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drillerkiller · Mar 24, 2001, 01:58 PM

So, last night as soon as I plugged it in and saw that it was broken I called Mac Mall back. Thy gave me their tech support # and told me to try them. I called and they were closed for the night. So I try Apple. They were closed as well. I get up today and call them back to find out they are both closed on weekends. I call the sales dept. back at Mac Mall and talk to a manager. He informs me it's out of his hands, I need to call Apple. I can understand that people might buy computers, screw them up, and try to return them. But mine was screwed from the moment I plugged it in. It just dosen't seem right that I can drop $3,000.00, get a dead machine, and then be told that there's nothing they can do. Nice.

he also told me to check the RAM. What's the deal with that?

sorry about going off...

Jsnuff1 · Mar 24, 2001, 02:20 PM

are you sure all the power cables are pluged in correctly? Hard drive, mobo, and make sure the power button is pluged in correctly. You could also have a fautly power supply, one way to check this is to plug something into the power out at the back of the g4

christ · Mar 24, 2001, 04:27 PM

There is no power out on the back of the Jan 2001 G4s - well at least there isn't on my 533DP. Tough break dude.

Spectre666 · Mar 24, 2001, 06:08 PM

Drillerkiller....this has nothing to do with your power supply problem, I'm just curious as to where you got your name...is it from Mortician or the movie by any chance?

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drillerkiller · Mar 25, 2001, 02:56 AM

The movie.

drillerkiller · Mar 25, 2001, 06:19 PM

So, I fixed it, but I'm not happy. I was seeing red all weekend until I found something over at the Apple site. Seems some machines are being shipped with loose or bad power cables (the ones in the machine). I took my old iMac keyboard, the one with the power switch, tried it, and it worked. I checked again to make sure the internal power cord was seated tightly and it was. I must have a bad one.

This makes me just as angry. Why should I pay for a new machine and have it not work correctly straight out of the box? It's like buying a new car, it having a broken ignition, and having to hot wire it all the time. Now, I bet when I call Apple tomorrow, they tell me to take it and get it fixed. This means - 1. Driving 50 miles to there nearest rep. and 2. Not having my machine for a few weeks. This is more time and money wasted because they are releasing faulty products.

Is there a policy for stuff like this?

I love Apple but I feel a little more than screwed.

Thanks.

drillerkiller · Mar 26, 2001, 01:17 AM

Here's a article about the bad switches.
http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/11/12/...tchglitch.html

tooki · Mar 26, 2001, 01:59 AM

Apple policy is that if you're 50 miles or more away from the nearest service center, Apple will provide on-site or pick-up service. In fact, they can be cajoled into doing that even if you're less than 50 miles away, if you call Customer Care and insist long enough.

tooki

MiniMan · Mar 26, 2001, 09:47 AM

Originally posted by drillerkiller:
<snip>
This makes me just as angry. Why should I pay for a new machine and have it not work correctly straight out of the box? It's like buying a new car, it having a broken ignition, and having to hot wire it all the time. Now, I bet when I call Apple tomorrow, they tell me to take it and get it fixed. This means - 1. Driving 50 miles to there nearest rep. and 2. Not having my machine for a few weeks. This is more time and money wasted because they are releasing faulty products.

Is there a policy for stuff like this?

I love Apple but I feel a little more than screwed.

Thanks.

There is an Apple policy for this - it's called "Let The Customers Do The Testing". You may have noticed it coming out more and more recently. I think this must be a concerted effort by Apple to alienate die hard fans and to make those who switched from PCs wonder why they bothered.
This new policy seems to particularly apply to power circuit testing examples being the bad wiring inside towers and Cube switches that either work when they're not supposed to or don't work when they are....
Apple obviously thinks they're on to a winner with this policy as they can save money at the factory by doing away with all QA/QC functions....
I personally hope they all get their pink slips as soon as possible.

drillerkiller · Mar 26, 2001, 09:01 PM

So, I get into the office today and call Apple. I told them everything that's going on (or not going on) with my machine. The guy was very nice and a little surprised that I had done my research on the bad power buttons. He transfers my call to a woman who tells me they can try and send someone out, or I can take it in. I tell her that I'd rather have someone come to me. She punches in some numbers and then tells me I live too far away. I only live 30 miles from the repair center. I asked her about the 50 mile radius and she tells me I have to take it in. Thanks a lot. So, I call the repair center and they tell me Apple is full of it . They offer to send a guy over but inform me that it may take longer to fix that way. I decided it would be best to drive the 30 miles and drop it off myself. I'm just really disappointed in Apple.

cschmelz · Mar 26, 2001, 09:52 PM

Originally posted by drillerkiller:
So, I get into the office today and call Apple. I told them everything that's going on (or not going on) with my machine. The guy was very nice and a little surprised that I had done my research on the bad power buttons. He transfers my call to a woman who tells me they can try and send someone out, or I can take it in. I tell her that I'd rather have someone come to me. She punches in some numbers and then tells me I live too far away. I only live 30 miles from the repair center. I asked her about the 50 mile radius and she tells me I have to take it in. Thanks a lot. So, I call the repair center and they tell me Apple is full of it . They offer to send a guy over but inform me that it may take longer to fix that way. I decided it would be best to drive the 30 miles and drop it off myself. I'm just really disappointed in Apple.

