Bad Customer Care (Battery)

P

powz

macrumors regular
Hi all,

I had a bad experience with Apple Customer Care...

My MBP battery is at about 77% health, according to iStat Pro (4280 mAh to System Profiler). It's 10 months old and the cycle count is 19 (with at least 1 full discharge every month). For general web surfing and with Battery Management, I get about 1-2 hours. Today I called in to see about getting it replaced. The Customer Support person was nice but said she could not replace a battery that was above 4200 mAh. I then spoke with Customer Care, and the guy was rude, telling me that my battery is "WELL within specs" but at the same time, refusing to even confirm what the specs were supposed to be (I only got the 4200 mAh from the Customer Support person). He also refused to let me speak with anyone higher. <-- Is he allowed to do that, and if not, does anyone know how I can contact his manager?

In any case, I just wanted to ask, are my stats really "WELL within specs"?? I thought Apple specs were 80% health at 300 cycles (http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html). According to this, I would be well below it. Any comments? I guess I could wait a few more weeks for my battery to fall a bit more to meet their supposed cutoff....... Overall, though, I'm very disappointed with the quality and lack of care from their Customer Care unit.
 
Sorry, I couldn't tell you what the specs are supposed to be, but in regards to that support guy...did you get his name?


I would call again, elevate the issue, and report the guy.
 
powz said:
Hi all,

I had a bad experience with Apple Customer Care...

My MBP battery is at about 77% health, according to iStat Pro (4280 mAh to System Profiler). It's 10 months old and the cycle count is 19 (with at least 1 full discharge every month). For general web surfing and with Battery Management, I get about 1-2 hours. Today I called in to see about getting it replaced. The Customer Support person was nice but said she could not replace a battery that was above 4200 mAh. I then spoke with Customer Care, and the guy was rude, telling me that my battery is "WELL within specs" but at the same time, refusing to even confirm what the specs were supposed to be (I only got the 4200 mAh from the Customer Support person). He also refused to let me speak with anyone higher. <-- Is he allowed to do that, and if not, does anyone know how I can contact his manager?

In any case, I just wanted to ask, are my stats really "WELL within specs"?? I thought Apple specs were 80% health at 300 cycles (http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html). According to this, I would be well below it. Any comments? I guess I could wait a few more weeks for my battery to fall a bit more to meet their supposed cutoff....... Overall, though, I'm very disappointed with the quality and lack of care from their Customer Care unit.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I don't know why you didn't call Apple Tech Support, chances are they might send you a free replacement in the post! Give it a call, if your still not happy, make a complaint.

I've managed to change a battery that's been under performing.
It had less than 30 cycles and only 72% health, after 6 months.
 
Honestly, I don't know why you didn't call Apple Tech Support, chances are they might send you a free replacement in the post! Give it a call, if your still not happy, make a complaint.
Click to expand...

Isn't Apple Tech Support the same as customer support (i.e. AppleCare number)? They were the first ones I called and they claimed that the battery had to be under 4200 mAh. I then tried escalating to Apple Customer Care, which is where that rude guy told me it was "WELL within the specs". Do you know how many mAh yours was? Did you get the 72% number from iStat or some other program? What was your estimated runtime? Just trying to figure out what's Apple's actual policy so I have a better idea if I should call again or not...

I wish I'd gotten that guy's name...even if he was telling the truth (which I doubt), his attitude was appalling. At one point he even told me "this conversion is over!" I was so angry I just hung up.
 
Apple will almost always replace a battery that is under 80% health and has less than 300 cycles. I would call them again and let them know your battery has gotten much worse in a short amount of time and let them know the numbers. They will probably ask for the numbers out of System Profiler (under Power) instead of other apps.
 
powz said:
Isn't Apple Tech Support the same as customer support (i.e. AppleCare number)? They were the first ones I called and they claimed that the battery had to be under 4200 mAh. I then tried escalating to Apple Customer Care, which is where that rude guy told me it was "WELL within the specs". Do you know how many mAh yours was? Did you get the 72% number from iStat or some other program? What was your estimated runtime? Just trying to figure out what's Apple's actual policy so I have a better idea if I should call again or not...

I wish I'd gotten that guy's name...even if he was telling the truth (which I doubt), his attitude was appalling. At one point he even told me "this conversion is over!" I was so angry I just hung up.
Click to expand...

It could be a simple mis-understanding, perhaps he/she was thinking you had a MacBook and not a MacBook Pro. If, I was you I'd call them again alternatively if your local AppleStore is within reach, go see a Genus.
 
If the guy is rude, write nice professional email to sjobs[at]apple.com, and life will be easier; be sure to introduce yourself, state your business, what steps you have taken and what the results where, and what you want Apple to do for you.

Now be sure to quote when your called, because Apple does track who serviced who at a what time for your computer's S/N (which I assume you provided?)
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I called back today and got everything sorted out. I had done a full battery recalibration last night and my battery health had dropped even further. This time the first level (Tech Support) immediately issued a battery replacement. So I'm happy about that.

However, when I asked for the name of the "product specialist" (i.e. customer care) guy who had "helped" me yesterday, they said he hadn't left any notes, so they don't know who he was! He must've known I would try to report him so he was covering his tracks... but if alphaod is right, then they must have some other way of tracking who it was. I guess I could write Jobs about him, but since my issue is essentially resolved, I'm a bit hesitant to take all the way to the top. Besides sjobs[at]apple.com, are there any other contacts above product specialist we have?

Thanks
 
powz said:
Besides sjobs[at]apple.com, are there any other contacts above product specialist we have?

Thanks
Click to expand...

The executive CSR from corporate gave me his number after I wrote to Jobs, but I don't think I'm suppose to just give that away. ;)

I genuinely think either Steve reads the emails and then forwards them to the appropriate party. Another reason why I'm buy more from Apple.
 
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