Apple's customer service just blew my mind...I get a brand new iMac.

[eeyore]

Okay, before anyone says it, I'm not a schill for Apple. I'm just a guy with a cool story to tell, so I thought I'd share it.

A few weeks ago I took my 2.5 year-old eMac in to the Apple store for service. It had been freezing up pretty consistently, and I suspected there was a hardware issue. Sure enough, the logic board on the computer was bad, and in fact this was a know flaw with the eMac that they were fixing for free, even with the machine being out of warranty. They said they had to order in the part, and that they would let me know when the computer was ready for pick up, probably in about a week.

I walked away happy that they were doing the right thing by taking care of this issue for free, and never really expected it to be on the top of the repairs list in the shop. After 11 days, I began to wonder why they hadn't called me yet, so I called, and they told me that they had just received the part, and that they were terribly sorry about the wait. I began to think that Apple was beginning to lose it a bit, maybe getting too big for their own good.

So, I just got a call yesterday, and they've now had my computer for 13 days. The tech said that the part that they had received was damaged, and that the part is actually on backorder, not expected in the store until late October. So, he gave me a choice - I could wait for the part to come in, and they would load me up with free RAM, or they would just replace my machine with a new 17" iMac, and would transfer all of my data over to the new computer as well. Also, he said that if I'd rather buy something else, I can just take a $999.00 credit to the store, and apply it however I choose.

That, folks, is way beyond the call of duty. I took in a 2 year old out of warranty computer, and am walking away with a brand new one. I don't even know what to say about this turn of events, but I'm pretty fucking happy right now. :bounce:

By the way, I'm thinking of upgrading to the 20" iMac and paying the difference of $500.

[question everything]

1. Yeah, Go Mac. And not a virus in sight (nt)

[Sadie5]

6. Sounds great-trade up

I want to get away from windows but priced the Macs and I don't think I can afford one. I want a notebook this time but the Macs are around several hundred $$ more.

[meganmonkey]

2. I just got my first Mac

a few weeks ago - a MacBook. I absolutely love it, and I am happy to hear your story. I feel like I am a member of a new cult ;)

[eeyore]

7. Welcome home, sister!

Hare Krishna, Hare Hare.....

;)

[warrens]

3. My daughter got a similar deal

She had a defective hard drive and other problems. After fixing it three or four times, they finally said uncle and gave her a brand new one. Fairly graciously. It has problems too, but nothing like the earlier one, which was just about to go off warranty.

[Mika]

4. Spend the $500. The faster 20" iMac is a kick ass computer.

:kick:

[eeyore]

5. Thanks for the advice...

I feel like I just won the lottery.

[MidwestTransplant]

8. That's nothing.....Listen to my awesome story

I got a broken computer from Dell. Took me months to get it resolved. They finally credited me back like $200 on a $2500 cpu (this was a while ago). Pretty great, huh.

Bastages!

[eeyore]

10. Okay, please tell me you are bullshitting here...

That's a terrible story, and I really hope it's not true!

[MidwestTransplant]

17. Nope it's the truth.

Dell sucks.

Others seem to agree:

http://chart.finance.yahoo.com/c/1y/d/dell

[Tesha]

9. Yeah, Apple just sucks!

Yeah, this is just obvious proof that Apple sucks bigtime!

Turning away from :sarcasm:...

That's why most Apple customers *STAY* Apple customers.

Over the years, essentially *ALL* of the Macintosh computers
that I've bought are still running, from the old PowerBook 170
through the Quadra-840AV and Wallstreet G3/300 to my latest 15"
Aluminum laptop, with a handful of other Macs in-beween. (I can't
say whether our original Mac-IIsi is running or not; we gave it
away to a relative when they went off to college and we lost track
of it over the years.)

Yes, a few CMOS batteries have run down. Yes, the Apple
Airport base station got caught-up in that same run of bad
electrolytic capacitors that doomed so many computer motherboards
across the industry. The Wallstreet (PowerBook G3) laptop even
needed repair after a new AC adapter damaged its power inlet
connector and the Aluminum G4 was one of the early ones that
had white blotches on the screen. But all three problems were
promptly fixed at Apple's expense.

Aside from replacing some add-on third-party hard drives, I don't
think we've *EVER* paid to have any Apple hardware repaired,
nor have we ever suffered any substantial downtime.

We absolutely can't say the same about some other computer
vendors we've bought from.

So here in TeshaLand, we're another family of extremely-loyal
Apple customers.

Tesha

[Texas_Kat]

12. It maybe why Apple sales don't reflect the real number of Mac users

Macs last for-e-ver. We've been Mac users since spring of 1984. Mac customers are loyal because Macs WORK.

They're overbuilt too, so it takes years for them to become 'antique' enough to need to upgrade to a new model.

[susanna]

21. I have an old circa-92 Color Classic...

...that runs my recipe software in the kitchen. It will not die... :-)

[wicket]

26. I love my mac!

I'll never go back.

[A Brand New World]

11. My son works for Apple in Cupertino and it's also an awesome

place to work. He's an engineer with the Safari program. It's his dream job!

[Dr.Phool]

13. Sounds good

I've been thinking of switching to a Mac for a while now. In the last 2 years, I've gotten 2 viruses that have wiped my hard drive clean.

I've had enough of Windoze.

[man4allcats]

14. Great deal!

I'm just wondering about the eMac problem you referenced. It was indeed a known issue. I was thinking about buying one a few years ago (back when I had a job), but was cautioned in a Mac forum by one of their own service techs (talk about being up front!) that I could possibly encounter this problem with the eMac. Since they apparently thought they could repair your old machine if they could get the right part in, do you know (or does perhaps someone else here know) whether Mac has now successfully and finally corrected this problem so that it is no longer an issue in their newest eMacs? I'm assuming of course and perhaps erroneously that the eMac line has not been discontinued. Thanks and enjoy your new Mac! :hi:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. The eMac line has been discontinued.

They now have the Mac Mini, iMac and PowerMac.

[man4allcats]

19. Okay. Thanks! n/t

[onehandle]

16. Earlier this year the motherboard on my 17" PowerBook went bad.

They told me a few days later that they would not able to get a new motherboard within a (their) reasonable amount of time (ten business days).

They sent me to the local Apple Store and I was given a brand new PowerBook two generations newer.

I was pretty f'ing happy.

[9119495]

18. I don't know...I really like John Hodgeman. Why can't he be the

mac guy in the ads?

[Hippo_Tron]

20. I couldn't manage to make the switch this time

I went with a Dell because I'm a long time PC user and my school services them very well and has a huge discount on them. Also if at some point I want to get back into playing video games, certain ones don't come out for the Mac at all and many come out much later.

But Dell has become a lot worse than it once was and once I graduate and don't have all of the university associated benefits with Dell, my incentive to buy one is gone.

My next computer will either be a Mac or a PC that I build myself.

[Elwood P Dowd]

23. Intel Macs can run both OS X and Windows

so you now have one less excuse. Enjoy the best (or worst) of both worlds.

[Hippo_Tron]

24. Yea but it seems pointless to buy the mac and run windows

At least that's my perspective. Is there any advantage to running windows on a Mac vs. running it on a PC besides the fact that Steve Jobs is progressive and donates to Democrats?

[wtmusic]

25. Sort of pointless

But you may find yourself using more and more programs written for OSX, once you have the hardware. I have yet to meet anyone who has made the switch and regretted it.

[Poiuyt]

22. I've been using Macs for 18 years now, and have never had to take any of

them in for service. I'm glad to hear that their customer service is good though.