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My iMac G5: Unaccaptable!

Call today, Josh.

You've been far too nice.

Time to break out the guns.

No repaired machine, no sending it here or there, new machine - now.

I love my iMac G5 - sorry you're having troubles. I would have thought that Apple would have had you send it back immediately. This sending you parts and fix it yourself stuff is nonsense.

I would send back the machine and see if your bank will reverse the charge as you did not receive the goods you were promised.
 
iGary said:
No repaired machine, no sending it here or there, new machine - now.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I allowed for one problem on my iMac, as soon as there was a 2nd I told them straight that I wanted a new machine and would not accept anything short of that. You gotta be firm with these people from the get go, or they'll just walk all over you :(

Good luck with it all.
 
I agree--demand a replacement. It does happen...they finally replaced my Rev. A 15" PowerBook after several repairs and lots of bitching on my part. You've done two repairs yourself and brought it into a shop and still the problem hasn't been resolved. For a new computer, that's unacceptable.
 
MattG said:
I agree--demand a replacement. It does happen...they finally replaced my Rev. A 15" PowerBook after several repairs and lots of bitching on my part. You've done two repairs yourself and brought it into a shop and still the problem hasn't been resolved. For a new computer, that's unacceptable.
Click to expand...

I... well I fourth that.
 
Josh,
As poorly treated as you've been, and as PO'd as you have every right to be, don't let it stop you from purchasing and using Apple products in the future. These less-than-helpful souls you've been dealing with are not Apple Computer (true enough that they are piss poor representatives, though), just folks doing their job poorly. Apple makes some (insanely?) great products but, like any manufacturer, there are going to be defects occasionally. You got one, and that sucks.
It sounds like the "friendly" folks at Apple Support have put you through hell, but that you have finally gotten some encouraging feedback from someone over there. I hope they set you straight by Wednesday as promised. No one should have to go through all of this over a computer, or any product.
Get your computer working right, and take some time to cool off and enjoy that new iMac before you decide to swear off Apple for good.
 
I used to do tech support for a fairly major electronics/computer company, and while escalating from the bottom is good, sometimes it's good to reverse that, and apply pressure from the top. It couldn't hurt to try calling Jobs' office. You won't ever get him or his assistants, but the Customer Service people that field his calls tend to make sure that fires are lit in all the right places.

I'm sure a little web research could yield a corporate #. Ask for the Office of the CEO, see where that gets you.

Oh, and have all your case/reference #s ready.

Best of luck,

- R
 
Sounds familiar

This sounds like my experience with my first mac. The problem turned out to be just a bad mouse and keyboard. I have told this story before. After some very stressful work via phone and service technicians, we finally got the situation resolved. Apple sent me a new mouse and keyboard next day air. I sold the broken ones on eBay. I still have my first troublesome iMac, and I learned a lot about my machine as a result. I imagine you have learned more than your share about the inside of your machine. Good luck, and don't worry Apple will make good. ;)
 
Josh,

I must commend you on the way you treated the people you emailed to and talked to. I probably would have been screaming at that point. I am not sure, but I think a situation like this needs to be reported to the Better Business Bureau. At the very least they can log the complaint, at the best they will contact Apple and maybe some heads will roll. :mad:
 
parrothead said:
Josh,

I must commend you on the way you treated the people you emailed to and talked to. I probably would have been screaming at that point. I am not sure, but I think a situation like this needs to be reported to the Better Business Bureau. At the very least they can log the complaint, at the best they will contact Apple and maybe some heads will roll. :mad:
Click to expand...

I considered that, but I also thought as large as Apple is, my little complaint would be insignifant and have minimal impact.

I've also considered filing a suit and contacting an attorney - but hopefully with the way the person dealing with it now is handling it, it wont be needed.

I wont mention his name, but he really is an excellent employee and has been the most helpful by far.

He took care of the charge I received for the repair part, and took my side in saying that it was not my responsibility to document any tracking number, as I was only provided with a label, and my duty was only to send it back.

So far today I've gotten my money back, and the product specialist has called the service center and is getting on their case to fix this ASAP, rather than let them just say"oh, well get to it when we get time."

I am supposed to receive another call before the close of business today, so well see how that goes.
 
I don't know if this is obvious or not but when you do get your new iMac, insist that they give you AppleCare starting from that day...not the day you got your original one. You've already had it, what? Two months?

I think someone asked this before but is driving to the nearest Apple Store not an option? I'd get in the car and plunk it right down at the genius bar. A 2- or 3-hour drive would probably be worth it.

Squire
 
Man I feel bad for this guy.

I'd personally be demanding a new machine, not one that's been opened a half-dozen times and fiddled with.

I hope it all works out.
 
:eek: ........I know I must be sleeping, because what just happened could NOT have been real...

The service center JUST called me.

