canadianreader
macrumors 68000
So people here are telling you should have had a plan B just in case but the same plan B doesn't apply to Apple when they can't repair your machine on time. Rules for thee but not for me.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iMac Repair taking too long
- Thread starter derek1984
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Glad you got a positive resolution.
For others in the same boat, be sure to check your AppleCare terms for your specific location, you may have additional remedies available.
For example, the current terms have provisions like these in certain US states:
Virginia
“If you purchased the Plan in this state, if any promise made in the contract has been deniedor has not been honored within sixty (60) days after your request, you may contact the Virginia Department ofAgriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs to file a complaint”
Oregon
“In the event you do not receive satisfaction under this contract, you may contact the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Division of Financial Regulation, Consumer Advocacy Section”
South Carolina
“You may address any unresolved complaints or Plan regulation questions to the South Carolina Department of Insurance”
Just check your terms to see if something like this applies to you.
For others in the same boat, be sure to check your AppleCare terms for your specific location, you may have additional remedies available.
For example, the current terms have provisions like these in certain US states:
Virginia
“If you purchased the Plan in this state, if any promise made in the contract has been deniedor has not been honored within sixty (60) days after your request, you may contact the Virginia Department ofAgriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs to file a complaint”
Oregon
“In the event you do not receive satisfaction under this contract, you may contact the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Division of Financial Regulation, Consumer Advocacy Section”
South Carolina
“You may address any unresolved complaints or Plan regulation questions to the South Carolina Department of Insurance”
Just check your terms to see if something like this applies to you.
Parowdy
Suspended
I wouldn’t call this the slightest inconvenience. The machine has extended warranty but been in „repair“ for almost a month because the display stopped working.
Apple has their logistics down as best as anyone can, yet they, as the original first party, can’t source probably the one part that has to be replaced the most, but they sure can collect the AppleCare+ fees.
After 3 weeks without even an update or the confirmation they have a display somewhere on the globe (which should be the least, don’t they have an inventory of their stock?), I’d be mad, too.
Having a work machine in indefinite limbo is frustrating and not just „the slightest inconvenience“…
This is no better than the service you get from a third party or a shady repair shop.
Last edited:
Parowdy
Suspended
Exactly. While PAYING Apple for years for a service they now don’t even offer, OP is supposed to do better than them.
Some people and opinions here are beyond me.
Parowdy
Suspended
So you effectively paid for a service that they should have known couldn’t be offered?
That sounds, illegal, if not explicitly stated in the terms of use somewhere that they can collect the payments but may not be able to actually source the parts you’d expect them to have to replace.
I hope you can find some counseling that helps work this out shouldn’t they get their act together soon.
I’m very sad and disappointed to hear all this, I hope it soon works out for you and that once they get the part, the repair isn’t flaky and results in more downtime. 🙃
Parowdy
Suspended
Where did you read about them telling OP what the delay was?
If you call back after weeks and all they can effectively tell you is „I dunno someday hopefully“, that’s not a delay, and that’s also not info they offered OP the day he left them with their device.
It should, for THE company that has their logistics on lock, and for one of the biggest tech companies in existence, not be that hard to be able to check its own stock for parts of devices under AppleCare+, no matter how old they are.
They gladly took OP‘s regular payments, but they couldn’t care to have at least one of the most common parts to break at least somewhere in stock, or tell OP about that from the start.
It’s barely 5 years old.
I’m also curious how you know about OP‘s attitude when he went to the store.
Parowdy
Suspended
That’s crazy. 20 people, all waiting for a part that doesn’t exist but that they are paying for.
No matter what others say here, that is not acceptable and not the standard we should hold Apple to.
With all you paid for AppleCare, you could have bought a new machine or like 3 replacement screens by yourself by now, including a repair in a reputable shop.
After I went to the Apple Store and called AppleCare, I told them exactly what was said to me at the store. I told them how I was told there were "20 people ahead of me" waiting for the same display.
The AppleCare rep literally laughed at me. Told me that makes zero sense and why would they say this to me. I mentioned the employee name at the local store and mentioned how I was told he was the "manager" and how this employee said there was nobody higher than him at the store.
