Repairing my iMac under warranty - no Applecare

[Tezcatlipoca]

Your contract is with the retailer (PC World) not the manufacturer (Apple).

Manufacturer warranties are in addition to your statutory rights as a consumer. Your iMac came with a standard 1 year warranty that you chose not to extend... As it has expired, Apple's obligation has ended.

You could try and go after PCWorld under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). It's the UK equivalent of the "EU two year warranty" (and has been around for far longer), and like the "EU two year warranty" is against the retailer and not the manufacturer.

The Sale of Goods Act states that goods must be "as described", "of satisfactory quality", and "fit for purpose". "Durability" comes under "satisfactory quality", however how long an item should last for depends on what is reasonably expected for that kind of item.

It you want to make a claim against a retailer under the Sale of Goods Act, you have up to six years (in England, Wales, and N. Ireland) or five years (in Scotland) to do so.

If a fault develops during the first six months it is assumed that the item was faulty at the time of purchase, that is was inherently faulty. The onus is on the retailer to prove otherwise.

If a fault develops after the first six months, it is up to the consumer to prove that it was due to an inherent fault... or that it is a failure of durability as the item should have lasted longer.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/the-sale-of-goods-act/

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/understanding-the-sale-of-goods-act/

 

[forty2j]

Actually, if it's not covered under your consumer law with PC World, if I were you I'd consider selling it for parts (it will still fetch a fair bit even in that condition) and buying a new one. With AppleCare.

 

[gromit95]

take it back to the apple store

You buy a Mac because it the best you can get. It also has the best support available. You need to do research on your issue
(become an expert on the issue)
And take your unit back to the apple store, let the tech look at it
If they say no have the manager come out and let him know
YOU are not the only person having this issue. This is not something you coused. You have been a loyal customer, you have an I phone ,ipod ipad etc etc If they expect you to ever buy another apple product again they need to help you.

Apple will help you
Sometimes it just takes a little persistence
Good luck

Fd

 

[tikitommy]

This thread should be read as a cautionary tale:

if you're buying something expensive like an iMac, BUY APPLECARE.

If you're already spending $1700 on a computer, you should be able to afford the applecare. If you can't buy the $1400 21 inch and then buy Applecare.

 

[gnasher729]

I live in the UK.

I've pointed this out to them but they don't seem to care. Apparently they only offer a 1 year manufacturers warranty and the seller is 2 years or something - i'm not sure, perhaps someone can explain this to me a little better?

Yes, the seller is responsible, whoever the seller is. If you bought from Apple online or from an Apple Store, Apple is the seller. If you bought at PCWorld, PCWorld is the seller and responsible. The manufacturer isn't. You'll have to go to the seller and complain to them.

Maybe to make this clearer: If you go to an Apple Store and buy a Canon printer, Canon gives you a manufacturer's warranty, with whatever terms they see fit. There is no law controlling this. But you bought it at an Apple Store, so Apple is the seller, and by law Apple has to solve problems for about two years (the details in the laws are a bit vague). If you buy a Mac other than at an Apple Store, the same principal: Whoever sold it is responsible by law for two years in the UK (and it depends on lots of things, so it can be more or less). Apple as the maker does whatever their manufacturer's warranty says.

Incase this matters - the iMac was purchased with PC World under one of their buy now pay 6 months later offers.

Absolutely matters! (Where you bought matters, not the terms). I also read you actually have mail from Apple saying the problem is with the computer. If you show that mail to PCWorld, they will find it very hard to refuse a repair.

This thread should be read as a cautionary tale:

if you're buying something expensive like an iMac, BUY APPLECARE.

If you're already spending $1700 on a computer, you should be able to afford the applecare. If you can't buy the $1400 21 inch and then buy Applecare.

You have 12 months time to buy AppleCare. I'd say: If you have problems within the first twelve months, buy AppleCare.

 

[robgendreau]

This thread should be read as a cautionary tale:

if you're buying something expensive like an iMac, BUY APPLECARE.

If you're already spending $1700 on a computer, you should be able to afford the applecare. If you can't buy the $1400 21 inch and then buy Applecare.

Hmm. My take away is to not buy another iMac.

