Three weeks ago I was working on my iMac on a Saturday morning and the display went crazy, forcing me to restart. I did some searching and discovered that this was a known issue, and that Apple were replacing cards exhibiting this problem free of charge. Great!

三个星期前，我在星期六的早上在iMac上工作，显示器疯狂，迫使我重新启动。 我进行了一些搜索，发现这是一个已知问题 ，并且Apple正在免费更换出现此问题的卡。 大！

I called Apple Care and they confirmed that even though my machine was out of warranty they would switch the card. I just needed to pop the machine into the local Apple Store and, “it should only take a day or two” and they had an appointment available that day. I looked at my schedule, figured that even if it was two business days and I wouldn’t get the machine back until Tuesday, that would be fine so said yes.

我给Apple Care打了电话，他们确认即使我的机器不在保修期内，他们也会更换卡。 我只需要将机器弹出到本地的Apple Store中，“只需要一两天”，他们当天就可以预约。 我看了一下时间表，发现即使是两个工作日，直到星期二我都不会把机器拿回去，那还是可以的，所以说是的。

Never assume it will take a day or two.

永远不要以为会花一两天 。

放下Mac (Dropping off the Mac)

We took the iMac to the local Apple Store, where a member of staff looked it up on the system, tested it to check it was the issue I thought it was and then checked it in for the replacement. The part was in stock, so she expected it only to take a day and I should have it back. We went home feeling very happy about Apple, swapping this part for free and so quickly.

我们将iMac带到了当地的Apple Store，那里的工作人员在系统上对其进行了查找，对其进行了测试以检查是否是我认为的问题，然后将其检入以进行替换。 该零件有库存，因此她希望只用一天的时间，我就应该把它还回来。 我们回家后对Apple感到非常高兴，免费快速地更换了这部分。

我给苹果商店打电话 (I phone the Apple Store)

By Monday we hadn’t heard anything, so I gave the store a ring. To find out that things “hadn’t gone as planned”. They needed to order a cable, but it was in the delivery today and my Mac would be first on the bench, and they would give me a call. No call.

到星期一之前，我们什么都没听到，所以我给了商店一个电话。 要发现事情“没有按计划进行”。 他们需要订购电缆，但是今天已经交货，我的Mac将首先在工作台上，他们会给我打电话。 没有电话

I call back on Tuesday, explaining again that this is a machine I need to run my business, and that I would just like some idea of when we might get it back. At this point things get weird. I’m passed around various people and eventually hear from someone who says that the cable didn’t fix the problem, it now looks as if the logic board is damaged as they can’t get the fans to turn off.

我在星期二回电，再次解释说这是我经营业务所需的机器，我只是想知道什么时候可以收回它。 在这一点上，事情变得很奇怪。 我经过了很多人，最后听到有人说电缆不能解决问题，现在看来逻辑板已损坏，因为他们无法关掉风扇。

I point out that there was nothing wrong with this machine – as checked out by Apple Store staff when I brought it in. The only issue was the known GPU problem. So what has happened to it? They don’t seem very sure about what might have happened to it but it is going to take a couple of days to get a logic board ordered in.

我指出，这台机器没有任何问题-正如我带进苹果商店时所检查的那样。唯一的问题是已知的GPU问题。 那么发生了什么事呢？ 他们似乎不太确定可能会发生什么，但是要花几天时间才能订购逻辑板。

The Apple employee I am now dealing with, Tim, makes a suggestion. He suggests I take advantage of Apple’s 14 day returns policy and buy a new Mac then return it. This seems ludicrous and I tell him so. Is this really Apple policy?

我正在处理的Apple员工Tim提出了一个建议。 他建议我利用Apple的14天退货政策并购买一台新Mac，然后再将其退货 。 这似乎很可笑，我告诉他。 这真的是苹果的政策吗？

我拿起iMac (I pick up the iMac)

I need the machine to run my business. I have my Air however it isn’t great for running multiple VMs, and I also have my iMac all set up with my crazy split keyboard and arm rest that I need to be able to work for reasonable periods. So after confirming that it booted, but was just really noisy as the fans were stuck on, we went to collect it while we waited for the part.

