The graphics card failed to come on again this morning. After many restarts and pulling the power and the monitor connections, I eventually got it to boot back up with no screens attached. Then I plugged each one back in and everything came on.

In the mean time I had called AppleCare and they’re sending someone out to replace the card as it’s obviously flakey.

Everyone I spoke with was very friendly, but the one issue I ran into was the company they’ve contracted to come out (Unisys) has a phone number that I can’t actually call. A representative tried to call me while I was in the shower, left a message to call him back on 1800709440, and when I did return the call, I get the message “This number isn’t available from your phone service or area”. I have a standard $80 a month plan from Optus. Nothing special about it. So I tried through my VOIP line: no luck there. I tried through my housemates mobile on Vodafone. No luck there either.

So they only direct Apple related number this company seems to have can’t be called from three different lines. Surely I’m not the only person with this issue? After a Google I came across their main site’s contact details.

They don’t give a direct number for the centre closest to me, so I gave the 1300 number a call which worked. The answering service asked if I wanted help with my Dell product. I explained the situation and asked if they were in fact responsible for Apple repairs. “Yes, but that’s a different department. I’ll transfer you”. The next department couldn’t actually help me and offered to give me the same 1800 phone number. I asked if they could just transfer me, but they said no. I explained I couldn’t actually call that number and suddenly they could transfer me. Finally I got through to the person that had originally called me. He seemed to be aware that mobiles couldn’t call his number. I suggested perhaps this was an issue that should be looked into…

So in summary: a replacement card is on the way next week which should hopefully put this issue to rest. And seriously UniSys; roughly a third of the younger demographic don’t have landlines anymore. Get a number that mobiles can call!

Apple really needs to work out what the issue with these cards is. I’m not the only one having issues. Barefeats and MacPerformanceGuide also have plenty of people reporting similar glitches.