranty I paid just under £150 to get it repaired.

Six months later and the same thing is happening again; I've booked an appointment for next Monday to see what's what.

When I was speaking to the team over in Ireland the call-handler mentioned as it's out of warranty there will probably be fees etc-but surely I must have some consumer rights if it turns out it is the P.S.U that's at fault once more?

Thanks in advance.
 
I'd say that they would probably offer to replace the PSU gratis if it turns out to be the PSU. Maybe a small cost for labour.

Other companies do offer warranties on their spare parts (example).

But keep calm and reasonable and good luck.
 
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Razzerman said:
I'd say that they would probably offer to replace the PSU gratis if it turns out to be the PSU. Maybe a small cost for labour.

Other companies do offer warranties on their spare parts (example).

But keep calm and reasonable and good luck.
Click to expand...

Hello and thank you for your response. There's a programme called Etre Check which I used last year to find any reported error codes and I've downloaded it again in case it was macOS causing the power downs but it's the same error code as it was in 2017 which makes me think it's the PSU again.

Guess I could've been really unlucky and ended up with a faulty replacement (it happens) but if Apple repair it again I'll have to work out what I can do differently at home to combat the problem as a new PSU every six months isn't good!
 
Apple officially offer a 90 day warranty on repairs - crap, I know, but that's what they do.

That said, you have the similar consumer rights when purchasing a service (a repair) as you do when buying products. So if they refuse (I highly doubt they will if it's the PSU), politely remind them that you'd like to exercise your consumer rights, as the repair was obviously not "provided with reasonable care and skill" (key phrase), as if the repair was performed correctly, you would expect a replacement power supply to last longer than 5 months.

If you paid for the repair via credit card, they're equally liable via Section 75, too, but I highly doubt it'll come to that.

What is the issue? iMac PSUs don't tend to cause random issues in my experience, they just blow. For 2 PSUs to go that quickly, it would suggest there is something else at play.

Best of luck!
 
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I thought all Apple repairs came with a 1 year warranty on the part that was replaced?
 
imacken said:
The OP is asking about the UK. Different consumer rights here. May be a different situation compared to the US terms you linked.
Click to expand...

They still offer the same "limited warranty" here - however you have your standard consumer rights of up to 6 years in addition to that (which themselves always come with caveats).

Repairs would be covered under a different law to purchasing a product, but the rules are similar (i.e. you'd be stating they didn't perform the repair with reasonable skill, rather than the product itself not being of satisfactory quality).
 
As Brian mentioned above, you need to refer to or ask for a repair under "consumer law" which roughly means the products have to be fit for purpose for 6 years (if they are items expected to normally last at least that long).

I managed to get the graphics card of my 2011 iMac replaced outside the stated 4 year window with this. The apple store didn't offer it as a matter of course though, wanting £300 odd quid for the replacement. I'd been chatting with the guy for a while about iMac's and my fondness for the G4 design and asked at the time if there was anything they could do to help as it was a well documented known issue etc. He went to speak to the manager and came back saying they'd fix it under consumer law since it was bought directly from Apple (online in my case).

I'd definitely recommend politely asking about this, and maybe reading up on it and perhaps the sales of goods act a bit beforehand.

https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/
 
Last edited:
I'm experiencing the same problem with my Late '15 5K iMac.
Had the screen and the logic board replaced in October/November now looks like the PSU is dying.
 
Hello again, sorry for not replying to my thread sooner.

Yes it appears the repair is subject to a 90 day warranty (from Apple’s Terms and Conditions kindly posted above, thanks) but it definitely should last longer than six months.

I could understand if I’d been careless with my iMac, which I haven’t, so when I take it in Friday morning I hope they’re able to help me out.

In all fairness I’ve exercised the SoGA with Apple a few years back with my old mid-2011 iMac 21.5” and they were great then, so we’ll see.
 
Just to keep people updated.

Finally got to take it into Apple yesterday.

The Genius Bar guy was very helpful; they are going to keep it in for testing over the next few days and he said he’ll speak to one of his managers to see what they can do as he (rightly so) said a PSU should last longer than six months.

Optimistic maybe but am kind of hoping I might end up with a refurbished 2017 iMac!
 
Evening.

Sorry for bumping my thread but just wanted to update people on what’s what.

