iMac 2011 27inch i7 screen flicker dark left side

DamenS wrote:

Might I ask what were the pertinent rights for outside of warranty repairs in Australia ?

Absolutely.

This is copied direct from the ACCC website. I printed this out and brought it along with me.

Goods

You have these rights if goods you buy are:

• faulty
• unsafe
• look unacceptable, and
• do not do what they are supposed to do.

In each case this is according to what someone would normally expect for the type and cost of the particular goods. You also have these rights if goods do not:

• fit the purpose
• match the description provided
• match the sample or demonstration model provided
• have the extra qualities or performance that the seller promised before the sale.

I played the faulty, look unacceptable and fit the purpose cards.

Additionally, in terms of outside warranty:

Do other warranties restrict your rights?

No. You can use your rights even if the product or service has:

• a voluntary warranty
• an extended warranty you’ve paid for -> (AppleCare)
• any warranty that has expired.

These additional warranties do not override or limit consumer guarantees. Businesses must provide guarantees and cannot avoid or ignore them by sending you to the manufacturer to get them to fix the problem under a voluntary warranty.

When they tried to tell me I'm not covered because warranty expired, and I did not have AppleCare, I kindly informed them that even though my warranty expired, I am still covered by consumer guarantees that are part of the law.

Even if you don't have AppleCare, a reasonable person would expect an item worth thousands of dollars to work for a number of years. Basically by pointing out to them that I felt the goods were faulty, look unacceptable and not fit for purpose (web design/graphic work) - and I am covered by the law, they agreed to replace it free of charge.

They weren't horrible about it or anything of the sort, took around 15 minutes of talking to convince them.

A full list of rights can be found here: http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1023610

These new rights are valid for any goods bought after Jan 1st, 2011.

Absolutely brilliant !! Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to reply in such detail. It is greatly appreciated.

I have the exact same iMac, and the EXACT same problem! I even have the issue with the bottom left side of the screen being dimmer!

_rgv,

Same thing has just happened to my iMac also. Mid 2011 27 inch.

Can I ask which store you went to. My applecare expired after 12 months and its good news to hear that you pled your case and got through. Im hoping to do the same.

lastlineofdefence wrote:

_rgv,

Same thing has just happened to my iMac also. Mid 2011 27 inch.

Can I ask which store you went to. My applecare expired after 12 months and its good news to hear that you pled your case and got through. Im hoping to do the same.

I went to the Castle Hill store, which is in New South Wales.

Strangely enough after I picked up my Mac today, I noticed they now have brochures about consumer rights to refunds, repairs and exchanges at the Genius Bar. Those weren't there before 😉

Thanks for that.

I'm in syd also.

I don't know whether to go to castle hill or try a closer one.

Is it possible to pm on these apple forums?

lastlineofdefence wrote:

Thanks for that.

I'm in syd also.

I don't know whether to go to castle hill or try a closer one.

Is it possible to pm on these apple forums?

Don't think it would matter which store you go to, since the law is the law and Apple is not above it.

No idea about PMs though.

I was just hoping to mention that they already set a precedence in this case by agreeing to repair your mac with its major fault, and so they should agree to repair mine. I would want to indicate that only 1 (or 2) weeks ago, the same problem was resolved at castle hill.

Did you insist on the repair or is that only what was offered? Repair, replace or refund.

Im just reading through the accc things (apple had a link also http://www.apple.com/au/legal/statutory-warranty/) now and getting my head around things. I might print a couple of the pages off to bring with me, along with the big mac (not sure how to carry the bugger), cables mouse and keyboard.

I went in and explained the issue - left side of the screen darker than the right side, occasional flickering and the screen going black every now and then.

He looked up my serial number since I bought it online and saw it was out of warranty and took a look anyway.

They plugged it in and ran some diagnostic tests where they found nothing wrong hardware wise, thought the person serving me could see the issue with the screen quite clearly.

He said the only option is to replace the entire LCD panel (written on my Genius Bar Work Authorisation as "LCD PANEL 27 INCH WITH BLC") and that would cost $709.50 including GST.

I mentioned my rights as explained by the ACCC, he went off to talk to someone who I assume was a manager or supervisor and came back saying they'll replace it without a problem. Just gave me the usual repair papers to fill out.

Brought it in on Friday when the screen arrived, picked it up on Saturday around 1pm. The person who returned it to me mentioned it would cost $709.50, but I told him it was written on your internal notes that it was already covered. He checked, came back, got me to sign the Genius Bar Work Confirmation paper and I was free to go, so to speak.

So they pretty much offered a repair to the unit by replacing the entire screen + backlight. Didn't even have to pay the $39 Hardware Repair Labor cost as written on the invoice either.

Nicholas,

Apple should send you a brand new iMac!! And for the rest of us suffering with the flicker screen their should be a recall. Its ridiculas that a company with so much money doesn't stand behind their products when somehting is obvious wrong. I took my 27 inch (late 2009 Model) for the hard drive recall and when I got the system back it started flickering. I thought it was my eyes. I bought it back to Apple. They had it for a day and told me they couldn't replicate the problem. I said okay, took the machine back and have lived with the flicker then recently half the screen went dark (like so many others claim). Then I found your post and fix. I just got done and I'm happy to say that it worked I have a nice bright screen without the flicker. I just want to thank you.

Lou Wilcox

The pressure fix is not permanent. Eventually you will experience the same flickering issue again. Check this thread for a permanent fix and more info about the root of the problem: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4041042?start=0&tstart=0

I told you they would remove my post,because it`s the truth?

I tried several times with my local Apple store but because it was out of warranty, they said they could do nothing.

I have had to buy a new 2012 model and it's really hurting my wallet at the moment because I had to commit to a loan to pay for it.

If they offered my 50% refund, I would be satisfied.

Why don`t you start your own business up with skills like that.

This is not the first time someone on this forum tells me that, i could take advantage of this Apple's lack of response and charge customers 100€, for exampl to fix the screen instead of paying the 700€ Apple charges...