Greyish Smudge marks behind the glass screen.

Hi,

Nice to meet another 'friend in need' from Moscow who seems to be a bit lucky than me.I got this strange"dust problem" on my iMac 27", i5 (purchased late 2009). I brought iMac to the authorized Apple Service Center here in Moscow for expertise and got the official statement saying that LCD should be replaced at my expense. They refused to recognize this as a factory defect. In my case I have to wait about 5 months for LCD replacement at my expense about $1500-1600. Not that I am very surprised, but what is the trick?

No tricks so far. I just went there with my iMac and showed it to them (Kholodilny pereulok 3/1, close to Danilovsky monastery - Tulskaya tube station). They said it takes about a month to deliver a new matrix to Moscow. It was about a week ago, so I am still waiting.

Hi All.

Just an update on my situation (see my last post dated Jul 3, 2011 8:03 AM).

I decided that posting a letter to the head office was a non-starter, so I sent one to the Manager of the Apple Store in Liverpool where I bought my iMac. I held out little hope of getting a response (perhaps some British apathy creeping in?). Anyway, I received a phone call from the Store Manager the very next day asking me all about it and he told me that I should bring the machine back to them for an out-of-warranty repair, but free-of-charge. I've just got it back today after replacement of the LCD/backlight unit and it's fine.

I would urge anybody suffering from these issues to do the same. My only worry now is that it may happen again in the future, but I'll just have to hope for the best. When the time comes to get a new computer, I'll not be buying an all-in-one like the iMac (a brilliant machine in every other respect) unless it's unequivocally proven to me that this problem has been designed-out.

Best of luck folks.

Nozzer.

Hi Nozzer and all

I first posted on this back in May 2010 (page 4 I think!) and still haven't done anything about it, because its a load of hassle, and i have apple care, but obviously time is now running out on that so I need to get it sorted.

I live in Anglesey, North Wales so my options are to get apple to collect or to give the Liverpool genius branch a call and drop it in myself (100 miles)

Nozzer, you seem to have got a result at Liverpool, so would you say they are decent people to deal with?

My only experience of genius bar was phoning the Manchester branch and being fobbed off with the environmental nonsense, but that was before Liverpool opened i think.

don't suppose you can post the manager's name on here?

I'm loathed to drag the lump over there, especially if they're going to debunk the problem.

How long did they take to sort it out?

Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences so far

Huw

Huw (and all).

I actually hate going to the Apple Shop for anything other than browsing the goodies. If I have to go there for a reason like the one I've been posting about, it's a nightmare. Even if you've got an appointment it's very difficult to get the staff to spend more than 5 minutes with you. It feels so chaotic and disorganised it's unbelievable. I'm sure it's not the staff's fault by the way, they're just really busy.

Anyway, other than send my Mac through the post I had to take it there myself for the repair. The manager (I won't name him here) was a great bloke and made sure I was seen to as a priority (even though I was out of warranty). Getting my machine back the next day was a different matter, but I won't go into that here.

If you've got AppleCare I would use it to its full extent and get your machine fixed post-haste. Don't know the ins-and-outs of AppleCare, but does it provide any means of getting your machine to and from the repair? Surely they wouldn't expect you to make a trip like that twice? I live in Wirral so it wasn't that far for me.

Good luck.

Noz.

I am having the same problems, that's why I signed up in here, with the hope that I may learn something about this ONGOING problem. I bought a 20 inch iMac at least a year or more ago and ended up with grey streak marks from the top centre of the screen, after paying over $200.00 for apple care I had a few onsite repairs before being offered with a replacement. I was given a 21.5 inch iMac but it came to me with a grey mark on the top left corner and so I was issued with another replacement of the same model, it too developed greyish marks at both sides of the screen. I was told that despite my extended warranty that apple were no longer going to help me and that it was my environment and I have moved three times. I am now in the process of having my iMac fixed once more, if APPLES issue can't be solved then I want a refund and if that doesn't happen then I will just have to go back to The Department Of Fair Trading and pick up from where I left off. I heard from one of the on site repairers that one of the apple care staff said and I quote 'She is just trying to be difficult'. I can assure you the only difficulty is trying to get apple to see this for what it is 'a designer flaw' and to FINALLY do something about it.

Thanks Nozzer

Apple care would cover the cost of a door to door courier, but I don't think they'd cover my expenses for taking it into a shop myself, though i might ask just in case.