AppleCare looked him up and said this was not true. This person was not the Store Manager.
I'm not trying to get an Apple employee fired but how this was handled at the store was totally unacceptable. I was lied to and left the store with no resolution.
I am just thankful I got a very helpful and caring AppleCare representative to help me out.
The AppleCare rep literally laughed at me. Told me that makes zero sense and why would they say this to me. I mentioned the employee name at the local store and mentioned how I was told he was the "manager" and how this employee said there was nobody higher than him at the store.
AppleCare looked him up and said this was not true. This person was not the Store Manager.
I'm not trying to get an Apple employee fired but how this was handled at the store was totally unacceptable. I was lied to and left the store with no resolution.
I am just thankful I got a very helpful and caring AppleCare representative to help me out.
Unami
macrumors 68000
Because people need their computers for work. And 3 weeks of unpaid vacation that is met with Apple's usual phony "we're so sorry and want to help you, but we won't"-smile (TM), when asked for a timeline, is really not that acceptable when you paid for insurance to avoid this.
In the end all went well because the customer put effort in it and never let go. But that's not the expection here that you have to fight for a right you already paid for, is it? What about the other 20 customers in line?
Last edited:
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
If the OP needed it for work, then he should have found some alternative way of working before handing over the imac.
Andres Cantu
macrumors 68040
It's obvious that this new iMac design has some serious display flaws and Apple is unwilling to admit them, as it's been years since the first issues started popping up for users. It will catch up to them eventually. Reminds me of the 2011 MacBook Pros.
reading through this thread, as a former AppleCare and in-store Apple Genius Bar employee, I'm so glad I don't work there anymore.
there are several logical reasons why a repair is delayed, and also why there isnt a guaranteed turnaround time on a repair. there are also specific policies about when a computer is just replaced instead of repaired. there are also a lot of information regarding AppleCare+ guidelines, in the terms and conditions that 99.9% of people dont read.
but all of this is irrelevant because, with certain customers, all they care about it getting THEIR SPECIFIC situation resolved, no matter how or at what cost
If you're going through an inconvenience with the Apple repair process and you find it unreasonable, I'd recommend not spending your money on an Apple device in the future and going with a company that has a better track record with repairs and replacements.
and when you find that company, that has a similar price and performance and value with their products, please share that with us so we can make better decisions in the future as consumers.
there are several logical reasons why a repair is delayed, and also why there isnt a guaranteed turnaround time on a repair. there are also specific policies about when a computer is just replaced instead of repaired. there are also a lot of information regarding AppleCare+ guidelines, in the terms and conditions that 99.9% of people dont read.
but all of this is irrelevant because, with certain customers, all they care about it getting THEIR SPECIFIC situation resolved, no matter how or at what cost
If you're going through an inconvenience with the Apple repair process and you find it unreasonable, I'd recommend not spending your money on an Apple device in the future and going with a company that has a better track record with repairs and replacements.
and when you find that company, that has a similar price and performance and value with their products, please share that with us so we can make better decisions in the future as consumers.
jakey rolling
macrumors 65816
Based on this thread, there appear to be more than few here who believe that having bought an Apple product means that you owe Apple a debt of gratitude, rather than the other way around.
jakey rolling
macrumors 65816
Yes, I'm sure in your mind he should have just dropped a few thou on a second toy computer and just let it sit in a closet until the current one inevitably died. SMH.
jakey rolling
macrumors 65816
Because Apple doesn't offer a small business plan. They offer plans for very large businesses, and they offer consumer plans. There is no such thing as a "business" plan for the majority of Apple-using professionals.
I never had to have a Dell LCD replaced, so wouldn't know about that. But I do know that when I had to have my laptop repaired, the diagnostics were all of two questions: "What is your serial number, and what seems to be the problem?" The problem in my case was clearly hardware (two USB ports were dead). Based on the few other instances where I've seen colleagues need to get their machines serviced, the experience was the same. To my knowledge, nobody in my firm has ever had to take apart a Dell laptop for any reason.
