Flat-rate Apple repairs

ameridebi said:

I just came back from the Apple Store, and yes, Apple does have a flat rate repair service. I will tell you exactly how they make it cost effective. They tell you you need a new logic board and that you will save money by going for the $280 flat rate repair service, and then replace the heatsink. I feel totally duped, but I haven't read any other accounts online of others being swindled like that. I might write a letter to Apple.

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I just experienced keyboard/mouse freezes, then random shutdowns, and finally when I try to power up my Macbook all it does is turn on in sleep mode. Keyboard is unresponsive and the screen doesn't go on, but I hear the hard drive spinning. Could this really be the logic board? I was fed the same story from Apple today; must be the logic board + $280 flat rate fix = great deal for you!

I'm wondering if this is a common issue that could most likely be resolved with a cheap DIY fix.

Or the fact that their logic boards probably actually cost them about 100 dollars.

Is logic board always the story from Apple store to get you to spend the money

on an old Mac?

Now I am feeling nervous after reading all this. I took a few days to deliberate after taking my 2006 Powerbook Pro into the Apple store.

They had just repaired my newer Powerbook Pro under warranty (failed hard drive), so I figured I would see if they could determine the problem with my older unit that was consistently freezing and having screen distortions. They said they tried a few things and couldn't figure out the problem (ran a hardware test that supposedly came back clean), so they believe it is the logic board since I just put a new hard drive in it. Of course that means they recommended I send it in for the $310 flat rate repair.

I finally gave them the okay today, but now wondering if they scare everyone with the story that it is logic board repair which would cost over $600 for them to repair in the store and then it ends up being something that would be far less than $310 to repair.

Do others have experience with that? I am not made of money and it was a tough decision whether to even repair such an old unit - I would hate to have been duped into spending more money than necessary.

Thanks for any feedback/experience.

I am brining this back as well, just because my gf 2006 macbook pro keyboard is working here and there some keys work some dont, so I want to figure out what the cost is gonna be.

Flat rate repairs.

Hello, Im new here but just wanted to register and chime in here. Im having some similar issues and recently have been going between visiting the apple store and also calling a support advisor.

Now firstly let me tell you my problem(s)... about 3 mos ago I bought a 17" MBP from a guy that was selling it because it was in disarray and he wanted premium dollar for it. So upon inspecting the unit which has noticeable damage and did not work properly and the batter was expanded I told this gentleman that I could not pay 1200 for his laptop and with the repairs needed would not pay more than 400. A few mins later he decided he wanted to sell anyways and gave it to me at that price.

So I started to review articles on how to fix HDD issues, it took forever to boot up, had been dropped several times has damage to the case etc, I ordered a replacement OS disk for 17 dollars from apple then I reinstalled and semi fixed the long boot time. Now my only issue is that it doesn't wake up the screen after I open the lid on the machine.

So with no DIY fixes in sight I decided to take it to apple for their advice, plus I read online that it might be a failing video card as it has the 8600gt card that has been recalled etc.

So I took the machine in and we sat there at the genius bar for 45 mins while she tried everything to get it to run the tests. She eventually gave up, she said its taking to long to boot, wouldn't boot off her diagnosis drives and so she said I can send it for flat rate repairs at a cost of $310 which I was in shock of and didn't follow completely to start. So I asked if she could explain.

The reason she said they do that is for customer loyalty. She proceeded to tell me that with the flat rate repair they would fix anything and everything that was wrong with my macbook pro for that $310 as long as there was no water damage inside the machine. She said it would cover the logic board, the hdd, the video card, the screen and the isight camera and the bottom case where it is dented. Made me very happy because I only paid 400 and with this repair I can still sell the machine for around 900 and make roughly $150 on it or I can keep it if I want. I will probably sell it and get my money out of it since they are going to fix everything. But thats now and today, they do offer the service and it is a part of a tiered service plan they have.

But it does cover anything and everything that is wrong for the same price.

Joshernaut said:

Hello, Im new here but just wanted to register and chime in here. Im having some similar issues and recently have been going between visiting the apple store and also calling a support advisor.

