**Warning - this is lengthy but thorough**
Yesterday (06/01/11) I was watching something on hulu.com on my early 2008 MBP- I paused the show and went away for about 2-3 minutes. When I came back and picked up my my MBP it was so hot I dropped it in my lap. My
first reaction after that was to disconnect the power so I went to
disconnect the MagSafe charger and it sparked then zapped/shocked me.
The Mag"Safe" charger was insanely hot (like touching fire - and the
left side of the computer was also extremely hot) - as I pulled on the
charger to disconnect it the little metal/magnet part melted away from
the plasticpiece/housing and was stuck to the computer. The inside
of the plastic housing for the charger was scorched and there's scorch
marks on the body of the notebook just above the charging port.
I scheduled a Genius appointment last night for today and in the morning I decided to call AppleCare. AppleCare basically said all they can do is replace the charger- and since the computer is out of warranty (barely by 1.5months) they would essentially be "doing me a favor." Seriously? I was burned and shocked and their generosity of a charger is doing me a favor? HAHAHA and some more HA!
So I went into the Apple store appointment to see if I can fare any better. They too said they think the incident was isolated only to the charger and not the computer and offered to replace the charger.
I, personally, do not find this acceptable. Obviously, something is wrong
if the computer was sooo hot I couldn't even hold it - AND the charger
subsequently melted (not in the usual way people complain about because
of the wires being exposed, etc - my charger was in perfect condition
prior to this). I was upfront and told them I didn't feel comfortable with just a new charger - something more needed to be done. In the 3 years of the life
of the computer it has had NUMEROUS repairs, including a whole new
clamshell, LCD as well as logic board, etc... etc... I felt like this
was the proverbial last straw... so the supervisor and tech looked
overall the records and ultimately agreed to send the computer into
the"depot" to be inspected and have any "necessary" repairs done, free
of charge.
Since I couldn't backup before going into the Apple store (not enough battery
life and no charger) - they sent me home with a new charger, told me to
backup my stuff and bring the computer back. They had the computer
plugged in at the store and said that it appeared to be in fine working
order so they didn't think anything would be wrong.
I go home, plug in the new charger and start my backup. I left the
computer since I knew it would take forever and ran some errands. When
I came back home the computer was super hot again - hot enough to be
uncomfortable to hold for more than a few seconds. I thought, sure, it
was fine in the Apple store because it wasn't doing anything but
sitting there - no programs were running for any length of time, etc...
I tried to call the Apple store back and ask for a manager - because at
this point - I feel as though they should just replace the computer -
go ahead and send it in to the depot to be evaluated, etc... but give
me a new computer (I don't even care if it's a refurbished model - and
in fact I really like my year's model).
Of course the store manager wasn't there. I asked for a district manager and she said there isn't one. She recommend I call tech support again. Called
tech support and asked for a manager - I got Joshua, Senior tech
advisor. After SEVERAL minutes on hold and a call back - he basically
said that this incident was not deemed a safety issue. Again, he said
the best he can offer is a new charger. Really? Not a safety issue?
My fingers were burned (as was my thigh), I was mini shocked and I had
a melted/fried charger to prove something was wrong and yet there's no
safety issue?
I was in utter shock and disbelief. Our conversation remained very professional and respectful - I expressed my thoughts and concerns and said I thought this was highly unacceptable. He said, I should just take advantage of what the Apple store was offering to do because that's the best I was going to get - and it was a LOT more than even he would offer. He also said, even if they send the computer in, they are only going to repair what's broken - so basically, if it ain't obviously broken they ain't going to fix it. I asked to speak to his manager and he said he was the highest person there - there was no one above him. He said I could speak to customer relations - but that was pretty much my only option from that point on.
So, what do you all think? I've been pretty nice and patience thus far -
but I'm wholly prepared to start unleashing the not-so-nice,
take-no-for-an-answer side of me any minute. Am I being too unreasonable by requesting/demanding a replacement computer?
PS. My husband is an electronic engineer and he believes the computer caused the charger to melt/disintegrate because of the excessive heat the computer was generating. I don't know about all that stuff - so if anyone out there has technical expertise on that - it would be greatly appreciated!
