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$975.54 to replace Powerbook G4 (aluminum) hard drive !!!!

A

almandog

macrumors newbie
Original poster
😕 I bought the Aluminum Porerbook in 2003 when it first hit the market, and it worked well up until I upgraded to Tiger. I am not saying that anything is wrong with the Cat, nor am I saying that it caused the problem. I am just telling you what happened. After upgrading to Tiger, I notice the computer would go to sleep intermittently after continuous usage. But the problem got worse and it would go to sleep even upon booting up. I went to the Apple Store and they did some checking and did some resetting. It seem to solve the problem. But within a day the same thing happen over again. I have "APPLE CARE", so I called up tech support and explained the situation. They sent me a box and I shipped the Powerbook to Apple. I called them up today to get as status on the repair and they told me that the hard drive is damaged due to an impact to the "Top Case" , and it will cost me $975.54 to replace the hard drive. WHAT????!!!. A few weeks after I bought the computer my cell phone fell on the mouse track surface, leaving a "pin head" size dent on it, and it never affected the mouse at all. Now Apple want to "RIP ME OFF" for $975.54. I Could buy three hard drive for that price. What is your experience? and what do you think about this. I am thinking of calling in CNN, 60 Minutes, Date Line, and Prime Time on this "RIP OFF" by Apple. 😱
 
almandog said:
😕 I bought the Aluminum Porerbook in 2003 when it first hit the market, and it worked well up until I upgraded to Tiger. I am not saying that anything is wrong with the Cat, nor am I saying that it caused the problem. I am just telling you what happened. After upgrading to Tiger, I notice the computer would go to sleep intermittently after continuous usage. But the problem got worse and it would go to sleep even upon booting up. I went to the Apple Store and they did some checking and did some resetting. It seem to solve the problem. But within a day the same thing happen over again. I have "APPLE CARE", so I called up tech support and explained the situation. They sent me a box and I shipped the Powerbook to Apple. I called them up today to get as status on the repair and they told me that the hard drive is damaged due to an impact to the "Top Case" , and it will cost me $975.54 to replace the hard drive. WHAT????!!!. A few weeks after I bought the computer my cell phone fell on the mouse track surface, leaving a "pin head" size dent on it, and it never affected the mouse at all. Now Apple want to "RIP ME OFF" for $975.54. I Could buy three hard drive for that price. What is your experience? and what do you think about this. I am thinking of calling in CNN, 60 Minutes, Date Line, and Prime Time on this "RIP OFF" by Apple. 😱
Click to expand...

wow that completely sucks... i feel for ya man. 😱
 
That's insane. You should be able to replace the hard drive yourself for only the cost of the hard drive... Powerbooks are user-serviceable*, aren't they?

* Meaning, you can open the case yourself and remove and replace the HD, for example.
 
#1) Calm down a tad.
#2) Get the estimate in writing first. You want to be sure what they are proposing to charge for. Likely they are replacing case components as well. They can't not fix whatever damaged parts there are.
#3) If the machine was damaged by a falling object, that is not coverable under Applecare, naturally.
#4) Get the machine back from them and install your own hard drive.
 
Sounds like typical Apple customer service. You should call them back and keep talking to higher and higher ups until someone agrees to fix it. I had a similar experience: they said my case was "bent" (my PB was 2 weeks old at the time) and that they would not fix it. I called them and stayed on hold for a while talking to superiors and eventually the third person gave me "a one time exception" and fixed my computer.

call them and don't let them go until they agree to fix it.
 
They tried to charge me $1000 for my LCD after having it 3 months. In my experience always take it to an Apple Store and have a Genius look at it. If they approve a fix for an Apple product apple must honor it.
 
aaandrewww said:
Sounds like typical Apple customer service. You should call them back and keep talking to higher and higher ups until someone agrees to fix it. I had a similar experience: they said my case was "bent" (my PB was 2 weeks old at the time) and that they would not fix it. I called them and stayed on hold for a while talking to superiors and eventually the third person gave me "a one time exception" and fixed my computer.

call them and don't let them go until they agree to fix it.
Click to expand...

same thing happened to me. i made a whole thread about it. they finally fixed it for free :-D

look for the thread it was called powerbook repair
 
PowerBooks are NOT user servicible.....

