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Raise Hell with Apple?

B

basketballbrian

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 20, 2012
9
0
Okay, a little background.

Two weeks ago my rMBP's logic board goes out. The warranty had JUST expired (less than a month!) so I had to pay $310 dollars to fix it.

As soon as I get it back, I start listening to music and notice that one of the speakers sounds like it has a short, making all kinds of weird noises. I took it back and they acknowledged that it was their fault, and covered under "repeated repair" for free.

I get it back today, and when I was using it tonight i notice that the keyboard backlight doesn't work at all! No matter the brightness it's set to, it doesn't light up. It was definitely not like that before the last repair.

So my question is: do I raise hell with apple about the low quality of their repairs? Im a student, and having to repeatedly make two trips to the apple store to drop it off and pick it up is extremely inconvenient to me. The nearest Apple store is an hour and a half away, and I typically have to call off work to go.

My dad thinks they might give me some sort of reimbursement if i make it a big deal. Is it worth it?
 
Okay, Ill probably try calling apple care. This is a stupid question but...Ive never really done anything like this before. What exactly should i say when i call? That i have a complaint? That im not satisfied with their service?
 
basketballbrian said:
Okay, Ill probably try calling apple care. This is a stupid question but...Ive never really done anything like this before. What exactly should i say when i call? That i have a complaint? That im not satisfied with their service?
Click to expand...

Don't lie, just say something along the lines of:

"I spent my hard earned money on what I believed to be a very high quality product. When the laptop experienced problems, I spent more of my valuable money, as well as time to get it repaired. Each repair has led to more problems, and I am extremely dissatisfied with this and the trouble it has caused me."

Or at least something like that.
 
Don't lie and just tell your story. Based on what you have posted here I would be very unhappy with Apple's quality of work.

Just curious, what are you hoping to receive from Apple to feel better about these problems?
 
If I was you, I would try to get the email of as many customer relation executives at apple as you can and explain to them in detail your experience and how displeased you are with their customer service. somebody will get back to you.
 
basketballbrian said:
Okay, Ill probably try calling apple care. This is a stupid question but...Ive never really done anything like this before. What exactly should i say when i call? That i have a complaint? That im not satisfied with their service?
Click to expand...

Just make sure to tell them the truth, because they will go back and check their notes.

When you call, ask for Customer Relations. The advisor will ask what for, just tell them that you have taken your laptop in for multiple repairs to the local Apple Store and both times it came back with another issue.

The automated system (and possibly the advisor if they don't know the rules) will tell you that you will need a Support Agreement. Not ture. One is not needed to talk to Customer Relations plus you should be covered by the fact that you paid for the repair.

Now they may offer you a few different fixes. Usually, they will just ask you to send the machine to Apple in an overnight box that they will send you and it will go to the depot. There, full diagnostics will be run on the machine and parts will be replaced as needed. Sometimes, they will refund the cost of the repair and repair the machine but do not expect that outcome. Finally, there have been a few times where Apple will replace the machine out right due to the nature of the faults and the cost of the repairs.

Whatever you do however, do not pay for another repair if the new issue is due to the repairs done by Apple. Those issues are their fault since they caused them. I have had this happen to me multiple times on multiple machines. One that sticks out in my mind is when they replaced a fan in my brothers MacBook Pro and left the speaker cable unplugged.
 
I'm currently in an ongoing dispute with Apple after a service provider replace my retina screen (with a poor quality one, which is according to the engineers "acceptable) - it also came back scratched.

I contacted Customer relations who told me there is nothing they can do so I wrote to Tim Cook. 2 days later an Executive from Customer relations called be back saying the same thing, but that they will "investigate" the case again. I'm now waiting for another call back, after the Country manager has decided the outcome of my case. One thing they don't know is that I personally contacted the service provider to ask them to illustrate where they claim the scratches were already present when they received my Mac... I already knew they were lying and now I have proof because they have indicated the scratch in the completely opposite location.

All in all I've spoke with at least 4 Applecare technicians, 2 senior service persons, 3 Customer relations persons and now one Executive.

Totally unacceptable for Apple and at the minimum I'm asking for a full refund. I'll post what happens if they bother to call me back today. Don't accept anything as it is. Keep going.
 
You might be eligible for a replacement computer at this point. I would press for it.
 
It is probably not possible to 'raise hell' without breaking the law or the usual social rules, but other than that, give it a go...
 
