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r6mile

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 3, 2010
1,004
504
London, UK
Long story short, a few weeks ago (Monday 25th of January) I noticed some bright white spots on my 2013 MBA screen. Only really noticeable under a white background, but since it has a few months of AppleCare, I thought I'd get it checked out and hopefully replaced. My nearest Apple Store (Regent St in central London) did not have any Genius bar appointments available, so AppleCare told me to take it to Compu-B, which is an authorised Apple Authorised Service Provider nearby. They told me it would take 5-7 working days.

Fast-forward to today, my Macbook Air still has not been repaired because the Apple warehouse sent them the wrong part. I have been in touch regularly with Compu-B, who have spoken to Apple every day and still have not sent the correct LCD part. I called AppleCare two days ago to see if I could try to expedite things on their end, they were very nice on the phone but Compu-B still have not yet received the part needed to execute my laptop repair. Needless to say, I am very disappointed with the level of service by Apple on this occasion.

I am assuming that at some point in the future I will get my laptop back after what has been nearly 3 weeks. Is it all possible to claim some sort of compensation from AppleCare given this, what seems to me, pointless delay?

Thanks,
 
Everything I've ever dealt with an outside warranty company they always blame the manufacturer for sending them the wrong part and it's actually because they don't know how to order the correct one
 
How could they possibly order or receive a wrong part if all recent MBAs have the same screen assembly? I refuse to believe someone can be careless enough to order/send the 11inch one instead of 13inch or vice versa.

That's just their silly excuse.
 
From my time working at an AASP, parts will sometimes get mislabeled, mis-identified, put in the wrong box, found on the wrong shelf at the parts depot. Lots of things happen that can result in receiving an incorrect part.
The AASP simply marks the order for replacement, similar to getting a part that fails, or does not work out of the box.
Apple sends another part out immediately.
THEN, you might have the situation where the same "wrong" part arrives because of some identification problem at the Apple shipping warehouse. A few thousand parts, that might happen from time to time.

All of that doesn't help the OP, however, if the AASP gets not just one wrong part, but several repeats for the same (wrong) part. I have seen this happen.
But, it's also usually a quick change on Apple's end, where they hand pick the correct part, without relying on the normal automated system that "knows" where all parts are located. That manual pick should add a few hours to receiving the correct part (maybe delaying a day or two at most). And, that's assuming that warehouse (there's several) will have the part in stock. The order system would automatically kick out an order to the next level for parts shipping. If there is a glitch in the system, with the correct part mis-identified, there's nothing you can do on your end, except wait for Apple to sort things out.
You CAN try calling Apple's customer relations (not AppleCare), with all the details about the repair, and tell them you are dissatisfied with your treatment. Apple does have a pretty good history of providing a mitigation of some kind, if it is warranted.
I don't believe that the AppleCare warranty has any provision for compensation when a repair simply takes too long.
But Apple's customer relations has that authority.
 
I agree with you, their repair times are their biggest weakness. It is one of my biggest issues with apple, their turn around is unbelievably slow!
 
Update: 3 weeks later, I am still without a laptop. The Apple Service Provider e-mailed me this morning and said the new part has been successfully re-ordered so the laptop should be ready tomorrow. Fingers crossed...
 
Update: 3 weeks later, I am still without a laptop. The Apple Service Provider e-mailed me this morning and said the new part has been successfully re-ordered so the laptop should be ready tomorrow. Fingers crossed...
LOL, I remember once I waited forever for a repair to be done and they actually damaged another part during the repair. I was really mad at them.
 
LOL, I remember once I waited forever for a repair to be done and they actually damaged another part during the repair. I was really mad at them.

If you have your device back, then (clearly) you didn't wait "forever" for the repair to be done.

As far as compensation that the OP asked about, it's highly unlikely, but it never hurts to try. My advice would be to wait until the repair is complete, then make sure it's satisfactorily repaired... then ask for something for the delay. At that point you will have your MBA back, in full working order, and can provide documentation of a definitive period for loss of use. Again, it's a long shot, but why not "go for it"?
 
Sorry to hear of the delay. I don't fault the facility, these things happen. It doesn't matter what the details are, it's very rare that any consumer gets compensation for such things. And then it's only after a long uphill battle that's costly to fight. Best to avoid obsessing over it and just let it go.
 
Thanks guys.

I guess I should just be thankful that they are actually replacing the LCD display for free; the outside casing has a couple of dents, which I read somewhere could have prevented them from replacing it under AppleCare by saying that it was my fault, even though the bright spots on the display are nowhere near the dents.

For future reference, should I just avoid Authorised Providers for repairs? The only reason I went there is because the Apple Store (just around the corner) did not have any appointments.
 
Compensation?? No. Delays and cock-ups can happen and I don't see why people should be compensated for it. Compensation will just drive up the cost of Macs & Apple Care.
 
I finally have it! And I didn't know that the display replacement also includes the whole display case (makes sense, given how thin everything is), which means that the top of the laptop looks new. I am now tempted to see if I can find somewhere a new bottom case as well...
 
Thanks guys.

I guess I should just be thankful that they are actually replacing the LCD display for free; the outside casing has a couple of dents, which I read somewhere could have prevented them from replacing it under AppleCare by saying that it was my fault, even though the bright spots on the display are nowhere near the dents.

For future reference, should I just avoid Authorised Providers for repairs? The only reason I went there is because the Apple Store (just around the corner) did not have any appointments.

Well the Apple Store will probably send it away for fixing but unless it's something serious it's usually back within a week or so.

I doubt you'll get any compensation they are contracted to fix it but unless there are some time scales promised you haven't got much legal leverage.

If being without your computer is an issue to the point that you feel you need to be compensated for it not being available then you need back up computer options. A second computer or the funds to be a new one when needed, if this is for business use then you should already have these contingency plans in place.

I see a lot of posts with people going crazy because their computer is dead and they need it to work..... Well I hate to say it but all electronics can fail at any time for any number of reasons if that equipment is critical for your work you need to have some sort of plan in place for when this happens to you, it will happen, eventually, so having a plan in place is a must.
 
If being without your computer is an issue to the point that you feel you need to be compensated for it not being available then you need back up computer options. A second computer or the funds to be a new one when needed, if this is for business use then you should already have these contingency plans in place.

I see a lot of posts with people going crazy because their computer is dead and they need it to work..... Well I hate to say it but all electronics can fail at any time for any number of reasons if that equipment is critical for your work you need to have some sort of plan in place for when this happens to you, it will happen, eventually, so having a plan in place is a must.

Thankfully this was not my only machine and not having it was not critical; I use a PC at work, and have an iMac at home. I just wanted to know what options were available to me given the additional (and largely unexplained) 2 week delay. Given the comments here I won't be asking for any sort of compensation, I'm just happy to have my laptop back and looking newer than it's looked in a while.
 
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