Apple Support Company Sues Customer For Complaint 292
tekgoblin writes "An Apple authorized Service Provider called System Graph is suing a customer who complained online about poor service from them. The customer Dimitrios Papadimitriadis took his iMac to them because he was seeing gray spots on his LED panel. The Greek company System Graph recommended a full interior cleaning of the iMac and performed the service for Dimitrios. He then got his iMac back and noticed moisture behind the screen and that it still did not work properly and took it back to the repair center. System Graph then told him that they needed to keep his iMac to replace the LED screen and he would be without it for another week.
Re:PR nightmare (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:LED SCREEN? (Score:2, Interesting)
are they the typical 10 segment nixie. or are they 16 segment Burroughs B7971 tubes which are neon tubes like a 7-segment numitron, often confused with nixies because the technology is the same.
Re:LED SCREEN? (Score:5, Interesting)
I agree. Unfortunately, LCD TVs with LED back lighting appear to be widely marketed as LED TVs in ads, sales flyers and on the packaging. I really haven't been paying close attention to whether it's true with computer screens too.
Re:Here I thought we'd end through nuclear war... (Score:5, Interesting)
I had hoped that ppl in America would take note, but we can not get slashdoters with the stories to even take note. I still see idiots here that blame unions, regs, while others blame business ppl. As such, I give little chance for the average citizen to figure things out.
Windbourne (moderating)
I had the same problem, but with Sony. (Score:4, Interesting)
So I didn't accept it and after 200 or 300 pixels, I just disassembled my Sony Vaio 16.4 inch panel made in North Korea (yeah..) by Sharp and cleaned it, it took about 4 hours of my time but its perfect now.
Don't ask me how the hell the dust got between those two layers.
Idiots all around (Score:5, Interesting)
He's a tard for thinking that they have any obligation to replace the computer under these circumstances. As they rightfully pointed out, they are not Apple, just a company authorized to service Apple computers. Having worked for an independent Apple service provider in the past, this is a maddening mistake that many customers make, especially irate ones who don't want to listen to a thing you say. The bottom line is that if he didn't buy it from them, then they have no obligation to refund the item. If he wants a refund, THEN TAKE THE ISSUE STRAIGHT TO APPLE.
It doesn't help that this guy has been throwing an utter tantrum to everyone within possible earshot about the issue. It's impossible to say if this is a justified suit as there are no details about what he's said to a ton of other parties about this. If he has indeed lied (and from the grotesque levels of butthurt coming out of the guy, it's possible), then it's a justified lawsuit. We just don't have enough information, and I think too many people are kneejerking in favor of the guy. Having seen some truly idiotic, angry customers, I'm going to reserve judgement here until more comes out.
Re:LED SCREEN? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Here I thought we'd end through nuclear war... (Score:4, Interesting)
It's a much bigger clusterfuck than just shooting all the lawyers will fix.
No, I agree.
One would need to shoot all the lawyers, all the former lawyers, all the student lawyers, all the law lecturers.
In addition one would want to shoot anyone who does business with lawyers, people who owe money to lawyers and people who lawyers owe money to.
The "Keyser Söze" solution.
Re:Here I thought we'd end through nuclear war... (Score:4, Interesting)
Or, individuals who've been convinced by a contingency lawyer that they can hit the law suit lottery over every single thing in their entire lives that they don't like.
Re:PR nightmare (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry, but Apple really doesn't care. My iMac was in for a warranty fix for over two weeks. The motherboard was replaced and then they had to replace the video card which was a separate unit. You can write them all you want, they don't even reply. While I like their machines their support does suck. If you have an iMac you have to bring it to an authorized service center which can be a real bear with the larger iMacs.
I have a slightly different experience with their customer service. My 24" iMac stopped working on Dec. 13, 2010. It was freezing on startup. I called Apple on the 14th, and explained to them that I didn't have a vehicle so I couldn't take it in to the retail store, so they arranged for an on site repair at my workplace. They overnighted a package on the 15th, since cut-off time for Fed-Ex had already passed. The tech wasn't in to get the package on the 16th, so he got it on the 17th and called me. We arranged for him to come to my workplace on the 22nd since that was his first available day. He came in and replaced the logic board but that still didn't fix it. So he called Apple back and they said it must be the RAM, so they overnighted another package to him, and on the 23rd he met me at my house since I started vacation that day. He had to drive about 70 miles one way to get there, vs. 45 miles to get to my workplace. He replaced the RAM, and that didn't work either, so I had to run it up to the Apple Store, which was about 70 miles away from my home. They couldn't get it working either, so I had to leave it.
They didn't call me back to let me know it was fixed until the 30th. While a week was a long time, they did have to order the part on the 24th, they were closed on the 25th, so they didn't even get the part until the 27th. Still, it was a lot longer than I would have preferred. So I drove back up to the Apple Store and picked it up in the afternoon. When I got home later in the afternoon, I started to restore my computer from my Time Machine backup. It was going to take about 5 hours, so I let it run overnight. Next morning, I got up and the computer was sleeping, so I jiggled the mouse to wake it up. Nothing. I held down the power button to make sure it was off, then I started it up again. I got the chime & a black screen. I tried it again, this time unplugging it first, and also zapping the PRAM on startup, but still, nothing.
I was steamed, so I called the Apple Store & set up another "Genius Bar" appt. When I got up there, they tried booting it and got the same thing. He said he was going to see if they had another video card in stock so they could repair it. I told him everything I had already been through, and explained how I didn't have access to the computer for my entire vacation which ended on Jan. 3, and I was highly displeased. He said he would talk to their manager, and they ended up offering me a new 27" iMac for my troubles to replace my 2 1/2 year old 24" iMac. Granted, it did take a much longer time than I would have hoped, but I got a better outcome than I expected.