MacBook Cracks and Apple Support

[Flickie]

Apple really have made me feel very bitter and sour. You may all think I'm being petty but anyhow.

Pics:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v512/Flickie/Crack.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v512/Flickie/crack2.png

My Experience

I rang Apple Tech Support up today just to ask whether I should travel 50 miles to my nearest Apple Store to get my MacBook fixed. A crack has appeared on the bottom of the Macbook in the top right corner. I haven't dropped the MacBook or abused it. Its just appeared but it does get quite hot in that corner so it maybe due to the heat. I then explained that the grey flush the keyboard sits in, a piece of it has broken off in the bottom right corner when I lifted my MacBook lid off.

The Apple Tech Person told me to take my MacBook to the Apple Store by making a reservation for the Genius Bar through the Internet. He also said they will fix it free because it's under warranty.

I make an Appointment for the Apple Store for 8:20pm. Out of Rush hour, plus after college. I set off, pay for the petrol to get there. Takes me 1 hour 20 minutes to get to the Apple Store.

I go to the Genius Bar where I wait till 8:30 to get served. The "Genius Guy" didn't even apologise for being late, just asked "Name?". I told him. Reply "How can I help?".

I explained the situation where I asked the Tech Guy on the phone whether or not to bring it down because the Apple Store is a long distance away from where I live and that the Tech Guy said it was under warranty and you would be able to fix it free.

The "Genius Guy" gets hold of my MacBook takes one look and accuses me of cracking the MacBook and pulling the flush off. "You've done that with force." I don't open my MacBook on the right hand side. There is a lip in the middle which you pull to open it. I explained how I was worried about dirt and dust getting in but he explained its heavily shielded and dirt and dust wouldn't damage the components. I then asked about the crack, "You've done that it can't have happened on its own.". He said I could of put it on something hot. I told him that my MacBook gets really hot by doing the most simplest tasks like watching a Dvd or watching a youtube video. "Well the MacBook is designed so it is protected from the heat". I then asked if he would be able to fix it? "No, not under warranty the casing isn't covered", the Tech Guy said I was. I clearly explained on the phone that it was a casing problem.

The "Genius Guy" then had a cheek to offer to print off an invoice for the repair cost. Basically he could fix it but I would have to pay. The machine is only 6 months old!

I left with my MacBook and highly upset at how Apple have treated me. I've been told 2 different things, one saying I can get a repair the other no not unless you pay for it.

I've been looking around the Internet and have seen many people with the same problem and so I know it's not just me.

The crack is small and the gap in the Grey flush may cause no harm but why should I pay £749 for a MacBook that is going to crack and come to pieces? I shouldn't. This machine cost me a lot of money, and as a student £749 could cover tuition fees or help with my rent.

I laugh at how they were so nice to me when I bought the MacBook but when I come to complain they don't want to know.

Also I think I would have been treated differently by the "Genius Guy" if I didn't look 16. If I came in saying it was a computer from a Business and if I was much older I would have been treated with a lot more respect that he gave me.

Does anyone know if Apple have a complaints department? I am really dissatisfied with the way I have been treated. My time and money have been wasted and my trust in Apple have seriously been dented.

Rant over.

 

[Lovesong]

In the US there is a Customer Relations number that you can call. Those people try to work with you the best they can. By the way, how did that lip break? I'm just curious. You just touched it to open it and it broke? Plastic doesn't tend to crack like that unless it's been under some temperature changes.
Just call the main Apple number, and tell them you want to speak to a customer relations person. Good luck.

 

[Flickie]

In the US there is a Customer Relations number that you can call. Those people try to work with you the best they can. By the way, how did that lip break? I'm just curious. You just touched it to open it and it broke? Plastic doesn't tend to crack like that unless it's been under some temperature changes.
Just call the main Apple number, and tell them you want to speak to a customer relations person. Good luck.

No the lip hasn't broken, the plastic has come off the to the right hand side of the lip. He said I've pulled it off, when all I did was pull the lid p from my MacBook and it came off. I still have the plastic piece that came off. When I haven't even been trying to pull the MacBook up by the Right hand side.

There has also been other people with the same issue in the exact same place.

Unfortunately the Apple Support Phone line is closed till tomorrow morning. I'm ringing them up tomorrow and I'll try to get through to a customer support person. Saying that the options only seem to cover Sales and Business sales. Oh and the Technically support line where they try and charge me £25 each time for trying to get some help.

 

[PDE]

No the lip hasn't broken, the plastic has come off the to the right hand side of the lip. He said I've pulled it off, when all I did was pull the lid p from my MacBook and it came off. I still have the plastic piece that came off. When I haven't even been trying to pull the MacBook up by the Right hand side.

There has also been other people with the same issue in the exact same place.

Unfortunately the Apple Support Phone line is closed till tomorrow morning. I'm ringing them up tomorrow and I'll try to get through to a customer support person. Saying that the options only seem to cover Sales and Business sales. Oh and the Technically support line where they try and charge me £25 each time for trying to get some help.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk


You do have rights as a consumer and Apple can't ignore that. the crack on top is obviously from poor design on Apple's part. Not considering that when you use magnets there will quite a bit of pressure on that particular area over time they basically set it up to crack. As anybody can see, there is no support underneath so that crack would be fairly self-explanatory to anybody looking at this objectively. Since there are quite a few people who have similar cracks, you're not alone with this problem and that;s always good.

