I haven't mailed something into AppleCare before - do they insure the packages that are shipped to them? If you are responsible for the shipping charges to them, did you purchase insurance for the package? It's possible it was damaged in transport to them.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Applecare Repair wants to charge me $1300 for something that wasn't broken
- Thread starter ryannazaretian
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'm sure most of us can share our own incidents with Apple Care or even do a Google search and find thousands of unhappy people that had bad Apple Care experiences. What happened to the OP isn't surprising.
Our company owns a lot of MacBooks and I've personally sent in many of them due to the NVIDIA recall issue. All of them were repaired extremely quickly without incident. Overall, I'm very happy with Apple Care
I think it comes down to which repair center your system gets routed to. Our business systems always get routed to Texas or California.
The only problem I encountered is when I sent my personal MacBook in for repair and it got routed to Mississippi. My MacBook was returned with a dent in the top LCD lid and the screen looked like it was cleaned with a dirty wet rag. It was gross. Thankfully everything cleaned up and the display was fine. I'm still stuck with the dent in the aluminum case which sucks because I always baby my Apple products. I never fought the issue with Apple but probably should have.
Our company owns a lot of MacBooks and I've personally sent in many of them due to the NVIDIA recall issue. All of them were repaired extremely quickly without incident. Overall, I'm very happy with Apple Care
I think it comes down to which repair center your system gets routed to. Our business systems always get routed to Texas or California.
The only problem I encountered is when I sent my personal MacBook in for repair and it got routed to Mississippi. My MacBook was returned with a dent in the top LCD lid and the screen looked like it was cleaned with a dirty wet rag. It was gross. Thankfully everything cleaned up and the display was fine. I'm still stuck with the dent in the aluminum case which sucks because I always baby my Apple products. I never fought the issue with Apple but probably should have.
Just keep working your way up. They've fixed a broken display for me - just took a 2 hour call and a lot of escalations. An element I'm sure is luck but i genuinely believe if you keep at it and stay stubborn in a good way they'll take care of it for you. Good luck.
Before you send any item to any manufacturer for repair, photograph and document the condition of the item.
AppleCare is a known offender, replacing after-market components with original OEM equipment and damaging items.
I always deal with local authorized repair shops, but since that wasn't available, you would have a lot easier time arguing your case if you had pictures of the item before it was packed for shipping, and pictures of the box it was shipped in. Doesn't help now, but useful for the future!
AppleCare is a known offender, replacing after-market components with original OEM equipment and damaging items.
I always deal with local authorized repair shops, but since that wasn't available, you would have a lot easier time arguing your case if you had pictures of the item before it was packed for shipping, and pictures of the box it was shipped in. Doesn't help now, but useful for the future!
I've been quiet over the past few days as I've waited for it to come back.
I finally got it back today. They ended up replacing the entire screen and display, so... I really don't know what to make of that.
One of the big issues I sent it in for was WiFi problems (Not able to acquire IP addresses, randomly shutting off, etc...) and the new one has the same problems. (I wish they would replace the Broadcom stuff with Intel or something instead of putting the same Broadcom crap back in there.)
I went to visit ITS today, and said I'm the only one they know of having the issue, which makes me think it's my laptop. I couldn't get it to connect at all earlier today, then it started to work again.
Another thing is the screen will randomly flash off at times in OSX. I haven't noticed it in Windows yet. It's all up to date as well. So that's two issues with a freshly repaired laptop.
I wonder what I should do. I'm going to keep an eye on the screen. I think it might just be the 9400m card (since Windows uses the 9600).
I finally got it back today. They ended up replacing the entire screen and display, so... I really don't know what to make of that.
One of the big issues I sent it in for was WiFi problems (Not able to acquire IP addresses, randomly shutting off, etc...) and the new one has the same problems. (I wish they would replace the Broadcom stuff with Intel or something instead of putting the same Broadcom crap back in there.)
