£302 for an 8800GT lol wow

r44b · 12 Oct 2009 at 20:49

I made a post not so long ago that i was having issues with my graphics card overheating and causing freezes and artifacts. I thought i fixed the issue and it had been working fine for over a week.
On sunday i turn the machine on (2008 mac pro) and it just sits at max fan speed with a black screen, graphics card did a /suicide.

So i phone apple today and go through the routine, they offer to send out a new card which i happily accept (its under warranty btw).

I was told i would have to give them 'cc' details which i expected and gave. I was told the new card was worth £200 and thats how much id need to have in the account etc etc.
However, after waiting for the lady on the phone to fill in my details, my eyes nearly popped out their sockets when i was informed that if i didnt comply with the return i would be charged £302.... :eek:

£302 for an 8800GT......its worth what? A 3rd of that?

Dont get me wrong i love my apple, but they don't do themselves any favors do they :/
I actually did a comic gulp down the phone without realising it when i heard the price.

Feek · 12 Oct 2009 at 20:58

That seems excessive, I bought the 8800GT from Apple when I got my Mac Pro (same model as you) and it cost me £170. I don't know where the difference has come from.

Gerard · 12 Oct 2009 at 20:58

Ah yes but the extra cost is probably due to the fact that somewhere on the pcb theres a microsocopic apple logo. :eek:

r44b · 12 Oct 2009 at 21:08

Feek said:
That seems excessive, I bought the 8800GT from Apple when I got my Mac Pro (same model as you) and it cost me £170. I don't know where the difference has come from.

That's what i was thinking.

Maybe apple treat hardware like fine wine and in fact the price goes up depending on the vintage?

PardonTheWait · 12 Oct 2009 at 21:18

Feek said:
That seems excessive, I bought the 8800GT from Apple when I got my Mac Pro (same model as you) and it cost me £170. I don't know where the difference has come from.

Is that the one I sold you?

gurusan · 12 Oct 2009 at 21:19

can't you just grab a 2nd hand one and flash it with an apple bios?

Feek · 12 Oct 2009 at 21:42

PardonTheWait said:
Is that the one I sold you?

Yes!

Then I went away, grabbed some more cash and came back and bought the AppleTV from someone else because you were busy!

gurusan said:
can't you just grab a 2nd hand one and flash it with an apple bios?

Why would he want to when the one he has is in warranty?

J1234 · 12 Oct 2009 at 21:53

That's Apple for you, everything is a rip off. Worth it though.

Slogan · 12 Oct 2009 at 22:06

Justin said:
That's Apple for you, everything is a rip off. Worth it though.

Definitely.

gurusan · 12 Oct 2009 at 23:06

Feek said:
Why would he want to when the one he has is in warranty?

ah i didn't read the OP properly.

tsinc80697 · 12 Oct 2009 at 23:18

Surely if your card is under warranty then £302 for a new card renders the warranty pointless?

I bought my 8800GT brand new for about £120 then flashed it. No way in hell is it worth £302!

Can you not buy a brand new one, that can be flashed, and save yourself nearly £200?

PardonTheWait · 12 Oct 2009 at 23:20

tsinc80697 said:
Surely if your card is under warranty then £302 for a new card renders the warranty pointless?

I bought my 8800GT brand new for about £120 then flashed it. No way in hell is it worth £302!

Can you not buy a brand new one, that can be flashed, and save yourself nearly £200?

They take card details so that if you don't return your faulty item they charge you for it.

Basically they take card details
send replacement
you pack and send the original faulty item
and you don't get charged

They only charge you if you don't return the original item.

"andy" · 12 Oct 2009 at 23:43

PardonTheWait said:
They only charge you if you don't return the original item.

by which time if your out to scam you would have cancelled your card. pointless excersise imo

VeNT · 13 Oct 2009 at 08:55

Justin said:
That's Apple for you, everything is a rip off. Worth it though.

errr, how is a 2 year + old card worth 2-3 times it's original value.

Combat squirrel · 13 Oct 2009 at 09:30

Why don't they adopt the policy of you send them your stuffed card, then they send u a replacement...no card details involved, it's not like your mac pro is working anyway...

r44b · 13 Oct 2009 at 09:38

Combat squirrel said:
Why don't they adopt the policy of you send them your stuffed card, then they send u a replacement...no card details involved, it's not like your mac pro is working anyway...

Because the customer receives the card quicker and therefore has a working machine sooner.
Otherwise I would have to wait for it to ship, them to confirm it, maybe test it, before sending out the replacement. Which could mean I'm out of action for a week or more. Which in my case is not acceptable.

The £302 just covers them in case of loss. In other words if i try to rob them of a new card by lying about my old one being broken, they will in turn rob me of £302 (quite ironic really :rolleyes:

)

J1234 · 13 Oct 2009 at 18:19

VeNT said:
errr, how is a 2 year + old card worth 2-3 times it's original value.

Actually your right, it's a complete rip off. I mean Macs as a whole are worth the extra, in my opinion of course.

rscosworth · 14 Oct 2009 at 14:17

Theres no reason why they cannot do a courier swap.

Courier turns up with replacement and receives the faulty part from you within an agreed 10minute timeframe.

Courier packages up card and it gets a returns sticker on it back to apple.

You have replacement which you fit.

Happy Days......this is how the warranty CRU (customer replacable unit) system works for the company im involved in....