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Message |
    
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2297
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 11:55 pm: | 
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My dad bought an Apple Refurbished 20" G5 Imac from Apple on their website. It was a beauty to use. I was just there for 2 weeks and did some intense Flash work on it. His Optical Drive wasn't working however. So we made an appt at the apple store. The guy hooks up an external drive boots off it and runs a hardware test. Fails. He says the motherboard will probably be replaced. He's ready to take it. I have to finish work. I ask him what will happen with the data on the drive. He said they will PROBABLY not touch the drive so all is good, everything is under warranty still (it's only a few months old), we'll have it back in 5 days probably so no worries. Or so he says. I don't feel comfortable with that. So I take the computer back home and finish my work, and back up my dads Hard Drive to another machine.
My dad calls me back, I'm now home no longer visiting him. Says he got the same guy at the apple store, but this time, the guy says that he thinks it's not ONLY the motherboard but that the optical drive is bad (NO F-ing DUH!!!) but HERE IS THE KICKER...The hard drive might also be bad. Now please keep in mind that the hard drive was fine BEFORE we brought it to them. They state that they will charge $150 to back up his data for him IF HE WANTS THEM TO. He contested the price and got them down to $50. I told my dad that I backed up his USER folder but that he would lose all of his applications and have to reconfigure his new machine and PROVIDED they carbon copy clone it and save all his stuff well...give it up to god, and just forget about it and well...pay the $50 bucks.
At that time, I just thought it was Apple's whole rip off people at the apple store policy. WHICH I DO BELIEVE EXISTS. We discussed this in the ipod threads just recently. Anyway, get this, my dad calls them back and authorizes them to do the back up for the $50. And they tell him oh were sorry... We can no longer do the backup for you. The drive you see was running at weird speeds (to high) and is actually smoking. Sorry you just lost ALL OF YOUR DATA. NO LIE. I swear to god, that machine was working TOTALLY FINE up until the Apple store got their hands on it. I believe (obviously I have no concrete evidence of this) that they broke the hard drive.
I don't know what is going through my dad's head, maybe he doesn't trust them or something. But he is demanding he get his hard drive back from them. They offered to give him a new HD (well...it is under warranty) but if he wants the old drive back also he has to pay them $350. If he returns the drive back to them in 14 days, he can get all of the money back. I'm sorry but a 100 gig drive costs Apple, I'm guessing $20. Also IF THE DRIVE IS SMOKING, it's clearly trash, so I don't see why they wouldn't GIVE the drive to my dad. But $350 is just total bullspit, IMO.
So essentially their factory guaranteed refurbished Apple (which he bought from Apple) has a faulty motherboard, and a dead on arrival optical drive, it failed the hardware test, and a bad hard drive which I SUSPECT they broke, deleting all of his files. So the question. What would you do? I TRULY believe he deserves reparations. How you handle this? |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 4083
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 1:55 am: |
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First, always back up the hard drive (if possible) before taking it in, now call Apple Customer Service and complain like a baby that doesn't have it's teet.
AppleCare Extended Service and Support (800) 275-2273 ?
(800) 776-2333
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Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2298
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 10:43 am: |
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Well I did back up the User folder as I stated.
So I call AppleCare and tell them what? What you would you say? What would you want? I personally think that getting a new hard drive, new optical drive and new motherboard is the absolute MINIMUM to be honest. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2299
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 10:46 am: |
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Oh yeah, and I LOVE the Ghost Rider icon Monster. |
composerjohn
Citizen
Username: Composerjohn
Post Number: 890
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 10:47 am: |
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Wow. That sucks.
Try getting in contact with Steve Jobs directly. Try these emails:
steve@mac.com
sjobs@apple.com
sj@pixar.com
These addresses come from somewhat realible sources. If he doesn't answer (which, to be honest, is very likely), a high level person probably will.
You might as well try - the worst that'll happen is you don't get a response. |
Glock 17
Citizen
Username: Glock17
Post Number: 1469
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 1:47 pm: |
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I have had no problem with the apple store. They gave me a brand new shuffle and wireless mouse because both were within warranty and not working properly...no questions...just quick, efficient action. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 15086
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 3:39 pm: |
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Shooting from the hip here, but I might pay the money and then take them to small claims court. That really is shoddy service. I don't actually believe they broke the hard disk on purpose. Bad luck can happen that way. But it was warranted, so they should make good on it.
Glock, your experience doesn't negate Alleygater's father's experience. The question was, what would you do if this happened to you? It was not, has this happened to you?
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eliz
Supporter
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 1585
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 3:48 pm: |
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I had the lovely Apple people wipe clean my drive (oops!), have had more agida than I care to remember with the non-geniuses at the genius bar. My latest theory is that it is much better to have the onsite repair people than the store people.
I don't hold out much luck for you with reparations - while I love a lot of things about Apple customer service isn't one of them. |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 4086
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 6:40 pm: |
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Alley, call customer service and start from the beginning, just like you did in your post above, tell them that the Mac came back with more problems than it went in with, tell how you feel about the charge, tell them (if the drive is still available) that you want Apple to pay to have an independent company rescue the data, complain-complain-complain, and make sure to tell them how you and your father were treated.
I've had good luck in the past with complaining to Apple about repairs, hopefully it holds out for the next time, which will be soon, seeing as how my iBook has the same problem coming back for the third time, glad I have Applecare on it.
Does you father have Applecare, if not, it really is worth the purchase. Applecare customer service is who I have dealt with in the past, and so far I have no complaints, the last time they called the store up while I was on hold, came back and told me to take it in to the store, they would do what they were told to do. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2307
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 9:19 am: |
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Maybe I'll suggest the Applecare to him. He is still under his 1 year warranty.
Machine came back. New drive, it passed a hardware test -- which I insisted my dad have him do in the store (EVEN THOUGH they are going to state it was done already) so he could see that it was done, and supposedly there is a new optical drive in it. Although my dad hasn't tested it yet. I walked him through getting his data back on his computer too. What a hassle. I'm glad it's over, although Monster's leading me to think it could happen again...and again...and again... |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2308
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 9:21 am: |
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Oh yeah...so much for reparations. BAH! |
wnb
Citizen
Username: Wnb
Post Number: 467
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 10:06 am: |
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Is it a new drive or a refurbished drive? Did they specify?
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Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 15104
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 10:21 am: |
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What are you saying could happen again, a failed hard disk or bad service? Both are sure to happen, wherever you go and whatever drive you have. It's just a question of when.
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Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2310
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 11:40 am: |
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WNB, I am not sure but I have every reason to believe it would be refurbed since the machine orignally was a refurb.
Tom, I'm saying that the motherboard could be faulty, the optical drive won't work, the hard drive will be fine UNTIL we take it to the Apple store for a different reason. Or who knows something else. |
TarPit Coder
Citizen
Username: Tarpitcoder
Post Number: 87
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 6:23 pm: |
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If you Google the G5 Imac you'll see many reports of them running hot, cooking the motherboard. Look for comments about the PSU flaming out and doing a china syndrome.
--Tarp |
Monster©
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 4178
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 6:59 pm: |
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but that's with the new Intel G5 iMacs isn't it, Alley is it a refurb pre Intel or does it have Intel inside?
And since it's a refurb it may have had that problem already, and been fixed.
I would use the heck out of it for a month or so to see if the board fries (perhaps run xbench over and over again, and maybe render some very large graphics files over and over, maybe set up an Automator action to do this), and keep a current backup, of course after the years warranty there is always Applecare. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2321
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 8:10 pm: |
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Yeah it's a pre-intel imac. I think Applecare is a good idea in general. |
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