Apple Care $1500 in repairs :)

[Traverse]

This is my recent Apple care story:

My 2011 15" MacBook Pro logic board failed. I took it to the Apple store without an appoint (a death sentence), but when they saw I had a Mac they asked me to wait. Well, they confirmed it was the LB and ordered a $600 replacement.

I waited 4 days (hard for a college student) and picked it up. When I got home I found a large chip in the back of the unibody. Okay, I'll live with that. When I went to plug in my headphone jack and my thunderbolt adapter I noticed that they were not flush with the the aluminum and were somewhat loose. Ugh, I was unhappy. THEN, I went to close the display and it now creaks and pops! It was silent before! I went back that Friday, admittedly in a foul mood and complained to the "geniuses". They picked my Mac up and wiggled the display in the loud store and said "I don't hear anything"...really??? Well, after looking at the messed up ports, the chip, and hearing my complaint about the boot errors I was getting because they didn't reset PRAM, he said that they would make it right.

They have ordered a new display, another new logic board, and a new unibody and said that they would try to re align the components and if they couldn't they would replace all the parts.

Although I'm disappointed with their initial work, I am very impressed with how far they have gone to help me. I guess that $350 AppleCare was a good investmen!t

 

[kdoug]

This is my recent Apple care story:

My 2011 15" MacBook Pro logic board failed. I took it to the Apple store without an appoint (a death sentence), but when they saw I had a Mac they asked me to wait. Well, they confirmed it was the LB and ordered a $600 replacement.

I wait 4 days (hard for a college student) and picked it up. When I got home I found a large chip in the back of the unibody. Okay, I'll live with that. When I went to plug in my headphone jack and my thunderbolt adapter I noticed that they were not flush with the the aluminum and were somewhat loose. Ugh, I was unhappy. THEN, when I went to close the display and it now creaks and pops! It was silent before! I went back that Friday, admittedly in a foul mood and complained to the "geniuses". They picked my Mac up and wiggled the display in the loud store and said "I don't here anything"...really??? Well, after looking at the messed up ports, the chip, and hearing my complaint about the boot errors I was getting because they didn't reset PRAM, he said that they would make it right.

They have ordered a new display, another new logic board, and a new unibody and said that they would try to re align the components and if they couldn't they would replace all the parts.

Although I'm disappointed with their initial work, I am very impressed with how far they have ja gone to help me. I guess that $350 AppleCare was a good investmen!t

Seriously, whoever worked on the computer should be fired immediately. Shoddy workmanship should not be tolerated anywhere.
I'd be absolutely infuriated and probably would've had to be restrained.
Congrats on your patience.

 

[Spink10]

$600 repair - the rest was on the employee you "fixed" your MBP.

 

[Dubberton]

Seriously, whoever worked on the computer should be fired immediately. Shoddy workmanship should not be tolerated anywhere.
I'd be absolutely infuriated and probably would've had to be restrained.
Congrats on your patience.

I would have to restrain myself too, even at the sight of the chip lol. Hopefully that person is fired, chances are it will happen again.

Best of luck to you, hopefully they give it to the same guy to repair and he tries fixing it with a hammer. Then they give you a a brand new rMBP and fire him.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

4 days, plus another "few" days to re-order and re-repair the laptop isn't really a good experience, IMO.

 

[pricej636]

4 days, plus another "few" days to re-order and re-repair the laptop isn't really a good experience, IMO.

If you have ever dealt with Lenovo, Dell or HP warranty support, this would be a great experience. I had to send a laptop back to HP 3 times because they couldn't read and kept forgetting to replace a faulty keyboard, which was the whole reason it was being sent in for warranty repair. Had another experience with Dell that it took them three on site visits to fix a dell laptop.

Apple messed up, and they stepped up and are making it right. This is why Apple continues to get my money.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Why are you bragging about this incident, when it shouldn't have happened to begin with? Praise should be reserved for when Apple goes above what would be considered reasonably expected, especially when they aren't at fault.

The computer was in their care, custody, and control. They did not exercise due care.

 

[Traverse]

Seriously, whoever worked on the computer should be fired immediately. Shoddy workmanship should not be tolerated anywhere.
I'd be absolutely infuriated and probably would've had to be restrained.
Congrats on your patience.

I would have to restrain myself too, even at the sight of the chip lol. Hopefully that person is fired, chances are it will happen again.

Best of luck to you, hopefully they give it to the same guy to repair and he tries fixing it with a hammer. Then they give you a a brand new rMBP and fire him.

Thanks for the luck. I was annoyed, but I don't like trouble. However, I just couldn't take that creaky hinge...

