I'm in China; Apple Store Genius Guy in Beijing Messed Up my Power Adapter!

[HappyDude20]

Hi guys,

So, i'm in China for these next few months. I've begun a thread in the community area of MacRumors titled "Would You Just Get Up & Fly Away?" which initiated my trip abroad. On a whim I simply took off to China for these next 2 months, with 7 weeks to go. . . .

Nevetheless on to the point:

Turns out an array of hotels and houses in China aren't truly equipt to handle the U.S. standard port... you know, the wall socket.

Well, a few days ago I went into one of the three Apple stores in Beijing to have my MBP charging brick taken care of. The Genius guy at the Apple store went to the back and came back with the same which power brick...but a bit damaged. Now my MBP will take forever to charge, if it even charges at all.

I asked the people at this Beijing Apple store to either fix or replace my charging port, considering I won't be living inBeijing for these next 7 weeks, but rather in a small chinese town...

Of course there is the language barrier so i ended up leaving a bit frustrated...

and am wondering what can be done; which brings me to this thread.

I have skype and would love to call AppleCare, though am not sure if they'd even be able to replace my power brick considering in the small town i'm in I don't even have a concrete address. . . .(this entire town seems to be under construction...) (Plus, I can't imagine sending my current damaged power brick in for repairs...considering the language barrier and lack of a proper post office within 30 miles around.)

 

[AFPoster]

I am surprised you didn't know the US is the only country using 60hz. You have to buy the Euro adapters for any other country which they sell at all apple stores, and I believe the kit is only 50$ US.

I would e-mail applecare I know that they can send you one (use a friend's address or your hotel's or wherever you are staying) and once you receive it you send your bad one back. You can pay extra for expedited shipping. I recommend e-mail b/c calling my be difficult, if you need help let me know and I can try and get a hold of them for you.

 

[maverick86]

I'm confused by your story...Did go to the Apple store because the charging brick didn't fit the wall sockets or because it was taking forever to charge the MBP?

In any event, Hong Kong sockets have different voltage than the U.S. hence the reason for the charger not fitting. All you need(ed) to do is buy a cheap adaptor like this: http://www.travelproducts.com/united-kingdom-grounded-plug-adapter.html

 

[HappyDude20]

I am surprised you didn't know the US is the only country using 60hz. You have to buy the Euro adapters for any other country which they sell at all apple stores, and I believe the kit is only 50$ US.

I would e-mail applecare I know that they can send you one (use a friend's address or your hotel's or wherever you are staying) and once you receive it you send your bad one back. You can pay extra for expedited shipping. I recommend e-mail b/c calling my be difficult, if you need help let me know and I can try and get a hold of them for you.

I've been in China before and did not have this problem before. though throughout my previous stay I ended up staying only in Western style hotels with U.S. wall sockets.

This time around i'm in Northern China, while last time I was in Southern China...though the current house I'm staying in does support U.S. ports, among the array of European ports. I have the Apple branded wall adapters, which I purchased back in 2007 during my last stay in Asia, though didn't think to bring them this time around . . But my current housing and hotels for the past few weeks have supported U.S. style sockets, though I do need to giggle the socket when wanted to plug my MBP into the wall.. .

It's just that through the numerous times i've plugging in my MBP at hotels, homes and universities, my MBP power adapter seems to have taken a beating, which lead me to take it to the Apple Store in Beijing in hopes of seeing if they could do anything about it.. . . though the employee at the store seemed to be quite brutal with my power adapter. I tried for 20 minutes to see if I could leave me power adapter in hopes he would either fix it or replace it, considering I have AppleCare for another 2 years, though the language barrier left both of us befuddled.

Skype and Google Voice/Talk works fine, considering i'm using a VPN service, though literally my home address in China is Northern High School Campus. There are a few other foreign teachers here who suggest that if I want anything delivered here to have it sent to the high school nearby, of which a teacher will sign for it.. . . .though sending anything out is quite expensive, considering the town and province we're in. .

I'm thinking either about calling AppleCare, hitting up the Apple Store in Beijing once again (3 hour train ride north), or waiting till I go back home to California mid-May) to resolve the issue. . . . . . .

 

[dime21]

sounds like going to china was a poor decision. plan your travel out a little better next time, and do your homework on your destination's electrical standards.

 

[vincenz]

sounds like going to china was a poor decision. plan your travel out a little better next time, and do your homework on your destination's electrical standards.

There's one solution to the problem...

 

[jupman]

What (screen) size is your Macbook? and what does the writing on the apple power adapter say? Look for xxW where xx is a number.

Hi guys,

So, i'm in China for these next few months. I've begun a thread in the community area of MacRumors titled "Would You Just Get Up & Fly Away?" which initiated my trip abroad. On a whim I simply took off to China for these next 2 months, with 7 weeks to go. . . .

Nevetheless on to the point:

Turns out an array of hotels and houses in China aren't truly equipt to handle the U.S. standard port... you know, the wall socket.

Well, a few days ago I went into one of the three Apple stores in Beijing to have my MBP charging brick taken care of. The Genius guy at the Apple store went to the back and came back with the same which power brick...but a bit damaged. Now my MBP will take forever to charge, if it even charges at all.

I asked the people at this Beijing Apple store to either fix or replace my charging port, considering I won't be living inBeijing for these next 7 weeks, but rather in a small chinese town...

Of course there is the language barrier so i ended up leaving a bit frustrated...

and am wondering what can be done; which brings me to this thread.

I have skype and would love to call AppleCare, though am not sure if they'd even be able to replace my power brick considering in the small town i'm in I don't even have a concrete address. . . .(this entire town seems to be under construction...) (Plus, I can't imagine sending my current damaged power brick in for repairs...considering the language barrier and lack of a proper post office within 30 miles around.)