my story is a bit long winded as it's been ongoing for months. i'm at the end of my rope with ongoing powerbook problems and i'm hoping to get some advice here.
in mid 2004, i started experiencing weird random sluggishness with my powerbook g4 w/ 1gb ram. i couldn't pinpoint what caused it, but at least once per day everything would grind to a standstill and the rainbow circle would spin and spin. i had tried doing a complete system reinstall but this didn't seem to fix the problem, so eventually i took it in to the apple store for them to take a look at. i figured there was something wrong with the memory and told them so. they looked at it and suggested i either reinstall the system software again or buy disk doctor and run that. foolishly, i listened and bought the software that did absolutely NOTHING. the problem was itermittent so i could never really reproduce it in the store. i requested they run a hardware test on it, but they refused unless i did another clean system install. because i use my computer 8-12 hours per day for work, i did not want to go through the long process of reinstalling everything again when i knew it wouldn't fix the problem. i went home and continued working on the powerbook and planned to send it in to apple directly through applecare when my workload decreased.
unfortunately that time didn't come. one morning i woke my computer up from sleep and it was acting really weird. i restarted and it would not start up properly. i don't remember the exact error, but i took it straight to the apple store. i told them i was sure it was a problem with the memory that has been ongoing and asked them to please test it. finally, they agreed to test it because it wouldn't start up. they asked me to wait around while they performed the tests then said they would order the part for me. i waited around 4 hours for them to tell me that all of the memory was testing bad so they had figured out the logic board was damaged as well. they checked it in and asked me if i wanted to backup the harddrive for $50 before they sent it in. they said i probably didn't need it, but i went ahead and got it since my last backup didn't include some important files i had recently worked on. later that evening, they called me and told me they weren't able to backup my files and that my harddrive had failed.
so they sent it in and i received it back later that week. when it arrived, i went to plug in the power adapter and it wouldn't go in all the way, i noticed the casing was puckering out and called them immediately. they sent a box for me to return the powerbook to them for them to fix and told me it would be a 3 day turnaround. i finally received it just shy of 3 WEEKS later after calling them repeatedly and having the case escalated.
friday morning, i received the powerbook. immediately i noticed they had replaced the entire casing, screen, etc. it looked gorgeous until i noticed the keyboard was completely warped. i figured it was something minor, but didn't want to take my chances so i took it to the apple store thinking they could fix it on the spot. not so, they had to check it in and told me they would do a rush repair to be compelted by the end of the next day. i pleaded for something sooner but they told me this was already "unheard of" and the quickest they could do anything.
saturday evening, i picked up the powerbook from the apple store and opened it quickly to inspect. keyboard looked fine so i took it home to finally get some WORK done! i opened it up and began typing and realized the keyboard was still warped and puckering up a bit, just not nearly as badly. i immediatley called applecare and the apple store and told them about the problem and that i could not be without my computer again. they suggested i call back on monday when things weren't so busy so i could speak with a tech. i was so frustrated, i put it away and went to bed. this morning i got up and wanted to add some CD's to put on my ipod. when i went to put the CD in, i noticed that the casing was puckering out slightly so i inspected the front panel more closely and realized there was a dent/ding on the left side of the casing that i had not noticed. i called applecare again and told them this and they said i should take it in to the apple store tomorrow for the tech's to look at. after using it, i have also noticed that the brightness of the screen keeps adjusting randomly with certain keystrokes and movements - super annoying and unreasonable.
so that said, i'm completely frustrated and furious at all of this. i have wasted so many hours trying to get this sorted and lost so many hours i could have been working. i am self employed so this has put a major dent in my income as i haven't been able to work while it's been being repaired. i simply cannot afford to be without it again and i'm pissed apple seems to be using shoddy parts, workmanship, etc. to "fix" my powerbook. i find it completely unreasonable that my computer would be returned to me not once, but twice, DAMAGED. i plan to call apple customer relations in the morning, but i'm not sure what to say that i haven't said before. my friends say apple should just send me a replacement computer, but i have no idea about their policies or if this is even something i can request. i'm just tired of dealing with this nightmare and would really appreciate any advice
thank you.
