I have a question for ya'll. Actually, let me give you some background info first.
I got a used Powerbook Al from my dad (it's in my sig) a few months ago, the only problem with it was that it wouldn't charge when it was plugged in. It could boot from the battery, and worked fine, but there was no way to recharge the battery or run the computer from just the outlet. So I took out the DC-In board and replaced it with a new one, and that didn't fix the problem.
So I took it to Apple.
The Genius at the Genius bar told me that since I had done the work, and not a certified tech, I had probably done something wrong in the install, and he would replace the DC-In board. They would not do anything else until he had done that. Ok, fine, I said, go for it. A few days later I get a call saying that it wasn't the DC-In board, but it's probably the logic board. I didn't say "I told you so", because I'm a gentleman. So I give the OK for them to send it in to be serviced. I'm told the turnaround will be a few days at most.
Checking online, I see that Apple gets the Powerbook and repairs it the same day. The next day it's "pending shipping" or something like that (I forget the specific word). It stays like that for a week. So I call AppleCare. It takes 50 minutes for a rep to pick up and tell me that it'll be ready when it's ready, and I should just check the online site. I call again later, since that first answer kinda pissed me off, and the rep tells me (after another 50 minute wait) that it apparently failed the final testing (bad logic board), and is waiting for a new part which no one has yet ordered. So it's been sitting a week now, collecting dust. She puts through the order, and I get my Powerbook a week and a half later.
Only now, there's new problems. The screen flickers all the time, the fans grind and make weird noises, the ambient light sensor randomly dims and brightens the screen on a whim. So I call Apple, and they send out a box, and I send it back again.
At this point the computer has been out of my hands for about 40 days. About a week after receiving the laptop (it had been waiting for parts (another new logic board), according to the online tracking), it gets sent back to me. Only Apple forgets (for some damn reason) to put my apartment number on the package, so DHL messes up delivery two days in a row. I call them, get it sorted out, and they screw up badly again and I end up taking the bus to get it from them tonight.
So I turn it on. Everything seems fine. There's weird black grease on the top case, but whatever, I wipe it off, it's cool. It works, though. No flickering, no weird noises. Apple had apparently again replaced the logic board and the "Thermal Module Assy". Okay. So I'm sitting, working on a project that's due tomorrow, when all of a sudden it just turns itself off. It won't boot up or anything again. When I plug it in, it doesn't charge the battery. So I'm guessing the logic board is dead again, which makes it what, the fourth replacement one down? Fifth total.
At this point, what should I do? Seriously. I'm going to call AppleCare tomorrow, and tell them this happened, but I can't possibly deal with all this again. It's so damn messed up that they can't get this repair right. Do they just hire monkeys down in Houston to beat at the computers with wrenches and fling crap at one another and then ship it back to me? Cause it feels like Apple has no clue what it's doing.
So, again, what would you do in my shoes? What would you say, who would you call?
I got a used Powerbook Al from my dad (it's in my sig) a few months ago, the only problem with it was that it wouldn't charge when it was plugged in. It could boot from the battery, and worked fine, but there was no way to recharge the battery or run the computer from just the outlet. So I took out the DC-In board and replaced it with a new one, and that didn't fix the problem.
So I took it to Apple.
The Genius at the Genius bar told me that since I had done the work, and not a certified tech, I had probably done something wrong in the install, and he would replace the DC-In board. They would not do anything else until he had done that. Ok, fine, I said, go for it. A few days later I get a call saying that it wasn't the DC-In board, but it's probably the logic board. I didn't say "I told you so", because I'm a gentleman. So I give the OK for them to send it in to be serviced. I'm told the turnaround will be a few days at most.
Checking online, I see that Apple gets the Powerbook and repairs it the same day. The next day it's "pending shipping" or something like that (I forget the specific word). It stays like that for a week. So I call AppleCare. It takes 50 minutes for a rep to pick up and tell me that it'll be ready when it's ready, and I should just check the online site. I call again later, since that first answer kinda pissed me off, and the rep tells me (after another 50 minute wait) that it apparently failed the final testing (bad logic board), and is waiting for a new part which no one has yet ordered. So it's been sitting a week now, collecting dust. She puts through the order, and I get my Powerbook a week and a half later.
Only now, there's new problems. The screen flickers all the time, the fans grind and make weird noises, the ambient light sensor randomly dims and brightens the screen on a whim. So I call Apple, and they send out a box, and I send it back again.
At this point the computer has been out of my hands for about 40 days. About a week after receiving the laptop (it had been waiting for parts (another new logic board), according to the online tracking), it gets sent back to me. Only Apple forgets (for some damn reason) to put my apartment number on the package, so DHL messes up delivery two days in a row. I call them, get it sorted out, and they screw up badly again and I end up taking the bus to get it from them tonight.
So I turn it on. Everything seems fine. There's weird black grease on the top case, but whatever, I wipe it off, it's cool. It works, though. No flickering, no weird noises. Apple had apparently again replaced the logic board and the "Thermal Module Assy". Okay. So I'm sitting, working on a project that's due tomorrow, when all of a sudden it just turns itself off. It won't boot up or anything again. When I plug it in, it doesn't charge the battery. So I'm guessing the logic board is dead again, which makes it what, the fourth replacement one down? Fifth total.
At this point, what should I do? Seriously. I'm going to call AppleCare tomorrow, and tell them this happened, but I can't possibly deal with all this again. It's so damn messed up that they can't get this repair right. Do they just hire monkeys down in Houston to beat at the computers with wrenches and fling crap at one another and then ship it back to me? Cause it feels like Apple has no clue what it's doing.
So, again, what would you do in my shoes? What would you say, who would you call?
