Your wins: Faulty $8499 Apple iMac Pro repaired

Tauranga-based Consumer member Adam got in touch about his four-year-old iMac Pro computer, which would no longer turn on. He had paid $8499 for it, and had also purchased an extended warranty for two more years.

The only certified Apple repairer in his area initially thought it was a power supply fault, so Adam paid $490 for a new part. But once that part was replaced, the technician contacted him to say the iMac still would not start, and it appeared the motherboard was also faulty. The repairer quoted him $4200 to fix the problem. The technician also told him it was unusual for such a high-end product to completely fail after only four years.

Adam got in touch with Apple Support, and was connected to a service agent in Australia.

“I told him I wanted to make a claim under the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act, since my research had suggested an iMac should last seven to eight years. He said he needed to escalate the request to the ‘level two’ team for consideration. Two days later, the same agent phoned me back and said my request had been declined.”

He questioned this and eventually spoke to a supervisor at the call centre, who offered to cover the initial $490 for the power supply part, but not the motherboard.

That’s when Adam got in touch with our consumer adviser, who told him the best course of action was to lodge a case with the Disputes Tribunal under the Consumer Guarantees Act, seeking a full refund of the money he paid for the computer in 2018. Adam did this, and a hearing was set for April.

We suspected this might prompt Apple to act, and it did. Just three days before the hearing was due to take place, Apple got in touch with Adam to say it would cover the full cost of the repair.