Experiences with Genius Bar and Optibay replacement

[satchow]

I've had two experiences with "Geniuses" and repairs to my Optibay HDD replacement.

The first time, I brought my MBP in due to freezing issues that stemmed from the logic board. He saw that I had replaced the optical drive and told me to put the drive back in and bring it in later because he can't work on it like that because it's technically against the warranty. Very customer friendly response, I really appreciated him looking out for me. I brought it in the next day and he fixed the computer right up for me. Extremely happy customer.

The second time, I brought my MBP in due to a trackpad problem. I forgot to replace the optical drive before taking it in. The "Genius" for some reason had to run diagnostics on the machine and noticed it was missing and immediately started telling me my warranty is void and was generally just a jerk who wouldn't work with me. He even admitted that the optibay replacement had nothing to do with my trackpad issue yet still adamantly refused to do anything to help resolve my situation besides telling me that my warranty is void. Pretty terrible customer service considering I had bought a $2500 MBP and a $350 AppleCare warranty. I did end up replacing the drive and taking it to another Genius Bar, he didn't find the need to be a company man and run diagnostics on my computer for a trackpad issue. He just took it back, tightened a few screws on the trackpad and returned it right back to me 10 minutes later. Fantastic service.

Anybody else have any issues or success with your optibay replacement and the Genius Bar?

 

[Detrius]

The guy who said it voids your warranty is wrong. Apple's warranty is done on a per-part basis. The optibay has no effect on the warranty for the built-in trackpad.

We wouldn't have even made you take it out... unless we had to send the machine to Apple for some reason.

 

[satchow]

The guy who said it voids your warranty is wrong. Apple's warranty is done on a per-part basis. The optibay has no effect on the warranty for the built-in trackpad.

We wouldn't have even made you take it out... unless we had to send the machine to Apple for some reason.

Why did that guy give me SUCH a hard time about this then? I asked the guy next to him and he gave me a spiel about how they cannot work on it because it's been "modified". I was pretty close to just asking for a prorated refund on my AppleCare (around $250) which is much more than it would cost to "repair" my trackpad, which consisted of just tightening some screws. The guy was borderline insulting about the situation.

 

[KOZOK]

Why did that guy give me SUCH a hard time about this then? I asked the guy next to him and he gave me a spiel about how they cannot work on it because it's been "modified". I was pretty close to just asking for a prorated refund on my AppleCare (around $250) which is much more than it would cost to "repair" my trackpad, which consisted of just tightening some screws. The guy was borderline insulting about the situation.

Some people are just *******s, it doesn't change the fact when they put on a blue shirt.
I've found you have to be careful going in to the apple store. I had an issue with my laptop once, called applecare and they told me to go into the apple store where they would repair it under warranty. When I went into the apple store they literally laughed at me and said my problem was not covered under warranty, and what was I thinking? Of course they repaired it under warranty because I was the bigger dick that day - that's the key when dealing with people who want to be dicks to you- Be the bigger dick.

 

[satchow]

Thanks for the replies. At first I thought that I may really have voided my warranty and I was upset that he couldn't have been nicer to me about it but now after these responses and looking at the jargon in the warranty agreement I can see that's not the case. "Unauthorized modification" does not void your warranty, AppleCare just doesn't cover damages due to "Unauthorized Modification". Which they clearly said it had nothing to do with it.

Is there anywhere I can give feedback to the store about this? I would also like to send feedback to the follow up store that did fix it about how well they handled it.