While I sympathise with you, come on... Apple (or Apple's agent in this case) OFFERED TO COME OUT and fix your machine, but you weren't patient enough for that, and take it in anyhow. It seems to me that 1) you were unlucky and 2) Apple couldn't have done ANYTHING to make you happy.

MiniMan · Mar 27, 2001, 10:15 AM

Come on cschmelz...!! Apple didn't even *try* to do anything to help...
They told him he was too far away for a visit which was a lie..!
I had the same thing with my current monitor problem. I spoke to a guy on Customer Service who didn't even seem to know that the LCD screens had a touch sensor for the Monitors Control Panel and after listening to my case and saying things like "You've not had much luck with this system" and "Apple wants to do whatever it can to make you happy" he then just gives me the standard 800 number for Tech Support and tells me I'll have to ring them...!!! Well, excuse me but where's the Customer Service in that...??

We are not "unlucky"... Apple's quality is on a nose dive and despite the rhetoric, they really don't care.

jmatero · Mar 27, 2001, 11:43 AM

I can top that....

Last weekend I purchased a 500mhz TiBook from CompUSA. Get it home, open it, and it is all scratched up and the paint on the sides is chipped. In addition, the area above the keyboard was all scratched down to the metal. Mind you, this CAME FROM THE FACTORY THIS WAY... it was SEALED. Needless to say, I drive back to CompUSA and they're OUT of them so I drive 40 miles to ANOTHER store and swap for a new one. Again, a new sealed unit... I open it up, the lid is crooked, the screen is warped, cd's get stuck 3/4 of the way in and the motor just sits there and "screams" and the battery didn't sit flush with the bottom of the unit. In addition, there were other build issues. Looking under the keyboard, there is a black plastic part that is glued down to create an air chamber for heat removal... it was glued on crooked and "leaked". If that wasn't bad enough, I went to pick it up and it just shuts off. Now the kicker....

I call Apple and tell the cust. svce girl "I have a new PowerBook G4 and when I pick it up or move it it shuts off".

Her response was "Apple strongly advises against moving a computer when it is turned on... when it's powered up, you should not try to move it".

OK... Number 1: LADY.... IT'S A LAPTOP.... DON'T MOVE IT????

Number 2: She left it at that... she didn't even offer to take it back and fix the thing.

SO, I returned it and got a refund and that's the last Apple laptop I buy for a while. You know, I was thinking of getting a cube but with that kind of customer service, geez.

[This message has been edited by jmatero (edited 03-27-2001).]

Mar 30, 2001, 05:54 PM

see, that's exactly the point my friend. apple has no good customer service, just alot of talk. that's why i figure the repair shop or these forums are our guides. until apple opens that retail chain their
employee's are gonna be dumbfounded and mac users will feel annoyed.

Numbers · Mar 30, 2001, 06:30 PM

Originally posted by drillerkiller:
It just dosen't seem right that I can drop $3,000.00, get a dead machine, and then be told that there's nothing they can do.

drillerkiller,

I'm not trying to do a, "I can top that," story. You have my sympathy. I know how frustrating it is to "deal" with Apple's customer unsupport.

I had a 1710 monitor. It took 3 trips to the shop in an attempt to repair it, and each repaired failed. They finally gave up and replaced it. This was several years ago, but it taught me to NEVER buy an Apple item other than the CPU.

Numbers

[This message has been edited by Numbers (edited 03-30-2001).]

drillerkiller · Apr 1, 2001, 02:07 PM

So, I picked up my G4 on Friday. It seems to work just fine now. I'm almost afraid to use it. I'm still a little scared of the power supply. I hope it doesn't burn my house down

[This message has been edited by drillerkiller (edited 04-01-2001).]

Raman · Apr 1, 2001, 10:46 PM

I'm assuming that you purchased your machine from macmall (or wherever) with a credit card. Why didn't you just tell macmall that your machine was DOA and that you would call your credit card company to reverse the charges. I find that threatening such action helps the retailer get off their asses.

rambo47 · Apr 2, 2001, 05:04 PM

Hopefully, when Apple launches their retail stores they will be individually owned and operated. That way the staff will be encouraged to do these repairs on site and build up a loyal customer base. I pray these stores are not simply extensions of Apple itself. But even if they are you will be able to take a defective product back and say, "Here. It sucks. Now its your problem."

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