Apple Mail-in service requires AppleCare?

[NStocks]

Hi,

I have a faulty 17" Macbook Pro that I purchased in February this year ( so it's less than 6 months old ).

I called Apple on Monday about the issue and asked if I would be charged for the call, he replied ' No, I can see that you have 1 year telephone support and 3 year hardware support' Great I said, so if I call back later this week can I have it set up so that I can mail in my Mac because I'm unable to get to a Apple Store and I purchased via telesales anyway, he said yes.

I called today and firstly the Rep. thinks that it is ok for a fairly new and well looked after Mac to have weird and odd noises when you open it i.e squeaky, creaks etc...( because he sort of didn't say anything to that, and also about my magsafe adapter that kept dropping out of it's plug that goes into the wall )I asked if I could have them collect it, he said no because that service is only allowed in the U.S and that I must go to a store to get it repaired.

I told him about my previous call and he said that the other Rep. must have made it up because he cannot see anything about setting that up, nor do I have the extra warranty. So basically I feel like the ' bad ' person because I have a defective Unit and it's up to to me to travel over 80 miles to get it fixed, despite the fact I ordered over the phone anyway... ( because I couldn't get to the store )

He said you need to buy Applecare if you want to mail your Mac in, which will cost em over £200.

I'm disappointed in Apple with this, when I had a 15" unibody that was older than 40 days, they allowed me to have a instant replacement because it had screen bleed, and they sent me the new one as soon as the defective one was collected.

Any suggestions as to what I should do from here ?

Thank You

 

[NStocks]

... What a diffferece calling another Representative makes !

He has set up a repair for me, and it will be collected. They will then repair it and send it back.

He's sending my a brand new magsafe adapter, as their is no point writing that down on the repair sheet because I need a new one...

I asked what would happen if the problem persists he sort of said it will depend on what happens when it's at the depot . I asked if I could have a replacement, and he said you haven't had it that long but if it was older than 6 months then a repair is the only option, so I asked if I can have a replacement and he said that case might just need re-aligning so no.

Anyway, my faith is back in Apple !

Will report back when I receive it from repair.

 

[suekitch]

That, frankly, sounds ridiculous of them.

Do you not have an authorised Apple repair place near you? I may be wrong but I think places are authorised to repair Apple machines other than just Apple stores? (e.g. Cancom comes to mind maybe?)

80 miles is far enough to travel - but some people live even further, they can't expect everyone to be able to make it to an Apple store.

You purchased it online.. surely your buying 'contract' as such is with the online store. You still have a full one year warranty, your machine is defective, there's no good reason that you have to inconvenience yourself because the machine they supplied is not "fit for purpose" - that's a good phrase to use as it's right from the sale of goods act.

I found this after a bit of searching on the Apple Store (it's badly wrapped, I'm sorry, but it's from their warranty terms - http://images.apple.com/legal/warranty/docs/cpuwarranty.pdf )

OBTAINING WARRANTY SERVICE
Please access and review the online help resources referred to in the documentation accompanying this
hardware product before requesting warranty service. If the product is still not functioning properly after
making use of these resources, please contact the Apple representatives or, if applicable, an Apple owned
retail store (“Apple Retail”) or AASP located using the information provided in the documentation. When
contacting Apple via telephone, other charges may apply depending on your location. When calling, an
Apple representative or AASP will help determine whether your product requires service and, if it does,
will inform you how Apple will provide it. You must assist in diagnosing issues with your product and
follow Apple’s warranty processes..
Apple may provide warranty service (i) at an Apple Retail or AASP location, where service is performed at
the location, or the Apple Retail or AASP may send the product to an Apple repair service location for
service, (ii) by sending you prepaid way bills (and if you no longer have the original packaging, Apple
may send you packaging material) to enable you to ship the product to Apple’s repair service location for
service

Edit: Just seen you had some success now! Oh well I'll leave this post as is, might be useful for someone

 

[NStocks]

That, frankly, sounds ridiculous of them.

