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Some of you will remember my recent thread about the problems I had with Adobe to change my PS licence from a PC to a Mac. Well that was finally resolved as long as I activate the new licence by the 23rd June. Fair enough, but..............now I do not have an iMac either.

After much soul searching and research I recently made a decision to ditch my PC and buy an iMac. With a couple of upgrades and extended warranty the 24" iMac cost me just over $3300.

On arrival it turned out that the wireless connection would drop out or not work at all. With an ethernet cable it was fine, after three calls to Apple Technical support I took it to the nearest Apple Service Agent Mac1 in Brissie.(they have an 80klm radius on site visits and there is no agent on the coast). On the phone they said that would diagnose the fault the day I took it in and as long as it did not need parts I would be able to take it with me when I went home. Well that never happened and today all they will say is that they are still running diagnostics, Even after I explained that I needed the computer to earn my living their attitude remained the same.

Naturally I am regretting the decision to buy a product which is so poorly supported. If I do not get a satisafcatory answer tommorow I will ring Apple and read the riot act.

There have been many problems with router compatibility with the iMac (Linksys comes to mind). Did you check the router Oneputt?

Good luck John, I couldn't imagine the hassle of ringing up Adobe and telling them you want to change the licence back! PS Chris above is the master of Apple wireless, everytime I walk into his home I have to put my alfoil beanie on due to the 15 or so wireless devices he has working seamlessly.

Fax them in a bill for lost business, quoting the original promise of walk-in/walk-out service. Make it a big one, and mark it attention of the Managing Director.

Wireless connection problems should really be diagnosed and corrected on-site. So many of the issues are local, that the only thing they can do at the service centre is to replace bits, and these things are plug and pray, there are no other repairs they could/would bother with on a new machine. Parts are the only reason for a delay. 'running diagnostics' after days of delay is code for 'we haven't even looked at it yet' They probably have a bunch of repairs in the queue, and some very casual repair engineers (I'm using that word lightly).

If it were me, I'd go and get the iMac back immediately. If they push back on you, you need to stand up to them and tell them you're not leaving without it. Wave your bill around and tell them you have pressing jobs to do on the machine. If they were working on it, it would be done by now. They're just as likely to whip a new airport card into it and give it back on the spot.

I know it's enticing to turn something on and just have network, but no wireless beats an ethernet cable for speed and reliability.

Michael

Photohiker has a very valid point John. In the past I have run an ethernet cable to both use the system and check it plus he’s right in that the wireless card is a fairly simple thing to change over.

Glen - you’ll need a titanium beanie next time you call round

Chris I might wear my alfoil underwear as well then

One of the big problems with wireless these days is that different countries have different standards for the amount of channels used.

eg in Australia we use a certain number of wireless channels (I think it's 13). Whereas other countries, eg Singapore, USA etc use 2 less. This means if you have an Aussie spec router - which could be running on any of the 13 channels, and Apple, Dell of whoever put a USA or Singapore etc spec wireless card in the PC, you will get a lot of dropouts when the router changes channel. (Most do it automatically every few minutes)

It happend to my work (500-odd PC's that were built incorrectly )

If they give you back the PC without changing the wireless card and tell you there is nothing wrong, try switching to a specific channel on both PC and router (most are set to auto by default)

Good luck either way.

The router was changed to channel 6 in one of my early conversations with the Apple techs. Current situation is that whilst they have acknowledged the fault, they have been unable to find the cause in three days!!!!! Apple customer relations are now involved but they are just as bad, the last thing I said to them was to communicate with me. Of course of course we will ring you back within a couple of hours. Guess what - no call.

John, your story is going on, whilst in Sydney we are being bombarded with Apple stories before the opening of the "Apple retail experience". Seems reality in regards to service doesn't match the hype.


Just today's hype:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/meet ... 81185.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/dial ... 31592.html

Hi John, Any update on this issue? I am in the market for a new machine myself and have been looking at the 24 iMac specced like yours. My concern was some discussion re the screen but you appear to have hit the jackpot with another hardware issue. Considering the drama ask for a replacement if it is within the 7 days of receipt.

My iMac arrived back yesterday morning and the problem seems to have been fixed. It really is a lovely machine but will take some geting used to the way Mac does things.

I have an ongoing problem with Adobe over the change in platform for CS3. After being made to jump through hoops they sent me an ftp link to download onto the Mac but the link would not work (we tried on several different machines). Adobe then said that I would have to buy a disc from the USA for a cost of $25US. I told them to bugger off, I would use a pirate copy!!! !Just let them try and stop me.

John, absolutely unbelievable story with Adobe. I really find it hard to believe they don't have a disc in Australia. I am more than happy to go to Chatswood to pick up a disc if you can get someone to authorise the release of one. Interesting the level of service they provide on a $2k investment, seems about the same as one gets on a pirate copy, zero.

Will you be buying CS4?

John,

What Glen says.

Why can't they download the files for you and burn you a disk?

For that matter, why can't they download the files, and burn some disks and have them available for clients so that, when problems arise, they can just pop one in the mail?

Maybe you need to explore that option, pointing out what Glen says ...

the level of service they provide on a $2k investment, seems about the same as one gets on a pirate copy, zero.

Have you been speaking with somebody senior there, or just one of the drones?

Here's another thing that shits me about Adobe.

You can download the full version from the "US" Store for US$649. But... they won't let you do that as the billing address for your credit card is in Australia, so you have to get it from the "Australia" store for AU$1,049. At the current exchange rate that is a premium of over AU$350. You would be downloading the exact same package (or perhaps a lesser package because the "US" one is 796MB and the "AU" one is only 464 MB) from the exact same source. The only difference would be the AU support which we now know is non-existent.

Glen that is a great offer Glen I will see what they say. Thankyou.

John I am very happy to go up there, it is 10 minutes away but in reality I just hate the injustice of the big company thinking they can tell people to take a hike. I am also happy to visit one of the directors homes if they aren't too far away. It really peeves me the way these people treat clients, if you were that rude to the guy sitting next to you at the pub you would end up with a bloody nose.

Glen, may I suggest that you front up smeared in shit. This will tell them in no uncertain terms how people view their service

sirhc55 wrote:Glen, may I suggest that you front up smeared in shit. This will tell them in no uncertain terms how people view their service

I was shown a video recently of someone being removed from a cell who was naked and in that state. The boys were not very happy about the job! I doubt Adobe would be either but there is only so far I would go for John.