Wait, how does this relate to how ridiculous the US is? In many other countries, there’s zero consumer protection and consumers would be on their own in this case. Screwed by Apple. At least it’s possible to sue big companies in the US, albeit the lawyers are the ones making the big money.
Apple's $50 Million Settlement Over Faulty MacBook Keyboards: What to Know
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Yup. It’s unfortunate that Apple wouldn’t just do a recall, as that means they’re admitting fault. Heaven forbid Apple is at fault. So the best they did was to do the short repair program. Really disappointed in how Apple stand behind their own products these days. They designed and made it, charged high amount of money for it, but denied any wrongdoings when problems arose.
incoherent_1
macrumors 65816
It’s even worse than you think. I knew about the program and dropped my computer off for my first and only 7-9 day long vacation in 2 years. They said it would take 4-6 days to the repair. When I returned from vacation 9 days later they hadn’t even started work on the repair.
Naturally, they didn’t offer me a loaner and I needed my MacBook Pro back to… you know… do my job? The whole purpose of having a “Pro” machine? No apology or attempt on their part to make it right. They seemed happy just to be rid of me.
So even some people who knew about the program and tried to have it repaired still got screwed because Apple clearly pushed these “non-revenue” repairs to the back of the line, and now we’re not eligible for this program either. Awesomesauce.
How many products are out there in the world that are rubbish? Too many to mention. The rest of the world - You get a bad product, you return it, get your money back and go buy a different product. Not in America though. You all complain, continue to buy the same brand but then go a massive step forward and get a class action law suit. Load of nonsense my friend. I mean, suing a company for $50M cause they made a bad product? No companies would exist if all of us done that for every company who made a bad product. Ridiculous country and oh how we laugh at “y’all”.
Errr, return policy is only available in few 1st world countries…. like the US. In mine, no such thing. You got a lemon, you’re screwed. Too bad so sad. Worse at how Apple markup their prices over here.
mrochester
macrumors 603
Does Apples returns policy not apply worldwide? Why does your country not have proper consumer protection laws?
And that’s bad luck my friend, sorry to hear that. My point is that America is a ridiculous place that entertains law suits that probably most other countries in the world wouldn’t even think about. Let’s be fair, it’s only a law suit cause it’s Apple and it’s in America. If it was a little known brand, the flaws would just get accepted and people would move on to something else.
mrochester
macrumors 603
Compensation culture. It’s always someone else’s fault. Sometimes it genuinely is and people should seek redress, but very often it’s not.
Class actions suits are just part of doing business in America. Product prices incorporate the cost of making these payments when people sue you.
And also it's a $1000+ laptops. If it were $500 laptops, people would probably wouldn't bother.
Correct, compensation culture which unfortunately is not best American export that we’ve picked up on here in the UK. Another example being this nonsense mis-sold a German diesel car class action lawsuit we currently have ongoing.
'Murican customer rights in a nutshell:
1) buy a premium product from an industry leader
2) have some very basic part fail, is if there was no testing or QA
3) realize your rights as a customer don't exist, that warranty covers mfg faults and not a bad design as such, and compared to EU you're screwed like a Methany aged 28 in some projects slum that brothas run a train on every day
4) concede that your only solution is a stars-and-stripes-american-as-apple-pie lawsuit
5) ??? *oh say can you see* playing in the backgound
6) get a marginal band aid settlement years later
1) buy a premium product from an industry leader
2) have some very basic part fail, is if there was no testing or QA
3) realize your rights as a customer don't exist, that warranty covers mfg faults and not a bad design as such, and compared to EU you're screwed like a Methany aged 28 in some projects slum that brothas run a train on every day
4) concede that your only solution is a stars-and-stripes-american-as-apple-pie lawsuit
5) ??? *oh say can you see* playing in the backgound
6) get a marginal band aid settlement years later
Not necessarily. The US, as weird as it is, has quite decent protection. At the least, return policies were quite decent. The problem here is, Apple doesn't think it's a problem despite the obvious design flaw and Apple trying to fix it multiple times. It's well studies in business case studies how Apple behave here. Never admit any faults, but do repair programs silently to address those with issues. The thing is, in the past, Apple did care about people with issues, and it shows with their repair programs having covers quite an extended length of time. People having problems going to Apple stores was helped, and stores were much liberal in giving customer satisfaction in the past. As such, Apple gained such good reputation in support.
But the current Apple seems to be penny pinching left and right. I feel this was the remaining effect when the Burberry lady was in charge and wanting the genius/support division to also be profitable. And the trend is obvious, with the supposedly repair programs getting shorter and shorter in duration, and Apple being more often denying consumers any help. It's Apple's own doing that forced lawsuits to happen in this case, imo.
Yup. I had issues with my keyboard, but I never brought it in to get fixed because I didn’t want to have to deal with that whole process and figured it’d just start happening again.
mrochester
macrumors 603
There’s a lesson to learn there for sure!
project_2501
Cancelled
I remember a year long battle with Apple in the UK where it got to the small claims court and also the credit card company (in the UK we have protections if we pay by credit card).
Apple lost. I got all my money back.
