Return new flat iMac?
I conviced a friend of mine who is new to computers to purchase a new flat-panel iMac. He was being lured by others to go Windows, but he took my advice in the end and bought from Outpost.com.
However, the iMac would not recognize his new high speed cable internet connection. He had the cable people out and they said it was fine. I took my PowerBook over and the internet worked great for me. He took the iMac to CompUSA and they found nothing wrong with it. He took it back home and it still did not work. I reloaded all the software and still it would not work. It got a valid IP address, but an extremelly slow connection. Pages wouldn't load. Google would, but it took 10 minutes!
So, I was about to take it back to CompUSA again when I shut it down. I then tried to turn the iMac back on but it would not start. No noise, beeps, fans, or anyhing. We switched power outlets, but the thing wouldn't turn back on.
Back to CompUSA and after several more days of waiting for the tech to look at it again, they said it was fine. My friend didn't believe them and asked for a demonstration. While showing it, the machine locked up. They said they would keep it and look at it some more.
My friend is very upset. So many people told him to avoid Apple and now he sees why. I feel badly that I conviced him to go Mac and he doesn't have a machine that works properly.
My question: Can he return this machine or exhange it for a new one? I think he'll have to call Apple Care, but has anyone had any experience with a faulty new machine? (especially one that the techs say is "ok")
Thanks for your help!
However, the iMac would not recognize his new high speed cable internet connection. He had the cable people out and they said it was fine. I took my PowerBook over and the internet worked great for me. He took the iMac to CompUSA and they found nothing wrong with it. He took it back home and it still did not work. I reloaded all the software and still it would not work. It got a valid IP address, but an extremelly slow connection. Pages wouldn't load. Google would, but it took 10 minutes!
So, I was about to take it back to CompUSA again when I shut it down. I then tried to turn the iMac back on but it would not start. No noise, beeps, fans, or anyhing. We switched power outlets, but the thing wouldn't turn back on.
Back to CompUSA and after several more days of waiting for the tech to look at it again, they said it was fine. My friend didn't believe them and asked for a demonstration. While showing it, the machine locked up. They said they would keep it and look at it some more.
My friend is very upset. So many people told him to avoid Apple and now he sees why. I feel badly that I conviced him to go Mac and he doesn't have a machine that works properly.
My question: Can he return this machine or exhange it for a new one? I think he'll have to call Apple Care, but has anyone had any experience with a faulty new machine? (especially one that the techs say is "ok")
Thanks for your help!
Comments
I would contact AppleCare immediately and make sure they know it's a 'switch' user - might help get them focused.
Standard warranty replacement should occur.
Every company cranks out a lemon now and then.
This mother brought in a wallstreet PowerBook she got for her son. He was going to college in the Fall, they'd had it for a month, but claimed the modem wouldn't work. At all.
I'm the only Apple tech on site, so I get to it the next day after dealing with other systems. I fire it up, connect it to the test phone line, try to dial into my ISP, and it works, first try. I repeat this about five times, and it works perfectly every time. I go to lunch, come back and try again, and it works again, perfectly. So I write it off to user error. Tell them to check their connections at home.
They pick it up, and the next morning the mother brings it back in, furious because once they got it back home, it still wouldn't work. So I look at it again immediately, and even pull her back in the shop so she can witness it working in my tech shop. This appeases her, and she takes it back home.
Next morning, thank god it was Friday, she is back in. Throws a huge fit, or so I hear. I got in at 11am because I *felt* like it
The General Manager trapzes downstairs later after I put the part on order. Says the woman already called him, demanding that the incompetent tech do his job properly. So we end up pulling a working modem from a display model, and just putting the ordered part into the display model.
Bottom line is that you can't diagnose what you can't see. The modem was obviously confused about it's current state of being, but whenever it entered my tech shop it found a new reason to live, and refuse to die. I mean, come on, what do you expect me to do if I can't get it to break in my shop? I'm not *allowed* to replace parts under warranty unless I can verify that the part is broken. Apple could take away my certifications and could take away the shop's AASP status.
I've seen it happen on desktops too. Maybe the machines just know when they're being examined, but really, don't be so quick to blame the techs. They probably just couldn't recreate the problem in the shop... and if they can't recreate it, they can't do anything. It doesn't mean they are incompetent...