Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: Christopher Sanderson on May 29, 2014, 02:50:23 pm
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Just as I was about to put my 2009 MacPro up for sale - the new two month old MacPro 2013 Black Coffee Can died yesterday - actually while on the phone with Apple support. :o
OS 10.9.3; 3gHz 8 core; 32 GB ram; 2 x AMD FirePro d700
Problems were first noticed when the machine would suddenly and unexpectedly go to sleep in mid-process.
I removed all peripherals except keyboard & monitor. I checked the Computer Sleep settings in SystemPreferences and found that mysteriously there were no controls - only display sleep controls. I checked AboutThis Mac/System Information / System Sleep and it was set to 1...odd
After several wake-ups and then re-boots, I also noticed the body of the machine becoming very hot and that the fans did not cycle to full power on startup. Clearly overheating was triggering a hardware level fail-safe sleep command.
I spent an hour or so with a concerned and helpful Apple tech and we finally tried a full system reinstall from the cloud (impressive). Alas, about three minutes into the install, the computer went into terminal 'sleep' and is now in the shop.
I will update.
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Chris,
Sorry to hear, but I hope for a rapid solution.
Best regards
Erik
Just as I was about to put my 2009 MacPro up for sale - the new two month old MacPro 2013 Black Coffee Can died yesterday - actually while on the phone with Apple support. :o
OS 10.9.3; 3gHz 8 core; 32 GB ram; 2 x AMD FirePro d700
Problems were first noticed when the machine would suddenly and unexpectedly go to sleep in mid-process.
I removed all peripherals except keyboard & monitor. I checked the Computer Sleep settings in SystemPreferences and found that mysteriously there were no controls - only display sleep controls. I checked AboutThis Mac/System Information / System Sleep and it was set to 1...odd
After several wake-ups and then re-boots, I also noticed the body of the machine becoming very hot and that the fans did not cycle to full power on startup. Clearly overheating was triggering a hardware level fail-safe sleep command.
I spent an hour or so with a concerned and helpful Apple tech and we finally tried a full system reinstall from the cloud (impressive). Alas, about three minutes into the install, the computer went into terminal 'sleep' and is now in the shop.
I will update.
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Well, it took the Apple service centre 2.5 working days to tell me that the fan was non functional...
hmmm - could have told them that
- in fact I did.
They say they should have a replacement in two days.
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They say they should have a replacement in two days.
Fan or totally new box?
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Fan or totally new box?
New fan...
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New fan...
If I were you, I'd be inclined to request a two-month extension to the standard warranty—i.e, so you would have a full year's coverage following the fan replacement. My guess is the thermal shutdown trigger adequately protected the electronic components, but you never know. I'd be surprised if Apple refused a warranty extension. My understanding is that the company's retail outlets have a procedure for communicating with corporate management on issues such as this. Or you could contact the company's central customer support. (If you do make the request, please report back on the response.)
My 2013 Mac Pro (6 CPU, 1 TB flash, 64 GB primary memory) runs quite cool, even under high CPU and GPU load, but it's obvious from the way Apple designed the box that the single fan motor needs to be working up to spec to provide circulation around the thermal core to avoid rapid overheating; there's no way simple convection could offer more than a few minutes' margin. That's one aspect of the new form-factor that has made me uneasy from the start.
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Good advice - thank-you! I will post the response once I have a functioning computer back.
FWIW this MacPro breakdown has obviously cost me time. However, since most everything is outboard of the machine, I just plugged my MacBook Pro into the thunderbolt chain and have been able to keep working - albeit at a slower pace.
With the old MacPro tower, this could never have happened
Chris
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Glad to hear it's easy to swap and you can still keep going. For the price however, I think Apple should have just sent you a new machine.
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Let's hope it was only the fan - that remains to be seen.
If the complications persist beyond the replacement of a faulty fan, that is exactly what I will be asking for.
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Dratted fan is 'back-ordered'...
ETA is now next week - at least another five days.
Clearly this is happening to more than just me - or does Apple not stock spares ???
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Dratted fan is 'back-ordered'...
ETA is now next week - at least another five days.
Clearly this is happening to more than just me - or does Apple not stock spares ???
Each fan is hand made! ;D
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Each fan is hand made! ;D
Yes, that likely accounts for the price...
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The installation of a new fan did not fix the problem.
Dealer now tells me that a new mother board is on order.
