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Apple - Monitor Defects

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Anthony of Manalapan NJ (9/25/03):
I recently purchased (one month ago) a new 17" display imac and found an imperfection in the monitor. Since I purchased the new computer for nearly $2,000, I believe it is within my rights to deem this computer imperfect and returnable or, at the very least, I should be able to have it inspected without being charged. Apple has declared that it must be determined by an Apple Certified Service Provider that the problem with the monitor (a glowing blue pixel) is, indeed, something that qualifies it as defective. They have also informed me that there is a charge incurred for this inspection! I believe, as the consumer, that if a slight imperfection in the monitor attached to the computer for which I paid a large sum of money, is imperfect, the case should be closed. I am complaining because Apple has not helped me resolve my problem in an acceptable manner.

Jodee of Bloomingdale MI (6/17/03):
I have left this bad experience with Apple far behind me, but I was irked today to see Apple listed as a "good guy." After nearly 20 years as a devoted Mac user, I would say my regard for Apple has been tarnished significantly. I purchased a complete powermac G3 system in 1997. Just after the skimpy 1-year warranty ended, my studio display died. Yes, I was completely out of luck, however scores of people were ranting at Apple's support site over the exact same experience. Our comments were deleted regularly. We had to go to another venue, MacForum, to voice our disappointment.

Apple completely ignored our complaints, despite the fact that their display was priced at the extreme high end of the market, and despite the fact that all of their competitors with similar components have a standard 3-year warranty, some have a 5 year warranty. The sad thing is, when people buy Apple, they don't expect the one-year warranty to reflect the true useful life of the product. Apple hardware has a solid, usually well-deserved reputation of lasting forever. Any other competitor could never get away with a one-year warranty--Apple has years of trust and confidence behind it.

Locally, I know of a whole college lab whose 17 displays all self-destructed, just as they reached the magic age of about 15 months. No one ever received satisfaction, that I know of. In addition, an Apple rep actually told me that if Apple offered any sort of reparation or even a coupon toward future purchases, you would have to keep looking for it on their website--it wasn't going to be advertised. So for all I know, some people have successfully tracked down some reparation, but I have never heard a thing.

The consequences were that I had to replace my monitor out of pocket, and that I will NEVER buy another Apple monitor. No comment on whether I will ever buy another Apple tower, the jury's still out. I would also like to say that I complained at various other venues and Apple never responded.

Gil of Woodland Hills CA (3/15/02):
I received a new Apple G4 Powerbook direct from Apple about 12 days ago, the machine was a build to order. Added 10 gigs of extra hardrive capacity . When I got my G4 I started to load my software on the second day of configuration. I changed the appearance of LCD display, from a pattern to a solid dark color. At this time I noticed a few dead pixels or red spots in the upper left hand corner of my LCD display. I was not happy with this problem and realized I would have to return the new machine to Apple for replacement or repairs.

I called Apple Tech Support and explained my problem. This was when I was informed of Apple's policy regarding dead pixels and what recourse I had as a consumer. I soon discovered that I have no options. Apple policy is that one to four dead pixels is within acceptable tolerances, which means that they are not responsible for replacing or repairing ANY Apple LCD display that Apple ships out. Why didn’t anybody tell me this? I spoke to no less than 4 different Apple Customer Service and Tech personal. I wanted to make sure that I fully understood their policy with regards to this issue.

I HAVE JUST PAID $2400 FOR A DEFECTIVE APPLE PRODUCT and now I had to eat it. So I’m mad and disappointed with Apple, I have been a loyal supporter of their products; as a matter of fact I have been a good consumer of Apple computers. I have 1 iMac, 2 G4 tabletops, 1 22inch screen display,and now one defective G4Powerbook. In the war of Apples and Pixels, Apple Computers may win the battle but they will lose a good customer.

Kenneth of San Francisco (5/21/02):
I received a defective monitor made by Apple and sold to me by Mac Zone. Mac Zone will not accept returns, they say you must go to Apple. Apple will not accept returns unless it was purchased from their outlet. They do however put brand new equipment into their repair system. They had my monitor for 5 weeks, I had a new $3000.00 computer system that I could not use during that time.

All of this is just bad P.R. but I believe there is a law that they are breaking. It looks to me like they should extend the warranty as well as my extended warranty that I purchased, This would be under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act. "for the period of time a product that costs more than $50 is being repaired the duration of the implied warranty is extended." The monitor was about $400.00. Also because I bought the monitor with the computer from the same company at the same time and lost the use of the computer during that down time I would think that these warranties should be extended too.

By the time I received my repaired monitor I had easily spent 40 or 50 hours on hold at Mac Zone and Apple. I had to fight them every inch of the way. I suspect that they intentionally took a long time with my monitor to discourage me from having repairs done in the future. They told me they were waiting for a part with no ETA. When I finally got the monitor I discovered the "part " they were waiting for was the picture tube.

This is their biggest selling monitor, I can't believe that they had to wait that long. The other possibility was that they were sitting on my display until another broken monitor arrived with a salvageable tube, That's why no ETA. If that were the case then I'm really angry that I am the lowest priority, that I could wait as long as it took so long as Apple could save a few dollars. Apple will not put anything they say in writing, not even in an e-mail. When I asked them if it was ok to record our conversation they told me I could not. However if you want service from them you are warned that you may be recorded.

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