Do you not have an authorised Apple repair place near you? I may be wrong but I think places are authorised to repair Apple machines other than just Apple stores? (e.g. Cancom comes to mind maybe?)

80 miles is far enough to travel - but some people live even further, they can't expect everyone to be able to make it to an Apple store.

You purchased it online.. surely your buying 'contract' as such is with the online store. You still have a full one year warranty, your machine is defective, there's no good reason that you have to inconvenience yourself because the machine they supplied is not "fit for purpose" - that's a good phrase to use as it's right from the sale of goods act.

I found this after a bit of searching on the Apple Store (it's badly wrapped, I'm sorry, but it's from their warranty terms - http://images.apple.com/legal/warranty/docs/cpuwarranty.pdf )

Exactly !

I think I just got a bad Representative, but now a repair is setup... There is a authorized repair centre a little closer to me, that that would mean taking a day of work etc.

Should I have requested a replacement and nothing less ? Is a repair appropriate and within the ' guides' It seemed a little odd that he said ' If it was older than 6 months a repair is the only option' implying if it's less than 6 months a replacement is ok

Thank you for researching it for me, it just confirms that I was right

EDIT: I forgot to say the the Rep. asked me if I had a password on the Mac, why would they need to go into the software for a hardware issue ? Unless it's to check that everything works before sending it back ?

 

[NStocks]

Ok, I got my Macbook Pro back today, after 10 business Days...

The whole screen assembley has been replaced -

When I close the lid, you can see straight through the gap between the display and keyboard, you can see daylight - Is this normal, I can't remember if the other Lid I had had this problem

When pick my Mac up off the desk when it's open the lid always tries to close on itself, again it didn't do this before.

The whole computer was covered in dirty fingerprints and loads of dust.

There is a 2" scratch on the bottom of the Case

There are a few small marks on the top case and around the trackpad

Their are marks on the black hinge ( plastic ) where the Technician has installed it , resulting in it looking as if I had done a nasty job of disassembeling it myself.

When I reported the problems, I also told them that my Magsafe was very loose and kept dropping out, they ( Apple ) said that they'll send a new one out, this was 20 days ago. Apple then said that the ASP will send out a new Magsafe when they ship my Mac... they didn't

I've got to call Apple anyway to ask for a Magsafe replacement, as promised. Do you think my problems are enoughto warrant a replacement as it has already been repaired once, and in some ways ( if not all ) has come back in a worse contition i.e the hinge still makes a noise.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Hellhammer]

Call them. It shouldn't come in worse condition than it left. Ask for replacement now

 

[NStocks]

Call them. It shouldn't come in worse condition than it left. Ask for replacement now

haha, My plan exactly !

I know they won't give me a new one but at least I can try...

Should I just report the issues as described above to them ? Is theyre any way/need to make it sound worse ?

 

[Hellhammer]

haha, My plan exactly !

I know they won't give me a new one but at least I can try...

Should I just report the issues as described above to them ? Is theyre any way/need to make it sound worse ?

Make it sound worse of course Tell them that you waited, was it 10 business days (two weeks) and it came back in worse condition. Was that how they handle those things?

 

[NStocks]

Make it sound worse of course Tell them that you waited, was it 10 business days (two weeks) and it came back in worse condition. Was that how they handle those things?

Just given tham a Call... they are calling Group 8 who are the ASP to see what they say.

I was put through to someone higer up ( tier 2 ) almost immediatley and she said that she will call be back today , before 5pm once group 8 provide info.

She also said that the Magsafe should have been sent out, however it wasn't so that's on order. I told her to hold of the order as I will be requesting a replacement unit, according to her, this is the first for this ... I think not.

She said was you told this previously so I replied that the other Rep's ( also on Tier 2 ) said wait for the repiar unit to come back and if you have any problems, we will take it from there .

