Apple replaced my 3.06 Duo iMac with a 2.93 Quad iMac! Best customer service ever!

[HXGuy]

This is so so sick. I'm pinching myself to make sure it really happened.

If you guys remember, I bought a refurbished 27" iMac about a month ago.
A week ago, I started getting some funky artifacts on the screen whenever I would open large graphic files. I took it into the Apple store, they looked at it and determined I needed a new video card.

Fast forward to today...they say the video card is in so I drop the computer off. They call about 2 hours later that its almost ready and that I can head that way, so I do.

I get there, wait a bit, and a guy comes up and says..."I'm sorry to tell you but it's not ready, they aren't able to finish it today." I was a bit confused...they said it was almost ready, and the store was still open for another 2.5 hours. I ask to speak with the actual tech.

He comes out and says..."I apologize but we can't repair the computer." How did they go from almost ready to pick up to they can't fix it? My guess? They dropped the damn thing and it was in pieces... especially after I heard the following...

"What we can do is give you a brand new (not refurbished) top of the line 27" iMac. That's right, Quad-Core 2.93GHz Intel i7 processor. Holy ****. He even asked if I wanted my old hard drive back as it was still good...so I ended up with the old 1TB hard drive plus the computer has a 1TB built in.
Aside from the much faster processor, the new computer also has a 1GB video card where the old one had a 256MB video card.

Price difference? I paid $1387.00 w/ tax. New computer would cost $2403.00.

If I wasn't a huge Apple fanboy before, you can bet I am now. Fantastic customer service, no matter what happened in the back with the tech, that is just outstanding.

 

[Alag28]

sweet f'in story

i have a similar story not quite long story short in bullet points

- was looking for a great "open box" macbook deal
- went to my ex job, bestbuy, because i think there king in retail open box deals
- spotted a macbook pro open box
- spoke to my manager and haggled him to get the best deal because there the ones that type the open box $ numbers
- as we know there are like 3-4 variations of the 15inch macbook pro model
- looked up the retail price and store cost
-he by mistake took the base model mbp cost
and gave me a 2000$ mbp for 900 bucks

left the store snickering ...

 

[HXGuy]

So I'm finally using the new computer for the first time, had to restore from an external Time Machine backup HD and holy crap is this thing fast as hell. Just ran Geek Bench and scored 9268. The 3.06GHz Core Duo scored 4200 and my old PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0GHz (that the 3.06Ghz originally replaced) used to score around 1700...so the new computer is about 5.5X as fast as my old computer! I freaking love it.

 

[alust2013]

Damn. I'm surprised that you didn't get an i3 or something (which still would have been nice), but an i7, that's sweet.

 

[HXGuy]

Yea, you can imagine I was shocked myself. Maybe they figured since the old one (3.06Ghz Core Duo) was the top of the line of that model, they had to give me the top of the line equivalent of the new models.

I'm pretty stoked about getting the 1TB hard drive back too. I had been using a 500GB USB external for Time Machine but was wanting to get a 1TB Firewire 800 hard drive...now I just need to get an external enclosure.

 

[The.316]

Dear Apple, when will you open up a store in Greece, so I can take advantage of situations like this one.

Sincerely,
The.316

 

[netsurfz]

Please open Apple Retail Store in Thailand. The service here is pretty suck.

 

[Btom]

You obviously mix up good customer service with getting freebies.

Tom B.

 

[(Marty)]

You obviously mix up good customer service with getting freebies.

Tom B.

How isn't not good customer service? The OP had a problem and since it was a very new machine they rectified the problem by giving them a new machine, and they even upgraded the machine for free for the trouble. I would consider that stellar customer service.

 

[cantthinkofone]

Sweet man. I bet they did drop it, or it fell off the bench. Sucks for them.

 

[Btom]

How isn't not good customer service? The OP had a problem and since it was a very new machine they rectified the problem by giving them a new machine, and they even upgraded the machine for free for the trouble. I would consider that stellar customer service.

Just carefully read the story.

Tom B.

 

[Reelknead1]

Thats great man. Enjoy the new machine, i bet that thing screams!

 

[mulo]

I envy you.

 

[(Marty)]

Just carefully read the story.

Tom B.

I'm still trying to see the gap in service.

 

[bmwman4life11]

am i the only one who thinks this story isnt fully true? if you want to get an i7 thats top of the line you have to order it online and they make it and ship it from shanghai. so how did they have a top of the line one there when you cant get them in the store?

 

[Hisdem]

am i the only one who thinks this story isnt fully true? if you want to get an i7 thats top of the line you have to order it online and they make it and ship it from shanghai. so how did they have a top of the line one there when you cant get them in the store?

Some stores have them available, along with HR AG i7 MBP's.

 

[Btom]

I'm still trying to see the gap in service.

OK, here it comes:

1. Visit to the Apple Store #1;
2. 1 week wait for the replacement video card (whatever happen to the overnight shipping?);
3. Visit to Apple store #2 to bring in the computer;
4. Apple store calls to show up, computer "almost" ready;
5. Visit to Apple store #3. Computer not ready, store is sorry;
6. Store is sorry again, they actually can't repair it (did they even have a clue what was wrong?).

So here is my question: What kind of customer service is that?

7. Granted, they fixed the things up by a gigantic, free upgrade, but the service by itself was only so-so, IMHO.

Tom B.

 

[HXGuy]

am i the only one who thinks this story isnt fully true? if you want to get an i7 thats top of the line you have to order it online and they make it and ship it from shanghai. so how did they have a top of the line one there when you cant get them in the store?

True, the guy said "top of the line" but in reality it isn't because that would require a bunch of optional upgrades. In reality it's a top of the line "base" model.

 

[JoeG4]

So I'm finally using the new computer for the first time, had to restore from an external Time Machine backup HD and holy crap is this thing fast as hell. Just ran Geek Bench and scored 9268. The 3.06GHz Core Duo scored 4200 and my old PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0GHz (that the 3.06Ghz originally replaced) used to score around 1700...so the new computer is about 5.5X as fast as my old computer! I freaking love it.

Pics or it didn't happen lol.