I have 2 MBA's that were bought at the exact same time 18 months ago. They are identical in specification, were made on the same production run and are, essentially, indistinct in every respect except the serial numbers.
So when the first one's hard disk failed last week, I just accepted that it happens. I've worked with computers for years and have had hard disks go strong for over ten years and I've had hard drives fail out of the box - with any mechanical device there is an accepted failure rate and it's purely a lottery.
However, when just three days later my second MBA fell foul of the exact same symptoms; failure to boot and the spinning wheel being replaced by a bar as OS X tried to read/repair the disk, I started to worry. I ran through the exact same procedure as before - popped in my OS X Snow Leopard disk, tried to verify the disk and then repair it through Disk Utility, but was given the same outcome; the drive was kaput.
Now, before anybody goes off on the Apple Kool Aid and starts hurling statistics at me, hear me out. I am not a moron, and I accept that this kind of occurrence is not impossible. However, it does somewhat push the limits of day-to-day believability. Whilst this is statistically possible, it is so unlikely as to cause concern.
I sent one of the machines to Apple via my local service centre, KRCS. They got back to me yesterday to confirm that it was indeed a hard disk issue and would cost 160 pounds to replace the drive (plus a 40 pound charge to have the machine looked at). Obviously, this is an outrageous price - the 1.8" Samsung ZIF drives used in the MBA sell for around 50-60 pounds, so the inflation up to 160 is extortionate. They confirmed that if I were to supply the drives, they would replace them at cost, but I'm still not happy.
I spoke to Apple earlier today and was put through to a tech support supervisor who told me, after a very lengthy conversation, that there was simply nothing he could do. After all, this is not impossible and can statistically happen.
Now as a customer who has spent over 5 grand on Apple products (2x top spec iMac 27", 2x Mac Mini, iPad, 2x iPhone 4, 2x MBA, not to mention all the iTunes music and app store purchases that they take a slice of) in the past 2 years alone, and who has taken out AppleCare on all but those two MBAs but who has never made a claim on any warranties, I thought that just this once I'd be shown a gesture of goodwill as a loyal customer and perhaps have the costs waived this once. Even if it weren't the entirety of the cost, even if they just charged me for one and replaced the second as a gesture of goodwill I wouldn't be so peeved.
It's difficult to divorce myself from this because it's happening to me, but does anybody else think this is unreasonable or has anybody else had a similar experience? I've been a loyal Apple customer for many years now, but this is the kind of experience that can reverse the trend for me. I buy from them for the exceptional service and build quality I have come to expect from them and they have always delivered in the past, but now I'm thinking I should step back, sell the faulty MBAs on eBay for what they are and just buy a non-Apple laptop. Thoughts?
So when the first one's hard disk failed last week, I just accepted that it happens. I've worked with computers for years and have had hard disks go strong for over ten years and I've had hard drives fail out of the box - with any mechanical device there is an accepted failure rate and it's purely a lottery.
However, when just three days later my second MBA fell foul of the exact same symptoms; failure to boot and the spinning wheel being replaced by a bar as OS X tried to read/repair the disk, I started to worry. I ran through the exact same procedure as before - popped in my OS X Snow Leopard disk, tried to verify the disk and then repair it through Disk Utility, but was given the same outcome; the drive was kaput.
Now, before anybody goes off on the Apple Kool Aid and starts hurling statistics at me, hear me out. I am not a moron, and I accept that this kind of occurrence is not impossible. However, it does somewhat push the limits of day-to-day believability. Whilst this is statistically possible, it is so unlikely as to cause concern.
I sent one of the machines to Apple via my local service centre, KRCS. They got back to me yesterday to confirm that it was indeed a hard disk issue and would cost 160 pounds to replace the drive (plus a 40 pound charge to have the machine looked at). Obviously, this is an outrageous price - the 1.8" Samsung ZIF drives used in the MBA sell for around 50-60 pounds, so the inflation up to 160 is extortionate. They confirmed that if I were to supply the drives, they would replace them at cost, but I'm still not happy.
I spoke to Apple earlier today and was put through to a tech support supervisor who told me, after a very lengthy conversation, that there was simply nothing he could do. After all, this is not impossible and can statistically happen.
Now as a customer who has spent over 5 grand on Apple products (2x top spec iMac 27", 2x Mac Mini, iPad, 2x iPhone 4, 2x MBA, not to mention all the iTunes music and app store purchases that they take a slice of) in the past 2 years alone, and who has taken out AppleCare on all but those two MBAs but who has never made a claim on any warranties, I thought that just this once I'd be shown a gesture of goodwill as a loyal customer and perhaps have the costs waived this once. Even if it weren't the entirety of the cost, even if they just charged me for one and replaced the second as a gesture of goodwill I wouldn't be so peeved.
It's difficult to divorce myself from this because it's happening to me, but does anybody else think this is unreasonable or has anybody else had a similar experience? I've been a loyal Apple customer for many years now, but this is the kind of experience that can reverse the trend for me. I buy from them for the exceptional service and build quality I have come to expect from them and they have always delivered in the past, but now I'm thinking I should step back, sell the faulty MBAs on eBay for what they are and just buy a non-Apple laptop. Thoughts?
