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Broken MBA hinge
- Thread starter Zeke D
- Start date
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Service is what costs that much, not the part. It's meaningless to compare reparation cost to the price of the unit itself. Unless you can prove it would have been significantly cheaper to repair with another manufacturer, you can't blame no one but yourself to have broken your hinge in the first place.
They quoted $100 for the hinge and $180 for the labor and $20 for shipping and $17 for taxes. That is usery plain and simple. I assume you were not trying to be offensive when you placed blame on me for the hinge, but you did come across that way.
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Yeah AppleCare is expired. I don't expect it to be free or anything, but I don't expect to get raped either. It broke from normal wear and tear.
In the US product law, there's a concept called "reasonable service life".
The hinge should not fail from "wear & tear" so soon.
Therefore you need to escalate your complaint up the chain at Apple Care. Explain that one expects the hinge to last longer than it did. That you did not receive "reasonable service life". I feel very certain if you present it in a courteous yet matter of fact manner, they'll replace it.
That said who knows, you may have to escalate to the next highest person, but approached as I suggested I'm confident you can resolve it at no cost to you.
I have an original MBA. I have broken and cracked plastic near one of the hinges, I also have more than one inch of free play while opening or closing the lid. Finally, the Lid falls freely into closed position from a 30-degree open position. Thanks for pointing me to this knowledge base. I was willing to pay a reasonable fee to have it repaired, but now it looks as if Apple will take care of it free of charge. I will let you all know what happens when I contact them tomorrow.
That hinge part has a design flaw the moment you eyeball it!.
It is the weakest mechanical part of the MBA. The hinge part is made of die-cast alloy which is brittle and breaks. The design is such that L-part that connects to a circular barrel breaks. It is such a stupid design, you wonder if this part can really take 300 open-close swing cycles!. There are ebay replacement part made of stain-less steel which will NEVER break no matter how many swings you do.
In that notice, Apple only fall short of admitting a defect on the hinge. If one opens it and look at the hinge, one can see clearly, such a design should NOT be used. Apple is not the first to make such a mistake, TI, Sony and Toshiba did such things long ago as well.
It is the weakest mechanical part of the MBA. The hinge part is made of die-cast alloy which is brittle and breaks. The design is such that L-part that connects to a circular barrel breaks. It is such a stupid design, you wonder if this part can really take 300 open-close swing cycles!. There are ebay replacement part made of stain-less steel which will NEVER break no matter how many swings you do.
In that notice, Apple only fall short of admitting a defect on the hinge. If one opens it and look at the hinge, one can see clearly, such a design should NOT be used. Apple is not the first to make such a mistake, TI, Sony and Toshiba did such things long ago as well.
Apple care is saying this program expired on August 27, 2012. I am on the phone to get them to do the right thing. It would have been nice if they had informed MBA owners about this, I could have had this taken care of before classes started.
AppleCare is telling me due to the sheer number of apple products I own, they will be taking care of my hinges free of charge. This will be the second time Apple has taken care of me on a product with expired AppleCare. What better reason to get AppleCare do you need?
You want to hear something funny. My wife's original MBA had its hinge replaced for free... in mid-August. We had no idea that there was a program, just took it in and the shop said that Apple would cover the cost. Whew! Congratulations on your outcome.
But they would probably replace the part free of charge also if you did not buy the AppleCare, wouldn't they?
Wow, if that's true about the expiration date, then that really sucks. I was about to take in my original MBA for hinge repair this week. 
I would still take it in and insist they take care of their manufacturing defect. It was a nice line about taking care of me due to the number of apple products I own, but I suspect they would have found an excuse to take care of it without admitting there's an issue.
I received an email today, the repair has been competed and the unit is on its way back to me.
I received an email today, the repair has been competed and the unit is on its way back to me.
Got my MBA back today. They replaced the following parts:
Display Bezel
Left Clutch
Right Clutch
Microphone Cable
Antenna Window
Magnet
It is definitely better without any play in the hinge, but the hinge still feels soft. if the unit is open all the way and I tilt the keyboard portion perpendicular to my desk, the lip closes. I compared it to me MBP, and that doesn't happen. On the MBP I have to wiggle it several times to get it to close. Before I call them back, I wanted input from you guys, is you MBA hinge soft like I m experiencing?
Display Bezel
Left Clutch
Right Clutch
Microphone Cable
Antenna Window
Magnet
It is definitely better without any play in the hinge, but the hinge still feels soft. if the unit is open all the way and I tilt the keyboard portion perpendicular to my desk, the lip closes. I compared it to me MBP, and that doesn't happen. On the MBP I have to wiggle it several times to get it to close. Before I call them back, I wanted input from you guys, is you MBA hinge soft like I m experiencing?
I just had the right hinge break on me late thursday night, I had it sitting on the counter and I went to close it and *crack*. I set up an appointment with apple the next morning and they basically told me that if I would have come in 3-4 weeks earlier, then I would have been covered, but since I had owned the computer for longer then 3 years, I have to pay $280 bucks.
At the time I just thought it was just one of those random things that happens, so I didn't put up much of a fight, told the guy thank you and I would be back another time to look at getting it fixed. After I got home I started looking into it more heavily and saw many people talking about how this was an issue. After reading this thread, I'm going back tuesday and seeing if I can't get them to replace it for free.
At the time I just thought it was just one of those random things that happens, so I didn't put up much of a fight, told the guy thank you and I would be back another time to look at getting it fixed. After I got home I started looking into it more heavily and saw many people talking about how this was an issue. After reading this thread, I'm going back tuesday and seeing if I can't get them to replace it for free.
Apple just fixed an original Air hinge FOR FREE without any Applecare and you want to complain that the repair isn't tight enough for you? Man - you are tough to please.
By your logic, if I received a MBA as a gift my investment would be zero and thus I shouldn't get any warranty?
The amount of money I paid for the repair is irrelevant. Apple agreed to replace my hinge and we came to an agreement on the cost of that repair. I am not satisfied with the repair. All I want apple to do is to fix the hinge as they promised. I expect they will do so.
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Mine was the right hinge as well.i would call them and have them schedule the rapair at the aple store. Stick to your guns and make them repair this defect. The fact they admit it was covered gives you certain legal rights.