Yesterday (06/01/11) I was watching something on hulu.com on my early 2008 MBP- I paused the show and went away for about 2-3 minutes. When I came back and picked up my my MBP it was so hot I dropped it in my lap. My
first reaction after that was to disconnect the power so I went to
disconnect the MagSafe charger and it sparked then zapped/shocked me.
The Mag"Safe" charger was insanely hot (like touching fire - and the
left side of the computer was also extremely hot) - as I pulled on the
charger to disconnect it the little metal/magnet part melted away from
the plasticpiece/housing and was stuck to the computer. The inside
of the plastic housing for the charger was scorched and there's scorch
marks on the body of the notebook just above the charging port.
I scheduled a Genius appointment last night for today and in the morning I decided to call AppleCare. AppleCare basically said all they can do is replace the charger- and since the computer is out of warranty (barely by 1.5months) they would essentially be "doing me a favor." Seriously? I was burned and shocked and their generosity of a charger is doing me a favor? HAHAHA and some more HA!
So I went into the Apple store appointment to see if I can fare any better. They too said they think the incident was isolated only to the charger and not the computer and offered to replace the charger.
I, personally, do not find this acceptable. Obviously, something is wrong
if the computer was sooo hot I couldn't even hold it - AND the charger
subsequently melted (not in the usual way people complain about because
of the wires being exposed, etc - my charger was in perfect condition
prior to this). I was upfront and told them I didn't feel comfortable with just a new charger - something more needed to be done. In the 3 years of the life
of the computer it has had NUMEROUS repairs, including a whole new
clamshell, LCD as well as logic board, etc... etc... I felt like this
was the proverbial last straw... so the supervisor and tech looked
overall the records and ultimately agreed to send the computer into
the"depot" to be inspected and have any "necessary" repairs done, free
of charge.
Since I couldn't backup before going into the Apple store (not enough battery
life and no charger) - they sent me home with a new charger, told me to
backup my stuff and bring the computer back. They had the computer
plugged in at the store and said that it appeared to be in fine working
order so they didn't think anything would be wrong.
I go home, plug in the new charger and start my backup. I left the
computer since I knew it would take forever and ran some errands. When
I came back home the computer was super hot again - hot enough to be
uncomfortable to hold for more than a few seconds. I thought, sure, it
was fine in the Apple store because it wasn't doing anything but
sitting there - no programs were running for any length of time, etc...
I tried to call the Apple store back and ask for a manager - because at
this point - I feel as though they should just replace the computer -
go ahead and send it in to the depot to be evaluated, etc... but give
me a new computer (I don't even care if it's a refurbished model - and
in fact I really like my year's model).
Of course the store manager wasn't there. I asked for a district manager and she said there isn't one. She recommend I call tech support again. Called
tech support and asked for a manager - I got Joshua, Senior tech
advisor. After SEVERAL minutes on hold and a call back - he basically
said that this incident was not deemed a safety issue. Again, he said
the best he can offer is a new charger. Really? Not a safety issue?
My fingers were burned (as was my thigh), I was mini shocked and I had
a melted/fried charger to prove something was wrong and yet there's no
safety issue?
I was in utter shock and disbelief. Our conversation remained very professional and respectful - I expressed my thoughts and concerns and said I thought this was highly unacceptable. He said, I should just take advantage of what the Apple store was offering to do because that's the best I was going to get - and it was a LOT more than even he would offer. He also said, even if they send the computer in, they are only going to repair what's broken - so basically, if it ain't obviously broken they ain't going to fix it. I asked to speak to his manager and he said he was the highest person there - there was no one above him. He said I could speak to customer relations - but that was pretty much my only option from that point on.
So, what do you all think? I've been pretty nice and patience thus far -
but I'm wholly prepared to start unleashing the not-so-nice,
take-no-for-an-answer side of me any minute. Am I being too unreasonable by requesting/demanding a replacement computer?
PS. My husband is an electronic engineer and he believes the computer caused the charger to melt/disintegrate because of the excessive heat the computer was generating. I don't know about all that stuff - so if anyone out there has technical expertise on that - it would be greatly appreciated!
