My Macbook Pro Arrived Doa!
Well, not
DOA in the most literal sense of the acronym. It still functions as a computer. The problem is that when I took it to school today, I noticed that it had a fairly large chip missing from the bottom left corner (Corner closest to the escape key.) I knew I didn't cause it, because I have only had it for 24 hours, and in that time I have babied it! Like, litteraly,
two cases! One incase neoprene sleeve, and then a bag with padding of its own. It was glued to my hip all day (in shoulder bag) so nobody stepped on it. (God forbid!
) I called the Apple store, and they said they couldn't help me, and that I should call 1 (800) MY-APPLE. I then called them, and spoke to a very nice guy, at AppleCare. I lied, and told him that I had pictures of the chipped MacBook Pro in the box, and he said that it was a good idea, and that he believed me and didn't need them. He then transferred me to a product specialist named Chris, who actually wanted to see the pictures, so I stalled him, rambling on and on about how pissed he was. Eventually, I managed to wrap the MacBook Pro in its original plastic, and put it in the box for a picture. He seemed satisfied by the pictures, so he gave me some options:
1. Drive two hours to Thousand Oaks, CA, to the nearest Apple Store. They would do the repairs for free, but I would need to drive there, drop it, wait for the parts, wait for the repair, and then pick it up. Also, they would only replace the aluminum side of the display, meaning that the job might not look so great.
2. Take it to local Apple Authorized Service Provider, and get it fixed. My first instinct was to do this, as we personally knew the guys there. Unfortunatley, their approach would be to remove the
ENTIRE screen assembly, not just the top case. That would mean that I would be held financially responsible for the screen, since only the top case was scratched. No thanks, Apple.
3. I finally decided on having them send me a brand new MacBook Pro from the factory as a replacement. Since it was custom configured, (2.8 GHz, 128 GB SSD) they would have to custom build it in China. This would take 2-3 days. They would then send me a prepaid FedEx label for this MacBook Pro. Once I packed up this computer, and FedEx collected it, they would release the new one to be shipped to me. There were only two problems with this. First, I would be without my MacBook Pro for a few days. Second, I would have to transfer all my files. Again, I didn't see the chip when I first unpacked the MacBook Pro, so I went ahead and transferred my files. Well, at least they refunded the $10 for expedited shipping.
What do you guys think? Am I in the right, or am I just neurotic? Did Apple do the right thing? What do you guys think about the build quality of the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros? Let me know, along with any other suggestions you may have.
Peace,
Alex Carlson
The MacTips Podcast
acarlson@mactipspodcast.com
