Major Apple Customer Service Issues

[SonComet]

In the first week of November I decided to jump on some of the discounts prices on the outgoing Dual Processor G5s to finally make the switch to Apple. So I buy the G5 and am extremely excited to finally make the switch, but to my horror on the very first night I am experiencing the beep, chirp, and high-pitched whine inherent to all G5s. I knew that this was a problem in the Rev. A models, but I assumed that it had been fixed by now.

So anyways, I bring the computer into the Apple Store 3 days later to have them check it out and see if a new psu would make it quiet. While at the genius bar I can hear it making the noises just fine, but the genius can't hear a thing. So he checks it in, and later that night (after I got home from work) they call me and tell me that every G5 in the store makes the exact same sound as mine and that there is nothing they can do about it since the sound is normal.

Since I feel like the sound is anything but normal, I bring the computer to another Apple store in my area the very next morning. They seem to be much more concerned about my problem and take the computer in to look at it. Well after a week I haven't gotten a call from them, so I call and they say that it's ready to pick up. When I go to pick it up they tell me that they can hear it on all of the Dual G5s in the store, but NOT on mine.

I ask the guy if he can hear it on the Dual 2.7 G5 nearby and he says yes, but he cannot hear it on my Dual 2.0 G5. To me the volume of the beep/chirp/whine is the same on both computers. And the fact that another apple store already told me that they could hear it the same on mine as on all of the others makes me a little mad at the fact that he was probably lying to me.

I then notice that there are numerous large scratches all of the chassis and side panel of the G5. It was never transported out of its box, on for probably less than 12 hours, and in absolutely perfect condition when I brought it in.

So I tell them that they scratched it up pretty badly when they were looking at it, and the genius agrees and tells me that he will give me a repair number to have it fixed, but that I should bring it to another apple store to see if they can hear the noise. I agree, and he writes me a repair number and reads me what it says in the computer so that I can confirm that it will tell the other apple store to replace the case.

Well, I go home that day and read up on the problem, and realize that it is basically unfixable. So I bring the computer back the next day to the same apple store and I am the second person in line. The only genius helping people so far is the same one that was there the day before. He helps the girl who wasi infront of me, and when they finish he calls the person whose name was after mine. He proceeds to call 4-5 people whose names are listed after mine, until after an hour another genius comes up and calls my name.

I give that genius my repair number and tell him that I just decided to have the case replaced here since the problem can't be fixed anyways. He tells me that the repair number isn't for anything, and says nothing about replacing the case. So at this point I point at the genius who helped me the day before and start telling this genius what the other one said, and the one from the day before after a bit of arguing admits that he said that and that he gave me the repair number and they agree to replace the case.

They give me an eta of 10 days. So as of today it's been 10 days, and I get a message on my voicemail from the store telling me that they don't have any cases to replace mine with and that they don't know if they ever will order anymore. But they do HAPPEN to order some more they will call me to get it replaced.

I tried calling applecare to complain, but I didn't get the message until after 6pm and they were closed. So basically they are telling me that they refuse to order a new case for me to replace the one that they themselves damaged, and will only replace it if they ever happen to have an extra one laying around.

So first of all it is my personal opinion that the beep/chirp/whine inherent to varying degrees in all dual processor G5s makes them inherently defective (although my dad can't hear it at all, but he is old so having bad hearing shouldn't stop this from being a defect). Secondly, my computer has been in this Apple Store for over three weeks now, and they refuse to repair damage they caused and I feel like they are trying to wear me out. I REFUSE to take the computer back with the scratched up case for fear that they will never HAPPEN to order a replacement case.

I admit that I am pretty young and don't have that much experience getting things repaired, but this service is by far the worst I have ever received. Returning my dell 2005fpw repeatedly to get one with dead pixels or bad backlight was a pleasure compared to dealing with apple.

Sorry for the extreme length of this. I just had to vent because I'm becoming extremely frustrated by this experience.

 

[g^3]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences with Apple. In my experience with dealing with many customer support departments of many companies it is best to call customer services and not go to the store for help. When you call, explain your problem and ask if they can help you, if they are hesitant ask to speak with a supervisor. If the supervisor won't do what you want ask to speak with another, keep on going until you get to someone that can help you. Eventually you will waste so much of their time, they will cave in and solve the problem. When talking on the phone remember to stay calm and speak firmly. Plus, calling on the phone will not reveal your age and you'll probably get more respect than you did in the store. Goodluck and hope this helps.

 

[aquajet]

So first of all it is my personal opinion that the beep/chirp/whine inherent to varying degrees in all dual processor G5s makes them inherently defective (although my dad can't hear it at all, but he is old so having bad hearing shouldn't stop this from being a defect).

Sorry to tell you this, but you need to get over it. Your sense of hearing is obviously more sensitive than most. Mine is the same way; it can be both a blessing and a curse.

I hope you can get the issues surrounding the scratched case resolved.

 

[iGary]

My PM chirps (Rev. C), but call the store manager (not a genius) tomorrow and don't hang up until you get it resolved. Be firm, but respectful.

 

[blackpeter]

Well, I go home that day and read up on the problem, and realize that it is basically unfixable.

It seems to me that this statement says a lot about this situation.

I can understand why you are frustrated, but the first store did determine that the noise was within specification for that model. If you had only done your research after this first visit, you would have saved yourself many long and painful trips to the store.

Admittedly, customer service reps vary from store to store. Some are very patient and others, less patient. And I can understand that some might lose patience when a customer repeatedly complains about a noise and is repeatedly informed that such noise is normal.

As for your scratches, if the store did them, then they should take responsibility. But I can't help pointing out that they never would have happened if you had just trusted the first technician's diagnosis and done your due diligence then.

