My iMac G5: Unaccaptable!

[tsaxer]

Just to give you guys an example on just how loud my imac is:

Geez , that sounds painful. If you don't want to do a fix-it-yourself, tell them, and if they give you crap, threaten to return the whole thing and spread the word. Sometimes you just have to play hardball with people over the phone, it's hard for them to visualize a real person at times (not Apple in particular, but customer service folks in general) And yes, I know Apple has one of the best service programs out there, and the few times I've had to call them, they were great,but no one bats 1000...

Anyway, just adding my voice to those who empathize

 

[rhpenguin]

Sometimes you just have to play hardball with people over the phone, it's hard for them to visualize a real person at times (not Apple in particular, but customer service folks in general)

I work for HP. When i was a level one tech support agent, you could do very little and have to work with what HP gives you and follow their outlined support process. I'm sure Apple is the same. Level one agents never have abilitys to break rules. 90% of the time they are untrained monkeys that are doing what theyre told by their employer. Don't ever give a phone support person **** for not getting your way. Its bad for both parites.

Just come up with a peaceful solution and if the agent doesnt agree with it, ask to speak to someone who might - dont get pissy - and 90% of the time since you ask them to put you on with someone else since you asked, they have to do it.

In short, its not that we dont remember your not a person, its just most of the time our hands are tied. Also by replacing all the components in the machine its basically making it like a new machine. So consider that.

Just defending the ever hard working and underappreciated technical support people of the world.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I'm sorry to hear about this.

I've got an iMac story myself. Bought my Rev. C in early 1999. After 4 years of faithful service the machine began to make scary electrical popping and cracking noises, and the screen would go wavy like an oscilloscope display. Then it died. This problem was endemic to these CRT iMacs. I took it to Microcenter (where I bought it) and asked them to look at it. They promptly removed the high voltage board and the power supply and sent them to Apple for replacement without consulting me. When I found out, I was now commited to either buying $500 of replacement parts or nothing. The guys there had little experience with Mac's and I decided that I would just as soon given them leave to perform open heart surgery on me in the store as let them touch my machine again. So I took my now defiled computer to a local Apple Specialist, Quadstar Digital Guidance, and they replaced the two boards for half of what Microcenter charged with parts they had in stock. Unfortunately, the motherboard and CRT suffered collateral damage, with the CRT going a little soft and the motherboard losing sound intermittently (Quadstar warned me about this but they and I knew that replacing everything but the case was not economical). This has turned me away from all in ones a bit. It's just a tradeoff that comes with putting all your eggs in one iMac case.

 

[tsaxer]

I work for HP. When i was a level one tech support agent, you could do very little and have to work with what HP gives you and follow their outlined support process.

I wasn't saying to come to the table as a jerk, but if you get the runaround, why bend over and take it? I know what it's like to have your hands tied, but the customer has a reasonable expectation for their new product to work, and if it doesn't without them doing something they're not comfortable doing, then return it. Some people are not comfortable popping open a computer. When I say hardball, I mean it in the business sense--be firm, stand for what you want, don't be afraid to push away from the table and take your money with you.

I generally am very polite even when I have to be tough on the phone,btw. Here in the South we have polite aggression down to an art

 

[Edge100]

and be happy you didnt buy a dell!!! they are the most un-helpful people around. youll spend hours trying to diagnose the problem only to have difficulties understanding the Indian on the other end of the line.

You know, I sometimes have this problem with people from Texas!

Seriously, what kind of crap is this? Where are the admins for this kind of racist bulls**t?

 

[Dunepilot]

You know, I sometimes have this problem with people from Texas!

Seriously, what kind of crap is this? Where are the admins for this kind of racist bulls**t?

Since when did referring to someone's nationality and their inability to speak a foreign language as well as a native speaker qualify as racism?

You are way too touchy.

 

[Macmaniac]

As someone who works for an Apple repair place I really reccomend brining your computer into a dealer, especially the new iMacs. Do it yourself kits are ok, but a trained technician is much more liekly to be able to find your porblem and fix it. Besides if your under warranty the repair is free, so you don't have to waste time.

 

[mpw]

You know, I sometimes have this problem with people from Texas!

Seriously, what kind of crap is this? Where are the admins for this kind of racist bulls**t?

