Why did I give Apple $350 for this repair again?

[mrzeve]

Yeah, I had good luck with them in the past when I first bought an Intel iMac and needed to return it (it had TONS of problems). They were great, and refunded the money quickly. But this time...

ANYWAYS! News!

I spoke to the customer service rep, and he told me there was no need to bring it in to the store, I would be getting a new MacBook Pro. He said he would wait until Tuesday to see if anything new was announced, and then he would email me the papers I needed to sign and fax back in order to start the return process. Then I'd just slap a FedEx shipping label onto the PowerBook box, and when FedEx scans it, Apple will ship me out the entry-level MacBook Pro or whatever gets announced Tuesday morning overnight.

So. I guess this story has a happy ending after all, though I wish I hadn't had to fight since September with Apple to get it!

I don't know if I'll be keeping the MacBook Pro or not, though. Part of me really wants the new laptop, but the other part of me is scared that I'll open it up and find it has problems - and then this will all start over again. This whole experience has really made me distrust Apple, unfortunately. Not to say I'll be buying a Dell anytime soon or anything, but I'm much less likely to buy new from them again. Used and tested is where I'm at!

Congratulations! Did you use any of the information I provided you with? You did use my idea, which means the MBP is mine, right?

But really - what address worked for you and what kind of letter did you send? How was the tone and such in it? Let us know!

 

[livingfortoday]

Congratulations! Did you use any of the information I provided you with? You did use my idea, which means the MBP is mine, right?

But really - what address worked for you and what kind of letter did you send? How was the tone and such in it? Let us know!

I emailed sjobs@apple.com, and got a phone call within 24 hours, thanks to all for the info and recommendations that I go ahead and do that. I basically edited my first page on this thread (made it past tense, added a bunch of the newer things that had happened, cleaned up my language) and sent that. I told them basically look, this is what I've been going through, it's still going on - I have to go in to the store tomorrow, just thought you should know. Kind of a heads-up type of email, more than anything else. I didn't ask them to do anything about it or anything like that, I just gave them all the facts. I guess they went through my case on their own, saw that the ball had been dropped a bunch, and decided to intervene.

So far I don't have my MBP, but FedEx picked up and scanned my Powerbook at 12:30pm on Friday. I was told the MBP would be overnighted to me as soon as that happened. I'm assuming it didn't go out Friday, the offices are closed on the weekends, and they might not have been open yesterday due to it being a holiday. So! Hopefully it'll get mailed today and come tomorrow. If not, they'll probably be getting another call.

 

[Shadow]

I once sent Steve an email-and an exec called Colin rang me back! Score!

 

[compuwar]

I was told the MBP would be overnighted to me as soon as that happened. I'm assuming it didn't go out Friday, the offices are closed on the weekends, and they might not have been open yesterday due to it being a holiday. So! Hopefully it'll get mailed today and come tomorrow. If not, they'll probably be getting another call.

What an ordeal! I hope that you get a fully functional Pro, seems like a good fix in the end- but way too bumpy a road to get there!

 

[Sweetfeld28]

Glad to see that things are working out for you. My friend on the other hand has had nothing but trouble [much like you].

He has had all of these things replaced under Applecare, on his 15" PB 1.5 GHz:

Replaced motherboard twice, RAM port issue twice, bad DVI port, Recalled battery, oh and, he has had HD replaced once. I told him, i think he is due a new one.

 

[SkyBell]

No matter what kind of computer you own, no matter the brand, never admit to having worked on it yourself before taking it in. Whether or not it is still under warranty, don't tell them you messed with it. At that point, it pretty much automatically becomes your fault.

Exactly.

Just like I didn't tell Apple I fell on my iPod and broke it myself.

They replaced it for free.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

Glad to see you are getting a new computer...may i ask what the original issue was caused by...i have a 17" powerbook and my screen had the flickering issue, that is now fixed but i have a fan clicking..

 

[compuwar]

Any update on this yet?

 

[livingfortoday]

So, I got the MacBook Pro. Well, within one days worth of use, the hard drive on the brand new replacement MacBook Pro has died, and now I will have the dubious honor of calling up the executive offices again. How... entertaining.