Its worrying that people are having the same issue with their replacement machines.

Is there any evidence that apple has sorted this problem out on the latest imacs?

What's the 'newest' imac that has this problem?

Some of the stories of apple's poor attitude to this problem also very worrying and, depending on local consumer protection laws, probably illegal. In the UK, the item has to be fit for the purpose for a period of time, appropriate to the sum of money paid for the item, so its reasonable to expect a £1500 imac to get through 3-4 years without a problem.

Apple's excuses are poor and below the standard expected for what is supposed to be a prestige, quality product.

Any buyer who doesn't get satisfaction on this should take legal advice and squeeze Apple until their pips squeak!

keep posting all

Huw

I've got a 24" iMac (Early 2008, supplied January 2009) and was advised to buy AppleCare to go with it, citing onsite repairs.. To be honest, I'd have bought the AppleCare anyway, but Onsite repair was one of the features that made it a no-brainer for me, being part of my work and all.

I've got screen burn in as well now.. had it for a while, but I've lived with it as I've been working from my Macbook Pro mainly, and have been using the iMac for a mailserver, with just periodic stints for my photography work... now however, I'd like to get back to using the iMac, as I've added a 2nd display... but obviously I can't have shadows all over my photos when I'm working on them as they look awful under the shadows.

So I called AppleCare.. only to be told that the repair company would contact me to arrange collection. I asked them about onsite repair and they said they don't do it. The website still says they do, and I was told they do when I bought the machine and the AppleCare package! Not happy about that. I've also bought ProCare in the last 12 months so will reluctantly take the machine in to a store tomorrow to have it assessed and then bring it back and wait for them to order any spare parts... 😟 I feel cheated though.

I just had the tech out but he wouldn't change the screen because he found one TINY insect in there, the very first as I've had screen replacements before and I've never come across anything dead or alive in there, having lived in three different places, also my last iMac was a G3 'the bubble' and it was put through crap, with constant moves and various living conditions, it's unusual that the G3 lasted seven years without a gliche, no screen issues and certainly no insects, good luck everybody, also the tech assured me that I wouldn't have any hard ware problems due to this. PROBLEM NOT SOLVED and so NOT happy.

hello again

i would like to see everyone that is out of warranty how do they deal with this issue

the thing is..either you pay the big cost of replacing the panel or...try and clean it iside..and im nmot talking about the first glass on the imac im talking about the actual panel

has anyne done this?

i have seen a post showing how to do that..of cxourse this is for expoerience users

I've had two replacement iMacs and constant screen and glass replacements and it still comes back, it can't have anything to do with where I live because I've moved three times, mine is still under warranty so I haven't tried a DIY clean up yet.

I'm in Liverpool, UK and have had this exact problem with my Late 2009 21.5in iMac. Grey blotches in top left of screen, visible only on white background such as Photoshop. My business? Photographer and designer, so yes, this was a BIG issue. Took it to my Apple store after discussion on phone with Apple tech, and, in spite of it being three weeks out of warranty, they replaced the screen without quibble. Not a hint of any kind of disquiet at all.

It seems pretty clear to me that this is a design fault. One assumes that Apple occasionally read these fourms (or perhaps they've given up as they find too many posts and issues like these!)

I will now be monitoring my monitor very closely for any hint of a return to this fault. I've been told I have a 3 month warranty on the replacement part (yep, just 3 months for a £300 part!!) so I expect to be back there again soon. The upside? Apple Store Liverpool fixed my machine in 24 hours from reciept of part. Not bad, eh?

and this was for free?

we dont have an official apple store here in greece but we have resellers and they said i had to pay like 300 euros for a replacement

that is why i am thinking to doa DIY operation cos im out of warranty the last one and ahlf year ago,...

I think there's two key differences here - the length of time out of warranty and whether you went to an Apple Store or not. 300 euros is about the cost of the new screen that Apple gave me. Try my buddy in Liverpool for Apple parts: www.thebookyard.com

I have the same problem with my 27 inch Mac Desktop. Bought it in Dec of 2009. Past the manufactuers warranty. Called support. Nothing they can do. Was quoted big money to replace screen. The end result is that i will never purchase another Mac product again. It seems to be a global and known issue with this model and its screen. But apple wont recall because they offer a limited one year and extended warranty. Ive never had any issues with any of my previous Mac products and was always very happy with their quality. But... now it has been jaded.