Anyone Ever Lie While Under AppleCare? / Success Rate?

[John Doe 57]

So my MacBook Pro is fine, well sort of. A few weeks ago I lost all Trackpad and Keyboard functions. They were completely unresponsive. Then one day, POOF, everything was working fine and the problem has not returned since. Also, I noticed that my MagSafe Power Adapter has made some 'crackling' noises a couple of times. It works fine as of now.

So lets say that I were to walk into my local Apple Repair Shop and tell the worker there that the MagSafe Power Adapter and the TrackPad / Keyboard are not working, even though they were. If the worker tests the computer out and sees that nothing is wrong, will they still replace the parts?

My AppleCare Warranty expires in December and I am planning a trip to the shop (2 hour drive total) in November.

 

[miles01110]

If the worker tests the computer out and sees that nothing is wrong, will they still replace the parts?

No.... why would they?

 

[John Doe 57]

No.... why would they?

No as in, they wouldn't test it or replace it?

 

[spinnerlys]

Wouldn't that be fraud?

And they won't replace something just because you say it does not work, even though they tested it and found out otherwise.

 

[John Doe 57]

Wouldn't that be fraud?

And they won't replace something just because you say it does not work, even though they tested it and found out otherwise.

Understood. Thanks.

 

[Apple OC]

probably not ... they will log the check-up they did for you saying everything checked OK

however if it happens again ... and you take it in showing the symptoms u describe ... then the first log will sway things your way.

 

[Macky-Mac]

No as in, they wouldn't test it or replace it?

they would test it but if it's working they wouldn't replace it

 

[Schtumple]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

I've been accused of lying by apple staff but haven't ever, there's no point 9/10 they'll catch you out, unless you get some anal freak (which is who normally serves me) who always thinks he's right regardless, then you're screwed.

 

[maflynn]

Wouldn't that be fraud?

Maybe I missed something but why would this be fraud because the OP did state that it stopped working.

If I had a wonky component that stopped working for a period of time, then started working, I'd still have them check it out. I wouldn't lie about it, I'd say that this problem is intermittent, but its still there, so thats why I'm not seeing that this is fraud.

 

[xlii]

Why don't you just call applecare and tell them the truth. Chances are they may have heard of this one before and tell you to send your machine in and they will replace x, y, and z on it. The other chance is they will log it and tell you if it happens again to give them another call.

 

[spinnerlys]

Maybe I missed something but why would this be fraud because the OP did state that it stopped working.

The lying part, at least that is how I think.

I would do it like you, as in my experience, you can get further with honesty.
Or I'm a bad liar.

 

[maflynn]

I wouldn't lie, just state that its a problem that seems to come/go or rather in OP's case, go/come. While I don't think its fraud in the truest sense, but I don't think its right for him to lie about it

 

[TheSVD]

Not always people..

I had an intermittent graphics problem with my MBP which was about 3 weeks old which I couldn't show in the shop and noone on here knew what it was by description, yet they replaced the mobo and screen for me

 

[r1ch4rd]

I had a problem with my Mac booting up and not recognising the hard disc. When I took it into the shop it booted first time. The guy was pretty patient and we tried a few things to check everything was okay. It continued to work brilliantly, but we stuck with it because I knew something was wrong. Just as I was about to leave happy that my computer was okay it failed agin. They fitted a new hard disc, no further questions asked.

 

[Macky-Mac]

I had a problem with my Mac booting up and not recognising the hard disc. When I took it into the shop it booted first time. The guy was pretty patient and we tried a few things to check everything was okay. It continued to work brilliantly, but we stuck with it because I knew something was wrong. Just as I was about to leave happy that my computer was okay it failed agin. They fitted a new hard disc, no further questions asked.

I think your experience reflects the situation quite well.....the repair guy is expected (indeed, required by Apple, as I understand it) to be able to verify the problem before they'll fix something

 

[MST]

When I bought my first MacBook I got it home and tried to turn it on only to find that it wouldn't start up, I took it back to the Apple Store the next day and handed it over to the [very attractive] Genius who plugged it in and turned it on straight away without any hint of a problem, to say I was mortified would be an understatement

However, she still offered to replace it with a new unit, I'm not sure how much this has got to do with the fact that I had only bought it 24 hours prior but if your MacBook is suffering with an intermittent fault then I think you have every right to take it in.

I would just be honest as others have suggested, being "economic" with the truth in this instance isn't going to get you anywhere, particularly as the fault(s) you describe are so easy to check.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[John Doe 57]

Thank you everybody for the help! I definitely will tell the truth about how it is a come-and-go problem.