Dead MacPro 2013

[Christopher Sanderson]

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

[Alan Goldhammer]

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.

[lhodaniel]

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

[Christopher Sanderson]

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.

[Jim Kasson]

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

[lhodaniel]

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?

[lhodaniel]

Easter-egging, or collateral heat damage from whatever has fried everything in the tube. They should replace the machine.

[Christopher Sanderson]

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...

[bcooter]

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

[Christopher Sanderson]

...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...

[Christopher Sanderson]

...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.

[jjj]

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.

[jjj]

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. 

[Jim Kasson]

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

[jjj]

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.

[Christopher Sanderson]

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!

[Jim Kasson]

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

[francois]

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? 

[Christopher Sanderson]

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...

[Telecaster]

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.     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-