我需要机器来经营我的生意。 我有Air，但是对于运行多个VM来说并不是很好，而且我的iMac都安装了疯狂的拆分式键盘和扶手，需要在合理的时间内工作。 因此，在确认它已启动但由于风扇被卡住而确实很吵之后，我们在等待零件的同时去收集了它。

At the Apple Store Drew and I quizzed Tim the Genius about how my Mac had come to be broken while in their care and were treated to an explanation about static. Static broke my iMac. What my friends in the Apple Store didn’t know is that prior to switching to Mac I built all my own machines. I know about static. I also know that you need to be being fairly careless for it to be a real issue, and I wouldn’t expect it to be an issue in a supposedly professional workshop situation. I’m not convinced they have any idea what they have done to the machine, and static sounds like a good bet.

在苹果商店Drew和我询问蒂姆（Tim）天才时，我的Mac在他们照料的过程中是如何损坏的，并得到了有关静电的解释。 静电损坏了我的iMac。 我在Apple Store中的朋友不知道的是，在切换到Mac之前，我先构建了自己的所有计算机。 我知道静态的。 我还知道，您需要相当粗心才能使它成为一个真正的问题，并且我不希望它在所谓的专业研讨会上会成为一个问题。 我不相信他们有什么想法，他们对机器做了什么，而且静态声音听起来像是一个不错的选择。

We take the Mac home, it works although I can’t work on the videos I need to record or do our podcast as the fans are on full. It sounds like it might be readying for takeoff.

我们将Mac带回了家，尽管我无法处理需要录制的视频，也无法播放我们的播客，但随着粉丝们的忙碌，它可以正常工作。 听起来好像已经准备起飞。

返回苹果商店 (Back to the Apple Store)

The new logic board arrives and so back to the Apple Store we go. I am promised that it will be “first on the bench”.

新的逻辑板到货，然后回到Apple Store。 我保证它将是“替补席上的第一”。

I call the next day for an update, and am given the runaround by yet another Apple employee who claims to know nothing of this and while they are very sorry they broke my computer that doesn’t mean it gets to jump the queue. I tell him I want to speak to a manager. I get a call back, they are very sorry, yes my Mac is top of the list but they are having some problems.

我第二天打电话给我进行更新，另一位Apple员工向他提供了解决方法，他声称对此一无所知，尽管他们很抱歉他们损坏了我的计算机，但这并不意味着它会排队。 我告诉他我想和经理说话。 我打回电话，他们非常抱歉，是的，我的Mac在列表中居首位，但他们遇到了一些问题。

更换 (The replacement)

It is Saturday, a week since I took a business critical machine in for a simple component swap. Tim calls, he sounds worried. They don’t seem to know what they have done to the machine or what to do to resolve it, they could try ordering some more parts in but they don’t know if that will help.

自从我购买一台业务关键型机器进行简单的组件交换以来，这是星期六。 蒂姆打电话，他听起来很担心。 他们似乎不知道自己对机器做了什么或如何解决该问题，可以尝试订购更多零件，但他们不知道这样做是否有帮助。

They decide that they had better replace the machine. However, because it wasn’t a standard build it needs to be a custom build at Apple so could take up to 2 weeks to come. I remind him that I’m trying to run a business on their hardware, can I not just have the nearest equivalent stock machine? No, it has to be a like for like swap. He suggests again that we buy a machine to use for the next two weeks and return in. Faced with needing to hire a computer otherwise, we decide to do that.

他们决定最好更换机器。 但是，由于它不是标准版本，因此需要在Apple上进行自定义版本，因此最多可能需要2周的时间。 我提醒他，我正在尝试在其硬件上开展业务，我不仅可以拥有最接近的同等存货机器吗？ 不，它必须像交换一样。 他再次建议我们购买一台机器，供接下来的两周使用，然后退货。面对否则需要租用计算机的情况，我们决定这样做。

I am promised an email to confirm the replacement has been ordered. No email arrives. So I spend more time going through the voice automated system that doesn’t understand Northerners to chase that up. Speak to another employee who tells me it will take 10 days to 2 weeks, I explain that yes, I know, I was just chasing the email confirmation I was promised. I have little trust in this Apple Store at this point and don’t want to wait 2 weeks to find they never ordered the thing!