They put my iMac through loads of stress tests and said it’s been fine but could wipe my OS in case it was software related.

Called them today (11/4) and turns out they’d ordered a new PSU.

Kinda mad as I’ve had to chase them several times to find out what’s happening.

Have had decent customer service from Apple many times in the past but not very happy how they’ve handled it this time.
 
iGeek2014 said:
Evening.

Sorry for bumping my thread but just wanted to update people on what’s what.

They put my iMac through loads of stress tests and said it’s been fine but could wipe my OS in case it was software related.

Called them today (11/4) and turns out they’d ordered a new PSU.

Kinda mad as I’ve had to chase them several times to find out what’s happening.

Have had decent customer service from Apple many times in the past but not very happy how they’ve handled it this time.
Click to expand...
Hope you don't mind me jumping in.
I'm having exactly the same issue with my 2015 5K iMac randomly losing power/turning off.
I took it in for repair to Meadowhall in March and they ran stress tests for 4 hours and told me it was fine too. They erased and re-installed the OS and sent me on my way.. 3 weeks later I have exactly the same issue as before.
 
AndrsnH said:
Hope you don't mind me jumping in.
I'm having exactly the same issue with my 2015 5K iMac randomly losing power/turning off.
I took it in for repair to Meadowhall in March and they ran stress tests for 4 hours and told me it was fine too. They erased and re-installed the OS and sent me on my way.. 3 weeks later I have exactly the same issue as before.
Click to expand...

Don't mind you jumping in at all and I'm sorry to hear you've had the same problem.

I got it back last Thursday night and set it up and it was fine. Attempted to download the latest security update and it kept coming up with an error message.

Finally got it working and then Friday it shut down of it's own accord.

Since then I've left it unplugged when I've not been using it and it seems 'fine' again; am wondering if it's a. a problem with my socket (which doesn't appear to be affecting other devices) or b. a problem with High Sierra?

If it happens again rather than going to Apple I think I might get an independent report and see if that highlights anything.
 
AndrsnH said:
Hope you don't mind me jumping in.
I'm having exactly the same issue with my 2015 5K iMac randomly losing power/turning off.
I took it in for repair to Meadowhall in March and they ran stress tests for 4 hours and told me it was fine too. They erased and re-installed the OS and sent me on my way.. 3 weeks later I have exactly the same issue as before.
Click to expand...

I guess you need to to go back and ask about a replacement PSU, I'd log your visits too in case you need to produce it to argue a case for a repair or refund from Apple.
 
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AndrsnH said:
Hope you don't mind me jumping in.
I'm having exactly the same issue with my 2015 5K iMac randomly losing power/turning off.
I took it in for repair to Meadowhall in March and they ran stress tests for 4 hours and told me it was fine too. They erased and re-installed the OS and sent me on my way.. 3 weeks later I have exactly the same issue as before.
Click to expand...

Hello there, did you ever get your issue resolved?

My iMac has decided to start with its "I've had enough, power off!" trick again.

Booked in again for next Tuesday... becoming too much of a joke now.
 
iGeek2014 said:
Hello there, did you ever get your issue resolved?

My iMac has decided to start with its "I've had enough, power off!" trick again.

Booked in again for next Tuesday... becoming too much of a joke now.
Click to expand...
If by "fixed" you mean Apple testing it for a couple of hours again and finding nothing wrong with it then sure!
Had it back a couple of weeks but only just taken it out of the box because I can't face having to drag it back in store for them to just re-install the OS/do nothing with it again.
 
Brian Y said:
Apple officially offer a 90 day warranty on repairs - crap, I know, but that's what they do.

That said, you have the similar consumer rights when purchasing a service (a repair) as you do when buying products. So if they refuse (I highly doubt they will if it's the PSU), politely remind them that you'd like to exercise your consumer rights, as the repair was obviously not "provided with reasonable care and skill" (key phrase), as if the repair was performed correctly, you would expect a replacement power supply to last longer than 5 months.

If you paid for the repair via credit card, they're equally liable via Section 75, too, but I highly doubt it'll come to that.

What is the issue? iMac PSUs don't tend to cause random issues in my experience, they just blow. For 2 PSUs to go that quickly, it would suggest there is something else at play.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...

I really wish the US had consumer law. Though California does have a lemon law, which is very similar.
 
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