I find this unacceptable and have asked Apple to replace the machine.
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The simple answer to that suggestion from a 'senior' Apple tech was 'No, we will not replace the machine. Wait until the logic board is replaced'
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The simple answer to that suggestion from a 'senior' Apple tech was 'No, we will not replace the machine. Wait until the logic board is replaced'
And you can be pretty sure that they'll put the old fan back in your Mac Pro. >:(
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The installation of a new fan did not fix the problem.
Dealer now tells me that a new mother board is on order.
When I was designing electronics, we used to call this "swap parts 'til it works" style of troubleshooting "Easter-egging", and, when we'd find techs doing it -- we'd know because of the perfectly good parts they sent back for repair -- we'd suggest some additional training.
Jim
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The simple answer to that suggestion from a 'senior' Apple tech was 'No, we will not replace the machine. Wait until the logic board is replaced'
Bad bad bad customer service. You should push this up the chain of responsibility 'til you get to someone with a clue.
-Dave-
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Chris,
I don't know if you have or will name-drop your lu-la affiliation and your better-than-average ability to cause Apple some bad press on this. FWIW, after over 20 years on the Windows side, I have been ready to pull the trigger on a switch back to Mac. (I was Mac in the real early days from '86-'92 but had to switch for work, and was tired of the ransom.) This would mean probably 2 Macs, not a small investment. Your experience has given me pause, along with what I've gathered that Apples' policy is to not stock ANY parts at repair centers requiring them to order piecemeal after a machine is submitted for repair. I've heard of this even with MacBook batteries which we all know will fail at some point in time. This, IMO, creates an unnecessary delay in turnaround. I'm not happy about the fact that a Mac user is effectively an Apple hostage when it comes to repairing a machine.
So, feel free to tell them that the eminent sale of 2 machines has been put in jeopardy because of this as well as a lifetime of future business.
Lloyd
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The simple answer to that suggestion from a 'senior' Apple tech was 'No, we will not replace the machine. Wait until the logic board is replaced'
Where is the repair being done? Locally (e.g., at one of the Apple Stores in Toronto), at the Flextronics factory in Austin, or in some other manufacturer's repair center?
If it's being performed by Flextronics, I'll offer a contrarian option: as long as Apple agrees to reinitialize your warranty term, you might wind up with a better computer after the repair than you would with a new one. When a manufacturer's service facility repairs a product, it often is subjected to pre-shipping tests that are more rigorous than the standard factory QA process.
I certainly was pleased with how well Nikon-USA repaired my D800E, which exhibited the infamous left-focus problem. I wasn't at all happy with how long it took the company to figure out how to perform the repair—several European and Asian Nikon repair centers reportedly were dealing competently with the left-focus problem months earlier—but at the suggestion of Thom Hogan I waited until Nikon-USA got its act together and, when I got the camera back, not only was the left-focus problem resolved but the phase-detect autofocus was generally improved no matter which focus points were used. Similarly, I've been delighted with the two factory-refurbished Nikon lenses I purchased, while on at least one occasion I had to send a bad sample of a new lens back to the retail seller.
I agree that Apple ought to honor your request for a replacement, given that you only had the product two months. But if I were in your position, I think I would at least wonder whether that was the best approach.
One other thought: I've been very pleased with my Mac Pro (so far . . . ), but unless your experience was the result of a unique combination of simultaneous problems, it strikes me that what happened may reflect an engineering failure. A computer that crams so many components into such a small form-factor needs to have a really foolproof thermal shutdown mechanism. If a fan problem precipitated the meltdown of your motherboard, that raises questions about the robustness of the design. (Guess it's time for me to pop for that "Applecare" post-warranty maintenance contract.)
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When I was designing electronics, we used to call this "swap parts 'til it works" style of troubleshooting "Easter-egging", and, when we'd find techs doing it -- we'd know because of the perfectly good parts they sent back for repair -- we'd suggest some additional training.
In conversation with the Apple dealer's Mac tech, I gently suggested that this might be the case - he freely admitted that this was the case. >:(
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Where is the repair being done? Locally (e.g., at one of the Apple Stores in Toronto), ....