I would start with Apple customer relations UK and then move on to the above site - call them for advice on how to deal with Apple. When I lived in England I did and they were exceedingly helpful.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[Flickie]

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk


You do have rights as a consumer and Apple can't ignore that. the crack on top is obviously from poor design on Apple's part. Not considering that when you use magnets there will quite a bit of pressure on that particular area over time they basically set it up to crack. As anybody can see, there is no support underneath so that crack would be fairly self-explanatory to anybody looking at this objectively. Since there are quite a few people who have similar cracks, you're not alone with this problem and that;s always good.

I would start with Apple customer relations UK and then move on to the above site - call them for advice on how to deal with Apple. When I lived in England I did and they were exceedingly helpful.

Anyway, good luck!

Thanks, I just think I'm being petty but I really think I have been treated unfairly.

To the magnet thing, the magnetism isn't strong enough for this to happen, but looking at people who have had the same problem I think there must be a design flaw.

I will ring trading standards tomorrow. See what they say. Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated.

 

[2tallyAwesome]

You aren't being petty at all.

call Customer relations and DEMAND someone to fix it, or a replacement machine. If you don't get what you want, call back and do it again.

Someone will help you. There may be some bad eggs working for apple, but there are a lot of good ones too.

 

[Flickie]

You aren't being petty at all.

call Customer relations and DEMAND someone to fix it, or a replacement machine. If you don't get what you want, call back and do it again.

Someone will help you. There may be some bad eggs working for apple, but there are a lot of good ones too.

I will see what they say tomorrow, but Apple have stopped picking up Machines that need repairing from people's homes in the UK. Well that is what the person on the phone told me when I rung yesterday. This is why I had to travel quite a bit, but to be told it cannot be fixed when on the phone they said it could be fixed and done under warranty.

I hope I don't have to be in the presence of that awful man again. He made me feel very small whilst talking to him.

 

[i4k20c]

Make sure to start getting names of the people you talk to, first and last, and the approx times/dates, this leaves a good trail so that if you need to call customer relations, you can say who it is that treated you unfairly, and such..

 

[Episteme]

Thanks, I just think I'm being petty but I really think I have been treated unfairly.

You're not being petty. You are being treated unfairly.

Apple hardware is premium hardware, not 300 quid Acer kit.

Even if it were cheap though, you have every right to expect the warranty to be honoured on your hardware.

I'd go through the trading standards, etc dance, but if all else fails, it may be worth considering the small claims court.

 

[.JahJahwarrior.]

You should have asked for a phone book, and called Apple Support right there in the store. If they were closed, leave a message. "Hey, its blah blah blah, I spoke with blah blah blah yesterday about a defective macbook casing. He told me to come to this store and this time and it would b efixed under warranty as it is not a user abuse thing, it's a design flaw and it's under warranty. Anyways, this prick here at the store says that you are wrong, and I would really love it if you could call...hey, what's your name?....call up _____ here at this apple store....hey man, what's the number here?....at....._______...and ask them what's up. You can reach me at ________. I'm going to go ahead and go home tonight and take my computer with me, but it's over an hour long trip so I wish you'd clear this up with _______ fast and work out something so I could ship it here, I don't really want to drive an hour to speak to this man again. Thanks!"

 

[bbydon]

Call them back....tell them everything again.
Especially how far you drove to the apple store....and how inconvenient it was to get there only to be turned away. See if you might be able to send them the pictures you showed.
Then maybe they will let you send it in.
Be nice but...with a what the hell attitude.

 

[bbydon]

Then when your macbook is fixed (hopefully) report that jerkoff genius to customer service or store manager..... only If he was an ass of course.

 

[Flickie]

Rung Trading Standards. They told me because I reported it within 6 months of buying the MacBook I should tell them I wanting sorting under the Sales of Goods act, which Apple have to prove that I have done this damage myself, if that fails go with the warranty. She said to ring Apple up and tell them I have sort Legal Advice and tell then that if you bought it off a website, you have to go back to the website. They shouldn't be sending people to stores.

She also said to give them my petrol receipts.

Just on hold to Apple at the moment. The guy seems alright, but I've been on hold for like 5 minutes now Arrrgh!

 

[mick4394]

I can't believe I'm the first to say this, but if I were Apple, I wouldn't fix this Macbook under warranty. It looks like it has been physically abused.

 

[gnasher729]

I can't believe I'm the first to say this, but if I were Apple, I wouldn't fix this Macbook under warranty. It looks like it has been physically abused.

I don't doubt that it is possible to crack the bottom of the MacBook case like shown in the picture using brute force. But I think it is very hard to produce such a crack using brute force without doing damage to the hardware inside the case.

 

[Flickie]

I can't believe I'm the first to say this, but if I were Apple, I wouldn't fix this Macbook under warranty. It looks like it has been physically abused.