But it was a long and stupid battle with apple's many layers of "support" each with the objective of pushing away customers. I must have totally about 50 hours on the phone to them about just the MBP 2017 nTB laptop.
Apple could be so great - if they discarded their corporate arrogance.
Apple lost. I got all my money back.
But it was a long and stupid battle with apple's many layers of "support" each with the objective of pushing away customers. I must have totally about 50 hours on the phone to them about just the MBP 2017 nTB laptop.
Apple could be so great - if they discarded their corporate arrogance.
mrochester
macrumors 603
I think you’re confusing corporate arrogance with incompetence.
Hemingray
macrumors 68030
Good. Looking forward to receiving my $300+. I bought a 2017 MBP 15 and over the course of 4 years, I had my keyboard replaced twice for multiple failing keys (both replacements were covered by the repair program). However, after my second replacement the tech at the Apple store had the gall to tell us that if it happened again, next time it would be out of my own pocket. For their design flaw. That was the last straw, and I switched to a Dell G5 in 2021 and haven't looked back. We still use iPhones, but that's the last Apple product in our household now.
I was a die-hard Mac fanboy since 1985 (Mac Plus, G3, G4, iBook G3, iBook G4, 2 MacBooks, 3 MacBook Pros, etc.), and this laptop was the final straw for me. Between the USB-C only ports, non-user-replaceable parts, the useless (for me) touchbar, the fingerprint pad being rendered inoperable after my top case replacement, 2 replacement keyboards, and the fact that I paid them around $3K for all of this? I was now a sucker, all for the Apple name, and I finally woke up and realized this is no longer the Apple I knew and loved.
I was a die-hard Mac fanboy since 1985 (Mac Plus, G3, G4, iBook G3, iBook G4, 2 MacBooks, 3 MacBook Pros, etc.), and this laptop was the final straw for me. Between the USB-C only ports, non-user-replaceable parts, the useless (for me) touchbar, the fingerprint pad being rendered inoperable after my top case replacement, 2 replacement keyboards, and the fact that I paid them around $3K for all of this? I was now a sucker, all for the Apple name, and I finally woke up and realized this is no longer the Apple I knew and loved.
mrochester
macrumors 603
Good, you should always switch if you are unhappy with the product and experience you received.
sudo-sandwich
Suspended
The feasible MBP product line ended in 2015 then began again in 2020 with the M1 model. The stuff in the middle was trash that I'd never buy. I had to use them at work, but idc about upkeep costs (repairs, refreshes, endless dongles) when my boss is paying.
Did people in 2016-2019 just say, I want a new MBP, lemme blindly buy the latest thing? Were they replacing perfectly working 2012-2015 models? Maybe, as you said, Apple knows how to protect their PR at least temporarily.
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sudo-sandwich
Suspended
Despite this, the US tech industry continues to thrive at home and dominate worldwide. Count the number of American-designed (and Chinese-built) pieces of technology your message goes through.
FreedomPenguin
Suspended
I had 4 repairs, entire top cases and batteries on my 12 inch MacBook
They gave me a brand new 2018 MacBook later on because I complained. I no longer have my MacBook.
But, do they keep records of my history? Would I be qualified?
They gave me a brand new 2018 MacBook later on because I complained. I no longer have my MacBook.
But, do they keep records of my history? Would I be qualified?
Until the mechanisms break or are impeded by (minor) debris, the keyboard works precisely as it should. The poor design is what leads to the breaking and jamming mechanisms. It is basically "wear and tear", it's just that the degree of activity required to reach a detrimental level of wear and tear is pathetically low. Basically they very publicly hit the practical limit of their thinness obsession.
turbineseaplane
Contributor
I have a similar situation and history to you (re: Apple and timelines)
I think for me it all started with the gas lighting about the new butterfly KB being better ... when my fingers and experience with it and ultimately the reliability of it were clearly telling me otherwise..
Thinking back to when Steve passed and the Tim transition really took hold, this has ended up somewhat where I'd feared. The money is still printing, but software quality is a mess and hardware stuff is sort of all over the place.
It just looks and feels exactly like one would expect, up and down the lineup and pricing options and even what they choose to make (or not) .....with a non product "supply chain guy" running things.
I might have agreed when I owned my pos 2016 MBP, but I'm now running a 16" M1 Pro MBP and think very differently about where things are headed. They've started listening to customers, for one thing, which I think is a positive step forward. And honestly, I think Tim's days are numbered, not least because he's getting on and the company isn't a particularly "old" brand. It seems very likely to me that they're starting to look for a succession path.
turbineseaplane
Contributor
I hope you're right!
Just "listening to consumers", however, isn't fully a path forward.
A lot of what they're doing on hardware right now is just "fixing mistakes since 2015"
Hopefully they can bring in some new product visionaries and also dramatically overhaul what's going on with software. I'm very worried about the software side, particularly for a company like Apple, where the smooth integration of hardware & software is so core to why people have loved the products.
Additionally, I really wish they'd bring back great products that are great for their customers .... but that might not be "mini industries on their own".
For instance -- I get that there may not be a massively profitable business in "routers" .. but they are an enormously valuable eco system product to have for your consumers. I would really like to see a return of the AirPort line.