They walk around with pretty much every other part. Not sure why display panels would be any different. Again, though, I haven't seen one fail nearly as often as I've seen Apple displays fail, so it could just be inexperience with that particular type of repair.
Not all businesses are "corporate customers". Especially not to Apple. OP is not a corporate customer. He's a business customer. And like most Apple business customers, he had to learn the hard way why you should never rely on Apple to make a living.
sw1tcher
macrumors 604
Don't listen to those who say you're over-reacting (going 0 to 90 MPH at the slightest inconvenience); It's only been 3 weeks with no status update, they need to be give more time, and you need to be more patient; You should have bought a back-up machine, you know, just in case, if you really need it for work . . .
AF_APPLETALK
Suspended
I have an orange M4 iMac, but I always recommend Mac mini's, especially for home users. If they really want an iMac, I always recommend the AppleCare plan (which I do have for my iMac). Any iMac is a time bomb, and most home users don't like doing replacements of technology hardware nearly as much as I do.
While I do agree many people go crazy about issues way too quickly, 3 to 3 weeks with no ETA is not acceptable practice. You can't tell someone "not sure when we will get them in". It is to open ended and needs to be dealt with at a higher level. Also if this was a work machine there are not always alternatives. Assuming you were a bulldozer and your bulldozer broke are you expected to have a spare one? No, you are down till it gets fixed. He can't plan an alternative way of working when the machine suddenly breaks and not everyone has a spare computer hanging around. Apple has a massive supply chain and a history of great customer support, if things go beyond a certain point you can be fair but firm and escalate things on their end. I went through this years ago when I bought the first 5K iMac that came out. It was loaded with every upgrade and cost a pretty penny. Computer did not perform well and in fact performed slower at normal tasks in Adobe then the 4 year old MacBook Pro it replaced. The first time I contacted support they were great and went through some problem solving with no luck. I had a new computer in a couple of days after that. The next one had the same issues. Contacted support again but this time it was slow and not getting anywhere. After a week I took a stab in the dark and emailed Tim Cook through an email I found online. I was not certain it would work or get me anything but I was really stuck with no solutions being offered and replies only pushing off doing anything as they were "looking into it". The next morning I get a call from a high up at Apple telling me Tim Cook passed on my email and he was going to deal with it. Explained the issues and next morning I have a new iMac with an apology. Now this is a big step up but I did not know what else to do and communication had really broken down, which Apple also admitted just as it seems it did with the OP. I think the key is being firm but respectful, I have to do that all the time with vendors who support our various equipment. Downtime costs money.
Probably time to buy a refurbished m4 Mac Mini and a 3rd party 5k (or 4k) display. And after you've set this up, sell the new iMac.
mreg376
macrumors 65816
They don't have to replace the part. They can give a new part, or a new machine. People purchase AppleCare+ to have a operating machine, not to hear or give excuses. It is Apple that has decided to offer Applecare+ coverage basically forever. It is their problem, not the owner's problem, that the part's old. They have to produce a result, any result that ends up in an operating computer, quickly.
Contact_Feanor
macrumors 6502a
I've had a situation with a one-year-old MacBook Pro once where after three months of waiting for a replacement I "escalated" my complaint up the ladder and got a completely newer model instead (with a newer cpu and more RAM since the same RAM choices were no longer available, lol)... So I say about now would be a good time, but ask the people on the floor that you want to speak to a manager (be polite but very insistent, don't make a scene, just make it clear that you NEED that computer, paid your monthly AppleCare+ fee, this is a breach of trust in the brand, etc.)
Madonepro
macrumors 65816
A little harsh perhaps? Computers fail unexpectedly, and not all of us have the financial flexibility to pivot.
Add in, that Apple probably tried to be optimistic and quote a timeframe, which the customer thought they could manage.
Did Apple do a check on whether the part was there, before accepting the device? That is ‘good practice’,
Apple controls the narrative around its customer services and support, preventing third parties from effecting repairs, making out, the choosing Apple is the customers best choice.
Under sell, over prove! A long held mantra in marketing, which Apple rarely chant.