What do you think I have been doing with my MacBook? Dropping it? Throwing it? Using it as a hammer?

I can see why you presume I have been abusing my MacBook because crack = abuse right? I wouldn't be kicking up a fuss with Apple and Trading Standards if I had done it on purpose, but I have not. This is why I am peed off. I'm sure you would not like to be in the same situation as me.

 

[PDE]

I can't believe I'm the first to say this, but if I were Apple, I wouldn't fix this Macbook under warranty. It looks like it has been physically abused.

I think the top part is obviously a result of a design flaw on Apple's part. I mean, the idea with magnets and latchless design is that you close it like a book. Sometimes you'll hold it while you close it and at other times you'll just close it and it will 'slam' shut because of the magnets. THat means there will be a lot of pressure on the case below to withstand. Apple hasn't supported that area in any way and it is very clear (at least to me looking at thepictures) that it cracked exactly where the most stress would be.

The bottom crack is hard to say, but they should be able to handle a lot of use without a crack appearing. The left side of the macbook has a structural weakness because that side is not supported underneath and the front screw is just for looks. If you push there, the plastic will flex a lot and I can imagine that over time that could lead to a fracture like in the picture. Not sure which side the crack appeared on though...

Anyway, hope Apple does what it should.

 

[mick4394]

What do you think I have been doing with my MacBook? Dropping it? Throwing it? Using it as a hammer?

I can see why you presume I have been abusing my MacBook because crack = abuse right? I wouldn't be kicking up a fuss with Apple and Trading Standards if I had done it on purpose, but I have not. This is why I am peed off. I'm sure you would not like to be in the same situation as me.

You're right, I wouldn't like to be in your situation. Whether you caused the problem or not, it's reasonable for Apple to make the judgement that they have.

 

[Flickie]

You're right, I wouldn't like to be in your situation. Whether you caused the problem or not, it's reasonable for Apple to make the judgement that they have.

But when the issue isn't just with my MacBook? It's not as if mine is an isolated problem. Search MacBook crack in google and search this forum, you shall discover that I do not have a unique problem.

 

[PDE]

You're right, I wouldn't like to be in your situation. Whether you caused the problem or not, it's reasonable for Apple to make the judgement that they have.

Just curious, do you think my reasoning above with the crack on the top case is flawed? I mean, if you use the laptop in a way that is consistent with its design and it breaks, is that not Apple's responsibility? It doesn't take a structural engineer to see what the real problem is here...

 

[mick4394]

Just curious, do you think my reasoning above with the crack on the top case is flawed? I mean, if you use the laptop in a way that is consistent with its design and it breaks, is that not Apple's responsibility? It doesn't take a structural engineer to see what the real problem is here...

The problem is there are a lot of people on forums that think they're engineers, and they aren't. I don't know that there's a design flaw. I've seen a handful of complaints about the Macbook topcase. All I know is that mine is fine, and I think the majority falls in line with mine.

I'm not saying that I know what happened with this guys Macbook. I'm only saying that, unless Apple has reason to believe that it's their fault, their response is reasonable. I don't view a few complaints in online forums as proof that there's a design flaw.

 

[mick4394]

But when the issue isn't just with my MacBook? It's not as if mine is an isolated problem. Search MacBook crack in google and search this forum, you shall discover that I do not have a unique problem.

I don't know what happened to your computer. I would guess that if it does turn out to be a design flaw, there will be a recall at some point. If it's a design issue, more and more people will be complaining, and something will have to be done about it.

At this point, you and the few other complaints, represent a very small percentage of Macbook owners.

Believe me, if my Macbook starts to crack, I'll be complaining right with you. But, right now, mine and most others look fine.

 

[bbydon]

engineering degree or not... the crack looks like the others reported on the forum. It is also on the back of the laptop not the front where the chipped plastic is.
Which in my non-engineering opinion believe the front chip to be a freaking hard place to chip a macbook by dropping. Given the angle it would have to drop by landing there the screen would have to hit the ground too.

 

[macmattmini]

Hi

I have just experienced a similar issue to yourself, however the cracks in my macbook were located on the front an left hand side of the bottom.
I also had a bad experience with the support, first being told yes, then when it is in the repair centre being told no, and after all that i phoned again, spoke to a manager person, and he granted the repair once the repair centre sent an email confirming that i didnt cause the damage.

I would recommend giving apple another call, and keep on at them!
I hope you get your problem sorted, as i know this is a common problem with macbooks.

 

[mick4394]

engineering degree or not... the crack looks like the others reported on the forum. It is also on the back of the laptop not the front where the chipped plastic is.
Which in my non-engineering opinion believe the front chip to be a freaking hard place to chip a macbook by dropping. Given the angle it would have to drop by landing there the screen would have to hit the ground too.

True, that spot isn't where you would get a crack from a drop, but it does look like the type of thing that might happen if you were trying to pry a case open. No one ever said anything about a drop having to be the cause of the crack.

Like I said, I don't know what happened to his Macbook. I just understand how Apple can't just take his word for is on the cause of his cosmetic damage. If it's honestly caused by a design flaw, I completely understand his gripe, but these things aren't always as easy a complaining and getting what we want.