I have to agree with dunepilot Edge100, you're jumping in feet first and accusing someone of being racist when you have no evidence.

wPod says he had difficulty understanding the Indian at the end of the line. What's racist about that?
You say you sometimes have the same problem with Texans. Are you 'racist' toward Texans?
I sometimes have difficulty understanding my 3year old daughter but far from racist I actually love her to bits.

I have a big problem with racist behaviour but I also have a problem with people who jump down others throats making unfounded accusations which do nothing but cause friction and turn so many simple debates in to racism arguments....like I just have, damn!

 

[Abulia]

Finally got Apple to take my iMac back, day 12. I was firm, but polite. Mostly I underscored my desire to have a fully-functioning unit and to get what I paid for. Haven't decided to "risk" another iMac or to go with the 1.8 PowerMac.

The thought of getting another iMac with the same problem (after waiting 3 weeks) and going through all this again really scares me...

- Don

 

[combatcolin]

My 1st Gen iMac is over 6 years old and soldiers on.

Of course i never liked the racket from the CD-ROM drive (very noisy sometimes) and the side port with the access hole came off after about a fortnight (stupid place to put a reset switch) but im happy with it.

I suppose if you go looking for a problem you'll quickly find one, no company wants to make a problem with a new product biiger than it has to be and from what i've read it a dodgy bunch of fans on a limited number of iMacs

Anyway, in 6 months times the new iMac's will be out with the inital problems ironed out and a PROPER graphics card.

Still geting a PM.

 

[macidiot]

Apple will fix it. Period. You can bet on it. I bought a refurbished iMac as my first mac years ago and it was a three month hassle. It all came down to a stupid bad mouse and keyboard. It was a hassle but it did get fixed, and I have had no problems since. This is complicated machinery here. Give em a break and have some patients. I can understand the frustration as well. Call them, and work with them, they want to make you happy.

Like they did with the noise from the MDD?

 

[Josh]

I just got off the phone with apple about it.

They said they are very familiar with the issue now, and had a meeting about it yesterday.

That wanted my number to call me back, and they are going to let the engineers know then get back with me tonight.

If they want me to replace the midpane again, Im going to ask that they just send me another mac, and ill send them this one back. I bought this computer to do work, not to take apart over and over.

If they want to examine it, it just seems logical that they examine the whole machine rather than have me be the middle man and send them parts all the time.

 

[Squire]

Why some people around here always feel like they need to fight the good fight for apple is beyond me. You are the customer and you parted with your cash. It amazes me when I read some of the threads around here. If some one has a complaint there are always those few that feel like you are attacking them.
I hope they fix your problem soon.

Frump, was there any one post in this thread (#1-13) that you were referring to? I didn't read anything that sounded like someone thought "you were attacking them."

Josh, that really sucks. You definitely have more patience than I do. I don't think I'd have tried to repair anything like that. Good luck and I hope it's solved soon.

Squire

 

[dayos_x]

Ok, I take it nobody here has a problem with excessive hard disk noise? Because seriously, the crunching noise level is far above the fan's. I can't say I notice my fan noise, but I am definitely hearing the hard disk, which doesn't seem to stop.

 

[edesignuk]

You know, I sometimes have this problem with people from Texas!

Seriously, what kind of crap is this? Where are the admins for this kind of racist bulls**t?

You should think more about the bulls**t you are posting, then the admins won't have to worry about your crap

There is nothing racist about wPods post

 

[winwintoo]

I don't get it. I live in a small city in Canada - a long way from the center of the universe, yet whenever I have a Mac problem that I can't fix myself, I drive to a repair place here in town - there are about 5 to choose from - and get it back usually in a couple of days.

I also buy my computers from these folks. I tell them what I want, they order it, I pay them take it home, if it doesn't work, I take it back and they give me my money back, end of story.

I don't understand why you guys are fussing with shipping your computers to Apple and waiting weeks and months to get them fixed or wincing over this or that noise and trying to convince someone on the phone that it's a problem. Take it to a repair guy - let him figure it out. You all live much closer to the action than I do, if I can get my Macs fixed locally, surely you can find someone to do it.

If not, well, you're Mac enthusiasts, it sounds like a business opportunity to me.

Margaret

 

[Frump]

and be happy you didnt buy a dell!!! they are the most un-helpful people around. youll spend hours trying to diagnose the problem only to have difficulties understanding the Indian on the other end of the line.