Yes, locally. For me that is a MicroAge shop in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Sorry to hear about the problem. Unfortunately, most of the world is moving to 'just in time' inventory where parts are not stockpiled but drop shipped in when needed. Most warranties I've read don't mandate the manufacturer provide you with a new 'machine' but rather make the necessary repairs to bring your 'machine' into factory specifications. Clearly changing out the fan was one step but dead motherboards (or logic boards as Apple like to call them) are not always easy to identify. One of the principal reasons I've never contemplated moving over the Apple products is the proprietary hardware system. I have always enjoyed building computers and the open PC hardware architecture makes it easy both to build and maintain.
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PC hardware is great. Being married to Windows... not so much. I wish that Linux was better supported with Photo software. If Adobe would do PS and LR in Linux, I would switch tomorrow. I do not like the direction MS is going with Win 8.1, and am just tired in general of the degradation of the OS if one really pushes it with a lot of installed software. The International Space Station just replaced XP with Linux because of "better reliability". I think that says it all.
Lloyd
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I just received a rather-hard-to-hear message from the tech who is attempting to repair the dead MacPro.
Without success at repairing the machine, they have replaced the fan, the mother board (logic board), some modular component that controls the electronics and are now going to replace the i/o module.
I have contacted Apple again to ask them for a new machine.
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Without success at repairing the machine, they have replaced the fan, the mother board (logic board), some modular component that controls the electronics and are now going to replace the i/o module.
A textbook case of easter-egging. OTOH, you may get a new machine along the lines of the story about the farmer who said that, at age 75, that he'd used the same axe his whole life. He did allow that he'd had to replace the head twice and the handle several times...
Jim
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I don't know about consumer protection laws in Canada. But I'd be hitting all the bases, state and federal, BBB, etc. in the US at this point. I'd even be considering small claims, except that your machine is above the limit for that. But, I damn well wouldn't be ASKING for anything. I'd be DEMANDING it. If you paid by CC, are you outside the charge dispute window?
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Easter-egging, or collateral heat damage from whatever has fried everything in the tube. They should replace the machine.
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Still no working machine since the shop awaits a new i/o board.
BTW the third component to have been replaced was called the 'interposer' board which seems to control requests to the fan - but that too failed to solve the machine's problems.
However a glimmer of a response from Apple who seem to allow a shop a two week window for repairs before they will get actively involved in considering a possible solution: e.g. replacement.
Anyway my 'case' seems to have been promoted up a level and I should hear something from Apple by the end of the week...
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However a glimmer of a response from Apple who seem to allow a shop a two week window for repairs before they will get actively involved in considering a possible solution: e.g. replacement.
Apple can be brilliant and then not so.
I bought two new 27" Imacs at the end of the year for our London Space. The first one arrived with Mountain Lion and when the updates appeared it was tremendous, never crashed, 100% solid and fast.
The second came with Maverick and it crashed on everything, so I wiped it reinstalled with Mountain lion and it still did the same.
Anyway, I am always afraid of version 1.0 of everything and had I not had a good experience with machine 1, would have held off on machine 2.
I guess it's all a crapshoot.
One thing I've noticed in my years of dealing with Apple is it really depends on who you get on the help line. We had one studio manager that could get a resolve from them in minutes, rather than days or weeks.
I don't know his trick other than he made a lot of notes, took everyones name and was relentless in moving up the food chain until they finally just refunded the price.
Chris, I'm curious though, why did you move to the new desktop so soon? Not that any of this is your fault because things should work as advertised, but the comparisons I've read between the Imac and the flower vase they seem to run pretty much even on most programs.
Anyway, I wish you the best.
IMO
BC
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...Chris, I'm curious though, why did you move to the new desktop so soon? Not that any of this is your fault because things should work as advertised, but the comparisons I've read between the Imac and the flower vase they seem to run pretty much even on most programs...
The reason I moved is that my old MacPro, while reliable, was showing signs of serious strain under 5 or 6 streams of HD video in multi cam. I also wanted to replace my internal RAID system to help with throughput but thought it a waste to buy further into external eSATA when Thunderbolt was getting mature - which I believe it now is. Along came the new MacPro with not two TB ports but six. So, I replaced everything starting with a TB2 Pegasus 6 which has proven itself already. Would it have been better to go MacBookPro or iMac - quite possibly but we were then into moving at least two of the video streams to 4K with the GH4s - so that meant that the extra power and throughput of the twin graphics cards made the decision reasonably obvious to go to the MacPro.
It worked beautifully for two months...
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...One thing I've noticed in my years of dealing with Apple is it really depends on who you get on the help line.....
