Edit: Resolved - Apple Warranty Horror - Loophole Policies

[jlbrown23]

Why I don't get extended warrantees...

They are essentially ripoffs - they charge way too much, they try to refuse to do what they promise and the product you buy should WORK IN THE FIRST PLACE. For the most part they cover repairs for things that shouldn't go wrong with a good product and they try to avoid paying for things they should fix.

My sister's boyfriend had one recently - broke the screen on his MacBook. He didn't drop it - he tripped on the cord, and it pulled the Macbook of a table. Now on one hand you could call this accidental damage, but on the other hand you could say that his Magsafe adapter DIDN'T DO WHAT APPLE CLAIMS IT DOES. He took it in to the Apple store and they wanted to charge him something like $500-600 to replace the screen. No warranty, no accountability for the Magsafe not working. I told him to just get a screen on eBay and replace it himself. Despite not being a techie, he managed to do it just fine(said the instructions that came with it were really good) and got out of it for something like $170. That's right, for CONSIDERABLY LESS than the $300 he wasted on Applecare.

If you are worried about voiding the warranty - you see that it isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

I don't mean to be hard on Apple about this - I think that ALL companies do this(overcharge for bogus warrantees). My experience has been that if something that is actually covered doesn't break during the original(free) warranty, it will keep working.

 

[Hmac]

Relative to AppleCare, I don't disagree that it's of marginal usefulness. I didn't buy it on my Mac Pro, and on my MacBook Pro, it was $350. I didn't think that was cost-effective and was going to pass, but I checked ebay and was able to buy that $350 AppleCare program for $200.

 

[MikeL]

If you're clumsy, buy computer insurance that covers your clumsiness.

It's a hard lesson to learn, but nobody is screwing the OP over. Well, perhaps fate is, but who said that life is fair?

 

[badgerpoison]

You probably had a tier 3 repair. Apple uses tiers to determine how much to fix on your computer. Tier 1 is pretty cheap, tier 4 is for broken lcds, water damage, etc. It is the highest possible that they will actually do repairs. They will (and have to) fix anything and everything on the computer that is malfunctioning. Therefore they charge $1250 or so. The location of the dent probably put it in tier 3 (around $950).

That said, the AppleCare policy used to say (and might still say) that any physical damage to the bottom case or top case would void the entire warranty, but it is now becoming common practice among Apple Stores and authorized repair centers to honor the warranty if the damage is not in the same place as the malfunctioning part. The main point is that it is becoming common practice. This does not mean that they have to do repairs on dented computers if the dent is not near the problem. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that they can refuse service to your Super Drive if your magsafe connection is all busted up.

I just wanted to throw some knowledge out there. I know I didn't make any specific points, but hopefully this post clarifies some of Apple's policies.

EDIT: and it is also correct that if you do a hard drive repair yourself, you run the giant risk of voiding your warranty. If the service technician notices a stripped screws, a bent bottom case, or anything else that shows that the top case wasn't taken off fairly flawlessly, they can deduce that there was a repair done that might have broken something, or caused something to break. I've seen it happen.

I spoke to an Apple Product Specialist today who confirmed what you wrote. Basically, apple approximates the repair charges. They said for my MBP the repair was tier 3; parts cost $855 and labor cost $100; for a total of $955. There are no actual parts that add up to a cost of $855; it could cost Apple more or it could cost less.

If I pay to repair the hard drive through a local Apple Authorized service center, Apple can still decide that my computer is tier 3 and still charge $955 to repair the case. More troubling, they can decide my computer is tier 4 even after the hard drive repair because my mainboard is likely damaged and that was not included in the original tier 3 quote. They can also decide that it is all completly covered or that it is a lower tier repair. There are not parts and therefore its impossible to determine what I need to pay for and what they will agree to pay for.

 

[jonswan]

You don't have to buy apple care straight off. You have the option of buying it once the original warranty expires.

i hate trolls.

I think you mean: you have the option of buying it BEFORE the original warranty expires. I think you'll find that the difference is, well, everything.

I hate trolls too, but that's no reason to squeal once someone simply rubbishes Apple for dodgy sevice - I complain like hell when they foul up. It sure beats 24/7 ass kissing.

 

[MikeL]

What I wonder is if the OP has bothered to see if his accident is covered by his home-owner's insurance policy, or if he's more focused on being upset than discovering his options.

 

[badgerpoison]

What I wonder is if the OP has bothered to see if his accident is covered by his home-owner's insurance policy, or if he's more focused on being upset than discovering his options.

I checked with my Insurance agent; it is not covered. If somoene else came to my house and dented my laptop, it could be a different story depending on that person's insurance.

To your second comment, I would love nothing more than to get through to someone at who could guide me in what to do to fix my laptop; and then post the good news on this board.

 

[cohibadad]

My sister's boyfriend had one recently - broke the screen on his MacBook. He didn't drop it - he tripped on the cord, and it pulled the Macbook of a table. Now on one hand you could call this accidental damage

If you trip over a wire and knock it on the ground breaking the screen that would be accidental damage. Otherwise everyone would be using the "Magsafe didn't do what it was supposed to do loophole". AppleCare is probably a waste for most people. The percentage of computers experiencing failures in covered parts after 1 year costing more than AppleCare is probably low.

