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Apple Repair TOOK my Intel X-25M SSD and replaced it with a HDD 250gb 5400RPM.

T

turugara

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2009
146
0
Pennsylvania
I had an issue with the 9600m GT Graphics card a few weeks ago where the graphics card wouldn't display anything when plugged into an external monitor. The apple store checked it out and said the logic board was faulty and that it would need to be replaced under warranty. (Late 2008 15" macbook pro).

When I received the laptop back, they not only replaced the logic board, but they also replaced the SSD with a 250gb 5400rpm hard drive. I called in and, after being upgraded to the top level supervisor, he said that all of the hard drives being replaced were sent to be refurbished or recycled and that my hard drive had a fault in it so they replaced it. He says that they restore it to the apple original condition and originally they sold it with a 250gb hard drive in it so that's what they replaced it with. Their policy is that only if they replace aftermarket ram with apple ram will they return the aftermarket parts back to you. This repair was conducted yesterday, the 15th of January by apple Tech ID #612525.

I don't expect to get my data back, but if anyone has any idea on how I can get my hard drive back, I'd be willing to reward $100. A new Intel SSD X25-M G2 would be around 250 so I wouldn't want to do that.

I've been on the phone all day with the apple support so I am very frustrated right now. Anyone have any ideas?
 
That's absolutely ridiculous. Wow. I'm interested to see how this turns out. That's gotta suck. :(
 
I've never heard of them returning the ram, I have heard of them trashing the ram.

This is the first I have heard about a hard drive getting replaced, but it doesn't shock me given what they seem to do with ram.
 
no luck with getting that back,

that stuff disappears....its shipped back to a place which tests and throws out not working hardware.


talk to customer relations, they will sort that out.

demand a replacement SSD
 
At the very very least, I just want to know why, after 24 hours, can they not locate the hard drive that they just replaced. I have the technician's ID and BEAR License.

I told the supervisor I was willing to pay for all costs of returning the SSD. He told me he was unable to locate it because it has already been recycled or refurbished.

I then told him that Apple doesn't sell Intel SSD X25-Ms. It can't be refurbished.

He then said sorry, there's nothing he can do further. I asked for his supervisor, he said that his supervisor doesn't receive phone calls. He is the last on the tier.

I guess I'll call back again in a few hours.
 
turugara said:
At the very very least, I just want to know why, after 24 hours, can they not locate the hard drive that they just replaced. I have the technician's ID and BEAR License.

I told the supervisor I was willing to pay for all costs of returning the SSD. He told me he was unable to locate it because it has already been recycled or refurbished.

I then told him that Apple doesn't sell Intel SSD X25-Ms. It can't be refurbished.

He then said sorry, there's nothing he can do further. I asked for his supervisor, he said that his supervisor doesn't receive phone calls. He is the last on the tier.

I guess I'll call back again in a few hours.
Click to expand...

call back and ask for customer relations....


your wasting your time with applecare/support

customer relations can make things happen.
 
Now see there, see what happened there? If I were in that position I'd be raising thirteen kinds of hell all up on dis!

See that, yeah I multiplied my kinds of hell by 1.3.

At any rate, didn't they tell you over the phone to put back all of the original parts before shipping? They told me each time I had mine sent in.
 
Awful policy if true. I would write a formal letter to both the service center and the corporate offices at Apple.

Also, be skeptical when someone claims that his supervisor doesn't take calls.
 
I tell everybody who I know who gets their gets the notebooks serviced at Apple to put in the original RAM and HDD if they can before bringing it to the Genius Bar. If something gets stolen, in most cases, their isn't always sufficient evidence on your side to prove it was.
 
turugara said:
When I received the laptop back, they not only replaced the logic board, but they also replaced the SSD with a 250gb 5400rpm hard drive.
Click to expand...

So Apple stole your SSD? Do you sign anything when you request a repair that states that they can take your user-replacable parts and throw them out? I know they have this practice but that can't be legal. What if you upgraded the stereo in your car and got back car back with a cheap stock stereo after a repair? I mean, they have no right to steal YOUR SSD. :mad:
 
Hey OP, definitely talk to Customer Relations on Monday. My original uMBP was sent in for repair and it had the SD Card reader in the Express Card slot by accident. When the laptop was returned, the express card was missing. I contacted repair and they told me that it was thrown away and that it was my responsibility to remove it. I then contacted CR, and they sent me a replacement unit over night from their Apple.com store.

