Hi everyone,
I just registered with these forums so I could post my recent experience with Applecare service.
About a month ago my Macbook's rear fan started making grinding noises, and since it is covered under Applecare, I sent the machine to the Memphis repair center as Apple's support reps instructed. A few days later the machine returned with a fixed fan but without the 200 GB hard-drive I had installed in the Macbook. Instead, it had a 60GB drive that opened with the "Welcome to Leopard" install process.
Things got a little irritating when I called Apple to make note of the problem.
At first Danny, my Apple support rep, said that the hard-drive hadn't been replaced, since the repair manifest did not list that as having occurred. "Am I sure the drive has been replaced?" Danny asked me, even though I told him at the outset that the machine I received had a stock 60GB drive with a fresh Leopard install on it. Finally, Danny said that he'd double check with the service center to see if he could find out more.
Several days after having spoken with Danny this first time, he called me back to say that no, the service center doesn't have any record of replacing the drive, and once again, "Are you sure the drive has been replaced?" I assured him that yes my drive and all of its data is sitting in the repair center and that I was a little worried about having my drive and all of its information going missing in this age of identity theft and such....
After this interchange, Danny seemed to go on the offense. "Since we can't prove you had a larger drive..." he began to say, to which I replied that I had reported the aftermarket, 200GB drive when I first requested the repair. "Well, I think you might have voided your warranty by installing that drive," he said. I told him, I didn't think that was the case, and he insisted on rerouting me to an offshore call center to confirm as much.
When I called back to let Danny know that no my drive upgrade did not void the warranty and could I speak to anyone in Apple's legal department about data security and the missing drive he said that he "isn't allowed to give out contact information for the legal department." He said that I'd have to ask my lawyer to contact them. When I asked how my lawyer is supposed to know how to contact their legal department, he said that lawyers have "special training" and they "know how to find the contact info they need." It's this sort of absurdity that made me begin to get really irritated, although I was always peaceable and civil on the phone. (Btw, the special training lawyers have might be called "Google." Search for "apple legal contact info" and you get this link.)
Finally, after four phone calls, Danny asked me to send him the receipt for the hard-drive I had installed so that he could find out if he could offer a replacement. I promptly emailed him the receipt; although he initially balked at it being a PDF of my only Newegg invoice, he eventually said that he could use it.
Danny and I spoke again today, and his "solution," to this debacle is the irritating cherry on this frustration cake. Although my hard-drive was internal, Danny offered me an external replacement, since Apple doesn't have internal drives for sale. "Yes," Danny said, "you can get larger hard-drives installed when you build-to-order a Macbook," but those installations happen at the factory. I can only offer you a hard-drive that we sell at the Apple store. Outside of the factory, only our service centers have larger drives in stock." The service centers... like the one that initially lost my drive. But they can't send me a replacement, and Danny can't ask them to send him one. I thought this was ironic; Danny did not.
I told Danny that an external drive wouldn't be too useful to me, since I already have one and that, besides, I'll likely need to purchase larger internal drive again because I need that sort of storage on hand, without additional cables and such. Could I just get a check or store credit, I asked. No dice. Could I get anything else from the AppleStore? "That's not part of the deal," Danny said.
Ultimately, I convinced Danny to let me have "no more than two" items from the Apple Store for a total of $30 less than the price of the replacement external drive he had offered me.
I'll probably take Danny's offer and get an iPod shuffle or two, and write off the week's worth of phone call's and irritation and be done with it. The whole experience has made me question the current state of Apple's customer service and support.
As I mentioned to Danny at the start of our conversation, I was upset that the service center had lost my drive, but more than that I was concerned that my drive could be floating around somewhere. If once Danny had said, "I'm sorry," or offered any sympathy, I might not be so upset. Instead, I got resistance, foot-dragging, and a reluctant "offer" to fix the problem.
I've purchased a dozen Apple computers in the past. I'm not sure that my next machine will be a Mac
-Jacob
I just registered with these forums so I could post my recent experience with Applecare service.