Only iMacs, PowerMacs are actually user servicible to the point where you can get to the logicboard without voiding the warranty.
 
mklos said:
PowerBooks are NOT user servicible.....

Only iMacs, PowerMacs are actually user servicible to the point where you can get to the logicboard without voiding the warranty.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Opening a Tibook or Albook is like trying to spay a mouse: Only for the experienced and highly trained specialist that knows what they're looking at.

You could open up an older PB G3 and do the work easily but the TiBook and AlBook are incredibly tightly sandwiched together.
 
aaandrewww said:
Sounds like typical Apple customer service. You should call them back and keep talking to higher and higher ups until someone agrees to fix it. I had a similar experience: they said my case was "bent" (my PB was 2 weeks old at the time) and that they would not fix it. I called them and stayed on hold for a while talking to superiors and eventually the third person gave me "a one time exception" and fixed my computer.

call them and don't let them go until they agree to fix it.
Click to expand...

Just like anything else with service warrenties. Just keep bitching till you get what you want. It will happen. I would say just install your own hard drive, but since you have applecare, keep bitching.
 
almandog said:
😕 I bought the Aluminum Porerbook in 2003 when it first hit the market, and it worked well up until I upgraded to Tiger. I am not saying that anything is wrong with the Cat, nor am I saying that it caused the problem. I am just telling you what happened. After upgrading to Tiger, I notice the computer would go to sleep intermittently after continuous usage. But the problem got worse and it would go to sleep even upon booting up. I went to the Apple Store and they did some checking and did some resetting. It seem to solve the problem. But within a day the same thing happen over again. I have "APPLE CARE", so I called up tech support and explained the situation. They sent me a box and I shipped the Powerbook to Apple. I called them up today to get as status on the repair and they told me that the hard drive is damaged due to an impact to the "Top Case" , and it will cost me $975.54 to replace the hard drive. WHAT????!!!. A few weeks after I bought the computer my cell phone fell on the mouse track surface, leaving a "pin head" size dent on it, and it never affected the mouse at all. Now Apple want to "RIP ME OFF" for $975.54. I Could buy three hard drive for that price. What is your experience? and what do you think about this. I am thinking of calling in CNN, 60 Minutes, Date Line, and Prime Time on this "RIP OFF" by Apple. 😱
Click to expand...


That's an insane price for a harddrive replacement. I can't imagine thats all they intend to do. They must be replacing part of the case as well (even then its still out of proportion). I was quoted just over 1000 euros for a replacement screen on my tibook last year (I stood on it). That included the housing around the screen as well, and screens are considerably more expensive than HDs. I'd double check what they actually plan on fixing.

If you do choose the "i'm not hanging up till I get it for free" path, then make sure you don't get real pissed off too early in the conversation. Just get gradually more annoyed, the more people you speak to. Stay well behaved though. Cursing and stuff won't do you any good.
 
almandog said:
😕 Now Apple want to "RIP ME OFF" for $975.54. I Could buy three hard drive for that price. What is your experience? and what do you think about this. I am thinking of calling in CNN, 60 Minutes, Date Line, and Prime Time on this "RIP OFF" by Apple. 😱
Click to expand...

Go to http://www.techrestore.com/xcart/home.php?cat=255 you can have them replace the hard drive in 24 hours. They will even transfer your data to the new drive.
 
Same thing happened to my old eMac. I was going to have to pay $500 bucks for it but I yelled at the poor AppleCare guy until he got me a mananger. I think that if I hadn't calmed down a bit I could had gotten Jobs himself 😛
 
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