My current experience with Apple Customer support suggests you are absolutely right. I have now had four individuals on the line over the past two weeks: 2 very good, one clueless and one so annoyingly patronizing and stubborn that I hung up the phone.
I believe it is the luck of the draw.
FWIW I finally threatened to go to the Consumer Protection arm of the Govt. of Canada and have also referred them to this thread on LuLa. However I actually believe it was the two week window that I refer to above that finally may have got the ball rolling for a replacement. An internal request at Apple has been made to do that; the request needs to be approved and then I ship them the dead machine ::)
Let's see. I waited seven weeks for the machine to be built and delivered, hopefully the supply chain will allow the replacement somewhat faster.
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Anyway, I am always afraid of version 1.0 of everything and had I not had a good experience with machine 1, would have held off on machine 2.
I usually wait until version 3 or update 3 before I buy/use any Apple product. Their early stuff is not worth the hassle or is a bit crippled.
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My current experience with Apple Customer support suggests you are absolutely right. I have now had four individuals on the line over the past two weeks: 2 very good, one clueless and one so annoyingly patronizing and stubborn that I hung up the phone.
I believe it is the luck of the draw.
Only ever had to deal with shop staff with the numerous issues I've had with my Apple gear and generally the staff have been very good.
I had a iPad which was simply replaced as the lightning connector was a bit temperamental after a weeks use. My iphone however has always had dreadful battery life and never been resolved. O2 [my provider] says it's Apple's responsibility despite O2 selling me the phone which in UK/Eu law means it's actually their responsibility. Apple say speak to O2 and once the one year warranty was up they wanted nothing to do with it, despite EU laws stating warrantees should be 2+ years. >:(
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I used to build my own computers, and it was fast to fix them when they broke, with the big Palo Alto Fry's close by.
Then I got lazy.
Now I buy laptops mostly from Lenovo, and workstations and servers mostly from Dell. I always check the box for on-site service. Both companies offer 24/7 4 hour repair, but I usually go for the cheaper 8/5 four hour repair. I do this because I want to watch the tech fix the machine. I want to do that because I want to make sure my data doesn't get accessed. I can't stand the idea of sending a machine in for depot repair and not knowing if anybody is poking through, say, my Quicken data.
With the new Apple, I suppose that you can pull all the cords and send the machine in with no disks (spinning rust or flash) at all. Will they fix it that way?
But it occurs to me that there's another consideration. When the tech has to come to you, there's motivation for her to fix the computer in one trip, because it's a lot of time and money to keep running back and forth. I've never had a repair take more than one visit. When the machine's in the shop, it doesn't cost much to leave it on the shelf while you wait for yet another part to come in.
Jim
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But it occurs to me that there's another consideration. When the tech has to come to you, there's motivation for her to fix the computer in one trip, because it's a lot of time and money to keep running back and forth. I've never had a repair take more than one visit. When the machine's in the shop, it doesn't cost much to leave it on the shelf while you wait for yet another part to come in.
I like your thinking.
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It has now been two days since the senior Apple service person started the procedure for an authorization for me to ship the dead MacPro back to them, so that they can ship me a new machine on receipt of the dead machine...
No authorization from the Apple powers that be has been given.
Apple's Customer Service is glacially slow and apparently hide-bound by red tape.
It looks like I may be getting a replacement machine but the bureaucracy at Apple is worse than many government departments - sheesh! ???
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It has now been two days since the senior Apple service person started the procedure for an authorization for me to ship the dead MacPro back to them, so that they can ship me a new machine on receipt of the dead machine...
In my experience, the usual way to do a replacement (although I've never done this with a computer) is for the manufacturer to ship the new thing out, and charge your credit card it if they don't get the old one back by a certain time.
Jim
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In my experience, the usual way to do a replacement (although I've never done this with a computer) is for the manufacturer to ship the new thing out, and charge your credit card it if they don't get the old one back by a certain time.
Jim
It used to be the same with Apple but it might have changed? :(
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Since I reached the limit of my patience with Apple's Customer Service, I have huffed and puffed ( a LOT) down the phone.
The case has been promoted once more up the Apple food chain and further signs of movement on the issue are apparent.
Nothing yet definitive however.
I begin to hear from Apple that since this is a new product (albeit eight months since introduction), there is no precedent for actually replacing a machine at this level - thus their rather delayed and hesitant responses. If this is correct, it speaks well of the product's reliability if not of their customer service.