我将收到一封电子邮件，确认已订购替换产品。 没有电子邮件到达。 因此，我花了更多时间通过语音自动化系统，该系统不了解Northerners对此的追究。 与另一个告诉我这将需要10天到2周的员工交谈，我解释是的，我知道，我只是在追逐我所承诺的电子邮件确认。 目前，我对这家Apple Store的信任度不高，也不想等待2周才能发现他们从未订购过该产品！

新的iMac到货 (The new iMac arrives)

10 days later I get an automated email from Apple saying that my product is ready to pick up. Naturally collecting the thing was not going to be straightforward. At no point during this process had I been asked for ID (and I must be fairly well known down at that store now) but when I turned up I was blocked by a fairly rude chap demanding photo ID. Despite my wallet full of cards, the fact I could tell them in detail the history of this case, log into my Apple account etc. he was demanding I return home through the Bristol traffic on the hottest day of the year to get my driving license. I am very grumpy at this point and not about to do that.

10天后，我收到了来自Apple的自动电子邮件，说我的产品可以上架了。 自然地收集东西并不是一件容易的事。 在此过程中的任何时候都没有要求我提供证件（现在必须在那家商店里很出名），但是当我出现时，却被一个要求我出示证件的粗鲁小伙子挡住了。 尽管我的钱包里满是卡片，但我可以详细告诉他们这起案件的历史，登录我的Apple帐户等。他要求我在一年中最热的一天通过布里斯托尔的交通回家，以获得驾驶执照。 在这一点上，我非常脾气暴躁，不打算那样做。

I asked to see Tim. Tim was on a break (or hiding from me, I’m not sure). While this is ongoing Drew is returning the “borrowed” iMac.

我要见蒂姆。 蒂姆休息了（或者不确定躲在我身旁）。 在此过程中，Drew将返回“借来的” iMac。

Eventually the Genius team lead shows up, at the same time my phone is ringing. He is identifying me by calling my phone. Common sense at last, you can see why this one is the leader of the Geniuses.

最终，Genius团队负责人出现了，同时我的电话响了。 他通过打我的电话来识别我。 最后，根据常识，您可以了解为什么这个人是天才的领袖。

Having found a Genius with common sense I finally am presented with a new iMac. It’s very nice, although somewhat annoyingly the original Mac had upgraded memory and this one is just as standard. However at this point I just wanted to get out of there with a machine I could work on.

找到具有常识的Genius后，我终于得到了新的iMac。 这非常好，尽管最初的Mac有点烦人，但已经升级了内存，而且这是标准配置。 但是在这一点上，我只想带着可以使用的机器走出去。

结果 (The outcome)

Ultimately, after just under three weeks I’ve ended up with a brand new iMac. That is obviously very nice however I’ve lost several days work in the process. I would be wary of taking a Mac into store for repair again.

最终，在不到三周的时间里，我最终获得了一台全新的iMac。 显然，这很好，但是我在此过程中损失了几天的工作。 如果将Mac重新带入​​维修店，我会有所戒心。

I get the feeling that Apple employees are working very much to written guidelines for each procedure. They are mostly very friendly and pleasant, even when dealing with a cross and frustrated me, but have no idea what to do when it all goes wrong. Hopefully that is indicative of the fact that breaking a customer’s computer is a massively rare exception.

我感觉到Apple员工在每个程序的书面指导方面都非常努力。 他们大多数时候都非常友好和愉悦，即使与十字架打交道时也让我感到沮丧，但不知道当一切出错时该怎么办。 希望这表明事实是，破坏客户的计算机是极为罕见的例外。

Communication relied on getting to speak to the same person each time, despite all of the systems they have to track things. If I couldn’t get hold of Tim then I would be given the brush off or having to explain the situation again. This was just incredibly frustrating and I know I was the grumpiest customer on the phone, but after battling the automated system and then having to explain the sorry tale again and again, by the time I got to someone who could help another 20 minutes had been taken out of my day.