Yeah, I realize you could insure it by giving Apple or someone else more money on what is already an expensive machine.

But consider that while iMacs might be more robust than other PCs (and I’m not convinced of that, but let's assume it) they are an all-in-one, and on top of that Apple actively makes it more difficult to repair them. If this was a comparably spec'd PC with an external monitor you wouldn't be in this predicament, with a perfectly good computer with a pooched monitor or graphics hardware.

In other works, if the consensus is you need two more years of warranty cuz we're betting the machine will fail, that's not a very good advertisement for Macs.

 

[thekev]

My fact is still present, this unit is only 18 months old and i'm having issues with it that are out of my control, I was after some advice as to what I can try to help get this fixed at the most minimal costs.

I think i'm going to leave it at that - lets just see when one of you are in my shoes, it's not nice having a company take £1700 of your hard earned money then ask for another £500 18 months down the line.

This forum generates some weird responses at times. I haven't personally seen any of the 27" displays die outright, as the technology is quite mature. You could inquire regarding depot repair, as others have mentioned it being much cheaper. You can argue with them. Overall there isn't that much you can do. While most of these things will last longer, some portion of them will fail prematurely. My big issues with the imac relate to its appliance like nature. Display is built in and carries the typical crap warranty length when you can generally buy a desktop display with a 3-4 year warranty standard. Hard drive isn't user serviceable and also costs too much to replace. There are other things. If you do look at applecare in the future as some others suggested in a bad way, see what place charges the least for it. Here some authorized retailers charge much less than Apple.

So you want them to extend the warranty to 18 months, or 24 months, just for you.

Most PC manufacturers offer 90 day warranties, as I recall. It doesn't matter what the root cause is, a warranty means that's the period for which they are liable and no more. Sometimes they choose to be generous and help out beyond the term.. usually not. Generally the cost of the warranty is baked into the sale price of the item, so if you think that 36 months should be the default warranty, then the computers will start costing $250 more.

If this is a truly systemic issue, then there might be a recall on it in the future. Or perhaps you can get together with everyone you googled and organize a class action suit.

90 days? It's possible that you mean 90 days on repairs. Otherwise a year is very typical on laptops. Workstations typically carry 3 years standard. Most quality displays carry at least a 3 year warranty. Many of the one year warranties have options for warranty extension that cost a fraction of applecare. The reason applecare receives so much support on here is due to the Apple's repair fees and the bundled nature of the parts. Think of how much must be replaced if you wish to repair a dented unibody or a logic board (where basically nothing is socketed).

 

[iSayuSay]

I have a 27" iMac myself and I had smudged display problem within the first year. Yeah it was appeared in month 4 or 5 IIRC.

Excellent service from Apple, no question asked and I had my screen replaced. But yeah, it shows the computer could be quite problematic at times. And that happened before the first year.

And so I bought AppleCare for my iMac and I felt fine. $140 seems like a big deal before anything happens, I understand you feel like waste money for evil capitalist insurance policy, but you'd thank yourself when your machine craps out. I didn't take any chance, my machine had show a few problems in the first year, so there would be no reason for me to not get AppleCare and gamble.

I'm sorry OP if you feel we're unhelpful here, but I read your machine had flickering problem before warranty expired, that should alarm you to immediately get an AppleCare, the problem was like an early warning and you chose not to take notice. I took action when I saw the problematic potential.

Nevertheless, I'm gonna enjoy my machine while it lasts, I'd sell it just before AppleCare about to be expired in the next 20 months. Lesson learned and I think I'm pretty sure my next machine wouldn't be another iMac.

 

[Macman756]

Failed investor/backlight. Apple will fix it, just not for free.

 

[blueroom]

I don't get it. Complaining here isn't going to get it fixed no matter what anyone here thinks. The OP is simply going to have to take his chances at PC world or Apple. I recall the John Lewis stores offer a full two year warranty on Apple stuff.

Buying AppleCare is simply like buying insurance. You may never need it and that's good, lucky for you, but when you're often grateful to have it.

 

[iSayuSay]

OK, can you read before you reply...