I guess you can always be the first at something - dubious privilege as this instance is.
I will update further...
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Something I experienced more than once in my professional life: the difficulty of dealing with companies making products that rarely break. (Note that I own some Apple products but am no fanboy...I keep Windows & Linux systems running too and will happily use anything that works well regardless of maker.) For a time I had a frequent and rather amiable interaction with a certain hard drive maker...mainly 'cuz their drives were constantly crapping out on us. :o They were always cordial, apologetic and prompt. Dealing with a certain UNIX-centric hardware maker, OTOH, was always a total PITA. That is, on the handful of occasions over the course of a decade when I needed to deal with them.
Still, Apple should know better...
-Dave-
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Dealing with a certain UNIX-centric hardware maker, OTOH, was always a total PITA. That is, on the handful of occasions over the course of a decade when I needed to deal with them.
Assuming you mean Sun—now Oracle—I found their (USA) service organization to be quite responsive if you had maintenance contracts on your equipment; they weren't really set up to handle non-contract maintenance.
I wonder if the process would have moved faster for Chris if he had purchased an "Applecare" contract for his Mac Pro. Of course, the unit was still within its original warranty period, so that shouldn't have mattered. But my experience with Apple is that if you have product under maintenance, they too are very responsive.
Also, I have always bought directly from Apple, so on the few times when I had problems with their hardware, I was dealing directly from the beginning with their corporate customer service. It appears from Chris's account that the initial period of unsuccessful part-swapping was being performed by someone at a retail outlet.
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Yes, I have the extended AppleCare.
Yes, the repair shop is an authorized Apple dealer but not an Apple store.
The original Apple Customer Service rep said that it should make no difference.
The difference to me was three hours roundtrip vs a one hour roundtrip. Would it have made a difference? Quite possibly.
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Since I reached the limit of my patience with Apple's Customer Service, I have huffed and puffed ( a LOT) down the phone.
The case has been promoted once more up the Apple food chain and further signs of movement on the issue are apparent.
Nothing yet definitive however.
I begin to hear from Apple that since this is a new product (albeit eight months since introduction), there is no precedent for actually replacing a machine at this level - thus their rather delayed and hesitant responses. If this is correct, it speaks well of the product's reliability if not of their customer service.
I guess you can always be the first at something - dubious privilege as this instance is.
I will update further...
I feel for ya Chris, but you know a macpro is way down the food chain when it comes to apple's bottom line. You go into an apple store and they have three stuffed in the back, though you pass by 45 macairs, 22 imacs and 1250 phones before you'll see one.
Use to the macpro was the king of the Apple Jungle and since they made most their cash of us graphic pros, they listened, now we're about 4% of their bottom line, if that.
Through I know you like FCP X, when they came out with that beast it was clear their market stopped being the working image maker and moved to the amateur blogger/filmaker/silver lake resident.
I know today I'll buy an Imac cause they don't break the bank, I can buy two for one macpros and even then if I wasn't so deeply vested in Apple stuff, which seems to be all hooked together, I'd switch to custom made PCs in a blink.
Not that you need my opinion but, if I ended up with a dead machine and a response like you've been getting, I would have a law professional write a letter asking for full refund and a do over.
There is just no reason to lose this much time, but once again, I truly wish you well.
IMO
BC
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This thread caught my eye because I recently had grief with a 2007 Mac Pro that was given to me by its exasperated original owner (that series has a random restart issue that no one can solve), and I finally took a screwdriver to the thing, taking out every last part, wire and screw and selling its organs on ebay.
As for Apple hardware, I think we can all agree it's the most attractive in terms of form-factor, but in many cases it's over-engineered (the old Mac Pro certainly was) and perhaps over-priced (or perhaps not).
The iMacs are my favorite design but I understand a percentage of video and 3D pros need more beef such as the new Pro.
No one has mentioned the "H" word yet [Hackintosh] but such a beast would bring together affordable, quality, easily upgradable/replaceable hardware with the Mac OS. Yes, I understand the legalities and no, I have never tried this myself, but it's a known and easily researched option that Apple hasn't bothered to crush yet. So long as the App Store and iTunes work, I believe Apple is happy!
I hope you get through the corporate drama and end up with either a working Pro or a refund.
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...There is just no reason to lose this much time...
Yes, this has already been a serious time and energy waste.
