Remember the good old days, back before we were so hopelessly dependent upon computers for the majority of our communications? … Yeah, me neither…
So when my iMac, just two months out of warranty, randomly started flickering, the screen intermittently dimming for a few seconds, then brightening, then maybe staying bright for a few minutes, then flashing back to dim again, I totally freaked out.
As soon as possible, I took it to the closest authorized Apple dealer in the Washington Square Mall in Tigard, Oregon.
First off, you have to make an online appointment to bring in your computer. Secondly, when I arrived, the noise in that place was deafening. I had to raise my voice to talk to the young man at the “Genius Bar,” explaining the problem in several different ways just to be sure he heard me.
He said he’d never heard of such a thing, and that didn’t do much for my confidence level. My tech guy Rick had already gone to online forums and done some research and come up empty-handed, so I knew it wasn’t a common and easily fixable problem.
I had to leave my machine there for a week. They replaced the backlight board, or something like that. One hundred forty-six dollars later I took it home, and you guessed it—within 10 minutes it was evident it hadn’t been fixed. The same thing happens 10 to 20 times an hour, and it quite concentration-blowing.
So I called the Tigard number, but I got North Carolina. So I talked to the third guy I was transferred to for two hours. Still, the computer continued to dim out on me at random intervals. And all the while, I’m seething because I’m wasting time I had set aside to work on my book.
I received an online email survey about my service experience in Tigard. And I unloaded all my angst and grief over this unresolved issue and totally vented on the form!
I got a call within 48 hours. But the guy just told me to bring it back in…
That was the last straw for my thinly worn patience. Five to six hours round trip, once to take it in and once to pick it up, and who knows how much lost work time with a deadline for my manuscript looming in August. HELL NO, I’m not taking it back in… not just yet. And by the time I do return to Tigard, I’m hoping the problem happens lots more dependably, so they can’t tell me they watched it for 20 hours and thought it was fixed.
It turned out that I have 90 days “warranty” on this repair. So I can get my book finished and still have time to get it in there before they tell me I’m too late. And today is only day 32. I’m sure I can make it, provided the computer still functions on some level.
And that’s the problem… Now it’s gone totally dark on my twice! I mean the whole screen, blinko and GONE! Fortunately, I’ve been able to get my screen to return just as it left by turning it off and back on… But lordy! It scares the crap out me when that happens!
So don’t worry, you can bet your boots I’m backing everything up every 15 to 20 minutes. I’m not that techno-naïve!