Now firstly let me tell you my problem(s)... about 3 mos ago I bought a 17" MBP from a guy that was selling it because it was in disarray and he wanted premium dollar for it. So upon inspecting the unit which has noticeable damage and did not work properly and the batter was expanded I told this gentleman that I could not pay 1200 for his laptop and with the repairs needed would not pay more than 400. A few mins later he decided he wanted to sell anyways and gave it to me at that price.

So I started to review articles on how to fix HDD issues, it took forever to boot up, had been dropped several times has damage to the case etc, I ordered a replacement OS disk for 17 dollars from apple then I reinstalled and semi fixed the long boot time. Now my only issue is that it doesn't wake up the screen after I open the lid on the machine.

So with no DIY fixes in sight I decided to take it to apple for their advice, plus I read online that it might be a failing video card as it has the 8600gt card that has been recalled etc.

So I took the machine in and we sat there at the genius bar for 45 mins while she tried everything to get it to run the tests. She eventually gave up, she said its taking to long to boot, wouldn't boot off her diagnosis drives and so she said I can send it for flat rate repairs at a cost of $310 which I was in shock of and didn't follow completely to start. So I asked if she could explain.

The reason she said they do that is for customer loyalty. She proceeded to tell me that with the flat rate repair they would fix anything and everything that was wrong with my macbook pro for that $310 as long as there was no water damage inside the machine. She said it would cover the logic board, the hdd, the video card, the screen and the isight camera and the bottom case where it is dented. Made me very happy because I only paid 400 and with this repair I can still sell the machine for around 900 and make roughly $150 on it or I can keep it if I want. I will probably sell it and get my money out of it since they are going to fix everything. But thats now and today, they do offer the service and it is a part of a tiered service plan they have.

But it does cover anything and everything that is wrong for the same price.

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Got a picture of the repair bill? Would love to see it.

I have had several Macs repaired for me and my clients. There is/was a tier pricing and in those tiers Apple will replace everything up to the major part being replaced. So many of them came back with new top covers, new keyboard trackpad covers, bottom cases, etc.

All within the tier pricing.

Never had a logic board replaced because I would not recommend that price level, but had other stuff done including media drives and HDs.

Only adding to this thread because it's a 1st page result on google for flat rate repairs and the information is still currently relevant.

Went in for an out of warranty free repair as per http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 and since it was outside of 4 years apple offered a flat rate repair based on the logic board replacement for $370 + tax (tennessee)

They said the difference is that a logic board repair is labor + a 400-600 part, the flat rate includes that part AND they will replace anything else they find bad including inverters, cables, heat sinks, power inverter boards, screens etc.

It's a pretty good deal considering an oem board will cost $250 used off ebay and I normally charge $85 an hour.

May not apply to all OOW repairs, but in the case of a known KB issue then it's likely it would be offered.

(I actually thank iWoot for causing enough controversy to facilitate this thread's a high page rank, .)

apple flat rate repair

is the flat rate option still available?

how do we find out whether it exists in countries outside the US?

I am in Europe and Mac advised my logic board needs replacement. Surprize surprize. Seems like everybody has a logic board problem.

It's an early 2011 model, which is relatively young to have such major problems, so I am quite unhappy and frustrated.

I don't know if I have any customer rights to avoid paying the 700$ they told me it would cost (labor + 'new' board)

Incagraphy said:

is the flat rate option still available?

how do we find out whether it exists in countries outside the US?

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Go into an Apple store in your country of residence (if available), and ask. In lieu of an Apple store find your nearest Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Many EU countries have additional consumer protections than are available in the states. Flat rate repairs are still an OOW (out of warranty) option in the states and I am quite certain should be also available in most of the world.

Good luck.

just to give an update:

I was put in touch with Apple Customer Relations in the UK, I believe. The phone numbers were not revealing and despite speaking to Germans too, most I spoke had varying UK accents.

they said the Flat Rate Repair is only in the US.
now, I have heard them say conflicting answers to different questions too, so don't take this as a sure thing.

I ended up replacing my logic board and the computer functions well now.