So, this cautionary tale stands - as yet unresolved.
I received a call from Apple this morning telling me that the request for replacement has been made to the person who will finally decide to replace the machine - or not ???
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I begin to hear from Apple that since this is a new product (albeit eight months since introduction), there is no precedent for actually replacing a machine at this level - thus their rather delayed and hesitant responses. If this is correct, it speaks well of the product's reliability if not of their customer service.
Or not many have been sold. I was talking to an Apple Store employee the other day and she said, that she'd not sold any yet.
I want to replace my MP, but the non-pro form factor is not appealing at all. It seems like a Mac Mini on steroids rather than professional replacement. All the nonsense about being smaller is marketing BS as of course it's smaller with it's insides ripped put and attached by a nest of cables. I loathe cables and cabling, so a terrible design in my view.
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Something I experienced more than once in my professional life: the difficulty of dealing with companies making products that rarely break. (Note that I own some Apple products but am no fanboy...I keep Windows & Linux systems running too and will happily use anything that works well regardless of maker.)
Unfortunately Apple kit stuff does fail.
My MP took several months to get it stable enough to use for work. An OS update fixed one of the issues which was graphics card related, but it went to Apple store many times.
My MBP had magsafe charger replaced under recall and the power socket and parts inside replaced as they'd been damaged by the charger. There's currently a recall on European plug adaptors for the iPhone and all my flimsy 30pin phone cables have broken, so not surprising they get no stars on Apple's site and cables have a very large return rate according to the Apple employee I know. The newer lightning connector has issues too and only gets 1.5 stars.
My iPhone from the word go has had appalling battery life, which both Apple and O2 have failed to sort. I have to carry a charger or battery booster to get through a day and if I do anything rash like make phone calls then possibly a third charge may be needed. Luckily I'm a very light user of phones, so just about manage.
My iPad was replaced within a week as the lightning charge port was flakey.
The iPod Nano hasn't needed anything doing but barely got used either.
Other photographers I know also talk about returning to Apple store to get stuff fixed, so not just me. :-\
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Yes, I have the extended AppleCare.
Yes, the repair shop is an authorized Apple dealer but not an Apple store.
The original Apple Customer Service rep said that it should make no difference.
The difference to me was three hours roundtrip vs a one hour roundtrip. Would it have made a difference? Quite possibly.
The service in Apple Stores is very good indeed. In fact I doubt I'd have persevered with Apple stuff had I not had one close to hand.
The one near me is pretty small, yet they have about 140 staff and up to 40 working at a time - an astonishing amount of staff for such a dinky shop, a single fronted shop maybe 5-6m wide and 20-25m deep.
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Yesterday, Apple finally gave me permission to ship the dead computer back to them at their expense.
They have agreed to replace it when a similar machine is available.
It's a custom build so that may take longer...
So far it has been over three weeks since the computer failed
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Hooray. Apple has shipped me a new computer. It should arrive on Tuesday - finally!
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Good stuff Chris, congrats and best of luck with the new one :)
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Good news at last! I wish you get good unit and can continue using it without any issues... :)
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During this painful process, I wrote a shortened form of my posts in this thread on MacinTouch.com (http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/macpro/index.html#d24jun2014)
It prompted this response from MacinTouch reader CK:
Writing as a former Apple phone tech and occasionally disgruntled customer, Mr. Sanderson will be served fastest if he goes straight to the top.
During my time of working phone support, the power was in the hands of Customer Relations. CR can wave the scepter and make things happen, if they are motivated properly. Tech were just the expendable myrmidons at the gate.
But sometimes that is not enough. An email to steve@apple.com could bring forth wonders. I spent time on utmost concision, since I was asking a royal favor*. I would expect that Mr. Cook also has an email address.
*He did me one once, personally commenting on one of my cases that my actions were justified. The customer had escalated just as I have done.
I tried a Tweeted reply to Mr Cook during the time that he posted a couple of photos on Twitter at the Dallas MacPro plant and in the Apple Customer Care phonecenter. The replies to his Tweets are apparently ignored! :o
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During this painful process, I wrote a shortened form of my posts in this thread on MacinTouch.com (http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/macpro/index.html#d24jun2014)
It prompted this response from MacinTouch reader CK:
Writing as a former Apple phone tech and occasionally disgruntled customer, Mr. Sanderson will be served fastest if he goes straight to the top.