And about the rMBP, I can dream can't I....

4 days, plus another "few" days to re-order and re-repair the laptop isn't really a good experience, IMO.

I've heard of worse, but I'm keeping my computer until the end of next week (school). I have about 10 days between the Spring and Summer term where I can get by on my iPad.

Why are you bragging about this incident, when it shouldn't have happened to begin with? Praise should be reserved for when Apple goes above what would be considered reasonably expected, especially when they aren't at fault.

The computer was in their care, custody, and control. They did not exercise due care.

I'm not "bragging." I found the entire event disappointingly funny (in a cynical way). Apple isn't doing anything they shouldn't, but so many companies try to find a way out of their commitment and Apple didn't. That is what impressed me; not the fixing, the lack of trouble they gave me FOR the fixing.

Plus, I never though I'd get that much value for my $350.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

If you have ever dealt with Lenovo, Dell or HP warranty support, this would be a great experience. I had to send a laptop back to HP 3 times because they couldn't read and kept forgetting to replace a faulty keyboard, which was the whole reason it was being sent in for warranty repair. Had another experience with Dell that it took them three on site visits to fix a dell laptop.

Apple messed up, and they stepped up and are making it right. This is why Apple continues to get my money.

I've never dealt with HP or lenovo support, but I have dealt with Dell on many occasions - but this antidote is really why I cannot recommend Apple over Dell when it comes to support:

Back in 2002(give or take) I had a Latitude CPi (aka a "Pro" machine) that needed a new motherboard. Not once, or twice, but 11 times over the course of a 2 year period. Either the magnet detecting when the lid was closed would fall off, or the graphics card would fail. Either way, 11 motherboards. Throughout the entire ordeal, I never had more than 14 total days of downtime, and I never once worried about the data on my hard drive.

More recently, I owned a Macbook Air that had faulty RAM. I had to drive to an apple store, drop off my laptop, and pick it back up 2 weeks later. This single repair for a part that should be user-replacable meant that I was without a laptop for as long as 11 motherboard replacements from Dell, and I had to make a backup copy of the SSD incase it came back without my data.

 

[Traverse]

I've never dealt with HP or lenovo support, but I have dealt with Dell on many occasions - but this antidote is really why I cannot recommend Apple over Dell when it comes to support:

Back in 2002(give or take) I had a Latitude CPi (aka a "Pro" machine) that needed a new motherboard. Not once, or twice, but 11 times over the course of a 2 year period. Either the magnet detecting when the lid was closed would fall off, or the graphics card would fail. Either way, 11 motherboards. Throughout the entire ordeal, I never had more than 14 total days of downtime, and I never once worried about the data on my hard drive.

More recently, I owned a Macbook Air that had faulty RAM. I had to drive to an apple store, drop off my laptop, and pick it back up 2 weeks later. This single repair for a part that should be user-replacable meant that I was without a laptop for as long as 11 motherboard replacements from Dell, and I had to make a backup copy of the SSD incase it came back without my data.

Two weeks?! I can understand your distaste. AppleCare told me repairs took, at most 5 days, but since the Air has everything smoldered in I'm sure it takes a lot more effort. Still, two weeks is terrible.

 

[palpatine]

A lot of us turned to Apple because of bad service experiences with other companies. I could write many pages of wailing and woe here about my PC days! Nothing but good experiences with Apple so far, and whenever I have a problem, they typically offer to replace it immediately. Amazing service.

However, it is always a good idea to photograph stuff (not just your Mac) before you ship it, take it in for service, etc. A photo costs you nothing but makes any claim much easier to handle. I expect a before and after photo of your Mac with the chip in it would have ensured great service and maybe even a refurb as a replacement.

In addition, I always check out stuff before I leave the store (new stuff and repaired stuff). This prevents anyone from claiming that you did the damage, and it might save you a trip if there is something wrong.

Obviously, my excessive care comes from bad experiences with Apple's competitors! Still, neither of these precautions cost you a thing, so I figure: why not do them?

 

[Traverse]

A lot of us turned to Apple because of bad service experiences with other companies. I could write many pages of wailing and woe here about my PC days! Nothing but good experiences with Apple so far, and whenever I have a problem, they typically offer to replace it immediately. Amazing service.

However, it is always a good idea to photograph stuff (not just your Mac) before you ship it, take it in for service, etc. A photo costs you nothing but makes any claim much easier to handle. I expect a before and after photo of your Mac with the chip in it would have ensured great service and maybe even a refurb as a replacement.