About a month ago my Macbook's rear fan started making grinding noises, and since it is covered under Applecare, I sent the machine to the Memphis repair center as Apple's support reps instructed. A few days later the machine returned with a fixed fan but without the 200 GB hard-drive I had installed in the Macbook. Instead, it had a 60GB drive that opened with the "Welcome to Leopard" install process.
Things got a little irritating when I called Apple to make note of the problem.
At first Danny, my Apple support rep, said that the hard-drive hadn't been replaced, since the repair manifest did not list that as having occurred. "Am I sure the drive has been replaced?" Danny asked me, even though I told him at the outset that the machine I received had a stock 60GB drive with a fresh Leopard install on it. Finally, Danny said that he'd double check with the service center to see if he could find out more.
Several days after having spoken with Danny this first time, he called me back to say that no, the service center doesn't have any record of replacing the drive, and once again, "Are you sure the drive has been replaced?" I assured him that yes my drive and all of its data is sitting in the repair center and that I was a little worried about having my drive and all of its information going missing in this age of identity theft and such....
After this interchange, Danny seemed to go on the offense. "Since we can't prove you had a larger drive..." he began to say, to which I replied that I had reported the aftermarket, 200GB drive when I first requested the repair. "Well, I think you might have voided your warranty by installing that drive," he said. I told him, I didn't think that was the case, and he insisted on rerouting me to an offshore call center to confirm as much.
When I called back to let Danny know that no my drive upgrade did not void the warranty and could I speak to anyone in Apple's legal department about data security and the missing drive he said that he "isn't allowed to give out contact information for the legal department." He said that I'd have to ask my lawyer to contact them. When I asked how my lawyer is supposed to know how to contact their legal department, he said that lawyers have "special training" and they "know how to find the contact info they need." It's this sort of absurdity that made me begin to get really irritated, although I was always peaceable and civil on the phone. (Btw, the special training lawyers have might be called "Google." Search for "apple legal contact info" and you get this link.)
Finally, after four phone calls, Danny asked me to send him the receipt for the hard-drive I had installed so that he could find out if he could offer a replacement. I promptly emailed him the receipt; although he initially balked at it being a PDF of my only Newegg invoice, he eventually said that he could use it.
Danny and I spoke again today, and his "solution," to this debacle is the irritating cherry on this frustration cake. Although my hard-drive was internal, Danny offered me an external replacement, since Apple doesn't have internal drives for sale. "Yes," Danny said, "you can get larger hard-drives installed when you build-to-order a Macbook," but those installations happen at the factory. I can only offer you a hard-drive that we sell at the Apple store. Outside of the factory, only our service centers have larger drives in stock." The service centers... like the one that initially lost my drive. But they can't send me a replacement, and Danny can't ask them to send him one. I thought this was ironic; Danny did not.
I told Danny that an external drive wouldn't be too useful to me, since I already have one and that, besides, I'll likely need to purchase larger internal drive again because I need that sort of storage on hand, without additional cables and such. Could I just get a check or store credit, I asked. No dice. Could I get anything else from the AppleStore? "That's not part of the deal," Danny said.
Ultimately, I convinced Danny to let me have "no more than two" items from the Apple Store for a total of $30 less than the price of the replacement external drive he had offered me.
I'll probably take Danny's offer and get an iPod shuffle or two, and write off the week's worth of phone call's and irritation and be done with it. The whole experience has made me question the current state of Apple's customer service and support.
As I mentioned to Danny at the start of our conversation, I was upset that the service center had lost my drive, but more than that I was concerned that my drive could be floating around somewhere. If once Danny had said, "I'm sorry," or offered any sympathy, I might not be so upset. Instead, I got resistance, foot-dragging, and a reluctant "offer" to fix the problem.
I've purchased a dozen Apple computers in the past. I'm not sure that my next machine will be a Mac
-Jacob
