How long ago did you buy this? It sounds like you don't even have a computer anymore? Would it be too late to do a chargeback? If they contact you about it you can respond how they responded to you: don't contact me again. Honestly I can't believe this. I've returned like four macbooks before and I wasn't banned. Apple support is kind of bad from what I've noticed. Those guys working there in the stores are the biggest sheep of them all.
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What to do next with my defective iMac problem?
- Thread starter R3DH3R0
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Ummm beginning of February, and took about 3 weeks to get each replacement. Haven't had a computer, well a new one, since end of April. When security called me I told them not to call me again. Yeah, I can't believe it either. Some people on here replaced 8 or 9 iMacs.......
Maybe you can take it to a small claims court? Out of a computer and no replacement means you got stiffed.
I had a replacement sent by applecare, the guy at executive relations stopped the replacement being delivered to my house while it was in transit, got my refund a week later.
I am still wondering why Apple handled you that way instead of improving QC in China! A defective iMac remains defective no matter how you decide to return it....
High "chairs" in Apple command chain should have been more open-minded because "customer is always correct"!
Could you please explain why you decided to replace so many times your iMac 27 inch
instead of getting a refund and try your luck with a 21.5 inch iMac or any other model?
High "chairs" in Apple command chain should have been more open-minded because "customer is always correct"!
Could you please explain why you decided to replace so many times your iMac 27 inch
instead of getting a refund and try your luck with a 21.5 inch iMac or any other model?
I totally understand where you're coming from. I got into huge arguments with Apple over my 2007 and 2008 24-inch iMacs which both suffered from the infamous yellow gradient issue. Apple's own discussion forums were filled with countless complaints regarding the issue, yet in every phone conversation they completely denied the existence of a wider-spread issue. Long story short: It was just me. After fighting for weeks, bringing in the iMacs a total of eight times for repairs and confronting them with their own forums with direct links I finally managed to get a refund on both iMacs.
My first 2010 27-inch iMac suffered from multiple dead pixels and the second one had a major backlight failure (wouldn't go beyond 50%). I ultimately accepted the third iMac, although that one wasn't perfect either.
I'm now in the progress of receiving a third 2012 27-inch iMac. The first one had a poorly installed LCD panel and excessive backlight bleed. The second one they damaged during repairs.
I also had a huge problem with my iPad 2 (total of four replacements), various iPods, a LED Cinema Display and I'm currently on my third iPhone 5 because of a known lock button defect.
Like you I invested heavily in Apple's ecosystem software-wise. Due to work I'm pretty much forced to use Final Cut Pro, which obviously only runs on OS X.
My first 2010 27-inch iMac suffered from multiple dead pixels and the second one had a major backlight failure (wouldn't go beyond 50%). I ultimately accepted the third iMac, although that one wasn't perfect either.
I'm now in the progress of receiving a third 2012 27-inch iMac. The first one had a poorly installed LCD panel and excessive backlight bleed. The second one they damaged during repairs.
I also had a huge problem with my iPad 2 (total of four replacements), various iPods, a LED Cinema Display and I'm currently on my third iPhone 5 because of a known lock button defect.
Like you I invested heavily in Apple's ecosystem software-wise. Due to work I'm pretty much forced to use Final Cut Pro, which obviously only runs on OS X.
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Are you born on Friday 13th? Generally, your Apple product replacements must be a historical record!
Have you tried 21.5 inch iMac or Mac mini with your own monitor?
I guess your story has been the worst ever.....
I know, it's terrible. The Mac mini and 21,5-inch iMac just aren't cutting it.Are you born on Friday 13th? Generally, your Apple product replacements must be a historical record!
Have you tried 21.5 inch iMac or Mac mini with your own monitor?
I guess your story has been the worst ever.....
The irony is I still have a 2005 eMac running in the next room. In all those years it didn't twitch once. Only now after 8 years of fairly heavy use its CRT screen is starting to break down.
My problems with Apple basically started after they made the switch to Intel.
A while back someone stated that they had 14 iMac replacements. The 24in iMac had issues that Apple will never come clean on.
The graphics card in the 21.5 wouldn't cut it for what I need to do. That and I had a 2011 27" iMac and going back to a 21.5" is just way too small. We have a 21.5" in the house, and I still have a 24" from late 2006 that's running strong. I wish Apple would have made a 23"-25" model in between. Right now I custom built a PC running Windows 7 and Mac OSX. Granted Mac OSX on it isn't perfect, but it runs what I need it to.
That's insane!!!!! I think I had 4, 5 at the most.
build a Hackintosh
I have built 3 Hackintosh computers. They are fast and reliable. They run cool and are quiet. My first build was in 2007, and it still works great. My last is a Core i7 that is so fast. I dual boot all three into Windows XP Pro and Windows 7. No Windows 8 for me.
My next Hackintosh will be a Haswell Core i7 with a GTX 780 graphics card running Mavericks.