In addition, I always check out stuff before I leave the store (new stuff and repaired stuff). This prevents anyone from claiming that you did the damage, and it might save you a trip if there is something wrong.

Obviously, my excessive care comes from bad experiences with Apple's competitors! Still, neither of these precautions cost you a thing, so I figure: why not do them?

Good advice. I actually did have a picture of the messed up ports, but I didn't look it over good enough at the store. It was just so crowded...

 

[palpatine]

Good advice. I actually did have a picture of the messed up ports, but I didn't look it over good enough at the store. It was just so crowded...

Good on you. Most people I know don't bother to take their phones out of their pockets and snap the photo!

As for the store, I take over a Genuis space. I figure that they can afford to give me thirty seconds or so there to confirm that everything is in order. All you do when they hand it to you is say: "Thanks! Could you show me what you have done?" They can't really say no to that, can they?

By the way, you won't be able to do that with most PCs, because you ship it in to their repair centers. When it arrives at your house with parts banging around inside because they forgot to screw things in (true story -- it happened with an HP tower I sent in for repairs), you have to either take care of it yourself, or go through another month of waiting. With Apple, they're invested in getting the customer service right, so I've got no qualms about paying the Apple tax.

 

[thekev]

I'm not "bragging." I found the entire event disappointingly funny (in a cynical way). Apple isn't doing anything they shouldn't, but so many companies try to find a way out of their commitment and Apple didn't. That is what impressed me; not the fixing, the lack of trouble they gave me FOR the fixing.

Plus, I never though I'd get that much value for my $350.

You wouldn't have even ended up at $600. It's more likely that you would have been offered depot/flat rate repair if the machine was out of warranty and showed no signs of abuse. It would have been more like $300-400, or roughly what you spent on Applecare. That is generally the case with older /out of warranty models.

 

[MCAsan]

When I got home I found a large chip in the back of the unibody.

Some of the delay may be on you. When you get a machine out of repair, immediately open it up and examine the heck out of it . Boot it up and check the screen is OK, the apps open OK....etc. If something is obviously wrong, like ports not aligned in the case or damaged case, do not leave the store with the unit.

 

[Quu]

Glad they fixed it. I dread having them work on my laptop. Years ago I sent in an iBook it was covered under warranty and when I received it back the metal shielding from inside which goes over the plastic was hanging outside of the case on the left side of the notebook and they damaged my Airport card at the same time.

This was before the UK even had Apple Stores so it had to be sent to an Apple repair centre by post twice for these repairs. Four weeks it took.

Sad to say in all this time they've still not got competent techs. My buddy recently sent in a MacBook Air to have its screen replaced as the cable had frayed and it was cutting out with vertical line artefacts, he received the notebook back with a scratched up case and the panel was loose it rattled and creaked and the screen wasn't even secure

 

[pricej636]

I've never dealt with HP or lenovo support, but I have dealt with Dell on many occasions - but this antidote is really why I cannot recommend Apple over Dell when it comes to support:

Back in 2002(give or take) I had a Latitude CPi (aka a "Pro" machine) that needed a new motherboard. Not once, or twice, but 11 times over the course of a 2 year period. Either the magnet detecting when the lid was closed would fall off, or the graphics card would fail. Either way, 11 motherboards. Throughout the entire ordeal, I never had more than 14 total days of downtime, and I never once worried about the data on my hard drive.

More recently, I owned a Macbook Air that had faulty RAM. I had to drive to an apple store, drop off my laptop, and pick it back up 2 weeks later. This single repair for a part that should be user-replacable meant that I was without a laptop for as long as 11 motherboard replacements from Dell, and I had to make a backup copy of the SSD incase it came back without my data.

In the case of your MBA being gone for two weeks, I think that is a pretty extreme case. Unless there is an issue with parts availability or someone lives in a country that doesn't have an apple store, I have NEVER heard of nor experienced anything close to that.

The fact that you had to have the motherboard replaced 11 times says a lot to the build quality of the parts or workmanship of Dell support. Maybe they should have taken more time with the machine before sending it back to you. Maybe their parts should go through a more thorough testing process before they are made available for repairs. Either way, I don't think this is exactly a glowing report for Dell warranty repair.

 

[dmccloud]

I've never dealt with HP or lenovo support, but I have dealt with Dell on many occasions - but this antidote is really why I cannot recommend Apple over Dell when it comes to support:

Back in 2002(give or take) I had a Latitude CPi (aka a "Pro" machine) that needed a new motherboard. Not once, or twice, but 11 times over the course of a 2 year period. Either the magnet detecting when the lid was closed would fall off, or the graphics card would fail. Either way, 11 motherboards. Throughout the entire ordeal, I never had more than 14 total days of downtime, and I never once worried about the data on my hard drive.

