Q: Vertical line issue - How can we get Apple to address this?

I have now sort legal advice from a top barrister in Dublin who is a friends brother he has been sent all the emails and other documentation and he is going to contact apple tomorrow to demand an explanation as to why I can't have a replacement as they have admitted to me many times that iMacs that came out of said factory were all faulty and that bynoffering to repair it but not being able to in turn a replacement should have been offered.

I will keep you posted my friends as apple have to do something about this

The Apple genius also told me about the repair extension program, and how it was now over. I had never heard of it, even though they obviously have my email/phone. When reading thru earlier posts, someone had said that even after some people did get their Mac repaired thru the extension program that it still had the same problems. I mentioned that to the supervisor and after thinking about it, he agreed to repair it/give me a discount.

I'm not sure why some people are getting repairs and others aren't. I thought I was going to be in the latter group initially, based on their tone and what they were telling me. But perserverence and politeness go a long way. At least, I think it played a part in getting the deal I got.

I wish you the best of luck!

How much of a store credit did you get?

I was offered $380 which the supervisor said was the cost of the repairs. I mentioned that these posts mention the repair costs as ranging from $500 - $750 or so. We negotiated a bit and they were really helpful. I had a total discount of $600 plus an additional $100 off on the Black Friday sale.

Im just back from the Apple store in Glasgow with my 17" Imac (2007) I was quoted over £400 to repair the LCD (dreaded vertical line problem taking over) but advised not to proceed as in 1 months time my beloved Imac will be "vintage" and unrepairable.  I was advised to consider buying a second hand one on ebay.  I hadn't done my research and had no idea that this was a recognised problem. Nor did I think that a four year old computer is just fit for the bin - when it works perfectly in every other regard!   I think Ill just carry on til it really is unuseable!  

I am Edwin from the Philippines.  I am in the same situation as all you guys are in.  My Imac 17 Core2duo late 2006 has about 30 vertical lines on its LCD.  I called up apple Jan 5 2011 I explained my situation, my being an exclusively Mac user since the time of the ibook clamshells and colored imacs, that i was a bit disappointed that such a recent model Imac would have such a problem with the LCD.  I also mentioned the EM80 issue since my imac had the W80...serial series.  I was able to talk to a senior advisor....but sadly he mentioned that the unit was vintage and the repair extension was over.  I further quoted that some people from other countries had been given extensions and even store credit to compensate for the said issue.  Sadly he still declined to offer anything that could help my situation.  Its really dissapointing since Apple has acknowledged that the LCD defect was caused by faulty manufacturing from the LCD factory, that it has failed to to take full responsibility and has instead clasiffied these IMACS as VINTAGE!!!!! It is also sad to believe that APPLE seems to have different resolutions to the same problem depending on you Country??? Makes me think twice regarding my next choice of computers for my business.....

Hey Spooktacular -

If you have your old receipts from when you first purchased your machine then an option for you would be to claim the cost of the repair directly from the reseller. I am doing this myself at the moment - there are a couple websites you can look at to do this:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact- sheets/page38311.html

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/understanding-the-sale-of-g oods-act/

Under UK law you can claim within 6 years from your purchase to have items repaired for reasons which you believe are due to manufaturing faults, faults which are inherent in the product and which have adversely affected your useage of said item and significantly reduced the life span of the item (I had my machine for 4 years 11 months but it has only been operable for less than 3 years).

I am also doing this because I have had exactly the same problem - and the Apple store have refused to take responsibility - so I am taking the legal route and will be making the reseller pay for the service of the screen (again).

Having the LCD monitor replaced is not actually fixing the problem because I had my screen replaced by Apple in May 2011 after reporting the problem and having it fixed under the service agreement - however in my case the lines came back within about 2 or 3 months - so again I took it back to Apple - only they didn't want to fix it now because their 'service agreement' had expired. Never mind the fact that I think their service was terrible to begin with - I mean how can they have fixed it if the problem came back after 3 months?

Anyway, if you have all the paperwork from your original purchase and do a bit of research you should be able to get the money for the repair back at least under UK law.

All the best.

Note for future: Never buy an iMac.

Oh yes, and another route to claim the cost of repair if you paid for the computer on credit card is to claim the cost back from the CREDIT CARD that you used to pay for the item - in the UK credit card transactions (or any other credit agreement transaction) is covered under: Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

This means that the credit card company that sold you this faulty iMac is jointly responsible for the item and MUST refund you the cost of the repair of the item if the problem is due to it being a manufacturing fault. All you need to do is send the bank a letter and include your original receipt and also a screengrab of the following page to prove that the problem exists: http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/

A printed diagnosis by an Apple technician will also help a bit to prove the issue is with the screen.