交流依赖于每次都与同一个人说话，尽管他们必须跟踪所有系统。 如果我无法掌握蒂姆，那么我将被轻描淡写或不得不再次说明情况。 这真是令人沮丧，我知道我是电话上最脾气暴躁的客户，但是在与自动化系统抗争之后，不得不一次又一次地解释这个遗憾的故事，等到我能再帮助20分钟的时候，带走了我的一天。

Two employees – the phone support and the person who initially checked my Mac in gave me an estimate of a couple of days. It would have been better had they stated their standard 5 to 10 days initially. I would have limped along with the thing until the next time I was away traveling had I know that, as the error was intermittent. So the stress of the issue would have been stopped with a proper estimate from the outset.

两名员工–电话支持人员和最初检查我的Mac的人给了我几天的估计时间。 如果他们最初说出标准5到10天，那就更好了。 如果我知道那件事，我会一直拖延直到下次我出门旅行时，因为错误是断断续续的。 因此，从一开始就通过适当的估计就可以消除问题的压力。

Why do Apple Stores not have easy access to common components? I would have thought Apple, with their set number of configurations, could manage that. The delays were caused by them replacing one thing, testing, scratching their heads and ordering the next thing it could be. Another day or two to wait to try that next thing.

为什么Apple Store商店无法轻松访问通用组件？ 我本来以为苹果凭借其一定数量的配置可以解决这个问题。 延迟是由于他们更换了一件东西，测试，挠头并订购了下一件可能造成的。 再过一两天，等待下一个尝试。

I’ve heard from other people that the advice to buy and return an item under the 14 day money back guarantee is common. I now know where all those refurb machines come from!

我从其他人那里听说，根据14天退款保证购买和退回物品的建议很普遍。 我现在知道所有这些翻新机器的来源！

I’ve learned since this that Apple have a business programme, paid entry, that does entitle you a loan Mac in these situations. When I handed in the iMac at the start I mentioned it was a machine I used to run my business – at that point you would have thought they would try and sell the business programme to a customer.

从那以后，我了解到Apple拥有一项业务计划，即付费项目，在这种情况下确实可以为您提供Mac的贷款。 当我刚开始交付iMac时，我提到这是一台我用来经营业务的机器–那时，您可能以为他们会尝试将业务程序出售给客户。

I would have liked Apple to have been more clear as to what they do with the data on machines they are taking in and swapping. Had the machine booted the leader of the Geniuses would have reformatted the disk in front of me, it didn’t boot so he couldn’t. I was assured the drive would be securely wiped but that really is something that should be given more attention by Apple.

我希望苹果公司能够更清楚地知道它们如何处理正在接收和交换的计算机上的数据。 如果计算机启动了，Geniuses的负责人会重新格式化我面前的磁盘，但它没有启动，所以他无法启动。 我确信该驱动器将被安全擦除，但这确实是Apple应该给予更多注意的地方。

This is the first time I’ve taken anything into an Apple Store for repair. Prior to moving to Bristol we used a local authorized repair centre who were fantastic. Ultimately the resolution of getting a new iMac is great, it’s just a shame getting to this point was so stressful and time-consuming, especially as many of the issues were just ones of communication.

这是我第一次将任何东西带到Apple Store进行维修。 在搬到布里斯托尔之前，我们使用了当地一家很棒的授权维修中心。 最终，获得一台新iMac的分辨率很棒，这是一个令人遗憾的事情，因为这是如此压力和时间，特别是因为许多问题只是通讯方面的问题。

I’ve really just written this up for anyone following the ongoing saga on Twitter. However I’d love to know if this is a bizarre exception, or whether staying away from Apple stores for repairs is a good plan. The positive thing is that ultimately, and perhaps because it was an official Apple Store, they were able to just replace the machine. So that might be a reason to use an Apple Store over an Authorized Repair Centre, however I do wonder if more care and attention is taken at a Repair Centre as their reputation relies on not destroying customer equipment.

我真的是为跟随Twitter上不断发生的传奇的任何人写的。 但是，我很想知道这是否是一个奇怪的例外，还是不去Apple商店进行维修是一个好计划。 积极的是，最终，也许因为这是一家官方的Apple Store，他们才能够更换机器。 因此，这可能是在授权维修中心使用Apple Store的原因，但是我确实想知道维修中心是否需要更多的照顾和关注，因为他们的声誉依赖于不破坏客户设备。