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WOPR · Dec 7, 2006, 04:25 PM

Right my lovely 6 week old Core 2 Duo 17" iMac has a fault, the screen flickers unless it's on maximum brightness. If I take it to my local Apple Store will they fix it there? Will they just swap my hard drive in to a new one? Anyone know?

Thanks in advance. I'm in the UK by the way. Tried restarting it to no avail.

WOPR · Dec 8, 2006, 07:58 AM

Oh well, I've booked it in at the Genius Bar tonight so I'll see what they say about it. Not looking forward to using my TiBook full time in the meantime though

WOPR · Dec 19, 2006, 08:57 AM

Apple have had it for 11 days now and I'm going mad without it. My TiBook is not pleasant as a main machine!

WOPR · Dec 23, 2006, 07:23 AM

I'm not sure anyone cares but Apple have now had it for 15 days. They promised to phone yesterday to say they'd had the inverter in at last and I could collect it, but nothing happened. So I can only assume they didn't get the part. So far I've been appalled at the service I've received

centerchannel68 · Dec 23, 2006, 12:57 PM

I think you need to learn about this word:

does - Definitions from Dictionary.com

WOPR · Dec 23, 2006, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by centerchannel68

I think you need to learn about this word:

does - Definitions from Dictionary.com

As I implied in the other thread of mine you posted this retarded comment in, f*** off!

ghporter · Dec 23, 2006, 02:34 PM

Again, WOPR, knock it off. We'll have a word with centerchannel68 about the "definition" posts.

In any case, from what I understand, unless it's an issue that the Genius can resolve fairly quickly (i.e. swap out a hard drive or something), then the computer goes to a "higher level" maintenance facility. I'm not sure who does that for the UK, but there are horror stories about the Continental facilities being either woefully slow or very bad, or both. I'd stay on them. A flickering LCD could be only a few components, such as the inverter, the cold cathode lamps, or a few small incidentals between them-a two hour job for someone who knows how to disassemble and reassemble an iMac in my judgement. Keep their phones busy! (They DO have a free phone number, right?)

centerchannel68 · Dec 23, 2006, 03:40 PM

I was just trying to help, as both his thread titles appeared to have been written by a 4 yr old. How DO apple deal with... I mean come on. That sounds silly. Anyway, I'll stop, and good luck with the screen.

WOPR · Dec 23, 2006, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by centerchannel68

I was just trying to help, as both his thread titles appeared to have been written by a 4 yr old. How DO apple deal with... I mean come on. That sounds silly. Anyway, I'll stop, and good luck with the screen.

Try to word your posts like an adult then.

WOPR · Dec 23, 2006, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Again, WOPR, knock it off. We'll have a word with centerchannel68 about the "definition" posts.

In any case, from what I understand, unless it's an issue that the Genius can resolve fairly quickly (i.e. swap out a hard drive or something), then the computer goes to a "higher level" maintenance facility. I'm not sure who does that for the UK, but there are horror stories about the Continental facilities being either woefully slow or very bad, or both. I'd stay on them. A flickering LCD could be only a few components, such as the inverter, the cold cathode lamps, or a few small incidentals between them-a two hour job for someone who knows how to disassemble and reassemble an iMac in my judgement. Keep their phones busy! (They DO have a free phone number, right?)

They were/are (who knows!) waiting for an inverter to come in to the Store where I took it. My real complaint is with the lack of proper updates ('in repair' means nothing if that status never changes until the job is finished). I also resent having to go back to the store at an allotted time just to get an update, and then get told it was coming in the next day only to get no call at all. It's unimpressive all round.

ghporter · 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by centerchannel68

I was just trying to help, as both his thread titles appeared to have been written by a 4 yr old. How DO apple deal with... I mean come on. That sounds silly. Anyway, I'll stop, and good luck with the screen.

That's proper British usage. Apple, in Britain, is a group noun, while in the States, it's a composite noun. Here, we say "how does Apple..." because we think of the company as a group of individuals. In Britain, the company is an entity and its component individuals are not the issue, thus "how DO Apple..."

English lesson over, back to computers!

Originally Posted by WOPR

They were/are (who knows!) waiting for an inverter to come in to the Store where I took it. My real complaint is with the lack of proper updates ('in repair' means nothing if that status never changes until the job is finished). I also resent having to go back to the store at an allotted time just to get an update, and then get told it was coming in the next day only to get no call at all. It's unimpressive all round.