Here's hoping that She will actually call me today

 

[Hellhammer]

Just given tham a Call... they are calling Group 8 who are the ASP to see what they say.

I was put through to someone higer up ( tier 2 ) almost immediatley and she said that she will call be back today , before 5pm once group 8 provide info.

She also said that the Magsafe should have been sent out, however it wasn't so that's on order. I told her to hold of the order as I will be requesting a replacement unit, according to her, this is the first for this ... I think not.

She said was you told this previously so I replied that the other Rep's ( also on Tier 2 ) said wait for the repiar unit to come back and if you have any problems, we will take it from there .

Here's hoping that She will actually call me today

Good that you got it going. I've dealt with Apple sales (wanted replacement, dead pixels) two times and both times have been great. He sent me e-mail almost immediately after my call and told how they will deal with this.

Good luck, you'll always need it

 

[NStocks]

I've had previous experience with returns : 3x 15" Unibody Macbook Pro's, they took care of me, but then I decided to pay and extra premium to get the better screen,battery etc... now the 15" has those features too !

At they end of the day, I have their flagship product that has become faulty withing 5 months, a product they market to be superb ( which it is ), but also a product that can sometimes go wrong. A repair didn't work so I want a replacement . To me that is fair.

 

[NStocks]

Just got a Call from the Representative. They called Group 8 and they said that the whole screen assembly was replaced, so no faults should occur there. As for the scratches and fingerprints everywhere, they didn't really say much apparently.

They are shipping my a brand new Macbook Pro, which has the upgraded spec ( 2.66Ghz, now 2.8 and 320GB HD now 500gb )

I've set it up so that I will have possession of both units, but I have to return the faulty unit within 5 days otherwise I get charged £1,849.00.

Great Customer Service Apple.

 

[Hellhammer]

Just got a Call from the Representative. They called Group 8 and they said that the whole screen assembly was replaced, so no faults should occur there. As for the scratches and fingerprints everywhere, they didn't really say much apparently.

They are shipping my a brand new Macbook Pro, which has the upgraded spec ( 2.66Ghz, now 2.8 and 320GB HD now 500gb )

I've set it up so that I will have possession of both units, but I have to return the faulty unit within 5 days otherwise I get charged £1,849.00.

Great Customer Service Apple.

I knew they will surprise you Great that you are happy

 

[NStocks]

I knew they will surprise you Great that you are happy

I'm very happy

If one thing Apple are top-class at, it's got to be their Customer Services !

It's a shame it came to this ( kind of ), the ASP should know better than to take EXTRA care when it comes to Macs

Thanks for your help.

NStocks

 

[NStocks]

Well I got the replacement today, but there is a problem :

The left hand side of the hinge is squeaking, like the rubber is now catching on it... Should I wait a few more days and see if it will sort itself out ?

 

[NStocks]

I got a call from Apple today, and they told me that they've accidentally charged my credit card £2K . I set up a form so that I can hold possession of both the faulty unit ( 1st ) and the new unit which is also faulty. They said that the Rep. who set all this up accidentally made it an ' Upgrade' unit, not a replacement . I gave them my card details so that if I didn't return the defective unit within 30 days, they will charge me... but they have charged me anyway ! The reason for it being over £2K is for shipping and taxes well the shipping would be free and taxes are already included. Also he told me that the amount has been refunded but will take a few days to actually go into my bank.

The other rep. who called me today from Admin, told me that they will ship me another unit no problem because the reason the hinge is making a noise is due to the fact that the factory has tightened the screws too much...

It's bad enough that the repair technicians screwed my first unit up, so that I got a new unit, but now this unit is faulty and they have charged me for it !

Other than getting another replacement ( within my rights anyway ), can I get anything else out of Apple for charging £2k to my credit card ? You know for inconvenience etc. ( say £2k was my card limit and they had gone over that, then I would have been charged for interest rates etc. ) or am I just being greedy