 

[MikeL]

To your second comment, I would love nothing more than to get through to someone at who could guide me in what to do to fix my laptop; and then post the good news on this board.

You have talked to people who have guided you and given you the information you need to have your computer repaired. You don't like the information, but that doesn't change the fact that it has been given to you.

Look, you dropped your laptop. It's unfortunate, but that is life. You need to take responsibility, and stop looking for someone else to fix mistakes of your own making for you.

 

[dvince2]

...
Its like your asking the car dealer to replace the rear bumper on your car for free because you backed into a post. ...

Sounds more like asking the dealer to replace a faulty horn on your car and refusing because you backed into a post...

 

[barijazz]

I have had issues with AppleCare before too, though I've always been stubborn with them and made sure they repaired what was broken. My PB had tons of dings and other things wrong with it and they never bothered with saying I needed to replace the case, however I got my repairs done in Asia where service is everything and if you screw up you get in trouble, haha.

Anyway, maybe this is a bit late now, but I'd recommend sending your original post, edited slightly, to Steve Jobs. Can't remember his exact e-mail, emphasise what happened and you might get lucky... especially if you say you don't even want your case fixed or the HDD, it's something else entirely. He has been known to clear up situations that went bad.

Don't mention extortion or anything like that though.

I believe it is steve@mac.com ?

Walk into an apple store hand your computer to someone who works at apple there then trip them, apple will have to replace it muahahahaha, but if that doesn't work I would say replace what needs to be replaced yourself.

good luck.

 

[ErikAndre]

He said no because the hard drive needs to be replaced by Apple or an Authorized repair center to retain its Warranty...

Oops... I've sort of been replacing them myself and on all my friend's MBP's as well and AppleCare didn't say anything when I had them service mine. Hmm...

 

[ErikAndre]

I believe it is steve@mac.com ?

He has many aliases. That's one of them.

 

[badgerpoison]

Apple resolved the issue

I spoke with an Apple Customer Relations representative today who was able to reverse the determination by Apple that my damage was Accidental, so that it would be covered under the Warranty. Apple will perform the repairs.

I am once again a happy Apple customer

 

[GoCubsGo]

I spoke with an Apple Customer Relations representative today who was able to reverse the determination by Apple that my damage was Accidental, so that it would be covered under the Warranty. Apple will perform the repairs.

I am once again a happy Apple customer

Now your original complaint (part of it) was that Apple would not disclose to you why or how they could know if the accidental damage invariably caused the machine to fail. In your case the squeaky wheel got the grease and in some cases I think rightfully so. You were obviously quite persistent and probably professional. After the determination was reversed did Apple make any indication as to how they would be able to determine if the failure was due to the drop or did they just decide to get it fixed for you? I ask because it seems like whomever you spoke to could have said that they could not know for certain due to the date of the drop versus the date of the failure of the machine. Since they could not prove nor disprove accidental damage outside of the dent near the drive they err on the side of the customer and give you the repairs for free.

I would however have had you pay for the drive. Maybe you have to so I might have missed that. But I would have. Even still, it is great that you're back to being a happy customer. I think in a weird way if I were put through the ringer I may still believe there are issues but they're easy to let go when you get your way...I'm that way too.

 

[badgerpoison]

Now your original complaint (part of it) was that Apple would not disclose to you why or how they could know if the accidental damage invariably caused the machine to fail. In your case the squeaky wheel got the grease and in some cases I think rightfully so. You were obviously quite persistent and probably professional. After the determination was reversed did Apple make any indication as to how they would be able to determine if the failure was due to the drop or did they just decide to get it fixed for you? I ask because it seems like whomever you spoke to could have said that they could not know for certain due to the date of the drop versus the date of the failure of the machine. Since they could not prove nor disprove accidental damage outside of the dent near the drive they err on the side of the customer and give you the repairs for free.

I would however have had you pay for the drive. Maybe you have to so I might have missed that. But I would have. Even still, it is great that you're back to being a happy customer. I think in a weird way if I were put through the ringer I may still believe there are issues but they're easy to let go when you get your way...I'm that way too.

Jess, the role reversal happened when I explained that I have proof that the accident happened over 3 months ago (2 witnesses, 3 plane tickets, and daily file backups). So neither Apple nor I will ever know for sure if the MBP would have malfunctioned had it not been for the accident. However, the customer relations representative agread with me that there was too much uncertainty to determine that the accident caused the damage.

I was prepared to pay for the hard drive (I even have a new HD with my laptop sitting at Microcenter), but I was specifically instructed to not let Microcenter change out the hard drive because Apple will replace that too . The reason I called Apple today was to confirm that having my hard drive replaced without replacing the case, would put my computer back in warrantable status. I think the complication in this case was another factor in Apple's decision reversal.

About dropping the other raised issues - I still want this post to stay out there for other Apple owners to be aware of, and I certainly won't forget. However, I am able to go about being satisfied because all I really want is a working computer.