This is called "bad customer service." Having been in "retail" electronics repair, I know that customers want to know a lot more than "in repair" when they ask about their device. If the Genius on the phone won't give you better than that, contact the store's manager and explain that "in repair" is not an acceptable status-is it on the bench in pieces? is someone doing anything with it? if it's waiting for parts, then shouldn't THAT be the status? and shouldn't Apple be able to provide parts for THEIR computers in a timely manner, especially when they're under the initial, factory warranty? Push a little-but very politely and with an attitude that says "I'm upset about my computer taking so long, and I wonder about all the other people who are waiting and not getting proper service from this store". That "I'm trying to help as well as get my situation rectified" attitude, along with calm persistence is what it takes to show the manager that you're not a hothead, and you're not going away. That last-not going away-gets the manager moving, and the fact that you're not a hothead makes him feel like he's in control (which he isn't if his repair section has to wait weeks for something as simple as an inverter.

To point out a very sad thing, my school has Dell certified technicians for the huge number of Dells fielded all over the various campuses. THEY STOCK INVERTERS FOR EVERY LCD PROVIDED THROUGH THE STANDARD DELL CONTRACT (a considerable variety). I'd think that an Apple Store could have such parts handy... Food for thought (and maybe ammunition if the manager starts complaining that "inverters just don't go out" -because they DO).

centerchannel68 · Dec 24, 2006, 09:11 PM

Are you serious about the English thing? That is just insane. I can't think of an example of groups of individuals where one asks "How do 'x' solve this problem?!"

God. That's just a total butchering of the English language.

ghporter · Dec 24, 2006, 10:38 PM

Absolutely. That's BRITISH English. And remember, THEY came up with the language, WE altered it to suit ourselves. Do you know what a Chesterfield is?* What about a Petosky Stone?** And need I mention that the Brits have a more prosaic use for the word "fag" that (generally) isn't always about sexual orientation.***

Language is fluid, and just because we can generally converse with exactly the same words and syntax doesn't mean that we're actually speaking the same language. We're not.

*Chesterfields are "sofas" or more probably "davenports" to certain Canadians and some Brits.
** A Petosky Stone is a particular kind of fossil found only in Michigan, and the state fossil.
*** A fag is a bundle of firewood, and by extension a cigarette. When I was in Honduras, the general translation of the stick bundles the guys with donkeys were collecting together and selling was "fag" rather than "fire wood." Go figure.

centerchannel68 · Dec 26, 2006, 01:29 AM

Weird.

WOPR · Dec 26, 2006, 04:42 AM

Originally Posted by centerchannel68

Weird.

Yet you no doubt think the plural of Lego is 'Legos'.

Weirder.

ghporter · Dec 26, 2006, 10:01 AM

"Two nations separated by a common language" is more than adequate to describe the situation, don't you both think?

Anyway...

WOPR · Dec 27, 2006, 06:01 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

That's proper British usage. Apple, in Britain, is a group noun, while in the States, it's a composite noun. Here, we say "how does Apple..." because we think of the company as a group of individuals. In Britain, the company is an entity and its component individuals are not the issue, thus "how DO Apple..."

English lesson over, back to computers!

This is called "bad customer service." Having been in "retail" electronics repair, I know that customers want to know a lot more than "in repair" when they ask about their device. If the Genius on the phone won't give you better than that, contact the store's manager and explain that "in repair" is not an acceptable status-is it on the bench in pieces? is someone doing anything with it? if it's waiting for parts, then shouldn't THAT be the status? and shouldn't Apple be able to provide parts for THEIR computers in a timely manner, especially when they're under the initial, factory warranty? Push a little-but very politely and with an attitude that says "I'm upset about my computer taking so long, and I wonder about all the other people who are waiting and not getting proper service from this store". That "I'm trying to help as well as get my situation rectified" attitude, along with calm persistence is what it takes to show the manager that you're not a hothead, and you're not going away. That last-not going away-gets the manager moving, and the fact that you're not a hothead makes him feel like he's in control (which he isn't if his repair section has to wait weeks for something as simple as an inverter.