I went to visit ITS today, and said I'm the only one they know of having the issue, which makes me think it's my laptop. I couldn't get it to connect at all earlier today, then it started to work again.
Another thing is the screen will randomly flash off at times in OSX. I haven't noticed it in Windows yet. It's all up to date as well. So that's two issues with a freshly repaired laptop.
I wonder what I should do. I'm going to keep an eye on the screen. I think it might just be the 9400m card (since Windows uses the 9600).
Thinking of getting a Pro if they refresh them again this fall, and I was reading your thread.
I had the same exact wifi issue and went through 2 macbook pros earlier this year in April when they updates the processors to i5s and i7s. I finally decided to just return it overall because it was beginning to frustrate me that I spent $2500 on a laptop that would constantly lose connection.
I believe the culprit though is your router because:
a. We seem to be the only people who experienced this
b. Apple has been known to not play nice with routers that aren't made by them.
What brand router do you have? Just curious....
It's my school's campus wide WiFi network. It disconnects anywhere and anytime. I can have 5 bars, and it will completely drop out.
Yeah, I've had the same type of wifi problems with our 2 MBPs, finally I bought an Airport Extreme and never had the wifi connection problems again. It's weird though, the wifi connection problems only occurred with the MBPs while running OSX, not in Windows (nor did our MacBook running the same OSX ever have a connection issue with non-Apple routers). Anyway, I got tired of beating my head against the wall and am happy with the Apple Airport Extreme.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Deny repair and if it is there and Apple refuses to accept blame then you could find a certifiedtechnician in your area for much cheaper than $1300. One here in Florida can swap out the upper lid assembly (screen, glass, aluminum) for $500.
And if you feel up to it, you can repair it yourself. If there really is damage, that is. If there's no damage to the display, then I suppose you can leave it be?
Time to call Apple again and talk to them about it. After the third or four problem you may get a new MBP.
I called Apple this morning for about 2 hours. I talked with a guy named Eric and he seemed to be pretty understanding of the issue. I, stupidly, forgot to try to reset the SMC and PRAM.
Well, I did that, and it fixed the issue... Or so I thought.
The issue came back about an hour later. I have Eric's contact information and he was already setting up a request for replacement. He just said to give him an email back and he would proceed to send in the request.
I caught the problem on video and will try to have it up soon. I'm also going to link it to Eric to view.
EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vaGkQUmbNo
I should also add some more info. The flickering really doesn't bother me that much. What does bother me is that the entire machine locks up for 2-3 seconds when it does this, and it's only on the 9400M card. The 9400M card is part of the nVidia chipset. If the chipset fails, then I'm screwed. That's what worries me.
Also, I should mention what Eric said.
Replacement specs:
17" MacBook Pro (Due to express card slot)
i5 2.53Ghz
4GB RAM
500GB, 7200RPM
I'm going to go ahead and extend my Applecare for another 3 years since no matter what, the current warranty will end next June.
Well, I did that, and it fixed the issue... Or so I thought.
The issue came back about an hour later. I have Eric's contact information and he was already setting up a request for replacement. He just said to give him an email back and he would proceed to send in the request.
I caught the problem on video and will try to have it up soon. I'm also going to link it to Eric to view.
EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vaGkQUmbNo
I should also add some more info. The flickering really doesn't bother me that much. What does bother me is that the entire machine locks up for 2-3 seconds when it does this, and it's only on the 9400M card. The 9400M card is part of the nVidia chipset. If the chipset fails, then I'm screwed. That's what worries me.
Also, I should mention what Eric said.
Replacement specs:
17" MacBook Pro (Due to express card slot)
i5 2.53Ghz
4GB RAM
500GB, 7200RPM
I'm going to go ahead and extend my Applecare for another 3 years since no matter what, the current warranty will end next June.
Big LOL!
Here in Europe/Germany when you get a replacement computer/laptop (aka new one) the warranty starts anew, too (=1 year of full warranty coming with the replacement)! Ask if this is the same for you before you shelf out money for rather questionable service.