 

[za9ra22]

I have a RevA G5 dual, and from time to time I've heard the chirping, but rarely.

One thing that strikes me as very clear is that if you accept that different people are perhaps sensitive to sound to different degrees (ie, that your father is 'old' and thus can't hear the noise whereas you can) then getting upset that an Apple store worker, working in an environment that is likely far noisier overall than your home, fails to hear the sound or is not able to differentiate the sound level as being different between your Mac and others is really odd. Indeed, it's only to be expected that these people will hear such a sound differently than you and thus react differently to it.

I think that the best course of action to have taken in the first instance to resolve the problem would have been to call Apple to report the issue as a fault, and let them initiate the troubleshooting and repair process, or if the first tier worker failed to be cooperative, then escalate the call up the chain until you reach someone who did. Given that you didn't take that route, now is, I think, the time to try it, this time also adding the complaint that the Apple store have physically damaged the case and seemed reluctant to repair the damage. It's imperative that you remain calm and polite throughout the call because otherwise it gives the person you are speaking to an opportunity to change from the difficult to resolve technical issue to the easy to resolve 'attitude' one!

There are possible short-term solutions involving setting processor level or by use of Apple's CHUD tools software, and Apple support on the phone may walk you through those options. If not, a quick google for 'G5 chirping' ought to pull up a number of references to the issue that might help you in the right direction.

The fact is that whether other people can hear these noises or not, if you can and you find them intrusive, it's not a matter of whether anyone else finds them acceptable that counts. You paid for a system that cost no small amount of money, and you deserve the respect and support of the manufacturer and their representatives in resolving any problem to your satisfaction (or as close as is reasonably possible). But you need to put any anger or frustration out of your mind at the outset, because that's how good customer support is best obtained.

Good luck!!

 

[SonComet]

I have a RevA G5 dual, and from time to time I've heard the chirping, but rarely.

One thing that strikes me as very clear is that if you accept that different people are perhaps sensitive to sound to different degrees (ie, that your father is 'old' and thus can't hear the noise whereas you can) then getting upset that an Apple store worker, working in an environment that is likely far noisier overall than your home, fails to hear the sound or is not able to differentiate the sound level as being different between your Mac and others is really odd. Indeed, it's only to be expected that these people will hear such a sound differently than you and thus react differently to it.

I think that the best course of action to have taken in the first instance to resolve the problem would have been to call Apple to report the issue as a fault, and let them initiate the troubleshooting and repair process, or if the first tier worker failed to be cooperative, then escalate the call up the chain until you reach someone who did. Given that you didn't take that route, now is, I think, the time to try it, this time also adding the complaint that the Apple store have physically damaged the case and seemed reluctant to repair the damage. It's imperative that you remain calm and polite throughout the call because otherwise it gives the person you are speaking to an opportunity to change from the difficult to resolve technical issue to the easy to resolve 'attitude' one!

There are possible short-term solutions involving setting processor level or by use of Apple's CHUD tools software, and Apple support on the phone may walk you through those options. If not, a quick google for 'G5 chirping' ought to pull up a number of references to the issue that might help you in the right direction.

The fact is that whether other people can hear these noises or not, if you can and you find them intrusive, it's not a matter of whether anyone else finds them acceptable that counts. You paid for a system that cost no small amount of money, and you deserve the respect and support of the manufacturer and their representatives in resolving any problem to your satisfaction (or as close as is reasonably possible). But you need to put any anger or frustration out of your mind at the outset, because that's how good customer support is best obtained.

Good luck!!

I accept that different people have different levels of hearing. But the fact that he could hear it on every other DP G5 in the store (in the loud store environment), and told me he could too when those G5s sound identical to mine is what sounded fishy to me. I don't see how mine would sound identical to the others to me but be imperceptible to him when he can hear all the others. He said he couldn't hear mine in the backroom even when the mall A/C was turned off. That's what made me mad. I too can hear mine in the store environment, and it just seems outside of the norm when I am at home. But I guess I just have super sensitive ears, but since the genius could hear the ones in the store he must have pretty sensitive ears too.

Anyways, I talked to applecare and they called the store for me and said that it should be fixed in about a week, so hopefully after another week they will be able get a new case and replace the one they scratched. Then I will be happy as a clam. Well sort of, heh.

Oh, and the reason I brought it to another apple store is because a member on another forum suggested that it was a mistake to take the computer back after the first store admitted that there was a problem with it that they couldn't fix. They suggested that I not take the machine back since the high-pitched sound the computer makes while transferring large files of a network actually hurts my ears to the point of making me unable to use the computer (or be withing several feet of it) while transferring files. And since apple had admitted it was a problem, this person suggested that I could possibly get them to exchange it with another machine of equal value (since at the time it was only a few days old) that wouldn't hurt my ears while doing this.

The beep is annoying, the chirp is annoying, the high-pitched noise hurts. My brother can hear all of the noises, and so can my mom. My dad can't though. So unless the CHUD fix makes these sounds go away without excessive fan noise I am gonna have to sell the G5 and hopefully still be able to afford to buy another type of apple that won't be annoying or hurt my ears. I know I am hypersensitive, but these sounds are a universal defect and apple should've figured out a fix by now. Also, my roommates don't complain about the chirp or beep, but they do complain about the high-pitched noise. But since the apple employees at this store can hear this noises on every G5 but mine I am pretty much ignored when I try to call applecare and explain my situation.

It's not that I couldn't afford the computer and want to return it, or didn't like it. The computer is completely paid off, and I loved it for the short time I had it. I have been saving for a G5 since they first came out, and its just unfortunate that I happen to be so sensitive to a defect that I thought was fixed after the Rev. A models .