DUDE! get the facts?

Apple outsource to India aswell. I just spoke to a very nice indian lady on the apple help-line and I had no problem understanding her.

Frump.

 

[wdlove]

That sound is terrible, a definite indication of a real problem. Apple should replace your iMac. I'm very sorry for your problem. Other's on this forum have also received Mac's that are DOA. Please give Apple a chance. This is just part of purchasing a new product. Try taking some deep breaths, and calmly discuss this with Apple.

 

[7on]

Finally, I hope the next powerbooks will be able to be all user serviceable. Everytime I have sent my PB to applecare it has came back with cosmetic damage.

 

[wdlove]

Finally, I hope the next powerbooks will be able to be all user serviceable. Everytime I have sent my PB to applecare it has came back with cosmetic damage.

That certainly isn't an acceptable thing to happen. What it a major noticeable item? My wife has had her PowerBook repaired twice with no problems.

 

[Josh]

Update

After replacing the power supply, entire midpane, and several conversations with product specialist - the last of which pushed me over the edge - I decided this has gone on long enough.

You have all heard the sound, a product specialist heard the sound, and the engineers at Apple have heard the sound. Remember - the product specialist even asked me if I had an air conditioner in the background.

The last conversation (thursday), I was told by Apple to take it to a CompUSA or Apple store, and then have them call apple and confirm that the sound is indeed louder than a comparison. In other words - my word was not good enough, even after product specialists and engineers have heard the sound.

So, I replied to an email from a product specialist, with this email:

Hi Dean,

I never heard from you or Frank, but I did call Apple on Thursday.

I was transfered to a product specialist, and what she told me was to
bring it to Comp USA or an Apple store for a side-by-side comparison
with another iMac, and then have them call and say that it is louder
than the comparison. I must say - this shocked me.

I am not sure why I would do this because both Frank and the engineers
have heard my iMac, and both agree it has a problem. When I was on the
phone with Frank, he asked if I had an air conditioner running in the
background - but it was my iMac. If something marketted as being
"whisper quiet" can be confused with an air conditioner, something's
wrong.

I have also sent a sound sample recorded in iMovie to the engineers.

There is only so much the end user can do, and I am beginning to
wonder why Apple does not just have me send them my iMac, and then
send me a new one. That way, the engineers would have the exact iMac
infront of them and could hear the sound themselves to diagnose and
fix, and I would have the problem-free machine that I paid for.

I have been very pleased with Apple's service and help, but it just
seems more logical to me to do that. Especialy since I paid over $1500
to use this machine for work and school. I didnt buy it to take it
apart and send peieces back and forth across the country, and I didn't
buy it to be told a second opinion would be needed on how loud it is
when I called in about a known problem. Is the user's word not enough?

Again, I am very pleased with the support Apple has given, especially
on Frank's part, but I do not believe the user/buyer should be
expected to go through such lengths just to receive a problem-free
machine that they have already paid for. I have been using a
problematic machine for almost 2-months now. This is not what I paid
for.

I appreciate all of the help provided by Apple so far, but I think
it's time to for this to be solved completely.

Thanks for your time,

Josh

I'll update this again once I find out more.

 

[cluthz]

I'm so sorry to hear about your problems Josh.
My experience with apple has been that they are very helpful,
except with third party products (i bought a photocam from appleshop, after week of phoning and mailing they took care of it..).

All products can be faulty, but the way they have treathed you is not acceptable!

I hope you get positive response from your letter, if not maybe its time to get really angry..

 

[Mechcozmo]

I guess that, if you do the comparison, you have a chance of getting it back. Tell a higher-up what you have been through, and that you are very angry that you have had to deal with a defective product for so long. Be nice about it, but insist on telling them that you had to live with the computer for (12 days now?).

 

[QCassidy352]

Finally, I hope the next powerbooks will be able to be all user serviceable. Everytime I have sent my PB to applecare it has came back with cosmetic damage.

the one time i had to send in my ibook (no longer have it) to applecare, it came back with quite a few fairly serious scratches on the case. At least the service was very fast... but still!

 

[Fukui]

Why didn't they just design it so the fans could easily be replaced without changing the mother board? Kind of stupid when you think about it...