I would definitely tell them the truth in a no-nonsense manner. I think you deserve a brand new replacement or at least a good condition refurb. I think when Apple adopts the Amazon and Zappos customer care mantra then people will literally worship the brand.

Apple Church anyone?
 
I would call and state my case clearly, don't lie.
However, reps are more willing to help if you are nice to them. Please don't say something like "I spend my hard earned money and you guys messed up my computer" or something accusatory and angry like that. Customer service people get a lot of crap from people and they will treat you as another rude idiot and refuse to go out of their way to help you... trust me, I've dealt with customer service people from many companies, it's always a whole lot easier if you keep your temper and tone in check...

blueflower said:
I would definitely tell them the truth in a no-nonsense manner. I think you deserve a brand new replacement or at least a good condition refurb. I think when Apple adopts the Amazon and Zappos customer care mantra then people will literally worship the brand.

Apple Church anyone?
Click to expand...

Dah revolution has already started!
 
basketballbrian said:
Okay, a little background.

Two weeks ago my rMBP's logic board goes out. The warranty had JUST expired (less than a month!) so I had to pay $310 dollars to fix it.

As soon as I get it back, I start listening to music and notice that one of the speakers sounds like it has a short, making all kinds of weird noises. I took it back and they acknowledged that it was their fault, and covered under "repeated repair" for free.

I get it back today, and when I was using it tonight i notice that the keyboard backlight doesn't work at all! No matter the brightness it's set to, it doesn't light up. It was definitely not like that before the last repair.

So my question is: do I raise hell with apple about the low quality of their repairs? Im a student, and having to repeatedly make two trips to the apple store to drop it off and pick it up is extremely inconvenient to me. The nearest Apple store is an hour and a half away, and I typically have to call off work to go.

My dad thinks they might give me some sort of reimbursement if i make it a big deal. Is it worth it?
Click to expand...

Shouldn't of had to pay for it since it had just expired. You should get you're money back.
 
RianT said:
I would call and state my case clearly, don't lie.
However, reps are more willing to help if you are nice to them. Please don't say something like "I spend my hard earned money and you guys messed up my computer" or something accusatory and angry like that. Customer service people get a lot of crap from people and they will treat you as another rude idiot and refuse to go out of their way to help you... trust me, I've dealt with customer service people from many companies, it's always a whole lot easier if you keep your temper and tone in check...



Dah revolution has already started!
Click to expand...

Lol :D

I don't mean anything other than I really thing they should take a page from the books of some of the customer care leaders in business now. Companies like amazon are the standard.
 
NStocks said:
I'm currently in an ongoing dispute with Apple after a service provider replace my retina screen (with a poor quality one, which is according to the engineers "acceptable) - it also came back scratched.

I contacted Customer relations who told me there is nothing they can do so I wrote to Tim Cook. 2 days later an Executive from Customer relations called be back saying the same thing, but that they will "investigate" the case again. I'm now waiting for another call back, after the Country manager has decided the outcome of my case. One thing they don't know is that I personally contacted the service provider to ask them to illustrate where they claim the scratches were already present when they received my Mac... I already knew they were lying and now I have proof because they have indicated the scratch in the completely opposite location.

All in all I've spoke with at least 4 Applecare technicians, 2 senior service persons, 3 Customer relations persons and now one Executive.

Totally unacceptable for Apple and at the minimum I'm asking for a full refund. I'll post what happens if they bother to call me back today. Don't accept anything as it is. Keep going.
Click to expand...

I can't say that i understand your aggregation... I'm assuming you took it to a third party service center, and you want apple to resolve the issue you have with that third party service provider... why not raise hell with that service provider?
 
I don't understand why you would need to push this past AppleCare or apple retail. Bring it in and see if they can repair the topcase as a priority repair - which should be back in your hands within 24 hours.

Also, getting a new machine would require 3 major repairs. Speakers and topcase are not considered so. I definitely understand the frustration but other than resolving the issue don't expect anything extra.

Kushp14 said:
Shouldn't of had to pay for it since it had just expired. You should get you're money back.
Click to expand...
Disagree. Just expired warranty is an expired warranty. There is no gray area.
 
you won't be getting a replacement rMBP that's for sure - but you could try and get some sort of extended warranty on the macbook. tell the whole story and say that each time you bring it in, the repair personnel creates a new problem and causes additional damage. say that you have lost confidence in the quality of repairs and that you feel your computer has been damaged in multiple ways and you are worried what you're unable to see on the inside. ask for an extended warranty to cover any future issues that may not arise tomorrow but could pop up in the future due to other damages they caused
 
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