At what point am I entitled to a new one?

[mach42006]

My Macbook Pro is about 2.5 years old, in excellent shape, but it looks as if I'm going to have to take another trip to the Apple store tomorrow. It ran flawlessly for the first year and a half that I owned it, but then about a year ago, the graphics card died. I took it to the Apple store and they sent it in to have the Logic board replaced, and it was all good–not a big deal.

Then, about 6 months ago, my hard drive started to die. I would get frequent lockups, etc., until one month ago when it finally quit for good, and I couldn't even boot up. So I took it into the Apple store, they sent it out and replaced the hard drive and one internal cable that was damaged, and I got it back about three weeks ago, and it has been running great.

Today, I was just sitting at my desk surfing the web, and all of a sudden my hard drive started making this loud scratching noise. I immediately powered off my MBP. I waited a bit to try to turn it on, but now it won't even boot up–it chimes, then sits at the white screen indefinitely.

So I have an appointment at the Apple store tomorrow. I'm still under Apple care. But my question is, at what point can I say "I am not going to be satisfied unless you replace my computer". For a hard drive to die within 3 weeks is absolutely ridiculous. I rarely move the computer from my desk, and when I do I am extremely careful with it. My Applecare is up in 4 months, and I don't want to be stuck with a machine that is going to be plagued with problem after problem. Should I bother asking them to replace the computer? What would be an effective way to ask? Thanks.

 

[MacDawg]

If it just needs a new HDD, then why should the computer be replaced?

HDDs fail, some sooner than later, but they fail

 

[GoCubsGo]

At the point where they've had to repair the machine three times. And by that it'd have to be the MLB or something other than just a bad HDD.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

I've heard lots of different things.

1) 3x replacement on the same major part (screen, logic board) in three (or more) separate trips.
2) 3x replacement of any major component (as in a combination), again in three ( or more ) separate trips.
3) Begging after 2 major repairs. (generally doesn't work).

Separate trips meaning that if your screen dies and it turns out your logic board is borked, the CD drive needs to be replaced and the hard drive is dead, doing that all in one trip will count as one "incident", so I tell people to bring in their machines as soon as they have an issue to rack em up.

Anywho, I doubt you'd be able to get a replacement. You can try, but hard drive/battery replacements count "less than" major repairs and aren't that big of a deal in Apples eyes.

 

[mach42006]

Thanks for the replies. I don't want it to seem like I'm just trying to get a shiny new MBP...I like mine just fine, and I like the design of mine better than the new ones anyway. I just don't want it to be a money pit after my AppleCare is up. And I do agree that the hard drive is a relatively minor thing, but the inconvenience and wasted time it has caused has been quite significant. Thanks for the input.

 

[Ca$hflow]

I just replaced mine this week. Its the latest refurbished unibody. On a side note I must say the black keys make the backlit look much more elegant.

Reasons for replacing,

1) Resale value since you still have warrantee and new arndales have not been released.
2) Self replaceable HD WITHOUT voiding warrantee. This was my biggest reason I think. I needed a bigger drive and apple was going to charge me $100-$200 depending on time. I did replace it eventually out of warrantee. I can see putting several different hard drives in during its life span.
3)Much longer battery life. Big improvement. Love it.
4) Unibody. Had to replace my wife superdrive because it became slightly bent. My bad. You must handle the older machines with two hands. Not one.
5) Trackpad. Could live without. Not too important to me.
6) SD card slot. I actually use it. The other express card saw no use.
7) Lid magnet closure is much nicer then the old latch style.

All in all, I can see myself using the unibody for 3-4 years. Even longer depending. An excellent machine.

 

[mach42006]

I called Apple this morning and talked to a manager about replacement. He said that their official policy was replacement after the third problem, when you encounter a fourth.

The guy I spoke with was extremely nice, and though he didn't replace it for me, which is fine, he gave me his direct extension, and said if I encounter any other issues after this repair, to call him and he will make sure I get my MBP replaced. Since my AppleCare expires in October, he also told me to call him if anything goes wrong after that date and he would set up free repair. Although I'm extremely frustrated with the problems I have been having, this experience reminded me why I switched to Apple in the first place–their service is great.