In many cases (including my own) this fault only manifested itself from 2009 onwards - so if you bought the machine from 2007/2008 then you more than likely would have missed the service agreement...so for Apple to come out and say that the sevice agreement ended in 2008 is simply seriously bad business ethic, and a low blow to the faithful Apple consumer.

At the end of the day, Apple think they are side stepping this issue by ending the service agreement - the only thing they are doing is passing the buck to the retailers and the banks.

Just by way of an update to this issue.  The LCD thin vertical line issue has erupted on my mid 2011 Mac Air as well.  Have researched several posts and discussions and there are claims that it is an LCD problem in combination with the processors and that is why it recurs even after repair.

Well, I have 2 thin green lines together right now and a third one keeps popping in and out. I have G5 that is about 6 years old. Has ANYONE had this problem actually fixed? From the posts I have read I haven't seen any.

Is this just a way for us to have to buy a new machine?

I am sure that I don't have any warranty left, and for now it is just an irritation, but all the same I would rather not have to deal with it.

And Mox_Nix you have a relatively new computer and you say you are already having these eruptions? What do they tell you?

Any advice?

Thanks

ruez

I have a 20" aluminum iMac from 2009 with the same issue. I checked http://www.chipmunk.nl/cgi-fast/applemodel.cgi and verified mine came from the W8 Shanghai China factory. I called Apple support and spoke with a senior repair technician and he did research and spoke with a few other techs and they said this is not a known issue and there is no extension of the warranty for this problem.

What else can I do to get this problem resolved?

I had the same issue on my Intel Imac A1173. First one line, after a month six. I didn't  even bother to call Apple since my Imac is almost six years old. I just went and look on the internet to find the cheapest way to get a new replacement screen(LM171W02 (TL)(B2)). There are a lot of brand new screens for sale on Alibaba straight from China. Prices are between $30 and $100. See link below:

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?SearchText=LM171W02+%28TL%29%28B2%29&IndexAr ea=Products&fsb=y

On Ifixit there is a fine guide on how to replace the screen.

I think this is the cheapest way if you have an older Imac with a broken screen. Prices on Ebay are all over $150 and they are not even new!

I hope this will help anybody

I recently bought a used iMac G5 1.9 17" iSight with 2 lines on it, got it very cheap that's why I bought it!! (from the factory in China, also many of the burners are defective), just 2 lines after usage by the original owner of 7 years, actually quite acceptable if you use a "vertical line" wallpaper, also the lines almost vanish when you open another program over it like your browser. A temporary or genuine solution is to get a Mini VGA to VGA adapter, then buy a used 17-21 inch, 1400x900 lcd monitor ($20-$40) , although not an Apple monitor quite an acceptable alternative, only problem is you can't turn off the built-in monitor, so use both, individually,  for various situations. I was using an iMac G4/800 (the Lamp) but bought this somewhat defective G5 for the extra processing power, more/faster ram, much faster video, works great in that context.

My vertical yellow/green line appeared about 2 months ago out of nowhere. There has been ZERO trauma to the computer and very little movement at all. Its only "problem", is, like me, getting old.

I hope I can sell this iMac "AS IS" in the next 2-3 months to buy a newer iMac or iPad.

A POX on you, Apple! First, you outsource the manufacture to Singapore and other, worse places, and THEN you refuse the "Green" agreement of all manufacturers of computers so that your majority stockholdlers can line their pockets with more of our hard-earned MONEY!!!

I have lost my love for this corporation. Maybe it's Steve Jobs passing away, but Apple has lost its way...for sure.

Ok, I may found a solution or pretty a temporary fix. Here is what it was like.

http://image.ohozaa.com/i/b7d/rNKkja.jpg

Looking at the screen, it is obviously known issue for the bad GPU chips. Since many and most people claimed that external display works out fine and it is the LCD panel that is faulty.

Anyway, I gave it a try using "heat" to re-work the GPU chip. And it just works. Not sure it is the heat or re-attaching the cables that make the issue goes away. After I get the screen to work, the iMac showed some overheating problem. So I modified the fan speed and cleaned the dust. Now it is functional and working well. It is not a permanent fix, but it surely will last for sometime since the G5 is pretty old now.

For some of you experiencing or having the same symptom with the screen like I've attached, try to heat up the GPU with trusted and experienced technician (with correct tools and equipment as well).