Black Macbook battery problem

[cheba63]

Hi, I purchased my macbook in April, 2006. I've had this problem for over a year, where my macbook says the battery is fully charged and when I unplug it it says I have a couple hours of battery life. After about 5 minutes though, the computer just shuts down. Only yesterday did I find out there was a recall on the battery. I didn't bother looking for help prior as I figured I'm well beyond my warranty, so it would be pointless.

http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

My macbook falls between the dates posted and has one of the symptoms:

"Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300."

My cycle count is 37. It says it extends the battery coverage for 2 years, if that's in addition to the 1 year coverage, I should still be covered. And in another thread, I read this: "For batteries, if it starts to fail before 300 cycles or 3 years, they will replace it for free".

Anyways, I called support today, and the guy said since I am not covered, I'd have to pay $50 for help or go to an apple store, but he did allow me to quickly get some help. Once I described it to him and he checked into it, he said they stopped the recall as of July 2008, which seems to go against everything I've read here and doesn't seem right. He also said it'd be a waste to go to an apple store because they won't be able to help. Do I have a shot at getting a replacement battery? And if so, what is the best way to go about it?

 

[cheba63]

Ummm... Ok.

I called again today, and things started off pretty good. The guy at least acknowledged the recall, but said it only extends the coverage on the battery for 2 years, and I am at about 2 years and 9 months. He said he might be able to make an exception for me. He went to talk to a supervisor, and the supervisor got on the phone with me and said I'd have to pay for the battery. Just frustrating since I've had this problem so long but did not check into it in time. I tried to reason with the guy, saying I've only had 37 cycles, and I can't have any more, so clearly this problem started a long time ago and I am not trying to take advantage. And they can make exceptions, but just didn't for me. I guess I'll try a little a few more times and hopefully I'll get someone more understanding and not as cold.

 

[cheba63]

Ummm... Ok.

I called back a few hours later, and gave the person my serial number, and nothing came up. She confirmed with me about 10 times to make sure I gave her the right numbers and letters, so the problem wasn't there. Did the previous supervisor delete my serial number or something???

 

[applgeek]

Apple is supposed to make money, not please customers. As a Loyal Fanboy, its time to buy a new mac.

You should probably just pay for a new battery. ifixit has batteries for $80.

 

[cheba63]

"Apple is supposed to make money, not please customers. As a Loyal Fanboy, its time to buy a new mac."

Maybe so, but pleasing customers is a good idea if they want repeat business. Like I've said, it'd be one thing for my battery to just start crapping out and me to try and take advantage of their generosity, but I feel I have a legitimate argument for a new battery. And I'd love to buy a new macbook or macbook pro, just can't afford it at the moment. So, if anything I'd sell my macbook and purchase a different brand.

"You should probably just pay for a new battery. ifixit has batteries for $80"

Thanks, but I'd have a hard time justifying spending that much for a battery.

 

[cheba63]

Ok, I tried one last time, mostly because I was just curious if the serial number would work, and it did. The rep gave me the same speech as the 2nd one, and went to the supervisor to see if they could make an exception (didn't ask him, just offered like the previous one). Came back and instead of having the supervisor talk to me just to say no exceptions can be made, the rep came back and said himself that they have made an exception for me. Will be receiving my new battery pretty soon. Thanks for all the help!

 

[applgeek]

Congrats.

Oh yeah, and FYI, I know that apple execs have the idea of "buy a mac and never go back". They dont exactly think that you are switching to another brand. for Most people on this forum, if their mac breaks out of warranty, they will buy another one no questions asked. They are only competing with themselves, and they know that. That is why after a constantly fixed ibook and a macbook failure (and vista coming out), i started buying dells.