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Dead Superdrive

G

GuyCalledPete

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 10, 2008
49
0
Well, about a week and a half ago I finally took my first steps into the world of Mac with the purchase of a MacBook Pro from my local Apple reseller in the UK.

I'm now back in Belgium, and I've finally taken the opportunity to burn my CD collection into iTunes...I managed about 300 discs in a week, but now my Superdrive is dead, not reading the discs at all and making whirring clicking noises when I try.

Prior to that, I had noticed some issue where sometimes I'd put an audio disc in the drive, but it wouldn't be recognised/burned until I ejected it and reinserted it - I figured that was just a mac quirk until the drive died.

So, this lunchtime I guess I'll drop over to a Brussels Apple reseller and see what they say...I know they probably won't be able to replace the whole machine quickly - as when I asked there previously when I was looking to buy, they had to place special orders for the versions with the UK keyboard (which is why I bought in the UK).

No idea how Apple support works, and never needed to take a laptop or PC back to the manufacturer before (PC owner since 1995, messed around with other computers for about 10 years before that), so I'm a little disappointed that this "premium" laptop is faulty...I just hope they handle the situation well.

-- Pete.
 
Well if it is a hardware problem (and with the clicking noise it sounds like it is) they will take he MBP and replace the superdrive and return the machine to you (it willl probabaly take a few days). I would suggest backing up your hard drive before you take it in to apple.
Sorry to hear you are having problems, here is hoping they are delt with quickly and efficiently.

-spg
 
Well, so far so good...

They took the machine, and they will send it to their own repair centre, they estimate a 1 week turn-around worst case, and possibly I'll have it back by Friday this week.

If I have it back by Friday then I'll be very happy, and a week isn't so bad I guess either...

To give credit where it's due, the apple international warrenty is pretty handy... :)

-- Pete.

PS: I was also quite amused to find out that it was the first Late-2008 MacBook Pro that particular assistant had ever had in his hands... He was loving it...heh.
 
Oh, and they noticed a discrepancy on my warranty...

The warranty lists the graphics as 256MB, but it's a higher end 2.53GHz MacBook Pro, so it should have the 512MB graphics (which is what I assumed when I bought it). I'm going to assume this is a screw-up on the warranty rather than in the machine, but I'll still check to make sure I have my full 512MB of graphics when I get it back!!

-- Pete.
 
Okay - it seems the repair centre didn't have an appropriate superdrive in stock, so I'll not be getting the laptop back today. I should be able to collect it on Wednesday though...still not too bad, as long as they come through with it!

-- Pete.
 
...and I am still without my MacBook Pro...

It seems that they have stocking issues with trying to get a Superdrive from Apple...this sucks. I owned a MacBook Pro for a week and a half before it broke, now it's already been over a week for repair - and I'm not projected to get it back until next week.

It's not even as if the machine is unusable - I'd rather have been using it with a broken superdrive until they get the part in stock, THEN take it in for a (reasonably) quick repair.

To make matter worse, my 3 1/2 year old Thinkpad died yesterday too with a hard-drive failure...gah! I think I hate technology...

-- Pete.
 
...and I am still without my MacBook Pro...

So, I went back to the Brussels City2 MacLine today and I got a little angry. It seems that they STILL don't have the stock, and that Apple Belgium have the replacement superdrive and it's "in transit".

They say the laptop should be fixed by Friday...

Really - why did they take the laptop when they didn't have stock? I could have been using the laptop (albeit with a broken Superdrive) for the last two weeks...they have a picture on the stock situation and I dont, so I needed to trust them.

This sucks.

-- Pete.
 
...and I am still without my MacBook Pro...

I'm away for the weekend, so my next opportunity to go to the shop will be Monday...

This really really sucks. I'm actually quite angry now.

-- Pete.
 

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Considering your machine was still within the two week period after purchase when you took it back, could you call your applecare number and ask for a replacement?

I can't speak for Europe (Hell, I'm from western Oklahoma; I'm lucky I can even SPELL Europe!), but I've had nothing but excellent service when I called the 800MYAPPLE line here in the states. Maybe you could call, politely tell them this is total BS, and ask for them to ship you a replacement.

Good luck.
 
Okay...I have called their Rue Dansaert store, who will contact the City2 store (as there are people onsite there), and then they will call me back.

*sigh*

-- Pete.
 
Well, they didn't call me, so after 1 1/2 hours, I have called them...

It seems the never called me, because the City2 store (which is closed today) doesn't have the machine anyway. It is still in the repair centre!!

The Rue Dansaert MacLine store will now call their repair centre and chase the progress - if the machine is fixed, then they will arrange for it to be back in Rue Dansaert this afternoon, and I guess MAYBE I'll have time to collect it before I leave for the UK.

They will call me back in "5 minutes"...the clock is ticking...

-- Pete.
 
Good news: They phoned me back.

Bad news: They still do not have the Superdrive in stock.

Other news: I can collect my laptop from their repair centre today (if I have time, they are sending me the address via email, but I have a train to catch later), and they will call me when the Superdrive is in stock.

Really, this is absolutely appalling service from Apple for a premium product. They cannot even supply such a basic part as a Superdrive in any reasonable timeframe. I'm really regretting having faith in Apple and making the step over to their technology.

I guess if I can get the laptop back, I'll call Apple and see if they have a UK store that can replace the whole machine for me whilst I'm there.

-- Pete.
 
I didn't receive the email, so did some hunting online and found the address of the Technical Center myself. I phoned them, and they assure me that Apple Belgium have the Superdrive now, and that they will receive it at the Technical Center at the start of next week, and my laptop will be repaired by Tuesday or Wednesday.

If I take the laptop now, and they receive the drive whilst they don't have the laptop then they'd send the drive back to Apple, and the whole process would start again.

I've opted to leave the laptop with them, but I am still pretty furious at this level of service.

*sigh*

If it's not ready when they promise this time, then I have no idea what I'll do...

-- Pete.
 
Sorry to hear that.

Resellers usually aren't trained as well and usually don't provide the same level of service as an offical Apple store unfortunately.

At US Apple Store (which I would assume is the Apple Store policy everywhere) if there is a wait for a part, you can take the machine with you. And Apple Store WILL call you when the part is in.
 
they dont offer the same level only because they are not paid for software problems. So you can't go to them if you cant get the Office suite to work.

However, considering that i actually work at a reseller/auth. service center, it really depends who you go to. We would let you take the computer back if you really wanted to and wait for the part to arrive. Assuming we can order the part early enough, it often comes the next day if it's in stock. Computer is most of the time finished the same day if we have it.

we had one of our own employees work at the apple store and he came back to us to order an LCD for his MBP. He said the turn around time for the Store was much worse!
 
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