What they said is this: We left a message with [name withheld] from Apple, and what we'd like to inform you is that your Mac is ready to be picked up. We turned it on, and then compared it to the iMacs on our floor, as well as with a fresh one out of the box, and the sound you are hearing is entirely normal. Im guessing you have a pretty quiet room? The buzzing you hear is normal with these machines."

Thats normal??????? Have you guys heard the sound file I posted in this thread? Would you call that normal? Would you call that "whisper quiet"??

This cannot be for real. Hopefull, the product specialist who they left a message with will be equally appaled, as he heard it himself (he is the one who mistook it for an air conditioner).

...unbelievable..
 
I can't hear mine if I try.

Call Apple and demand to return it. Do not hang up until you get an RMA.

Period.

Where's your nearest Apple store?

Now I'm pissed.
 
iGary said:
I can't hear mine if I try.

Call Apple and demand to return it. Do not hang up until you get an RMA.

Period.

Where's your nearest Apple store?

Now I'm pissed.
Click to expand...

My nearest Apple store is in Novi, Michigan, which is a little over an hour from where I live.

The repair center I took it to is the Mac Group Learning Center, LTD. in Ann, Arbor, Michigan.

That cannot be normal. And if it is normal, I don't even want another one to replace it - I dont want any machine that makes that noise, normal or not.

I KNEW I should've saved $500 more and purchased the dual 1.8 PowerMac.

When Apple calls, Im more than certain he will not accept this either. I will tell him I want to send the iMac back, either for a)a 20" iMac G5 or b)a 1.8 G5 powermac.

Both might seem odd, but after what I've been through because of this, I think it would certainly be warranted.
 
Josh said:
...I KNEW I should've saved $500 more and purchased the dual 1.8 PowerMac.

When Apple calls, Im more than certain he will not accept this either. I will tell him I want to send the iMac back, either for a)a 20" iMac G5 or b)a 1.8 G5 powermac.
Click to expand...

I was over to the my local apple store on thursday.
Thy have both powermacs and imacs at display.
I listened to both, and the imac was quieter than the powermac.
The iMacs nearly silent and the powermacs made a low hum sound (not that it will bother anyone).
I'm very pick about hums and other sounds and i think my LaCie d2 is disturbing..
 
cluthz said:
I was over to the my local apple store on thursday.
Thy have both powermacs and imacs at display.
I listened to both, and the imac was quieter than the powermac.
The iMacs nearly silent and the powermacs made a low hum sound (not that it will bother anyone).
I'm very pick about hums and other sounds and i think my LaCie d2 is disturbing..
Click to expand...

I know the powermac would be louder, but it would also not be right infront of my face - that, and the powermac was never marketted as being "whisper quiet", so I'd expect it to be noisy.

I know ALL computers (and anything with moving parts for that matter) will make a sound. But when something is marketted as being whisper quiet, it should be.

My iMac G5 is FAR from whisper quiet. In fact, marketting it as "Audibly Annoying" would be more appropriate ;)
 
I work on a 1.8 17" iMac G5 all day long.

I go home and my G4 sounds like a hurrincane.

Any noise at all, unless you are rendering or batching images, etc. is not normal.

I'd take all of your paperwork, drive an hour and plunk it down at the Genius Bar at the Apple Store and don't leave until they give you a new one, or get authorization to ship you a new one.

This is ridiculous.
 
iGary said:
I work on a 1.8 17" iMac G5 all day long.

I go home and my G4 sounds like a hurrincane.

Any noise at all, unless you are rendering or batching images, etc. is not normal.

I'd take all of your paperwork, drive an hour and plunk it down at the Genius Bar at the Apple Store and don't leave until they give you a new one, or get authorization to ship you a new one.

This is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Yes, just what I thought. Man, that sound file made it sound louder than my PC! It sounded like a diesel truck.

Squire
 
I was at an Apple Store over the weekend and got to play with the new iMacs. Granted, it was a little noisy in there, but I couldn't hear any noise from the iMacs. I even put my ear up to the bottom where the vents are, and I couldn't hear anything. I certainly don't think what you're hearing is normal.
 
edesignuk said:
Get on the phone and don't hang up until those bastards give you a NEW MACHINE.
Click to expand...

I'm going to talk to the product specialist who is helping me, as soon as I can get a hold of him, and suggest that I receive either a) a NEW iMac, or b)a single 1.8 G5 PM (because its the same price) - PLUS compensation to go along with whatever route happens.

The reason I want to do this through him because he has worked mostly closely with me, understands all that has went on, and takes my side in seeing the fact that something needs to be done on their part, rather than having me do ridiculous things. So it will be easier to accomplish with his help, rather than trying to get someone who is unfamiliar with the case to help me.

But I am determined to settle this once and for all today. By the close of business this afternoon, I WILL receive a solution to this problem, one way or the other.
 
Wow! Just stumbled over this forum looking for some info on the new iMac...

Josh, this is to you really... I admire your spirit in this situation, and I can completely relate to your feelings. I signed up to this forum so I could post you my story and give you some support from accross the globe!