THIS issue with the left hand side of the screen failing is only 3-4 weeks old. I HAD an issue with the iMac switching itself off which I got sorted within the warranty period. I didn't gamble with anything - do you really think if I had this issue 6 months in I would've left it a year to go to an Apple store...

There .. It showed you had problem with your machine within the first year. That should be like a warning to you. It shows your machine could be problematic, it's your mistake to neglect that and go on without AppleCare.

Because I've never had any issues with any of my previous mac's within the first 3 years so I couldn't justify spending an extra £200 on a £1700 product that I could just about afford.

This is a product that cost me alot of my hard earned money. If I drop the mac or spill water on it then fair enough - it's my fault. However to have a unit of this price fail on me in 18 months is ridiculous. Not to mention a lot of other people are having the same issue which makes me suspect there is an issue with the 27" LCD's around the time of purchase - yet Apple expect me to now fork out another £500 to repair their issue.

Yeah that's the point, it costs us a lot of money, doesn't mean it would be perfect all the time, so you should take a very good care of it, getting AppleCare is the least you can do. And it's good enough for Apple to even sell extended coverage. What if they don't offer anything beyond 1 year regular warranty? It would be ******** for many more customers.

And yes .. it's not normal to have LCD craps out within 18 months, but that's not the point. Like I said, you had a problem with your machine but get it sorted out with warranty. It warned you, so why didn't you take notice and saw the potential problems in the future? It crapped out once, it could be again tomorrow.

 

[Ben Simpsy]

sometimes i struggle to understand some people

Surely a product of this price is researched by the end user

surely you went onto apples website before hand and did some research on specifications and other things

surely you knew they offer a 12 month warranty on the computer

surely you knew that that offer could be extended to 3 years with apple care

you accepted this, and purchased the product

as far as i can see, they have honoured every commitment they said they would, if you didnt like the warranty period you had the choice to extend it at a fee, or simply not purchase the product?

 

[gnasher729]

Hmm. My take away is to not buy another iMac.

Yeah, I realize you could insure it by giving Apple or someone else more money on what is already an expensive machine.

But consider that while iMacs might be more robust than other PCs (and I’m not convinced of that, but let's assume it) they are an all-in-one, and on top of that Apple actively makes it more difficult to repair them. If this was a comparably spec'd PC with an external monitor you wouldn't be in this predicament, with a perfectly good computer with a pooched monitor or graphics hardware.

In other works, if the consensus is you need two more years of warranty cuz we're betting the machine will fail, that's not a very good advertisement for Macs.

The OP _does_ have two years warranty. His problem is that he went to Apple, and he doesn't have two years Apple warranty, so Apple isn't going to fix it. He bought at PC World, so according to UK law, they have to fix the problem for two years (or possibly longer or shorter, because UK law says "for a reasonable time"), and not Apple.

And many people don't say he should have bought AppleCare (except with the benefit of hindsight), but **** does happen, and when you have problems with a device in the first year, then buying AppleCare is an excellent idea. Many Macs last for years without any problem, but if you have one of the few with problems in the first years then the odds are different.

 

[d0nK]

Go to PC World and tell them you want it sorted. Next time buy from John Lewis.

 

[Mr Rogers]

This is a classic example of why you should invest in AppleCare - I understand the original poster had just about maxed out what he could afford with his initial purchase - however, and had he done a little research, he'd have noticed AppleCare can be applied at anytime during the 12 month period of the Apple warranty.

Further, you can purchase iMac AppleCare from reputable dealers on eBay for £79.00.

Indeed, I have APP hanging around to be used that cost me combined, £50.00 each - I have two, one for my new iMac when the upgrade appears and another for another 27in i7 2011 I intend to purchase used.

So, whilst I understand the problems the original poster has are a bummer, unless its a QS matter, he only has himself to blame.

Now, in my opinion if we are paying more than £2,000 for a computer, it should come with a automatic three year guarantee - regrettably, Apple are more interested in hyper profits and its shareholders than its actual user-base.

Whilst I personally feel APP is a massive ripoff, particularly with the horrendous prices for laptop cover, regrettably, and knowing within 3 years your bound to encounter problems, APP is a must, ripoff or not!