I have built 3 Hackintosh computers. They are fast and reliable. They run cool and are quiet. My first build was in 2007, and it still works great. My last is a Core i7 that is so fast. I dual boot all three into Windows XP Pro and Windows 7. No Windows 8 for me.
My next Hackintosh will be a Haswell Core i7 with a GTX 780 graphics card running Mavericks.
Wow. TL;DR all
On the one hand, Apple brings this on themselves to a large extent. They market Apple products as pristine, pure, perfect ... and their customers expect that. It's like they are cornering the market on OCD customers. The commercials sell Apple as perfect, and they charge a lot of money for them, why shouldn't they be perfect, right?
On the other hand, many people are just bat-$h|t crazy.
I don't think we can assess your condition until we know the other real facts. You mention being on the phone a "long time", writing "LOTS" of letters and getting "many replacements". In one post, you said you only wanted a computer that works, but you list cosmetic defects as a primary motivator for many of your returns. Quantify some of these things and I'll tell you if you are over the top. Some people return 5 or 6 iphones because the edge had a 0.25 inch scratch on it, and if you turn off all the lights in the room, turn up brightness all the way you can see some backlight bleeding if you turn the phone sideways ... really? Really??
All these products are tools that are meant to be used, they are not (despite Jobs obsession) "art". Sometimes you just have to overlook small cosmetic defects and use the darn things. Now, non-functioning wi-fi or bluetooth, something like that should ABSOLUTELY be working perfectly.
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I just wanted to add that their reaction to you seems WAAAAY out of proportion to the complaints you've posted here. There's either more to the story or you are getting shafted. But even if you got a little riled up and called someone a name, it seems like involving security and banning you for life is overkill.
On the one hand, Apple brings this on themselves to a large extent. They market Apple products as pristine, pure, perfect ... and their customers expect that. It's like they are cornering the market on OCD customers. The commercials sell Apple as perfect, and they charge a lot of money for them, why shouldn't they be perfect, right?
On the other hand, many people are just bat-$h|t crazy.
I don't think we can assess your condition until we know the other real facts. You mention being on the phone a "long time", writing "LOTS" of letters and getting "many replacements". In one post, you said you only wanted a computer that works, but you list cosmetic defects as a primary motivator for many of your returns. Quantify some of these things and I'll tell you if you are over the top. Some people return 5 or 6 iphones because the edge had a 0.25 inch scratch on it, and if you turn off all the lights in the room, turn up brightness all the way you can see some backlight bleeding if you turn the phone sideways ... really? Really??
All these products are tools that are meant to be used, they are not (despite Jobs obsession) "art". Sometimes you just have to overlook small cosmetic defects and use the darn things. Now, non-functioning wi-fi or bluetooth, something like that should ABSOLUTELY be working perfectly.
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I just wanted to add that their reaction to you seems WAAAAY out of proportion to the complaints you've posted here. There's either more to the story or you are getting shafted. But even if you got a little riled up and called someone a name, it seems like involving security and banning you for life is overkill.
Apple presents their products as being the pinnacle of perfection and are priced accordingly. When I get my iMac it better have the great screen the company promised me. Personally I've never returned a product purely for a cosmetic issue.*
(*Except that one time when I received my 2007 iMac with a hole in the box and shattered screen.)
(*Except that one time when I received my 2007 iMac with a hole in the box and shattered screen.)
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That wifi problem was probably a firmware problem with the AirPort Extreme & time capsule on the last firmware
I had to revert back to the previous one
The current firmware works great
I had to revert back to the previous one
The current firmware works great
Don't forget when there's no official solution for a problem Apple wants you to swap hardware. Even though that's unlikely to fix the issue since it's software related.
Just a quick note to the many people harping on the OP for complaining about the absolute BS they have been put through...
How would you like it if you purchased a brand new $65,000 Audi with 2 miles on it from your local dealer and the tires were flat and one of the mirrors were broke off? Would you accept that? No. You wouldn't.
Shame on Apple for handling this the way they are, hopefully they will realize the faults in their ways. I have little faith, however, that this will happen without Steve. May he rest in peace.
How would you like it if you purchased a brand new $65,000 Audi with 2 miles on it from your local dealer and the tires were flat and one of the mirrors were broke off? Would you accept that? No. You wouldn't.
Shame on Apple for handling this the way they are, hopefully they will realize the faults in their ways. I have little faith, however, that this will happen without Steve. May he rest in peace.
I posted pics of the emails I sent them, the same emails I printed out and sent as mail to HQ. But like some other people said on here, they probably were sick of hearing from me and considered it "harassment" so what happened, happened. I don't remember if I mentioned it, but I was going to record the phone conversations, but I asked the employee and he said I couldn't. So I'd post those no problem if I had them. Hell, Apple could send them out to everyone (They wouldn't), I have nothing to hide, or lie about.