To point out a very sad thing, my school has Dell certified technicians for the huge number of Dells fielded all over the various campuses. THEY STOCK INVERTERS FOR EVERY LCD PROVIDED THROUGH THE STANDARD DELL CONTRACT (a considerable variety). I'd think that an Apple Store could have such parts handy... Food for thought (and maybe ammunition if the manager starts complaining that "inverters just don't go out" -because they DO).

I've tried to ring the Store several times and each time eventually get through to an answerphone. Neither of the messages I have left have been answered. The only way to get a progress report is to make a Genius appointment and go in person. Bearing in mind my local store is in Bluewater which is the biggest shopping centre in Europe, it's kind of busy right now with post-Christmas sale shoppers. But if nothing's happened by Friday I will have to go in again and ask what the hell they are doing. I'm really quite shocked at just how bad the experience has been, I accept machine's go wrong but to not have such a standard part in stock, plus telling me I would be getting a call and then didn't is a disgrace.

Will C · Dec 27, 2006, 10:16 AM

Ask the manager what compensation they will give you for having the machine for so long - that can sometimes get arses into action. (ass in Birtain is a Donkey except when using in an American sense)

BTW - the English lessons were interesting - I did not know we Brits (formally) think of Apple as a single for the the purpose of do/does - I think I would say either depending on how it sounded in the rest of the sentence - odd that when I would probably refer to Apple as 'they'...

Anyway - I hope they/it/Apple get it sorted asap.

WOPR · Dec 27, 2006, 10:45 AM

I'll happily accept a new shuffle in compensation!

WOPR · Dec 30, 2006, 07:50 AM

Well we're into week 4 now. Unreal. Maybe I should start a blog!

onlyone-jc · Dec 30, 2006, 09:49 AM

I'm sorry to hear about the progress of your repair, WOPR. I will be taking my Al-Powerbook in for a repair next week, and hearing this is off-putting to say the least.

I've caught this repair just in time really, because I only have 19 days of the initial warranty remaining, and probably only 15 by the same I get chance to take it in (with New Year hanging around the corner, and all).

Good luck getting your iMac sorted, and I just hope and pray I don't get a repeat of the same kind of service you've been presented with!

onlyone-jc.

WOPR · Dec 30, 2006, 03:13 PM

To actually be told it was in repair and I would be called to confirm I can pick it up, and then to get no call is outrageously bad customer service. I'm going to go in tomorrow and give them a piece of my mind.

onlyone-jc · Dec 30, 2006, 04:02 PM

Do it in the right manner, though. If you keep calm, but remain firm and straight-to-the-point, you're likely to benefit from it.

If you calmly ask them how they're going to compensate you for your time without your machine, then they may just give you a pleasant surprise.

Let us know how you get on.

onlyone-jc.

onlyone-jc · Dec 30, 2006, 04:12 PM

Maybe the fairest compensation you could ask for, and would most-likely get, would be an extension of your warranty by the amount of time they've been in possession of your machine.

Just a thought.

onlyone-jc.

WOPR · Dec 31, 2006, 02:12 PM

Well after 23 days my iMac is back and working perfectly.

ghporter · Dec 31, 2006, 05:50 PM

Huzzah!!!!!! And there was much rejoicing! Hurray!

Did they give you ANY reason other than "we had to wait a long time for parts" for why it took over three weeks to fix your computer?

And whatever else they did, they jerked you around-Apple needs to know about this.

Originally Posted by Apple's UK Support Site

Call Apple technical support

Customers within 90 days of ownership are eligible for complimentary phone support—one incident per iPod and unlimited incidents per Mac. Purchase an AppleCare Protection Plan while still covered by the Apple One-Year Limited Warranty to extend your coverage. Call 0870 876 0753 for technical assistance. In Ireland, please call 1850 946 191. Other customers can find worldwide support numbers here

I have found the people running Apple's telephone support are VERY customer oriented, and they WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY. Tell them the whole story, particularly how your store did not provide any sort of real status on your repair. Not only do they need to know about it, but you can help prevent the same thing happening to someone else by letting them know.

WOPR · Jan 1, 2007, 11:09 AM

It's difficult for me as a good friend of mine works there and I don't want to make things awkward for him. However I'm also very unimpressed with the service and will feel real pain when I pay to extend my Applecare later in the year. Hmmm.

WOPR · Jan 10, 2007, 10:35 AM

Just had an email asking me to fill out a survey about my recent repair experience. I let rip