Apple damaged an iMac Pro while trying to repair it

 Apple has long been hailed for its excellent customer service and stellar repair experience. Apple’s Geniuses (the company’s term for repair technicians) are widely regarded as some of the best in the business That’s why it is so surprising to see certified Geniuses severely damage an iMac Pro, the company’s most expensive desktop computer, in a botched attempt to repair a flawed accessory sporting Apple’s brand.

Quinn of YouTube channel Snazzy Labs posted a video yesterday of his experience with Apple’s “repair” of a broken iMac Pro VESA mount. In the video (below), Quinn details how the VESA mount, sold by Apple directly for USD $80, broke when he tried to remove it from his machine for a video. One of the five screws used to secure the mount snapped in half during the removal process, permanently lodging the threaded shaft of the screw in of the mounting holes, rendering the mount non-removable.

After a useless conversation with Apple’s customer service, in which the service representative stated that Apple did not support the VESA mount despite it carrying Apple’s brand, Quinn took the machine to his local Apple Store to have the mount removed and replaced. The store promised to have the iMac Pro repaired and ready for pickup in 3-5 days. However, the device was not ready until 14 days after the initial drop-off. When Quinn finally picked up his device, the original stand that shipped with the iMac Pro was heavily scratched and its anchor points were warped and rendered useless.

The store offered to replace the stand and didn’t charge Quinn for the repair. Unfortunately, upon inspecting the iMac Pro for any further damage, Quinn noticed several nicks and a severe scratch along the bottom of the VESA mount. Also, when he attempted to remove the VESA mount installed by the Apple Store, a screw once again snapped in half and became stuck in its hole. That makes two VESA mounts breaking on the first removal attempt.

While this is an isolated event, it’s alarming that Apple’s Geniuses lacked proper training in the repair and maintenance of a $5,000+ desktop machine. When Quinn communicated with the Apple Store over the course of the repair, he was told that a single Genius was trained on repairing the iMac Pro. Based on his experience, the quality of the Genius’s training was lackluster. This isn’t the Apple of old. Considering the recent news concerning the MacBook Pro’s flawed keyboard design and the iPhone 6’s poor chassis quality, there has been an alarming decline in Apple’s quality control of late.

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