I hope that helps.
 
I'll get in contact with customer relations today and find out what I can do from them.

After customer relations I'll write a very nice letter and see what kind of hell I can raise.

Basically yeah, they stole my SSD. I didn't want to say it like that but at the end of the day, that's what happened.
Apple doesn't sell Intel x25-m's. There's no reason for them to have it sent to be refurbished like the supervisor told me.

Thanks for the insight guys.
 
OP probably didn't know it but for the most part, that's tough luck. There is a reason why many people who upgrade their HDD outside of Apple keep their original, to swap it back when they need to bring in their computers for repairs. When Apple does repairs, everything is reverted back to stock hardware.

Unfortunately, the HDD is gone and the only option is to talk to customer relations to see what kind of compensation can be done.

For everyone else, it is wise to keep old RAM and HDD for this exact reason. If you're selling it off to offset costs, know that you're risking your upgraded hardware to be replaced by Apple's stock hardware.
 
thats completely unacceptable by Apple...what if you had a top of the line SSD that cost you 1k?

I would be raising all sorts of hell until you either get your drive back or they refund you the drive cost.
 
iLog.Genius said:
For everyone else, it is wise to keep old RAM and HDD for this exact reason. If you're selling it off to offset costs, know that you're risking your upgraded hardware to be replaced by Apple's stock hardware.
Click to expand...

Yup that's why even though i'm sort of hurting for space right now, I still have my stock 250 gb HD in a box with a fresh install of Leopard and the user account "test", so when I do have issues I just swap out my SSD and bring it on in and not have to worry about wiping my data.

I did sell the ram though. Even if they replace my ram with another pair of 2 gig sticks I won't care (though mine is the 1066 DDR2 I could find, reflashed down to 667 MHz)
 
jsnuff1 said:
thats completely unacceptable by Apple...what if you had a top of the line SSD that cost you 1k?
Click to expand...

I've never heard of any other manufacturers that removes the customers own upgraded hardware when repairing their PCs. You give them your Mac to repair what Apple put in there, what you put they don't have the right to touch.
 
I would have gone postal if they would pull this one on me. What a lame excuse! There is no way to mix up a SSD with a normal HD, even if your HD was broken, they should have handed it back to you.

Escalate it as high as you can, possibly to Steve Jobs email, this is completely absurd!
 
Well I agree it's not the greatest of practices, it's not unacceptable. It's common knowledge of what Apple does with RAM, the OP should have been more careful.
 
gorjan said:
I've never heard of any other manufacturers that removes the customers own upgraded hardware when repairing their PCs. You give them your Mac to repair what Apple put in there, what you put they don't have the right to touch.
Click to expand...

I've read the story of the person who sent their Laptop to be repaired and only got a HDD back, I think it was Dell, LOL

Some Apple tech is probably enjoying a "defective" Intel SSD right now^^

Hope you get it sorted out...
 
Nano2k said:
I've read the story of the person who sent their Laptop to be repaired and only got a HDD back, I think it was Dell, LOL
Click to expand...

:D Well, the only time something like this happened to me was when my PC broke down in 1998, two weeks after buying it and I got it back with twice the RAM. The tech felt sorry that the PC broke down so soon after I purchased it so he upgraded the RAM for free.
 
The other weird thing is they replaced the SSD that had a 'fault', their is no reason they should be repairing or replacing parts that are not their own. So what if your SSD was broken, they shouldn't have given you a new hard drive, now you have 2 Apple hard drives.
Like could I put a broken 40GB in my MBP send it in and they would give me a new 160GB...
 
What were they thinking, you wouldn't realize your SSD is gone?? By all means this is completely unacceptable. And yeah they just threw it away, right ?!

Last Year I forgot the miniSD Card in my mobile when I sent it back. Of course the Replacement came without my Card. One Call to Customer Service and a week later I had a new miniSD Card. And this was a 200 Euro Samsung phone, not a nearly 2000 Euro laptop.

Hope everything gets sorted out for you.
 
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