During my time of working phone support, the power was in the hands of Customer Relations. CR can wave the scepter and make things happen, if they are motivated properly. Tech were just the expendable myrmidons at the gate.
But sometimes that is not enough. An email to steve@apple.com could bring forth wonders. I spent time on utmost concision, since I was asking a royal favor*. I would expect that Mr. Cook also has an email address.
*He did me one once, personally commenting on one of my cases that my actions were justified. The customer had escalated just as I have done.
I tried a Tweeted reply to Mr Cook during the time that he posted a couple of photos on Twitter at the Dallas MacPro plant and in the Apple Customer Care phonecenter. The replies to his Tweets are apparently ignored! :o
You might have a better chance with e-mail!
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Up and running on the new MacPro replacement which arrived this afternoon.
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Sheesh! Nothing is easy with these guys.
I received a call from the AppleCare people today. They offered to pro-rate the AppleCare on the old now-dead machine (3 months old when it died, would have been 4 months old now) and transfer it to the new machine with the four months shaved off. Hmmmm...
or
Receive a refund and start over with a new AppleCare package on the new machine. This latter option would have netted out to cost me an additional $30. Hmmmmm....
Having hung up the phone and thought about it for 30 seconds longer, I wrote an angry email to Customer Relations: (edited for brevity)
....First the AppleCare is a two year extension of warranty that had not
come close to being invoked. Yeah, I know Apple doesn't see it that
way - but I do.
The original machine was covered under its 'built-in' 12 month
warranty. Why do I have to pay $30 for something I did not receive??
Second, as you know this whole sorry mess has caused both Apple & I
some grief and pain. This stupidity simply compounds it.
The least Apple could do is extend out the Apple Care to the proper 24
months beyond warranty.
Happily, it took Customer Relations less than 5 minutes to straighten AppleCare out.
The AppleCare now runs to June 2017.
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Last year I had an issue with AppleCare (I was getting conflicting answers about its validity overseas) and in exasperation I dashed off an email to Tim Cook. That same afternoon I got a call from one of his associates and the matter was resolved swiftly. So yes, it doesn't hurt to email the top guy.
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Last year I had an issue with AppleCare (I was getting conflicting answers about its validity overseas) and in exasperation I dashed off an email to Tim Cook. That same afternoon I got a call from one of his associates and the matter was resolved swiftly. So yes, it doesn't hurt to email the top guy.
I can only echo your experience… It didn't take 12 hours to get a solution to my problem!
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Sheesh! Nothing is easy with these guys.
I received a call from the AppleCare people today. They offered to pro-rate the AppleCare on the old now-dead machine (3 months old when it died, would have been 4 months old now) and transfer it to the new machine with the four months shaved off. Hmmmm...
or
Receive a refund and start over with a new AppleCare package on the new machine. This latter option would have netted out to cost me an additional $30. Hmmmmm....
Having hung up the phone and thought about it for 30 seconds longer, I wrote an angry email to Customer Relations: (edited for brevity)
....First the AppleCare is a two year extension of warranty that had not
come close to being invoked. Yeah, I know Apple doesn't see it that
way - but I do.
The original machine was covered under its 'built-in' 12 month
warranty. Why do I have to pay $30 for something I did not receive??
Second, as you know this whole sorry mess has caused both Apple & I
some grief and pain. This stupidity simply compounds it.
The least Apple could do is extend out the Apple Care to the proper 24
months beyond warranty.
Happily, it took Customer Relations less than 5 minutes to straighten AppleCare out.
The AppleCare now runs to June 2017.
Your logic is correct, Apple’s seems very flawed. Someone isn’t thinking ...
I never get apple care (normally don’t have the computer that long with a laptop). May consider it with my new MacPro, however, I believe you can buy it anytime during your original warranty period? Risk is forgetting about it, but I usually get an email reminding me my warranty is about to expire and offering to add applecare. So I”m going to wait a few more months till the Mac Pro is about 10 months old or so.
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I never get apple care (normally don’t have the computer that long with a laptop). May consider it with my new MacPro, however, I believe you can buy it anytime during your original warranty period? Risk is forgetting about it, but I usually get an email reminding me my warranty is about to expire and offering to add applecare. So I”m going to wait a few more months till the Mac Pro is about 10 months old or so.
Buy it (AppleCare) from BH instead of the Apple Store; the price difference is often significant.