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How long after refresh MBP comes out before I should ask for replacement?

thadoggfather

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
16,343
17,460
Just wondering. have an early 2008 mbp. had logic board replaced for 8600m gt dying, battery for not holding a charge, superdrive for not burning dl's, and screen for having weird banding at times.

Three major repairs so far: super drive, lcd, logic board.
one minor: battery

now the hard drive is making tons of noise and results in my VLC videos skipping or pausing too often (not the files themselves, I know I've tested on other machines) and I think the 8600m gt might be on its way out with this one. Plus, there's a solder point stuck in the glowing apple on the back of the toplid from when they replaced my lcd that i haven't bothered to get replaced yet but they said they would.

Plus, the casing is coming off. above the HD spot (left armrest) the plastic part is kind of splitting (not my fault, subtle splitting not huge) and there is unevenness near the battery which werent there beffore i got all these repairs so the laptop kind of wobbles on some surfaces.

also, the lcd squeeks whenever i move its position, kind of lame for such an expensive laptop.

the case slightly splitting, the unevenness and squeek are all comparitively trivial points though, not sure if i will mention them when calling customer service.

i want to wait until arrandale mbp refresh drops though, might as well it's so close. how long after it comes out should i call customer service and complain, hoping i get a replacement (i think i have a lemon on my hands, don't trust the reliability of this machine anymore) and ensuring its an arrandale instead of a penryn current model they are trying to pawn off?

thank you.
 
Well when Apple replaces a unit, they always do it with a new retail model. I'd say give it a couple of weeks after the refresh and you should be good. Sorry to hear you have to many problems with your last MBP.
 
Would I have better luck at an Apple Store or Customer service over their 1800 number with my dilemma?
 
they're not going to replace your unit. i had the same early 2008 and every single component of the machine exept the battery, hd, and cd drive was replaced but still no new comp.
 
Their policy is to only replace a machine if it has been in for the SAME issue three or more times. Since all of yours were essentially different issues, I would think it would be difficult to finagle a replacement out of anyone.
 
DoNoHarm said:
they're not going to replace your unit. i had the same early 2008 and every single component of the machine exept the battery, hd, and cd drive was replaced but still no new comp.
Click to expand...

Which components have you had replaced?

Just the LCD and logic board? I think you need three major repairs to get a replacement.

I think having had lcd replaced, superdrive, logic board, and suspicion of another 8600m gt failure, hd on its way out, and the lcd replacement being messed up with this solder point, I have enough of a point even though they aren't legally obliged to give me a replacement.

I personally find this to be unacceptable quality.
 
coast1ja said:
Their policy is to only replace a machine if it has been in for the SAME issue three or more times. Since all of yours were essentially different issues, I would think it would be difficult to finagle a replacement out of anyone.
Click to expand...



correct.

Apple's replacement policy for a unit is 3 repairs to the same component. Not 3 "major" repairs.

My original (mid 2006) MBP had 5 total repairs, one super drive, one pair of fan assemblies, one LCD and two main boards before they agreed to replace the unit completely when it was scheduled to go in for a 3rd main board replacement.

Even then, I believe it is at the store manager's/apple care's discretion on what unit they will replace it with.
 
Requirements for a replacement

I'm not sure it takes 3 repairs to get a replacement. Everything I bought in 2007 has now been replaced by Apple, my new MBP 17' should be here in a few days, the keypad quit working last week.
In October, my 8 core 8gig MacPro was replaced because I couldn't add any hard-drives because they had incorrectly installed the connectors at the factory, and it couldn't be repaired on-site. A year ago they replaced my 30 inch cinema display because there was a long vertical black line running down the left side of it. That was the hard one because the Apple store Memphis was run by a bunch of bums that wouldn't help me send it back after I finally had a return number from customer service. Getting that return number did take about 9 months, and I beat them up over it, and I've gotten all kinds of apologies from upper management over it.
So the extra money you pay for the benefit of Apples' better hardware is not always true, but the extra money for apple care is worth it. You must make sure you document everything, every date you talk with them, every conversation. On the other side, I bought my wife a 2005 Macbook Pro, she's a hard user, takes it to college, beats it around, not a minute of problem with it, just a great system. Make them give you what you paid for, be persistent, and do not give them a minutes rest. Good luck, Cheers!
Dave
2009 Mac Pro 8 Core 8 Gigs Monster w/ 30' Cinema
2007 17' MPB until later this week: 2009 17' MBP
 
Call me lucky. But I can't believe some people have so many issues with their computers. I have had several apple laptops and never a single problem with any of them. Same thing with my friends and families mac book pros. Never a problem. :confused:
 
coast1ja said:
Their policy is to only replace a machine if it has been in for the SAME issue three or more times. Since all of yours were essentially different issues, I would think it would be difficult to finagle a replacement out of anyone.
Click to expand...

i agree

no way OP is getting a brand new laptop
 
Apple replaced my Powerbook G4 after two dead logic boards :D
I got a 1.5Ghz with superdrive, when i had a 1.33GHz with combo too.
Guess they was just kind to me, or had a shortage of logic boards or smthin' :D
 
thadoggfather said:
Which components have you had replaced?

Just the LCD and logic board? I think you need three major repairs to get a replacement.

I think having had lcd replaced, superdrive, logic board, and suspicion of another 8600m gt failure, hd on its way out, and the lcd replacement being messed up with this solder point, I have enough of a point even though they aren't legally obliged to give me a replacement.

I personally find this to be unacceptable quality.
Click to expand...
I'm almost entirely positive that Applecare states that it has to be 3 repairs for the same issue, not 3 separate repairs.

So you'd have to have your exact same problem 2 times prior to qualify for a new notebook.

I'm sorry you're having problems, but I wouldn't be expecting a new notebook. I wouldn't be asking for a new notebook, that's really just being greedy.
 
Do you use a surge protector? Did they ever replace the MagSafe charger? Wonder what the chances are that it could be power-related?
 
thadoggfather said:
Which components have you had replaced?

Just the LCD and logic board? I think you need three major repairs to get a replacement.

I think having had lcd replaced, superdrive, logic board, and suspicion of another 8600m gt failure, hd on its way out, and the lcd replacement being messed up with this solder point, I have enough of a point even though they aren't legally obliged to give me a replacement.

I personally find this to be unacceptable quality.
Click to expand...

lcd
logic board X2
keyboard
mousepad
palmwrest X2
both outer covers X2
magsafe adapter


.... i think that's it... oh yeah they also had to do a reinstall of the system once the second logic board went in.


whatever, they finally offered a replacement yesterday. To the OP: replacements are great when they come, but it's definitely not worth the hassle. I hope that your MBP is fixed and never breaks again.
 
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