When I bought my Graphite iMac 3 and a half years back I was ROYALLY dicked around by Apple. I mean SERIOUSLY p*ssed about.

Long story short... I was using it for audio stuff. One day I noticed a hideous 'buzzing' sound, so I worriedly called Apple "Care" line. I described what I was hearing and they advised me that there must be some sort of problem with the screen interfering with the sound??! So, I lugged the thing into the Apple store (on foot, and them things strain your arms after a while, believe!)

Anyway, this was the mear start of my lengthy lengthy ball-ache of trying to explain to some fraggle (sorry - I work in a call centre too, so I know how it is...) to try and get them to understand my problem.

Somehow, after 1 month of being away I had a new logic board AND a new CRT fitted... STILL the problem persisted... Eventually it seemed to have been fixed (this is after the 3rd time it went away to be repaired).

You know what it was?? If you access the web, the modem stays active and produces a kind of buzzing, grufty kinda sound. That's what I'd been hearing, and all I needed to do was set it to 'none' from 'internal modem' in the sound options, but nobody at Apple "Care" seemed to know that, hence my almost 3 MONTHS of messing about. (I didn't know, but why should I? It was my first Mac with a modem in it having upgraded from a 6100...)

Anyway. The reason for me telling you all this is to let you know that in the end I did FINALLY get it sorted, although it was a real emotional drain on me. Hang in there buddy, you will get it solved in the end. I finally got hold of somebody with a brain in the Apple call centre who took ownership of the problem and was really nice and sorted things out for me. I'd had to send several letters to get to this stage though, and one thing I asked for, given the severity of my case was a new machine. It was never forthcoming, but what I did manage to get out of them was a free Apple "Care" pack. Never needed it once I had it (thank God) but at least I got something for my pain. I also got them to date it from the day that my "repaired" Mac finally got back to me which was about 3 months after I bought it like I say, so bare minimum get the same dude...

So, moral of my long story is that you have to be firm, but human, but persistant. Apple really shouldn't put it's customers through this sort of thing, because as people point out here (in Apple's defence usually) that they ship thousands of these things, and so there's bound to be a few bad ones in amongst them... Well, especially with Rev.1 machines they should take them back, no questions with faults like yours... If they're shipping these thousands then surely taking the odd one back will be a drop in the ocean??? Plus it's nothing compared to the costs of exhausive testing (that we the consumer are doing free on Rev.1 machines...) that they save on by releasing them and waiting for the problems to come back...

So,

Anyway. My other point...

Maybe somebody out there will be able to answer my quick question about the new iMac G5 as I can't find any info on the web that helps me, and when I rang Apple it was pointless as I knew more than the 'expert' on the other end...

All I want to know is about the audio out on the new machine. My current iMac has a stereo audio-out mini-jack which I route to an amp and then to monitor-speakers. Even the most detailed tech spec I can find just calls the new machine's port an 'optical/headphone' socket. What I want to know is this. Usually a 'headphone' socket is providing a pre-amplified signal (to run headphones). Is the term 'headphone' used in the sense of it being a powered signal (as oposed to a 'line-out type socket). Or. Is it just a lazy way to describe a 3.5inch mini-jack line-out socket...

Does anyone even know what I mean??

Sorry if this should be posted elsewhere on the forum, btw...

Any help would be most apprecuiated on this, and Josh, keep on with this... Gun for a new machine, but MINIMUM get free Apple "Care" for the 3 years dude... Big respect!
 
This doesn't look good.

Right now I don't have a computer. I'm using a borrowed one. The reason why is that I sent my G5 iMac back to Apple. I just couldn't stand that darned noise, and it looks like little or no progress is being made towards solving the problem. I followed the discussions on Apples forums, hoping to see some sort of resolution, but after about a month I realized that wasn't happening. Midplane assemblies, power supplies, swapping in and out multiple times, system resets and reinstalls, all to no end. We're still there and counting. My purchase was the first BAD experience I've had with a Mac, and I've been using them for some time. The restocking fee and return shipping left me about two hundred bucks lighter, and no amount of explaining that I was going to purchase another Mac, albeit a different model, would convince them to waive the restock fee. This fan noise problem has the potential to be a real black eye for Apple, and imagine what a new convert will think when he sits down with his new iMac and hears what sounds like a model airplane motor whirring in the background, and finds that the sound is considered "normal" now by Apple engineering. Strangely enough, a couple of the discussion threads dealing with this subject, one numbering over 500 comments, have mysteriously disappeared from the boards. And it is being noticed. This thing is a mess, and in my opinion is not being handled well by Apple. I'm disgusted, and I've been using Macs for over a decade. I can only imagine how a switcher must feel. It's a damn shame.
 
Do you have any updates for us Josh?

Also, I'm a little disappointed about the Apple forums. I wish the would come out and say that there is a problem...because, it sure seems like there is a problem!
 
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