More recently, I owned a Macbook Air that had faulty RAM. I had to drive to an apple store, drop off my laptop, and pick it back up 2 weeks later. This single repair for a part that should be user-replacable meant that I was without a laptop for as long as 11 motherboard replacements from Dell, and I had to make a backup copy of the SSD incase it came back without my data.

If I had to have the motherboard replaced 11 times in my computer, I'd have been asking for a flat-out replacement at #3. That's ridiculous, regardless of the total time you were without a working machine. Also, backing up data before sending a unit out for repair is recommended by ALL manufacturers (even Dell), so I don't see how that could be considered an inconvenience at all.

 

[mobilebuddha]

the consumer side of Dell may be bad (dont know), but the biz side of dell support is amazing. you just can't beat next day in home service - regardless of the problem.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Also, backing up data before sending a unit out for repair is recommended by ALL manufacturers (even Dell), so I don't see how that could be considered an inconvenience at all.

Who said anything about sending the Dell out for repair? It was on-site service, so the drive never left the premises. If anything, it was a nice excuse to take a half-day, rather than a major issue.

 

[dmccloud]

Who said anything about sending the Dell out for repair? It was on-site service, so the drive never left the premises. If anything, it was a nice excuse to take a half-day, rather than a major issue.

Yet you still had to replace the same part 11 times, which I'd find unacceptable for ANY manufacturer. You seem to focus more on the total time down than on the fact that they couldn't even fix the issue correctly in the first (or second or third...) place.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Yet you still had to replace the same part 11 times, which I'd find unacceptable for ANY manufacturer. You seem to focus more on the total time down than on the fact that they couldn't even fix the issue correctly in the first (or second or third...) place.

They fixed it every time, it just kept breaking. And when you consider that it was faster for Dell to fix my motherboard that it would have been for me to even drive to an Apple store once, I'm not complaining too much. Although I did complain, eventually, and they managed to get it fixed properly in the end, but that's not the point that I was trying to make. My point was simply that I could have 11 motherboards replaced in the timespan it took Apple to replace a single stick of RAM.

 

[theromz]

If you have ever dealt with Lenovo, Dell or HP warranty support, this would be a great experience. I had to send a laptop back to HP 3 times because they couldn't read and kept forgetting to replace a faulty keyboard, which was the whole reason it was being sent in for warranty repair. Had another experience with Dell that it took them three on site visits to fix a dell laptop.

Apple messed up, and they stepped up and are making it right. This is why Apple continues to get my money.

Dell have been amazing for me, I have had a few issues with one of my older XPS machines, phoned up, after a quick convo they arranged for an engineer to come over the next day and change my motherboard and HDD on site.

My Samsung monitor broken before outside of Warranty but they just got a guy to come, drop off a new one and take my old one.

My friend use HP and there just wow, his HP laptop (2months old) started to fall apart, charger port died, all sorts of plastic dropping off, and he took go care off it. After sending it back and forth maybe 5 times for it to be repaired, each time being told it was fixed he just gave up. They even made him pay for a new charger and battery which was wow.

 

[pricej636]

Dell have been amazing for me, I have had a few issues with one of my older XPS machines, phoned up, after a quick convo they arranged for an engineer to come over the next day and change my motherboard and HDD on site.

My Samsung monitor broken before outside of Warranty but they just got a guy to come, drop off a new one and take my old one.

My friend use HP and there just wow, his HP laptop (2months old) started to fall apart, charger port died, all sorts of plastic dropping off, and he took go care off it. After sending it back and forth maybe 5 times for it to be repaired, each time being told it was fixed he just gave up. They even made him pay for a new charger and battery which was wow.

I wish I could say the same for Dell. I bought an XPS 15z a couple years ago, needing a beefier graphics machine for some work I was doing at the time. A few weeks after purchase I noticed the chrome trim surrounding the machine was starting to chip off. Called XPS support and they immediately setup an onsite tech to have the casing replaced. 48 hours go by, no call from a tech. Called XPS again and they had no record of my repair. They setup another one, verified all of my information to ensure it was being put on the correct account. Another week goes by, no call. Called XPS again, and again they could not find the repair ticket. After all this was said and done, I was just past my return point for the XPS. Ended up trading it for a used 15" macbook. Last Dell I ever purchased.

 

[Traverse]

I just dropped my Mac off at 10 am, and they notified me at 2 that it was ready.

The replaced the unibody, screen, hinge, and keys. I am satisfied now.

Happy ending.