in mid 2004, i started experiencing weird random sluggishness with my powerbook g4 w/ 1gb ram. i couldn't pinpoint what caused it, but at least once per day everything would grind to a standstill and the rainbow circle would spin and spin. i had tried doing a complete system reinstall but this didn't seem to fix the problem, so eventually i took it in to the apple store for them to take a look at. i figured there was something wrong with the memory and told them so. they looked at it and suggested i either reinstall the system software again or buy disk doctor and run that. foolishly, i listened and bought the software that did absolutely NOTHING. the problem was itermittent so i could never really reproduce it in the store. i requested they run a hardware test on it, but they refused unless i did another clean system install. because i use my computer 8-12 hours per day for work, i did not want to go through the long process of reinstalling everything again when i knew it wouldn't fix the problem. i went home and continued working on the powerbook and planned to send it in to apple directly through applecare when my workload decreased.
unfortunately that time didn't come. one morning i woke my computer up from sleep and it was acting really weird. i restarted and it would not start up properly. i don't remember the exact error, but i took it straight to the apple store. i told them i was sure it was a problem with the memory that has been ongoing and asked them to please test it. finally, they agreed to test it because it wouldn't start up. they asked me to wait around while they performed the tests then said they would order the part for me. i waited around 4 hours for them to tell me that all of the memory was testing bad so they had figured out the logic board was damaged as well. they checked it in and asked me if i wanted to backup the harddrive for $50 before they sent it in. they said i probably didn't need it, but i went ahead and got it since my last backup didn't include some important files i had recently worked on. later that evening, they called me and told me they weren't able to backup my files and that my harddrive had failed.
so they sent it in and i received it back later that week. when it arrived, i went to plug in the power adapter and it wouldn't go in all the way, i noticed the casing was puckering out and called them immediately. they sent a box for me to return the powerbook to them for them to fix and told me it would be a 3 day turnaround. i finally received it just shy of 3 WEEKS later after calling them repeatedly and having the case escalated.
friday morning, i received the powerbook. immediately i noticed they had replaced the entire casing, screen, etc. it looked gorgeous until i noticed the keyboard was completely warped. i figured it was something minor, but didn't want to take my chances so i took it to the apple store thinking they could fix it on the spot. not so, they had to check it in and told me they would do a rush repair to be compelted by the end of the next day. i pleaded for something sooner but they told me this was already "unheard of" and the quickest they could do anything.
saturday evening, i picked up the powerbook from the apple store and opened it quickly to inspect. keyboard looked fine so i took it home to finally get some WORK done! i opened it up and began typing and realized the keyboard was still warped and puckering up a bit, just not nearly as badly. i immediatley called applecare and the apple store and told them about the problem and that i could not be without my computer again. they suggested i call back on monday when things weren't so busy so i could speak with a tech. i was so frustrated, i put it away and went to bed. this morning i got up and wanted to add some CD's to put on my ipod. when i went to put the CD in, i noticed that the casing was puckering out slightly so i inspected the front panel more closely and realized there was a dent/ding on the left side of the casing that i had not noticed. i called applecare again and told them this and they said i should take it in to the apple store tomorrow for the tech's to look at. after using it, i have also noticed that the brightness of the screen keeps adjusting randomly with certain keystrokes and movements - super annoying and unreasonable.
so that said, i'm completely frustrated and furious at all of this. i have wasted so many hours trying to get this sorted and lost so many hours i could have been working. i am self employed so this has put a major dent in my income as i haven't been able to work while it's been being repaired. i simply cannot afford to be without it again and i'm pissed apple seems to be using shoddy parts, workmanship, etc. to "fix" my powerbook. i find it completely unreasonable that my computer would be returned to me not once, but twice, DAMAGED. i plan to call apple customer relations in the morning, but i'm not sure what to say that i haven't said before. my friends say apple should just send me a replacement computer, but i have no idea about their policies or if this is even something i can request. i'm just tired of dealing with this nightmare and would really appreciate any advice
thank you.