Thanks, Apple. I have now officially decided that once this gets sorted out, I'm giving up. I'm selling the damn thing, and switching back to Windows. I don't want to, and I've been using Macs happily for years, but if I'm going to have to face seven repairs and a DOA replacement every time I deal with Apple - well, it ain't worth it.

So yeah. Sorry Apple, you lost me.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Thats a amazing story, almost dont know what to say, you cursed?

 

[AngelGuy7]

Man, that really sucks. Best of luck getting a working Mac.

Oh, your story is now on Digg.

Digg

Edit: fixed the link

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Of course you could look at in another way - the odds are fantastically against you ever having this kind of trouble again...

I'd hate to deal with all that crap, but I have to say it wouldn't keep me away from Apple, I just won't use Windows as my primary desktop...you've had incredibly bad luck but there is no computer company out there that wouldn't have done the same thing Apple did.

There is a really good Certified Apple Specialist in my area that I made use of once. I had 2-year old iMac G3 (266MHz). One day it made a bunch of popping and fizzing noises and turned itself off. Dead. So I took it to this specialist...turns out the high voltage board for the CRT fried, killing the CRT and the DC board as well. It cost me $400, and the computer was never the same again - I'm pretty sure that the incident did some collateral damage to the video hardware, as the picture would occasionally wobble. But the computer worked, and it got me through college, damaged as it was. anyway there was no way I was going to send that beast through the mail, and the Mac Mini wasn't even a glint in Steve Jobs' (or Jonathan Ives'?) eye then.

Well, by the time you unload that MBP Vista may be out...

 

[ReanimationLP]

So, I got the MacBook Pro. Well, within one days worth of use, the hard drive on the brand new replacement MacBook Pro has died, and now I will have the dubious honor of calling up the executive offices again. How... entertaining.

Thanks, Apple. I have now officially decided that once this gets sorted out, I'm giving up. I'm selling the damn thing, and switching back to Windows. I don't want to, and I've been using Macs happily for years, but if I'm going to have to face seven repairs and a DOA replacement every time I deal with Apple - well, it ain't worth it.

So yeah. Sorry Apple, you lost me.

I'd be bitching even more, until you get one hell of a nice MBP that works. Good luck man.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Please, for the love of God, do NOT sell the MBP.

Get the HD repaired. If it does another thing - replace it.

But, do not give up on this new machine!!!!

I just sent you about 10 IM's - .

I know about 1/10 of your pain - I'm dealing with Apple on an issue right now too.

Have spent a total of about.. heh, maybe 5 hours talking to them? Maybe 6? 7?

Please dont' give up on Apple - they will get this MacBook Pro fixed. You will be happy. You will have a brand new MacBook Pro for $350.

 

[livingfortoday]

Yeah, I know, I know. Ya'll are right. i just booted my Mini into Windows, and I can't picture myself using that 24/7. It's just... I'm so frustrated right now by this whole deal. This has been the most ridiculous process, and I feel like most of the people you deal with after your fourth or fifth repair start thinking you're trying to scam 'em. They treated me worse and worse, it felt, until the executive office guy, and even though he was really nice, I really don't wanna have to call him next week.

Sheesh. And to think, I was gonna get my "happy Mac/sad Mac" tattoos this weekend.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

That's the spirit.

I hope I don't encounter any problems when I get my MacBook back...

 

[Maxwell Smart]

Man, after reading this entire thread I gotta say I feel for you. I'm currently on my 3rd issue with my macbook and they want me to send it in and unfortunately thats the last thing I want to do right now, especially considering what happened to you. All I can say is that I would keep pressing until I got the best I could get, I mean, look at it this way, for a $350 investment you got a brand new frickin' Macbook Pro. Did it involve some aggravation? Sure. But did you get one? Yes. All I can say is good luck and I hope everything gets worked out for you. I'm definitely using the sjobs@apple next time around

 

[holamiamigos]

wow.. i hope everything goes well

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

So.. update? What's the status?

 

[livingfortoday]

So.. update? What's the status?

I finally just sold the MBP off. Couldn't deal with it any more, and didn't wanna, I was just too busy to keep gettin' shafted by Apple. Too much bad karma around that MBP!

Plus, I got a birthday/graduation present of a MacBook... so I'm happy. And it has NO problems so far!