[bohdanz]

After trying to install Panther it became clear I'm one of those unfortunate ones who got defective discs.

On Monday 11/17/03 I called Apple Tech Support. After sitting on hold, the conclusion to the 25 minute call was 'here's your order number and we'll ship you the replacement discs.' I was given a number that is not traceable via Apple's website nor my .mac account, forcing me to call three days in a row.

The wait times are at least 20 minutes each time out.
The answers are always the same - 'let me check on this' followed by another ten minute hold.

Chris, Duane, Lea and Gina can never supply me with concrete shipping information, only saying 'it's all in process.' There seem to be no supervisors for me to file a complaint with. Gina had the nerve to say "Sure we have supervisors. You think we run around here like wild men."

This is Apple?

I would think with Panther replacement discs for the many of us who got defective discs, rendering my computer useless, they would make an extra effort. Instead, I feel I've seen Apple behaving like the sorts of PC companies I thought I'd never deal with again: bad tech support, bad quality control of its product, bad news.

[mcsjgs]

That really does sound terrible. Without being an apologist for Apple, I would guess they are frantically reproducing the CDs and the tech people simply don't know when the next production run will be completed. Plus they are all probably a little frazzled with answering all the problems that have arisen with Panther. Not an excuse, but perhaps an explanation.

[waffffffle]

From what I have heard Apple has been in short supply of Panther discs and have only just recently ramped up production of more discs.

[Seqiro]

I bought my copy of Panther at one of the Apple Store Panther parties--about an hour away--and when we got home we discovered the disc was defective (warped enough to destroy my wife's iMac's cdrom drive, if only we'd noticed BEFORE we put it in). We called Apple the next day and three days later they shipped out the replacement disc.

Didn't have any problems with Apple, luckily. Though I wish we hadn't had to pay for (and install--luckily my wife used to work in an Apple specialist's service department) a new drive.

[bohdanz]

Apple likes to censor criticism. I posted my story on the Panther discussion board at apple.com and this morning got this email:


"Your post titled "Apple's defective Panther discs - a nightmare" has been removed from Apple Discussions. Posts including (but not limited to) any of the following are not appropriate:

* Discussions of Apple policies and procedures (including pricing and repair policies)
* Speculations/rumors about future Apple decisions
* Questions/rumors about unreleased products
* Posts in the technical forums that are not directly related to a technical support issue
* Polls, petitions, auctions, or advertisements
* Posts that are only complaints
* Posts which contain or imply abusive or obscene language
* Posts which are abusive to other Discussions users"

[gorickey]

Originally posted by bohdanz:
Apple likes to censor criticism.

I hate that as well....ridiculous....