So I am a victim of the yellow tinge iMac users, and I have been reading news and blogs about how people get upset about it. I decided to wait until Apple resolves this. Few weeks ago, I read that Apple finally admit the problem and shortly after they restarted the shipping after a long delay.
I called in and after a long conversation with a manager, I was asked to call the local Vancouver Apple store to have the screen fixed. I called them and was scheduled for an appointment next day. I specifically told them it was the yellow tinge screen issue and asked if they could fix it tomorrow. They told me there was nothing they could do and I will have to come in for them to take a look. And if there is no parts available, they will have to order it. And they can't tell me if they have the part or not over the phone. Alright, so I wen to the Apple store the next day and was late for 4 minutes to be exact. I was then told by a blue t-shirt guy saying something like " you are late, and because there were two customers in front of you were late for 15 minutes, we will have to push you back to the waiting list after all the appointments....blah blah" he basically told me I need to wait 2 hours or something because I am late for 4 minutes!! My wife started arguing with me and it gets pretty loud when my 5 month baby started crying after we standing there for like 20 minutes, the manger then told me to speak to someone right away. Nice!! so the new guy took the serial number again from the box and then told me the screen need to be replaced and there is no need for any inspection!! They also don't have the part available and was going to order it for me. Why the hell didn't they tell me earlier on the phone, its not everyone likes to go to the Apple store for this kind of crap!! So I took my iMac home and boy, it was heavy!! (btw, the handle on the box slipped out of the box two times)
Few days ago, someone from the Apple store called and said the parts are in. So I went there last Saturday and hoping to get it fixed. I was told they will need 2-5 days to repair it. Again, this is not expected. I did not complain anything but telling them I will go on a long vacation this week and will need my iMac back on Monday, otherwise it will be another month. They told me they can try and get it back to me whether or not its fixed on Monday. Fine!! On sunday afternoon, I was told the iMac is fixed and was ready to pick it up. Nice!! So I went to the store to pick it up, just to find out the screen is even worse when I came home later in the evening. Only this time, my wife who basically never used my iMac is asking "why you screen looks so yellow on the bottom?!!"
Anyway, that's my story so far and I have been extremely dissatisfied with Apple care and their repair workflow. We have 2 iMac (20" white(sold) and this 27" Aluminum), 3 Macbook pro (1 pre-unibody 15"(parent) and 15" unibody(parent) and 1 17" unibody) and 1 macbook(wife). Ou of these 6, the 20" iMac had the hard drive noise and failure issue, the 15" pre-unibody had the overheating and video card issue, and my wife's macbook aluminum has crazily bright screen so the color looked kinda washed out, and this yellow tinge iMac. So the failure rate of our Macs are 4/6 which is 66.7%!!! Isn't it crazy?? We have also owned 3 IBM/Lenovo laptops (T41, T400, X200), they have been perfectly working for years without a single issue. My wife also has a small Sony P series netbook which is flawless as well. Over the years, I have built myself tons of desktop PCs, most of them runs without issues.
So my conclusion:
1. Do NOT buy any first generation Apple product, even if its nice!
2. If its second generation, wait and do your research first!
3. If you can live by a quality PC, stick with it.
4. If you Mac was repair it by your local Apple store, check it on-site first.
5. Always have a backup computer when you own a Mac.
I called in and after a long conversation with a manager, I was asked to call the local Vancouver Apple store to have the screen fixed. I called them and was scheduled for an appointment next day. I specifically told them it was the yellow tinge screen issue and asked if they could fix it tomorrow. They told me there was nothing they could do and I will have to come in for them to take a look. And if there is no parts available, they will have to order it. And they can't tell me if they have the part or not over the phone. Alright, so I wen to the Apple store the next day and was late for 4 minutes to be exact. I was then told by a blue t-shirt guy saying something like " you are late, and because there were two customers in front of you were late for 15 minutes, we will have to push you back to the waiting list after all the appointments....blah blah" he basically told me I need to wait 2 hours or something because I am late for 4 minutes!! My wife started arguing with me and it gets pretty loud when my 5 month baby started crying after we standing there for like 20 minutes, the manger then told me to speak to someone right away. Nice!! so the new guy took the serial number again from the box and then told me the screen need to be replaced and there is no need for any inspection!! They also don't have the part available and was going to order it for me. Why the hell didn't they tell me earlier on the phone, its not everyone likes to go to the Apple store for this kind of crap!! So I took my iMac home and boy, it was heavy!! (btw, the handle on the box slipped out of the box two times)
Few days ago, someone from the Apple store called and said the parts are in. So I went there last Saturday and hoping to get it fixed. I was told they will need 2-5 days to repair it. Again, this is not expected. I did not complain anything but telling them I will go on a long vacation this week and will need my iMac back on Monday, otherwise it will be another month. They told me they can try and get it back to me whether or not its fixed on Monday. Fine!! On sunday afternoon, I was told the iMac is fixed and was ready to pick it up. Nice!! So I went to the store to pick it up, just to find out the screen is even worse when I came home later in the evening. Only this time, my wife who basically never used my iMac is asking "why you screen looks so yellow on the bottom?!!"
Anyway, that's my story so far and I have been extremely dissatisfied with Apple care and their repair workflow. We have 2 iMac (20" white(sold) and this 27" Aluminum), 3 Macbook pro (1 pre-unibody 15"(parent) and 15" unibody(parent) and 1 17" unibody) and 1 macbook(wife). Ou of these 6, the 20" iMac had the hard drive noise and failure issue, the 15" pre-unibody had the overheating and video card issue, and my wife's macbook aluminum has crazily bright screen so the color looked kinda washed out, and this yellow tinge iMac. So the failure rate of our Macs are 4/6 which is 66.7%!!! Isn't it crazy?? We have also owned 3 IBM/Lenovo laptops (T41, T400, X200), they have been perfectly working for years without a single issue. My wife also has a small Sony P series netbook which is flawless as well. Over the years, I have built myself tons of desktop PCs, most of them runs without issues.
So my conclusion:
1. Do NOT buy any first generation Apple product, even if its nice!
2. If its second generation, wait and do your research first!
3. If you can live by a quality PC, stick with it.
4. If you Mac was repair it by your local Apple store, check it on-site first.
5. Always have a backup computer when you own a Mac.