One of the cosmetic damage was two 3-4 inch scratches right next to each other on the front of the computer, to the left of the apple logo. One of the other problems was the adhesive they used on the new screens was coming off on the left side of the computer, so the gap wouldn't close and I had light shining on the left of my wall, which was really annoying. I wish they stuck to the magnets.
And I don't know how much they can really "ban" me, though It's not like I want to buy another Apple product anyhow. That and I needed repair on my iPhone so I sent it to Applecare and they replaced it. This was after I was "banned". I already sold everything Apple during the Tim Cook era of Apple including my iPhone 5, ipod Nano, Apple TV 3, Mac Mini i5 2012, I think that's it. Bought an iPad Mini during that time as well, but returned it.
I was going to mention something like that, haha. Except tires are normal wear and tear through use, I was going to say if the leather inside was ripped or the check engine light was on and the car was making odd noises.
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Just updating this for kicks, but there's no happy ending to my story. I do still have some Apple products believe it or not, and was going to call Applecare to get a battery replaced in an iPod Touch. Well, couldn't get through. Tried 1-800-MyApple, dead end there too. So I tried another phone, and that worked fine. So all and all they blocked my number. They kept their promise of banning me.
http://youtu.be/FLdKyRgrl54
http://youtu.be/FLdKyRgrl54
I've read through this thread and quite honestly i can't believe some members believe it's ok to accept an iMac, even if it has minor backlight or cosmetic defects.
One aspect of buying from Apple is for it's excellent build quality and support, anything less than a machine arriving perfect is unacceptable.
Actually, any product i buy new unless it arrives in new condition and working order i'd send it back. Any defect would be a potential issue and affect it's resale value in the future, why should the buyer take that hit.
One aspect of buying from Apple is for it's excellent build quality and support, anything less than a machine arriving perfect is unacceptable.
Actually, any product i buy new unless it arrives in new condition and working order i'd send it back. Any defect would be a potential issue and affect it's resale value in the future, why should the buyer take that hit.
That's not the right analogy. The right analogy would be getting that brand new Audi delivered, then noticing it has a small scratch on one of the wheels and instead of accepting a replacement wheel you demand an entirely new car. Then, when you badger them into giving you a new car you then discover that the brand new replacement car they gave you has a damaged headlight, and instead of accepting repair you demand a third replacement brand new car.
In the meantime, Audi now has two perfectly good cars that they cannot sell as new any more.
They decide that they don't want to keep doing this, so they tell you that it's clear you have unrealistic expectations that even they, with their famed attention to detail as a top German automaker, cannot match so they want to part ways with you as a customer and suggest you might find what you are looking for elsewhere since it's clear Audi cannot provide it.
It's very obvious that what has happened in this case is that an executive decision has been made based on the past return history that the OP has extremely low tolerance for the slightest issue and has a very high return ratio and Apple have simply said "it's not worth it" especially since his preferred method when he's exhausted the top tier tech support and PR managers is to email and send letters to every executive at Apple.
Clearly someone has said "make this go away" and the usual way of doing that is to offer an upgraded computer with some free accessories and a call from a high-level PR person, but all of that had already been tried and the customer was still unsatisfied.
At that point what do you really expect Apple to do? That final recalled replacement machine was no more likely to be "acceptable" to the OP than any of the previous ones, so why bother? You can't please every customer, and crucially, they are not obligated to do business with you.
I'm so sorry for what you've experienced. Man, that sucks. Been there, done that, know how it feels.
I know many people have good experiences with Apple, but you just never know how it's going to turn out, so I now call buying from Apple "the lemon lottery".
Like you, I've pretty much had it with the unreliability, and the responses that folks so often get to their legitimate issues. Here's the solution I've come to.
Buy used Macs.
It's the only way I know of to have an entirely worry free experience.
A new Mac will cost something like $1600. You can get 3-4 five year old Macs of the same type for the same price.
Buy two used Macs, and if one dies, just toss it and fire up the next one. If you have a bootable clone backup, you can be up and running again in 2 minutes.
You save $800 or so, and get an important feature that Apple can't provide, peace of mind.
The main flaw with this plan is that it won't work for those who really do need the latest greatest features. But most people don't really need all the latest stuff most of the time.
So you probably don't have to leave the Mac. You can just leave Apple if you want, and solve the problem that way.
1. Nothing is "perfect", but Apples are close.
2. Something to be said for having common sense.
3. My iMac and all my friends who've ever had a problem with Apple have been more than happy with the repair experience. I've replaced one product due to a bad mic. The other had the smallest of scratches, but I figured its not even worth my time to go to the Apple store to replace it. See pt 4.
4. You're never entitled to an unreasonable expectation of perfection.
2. Something to be said for having common sense.
3. My iMac and all my friends who've ever had a problem with Apple have been more than happy with the repair experience. I've replaced one product due to a bad mic. The other had the smallest of scratches, but I figured its not even worth my time to go to the Apple store to replace it. See pt 4.
4. You're never entitled to an unreasonable expectation of perfection.