Hi everyone,
I am new to posting in forums but I really need some outside-Apple suggestions. I have had a MacBook Pro since mid-October and I am now starting to have an issue with it, as can be expected with any tech product. When I returned from Spring Break I opened the computer up to find a strange flickering display. I held the screen trying to adjust it and it went back to normal, but the minute I released it, the flickering began again. It was sporadic but it was there, so I called Apple and made an appointment. Over the next few days the flickering increased. This flickering can best be described as a "solarized" type look - bright colors suddenly get all sorts of weird shades, everything looks highly pixelated, and there is a weird vibrating/quivering effect that gives me headaches if I look at it too long. Now I know nothing about technology but this seems to me to be something loose or disattached with the display, because pressure on the back of the display does help and it does go back to normal sometimes.
So here begins the real problem with Apple support in the Mac store. When taking off the Speck case, he noticed a tiny dent in the bottom corner of the display which came as a surprise to us both. Immediately, he accused me of dropping it, to which I replied that I used the Speck case and a separate laptop compartment in my backpack, and I had NEVER dropped it. He said, "I'm just calling it as I see it...and I see it's dented....so that is going to void your warranty because you damaged it when you dropped it." We then argued for 5 min. over whether I dropped it, and he tried to get me to think of every possible moment I could have dropped it. Then he noticed that the display hinge was incredibly loose....on the OPPOSITE corner of the computer. And that was where the pressure was fixing the problem. So then he said..."oh that's lucky...the dent seems to have nothing to do with the display so I guess you're covered." I now had the luck of now being covered by my own warranty, awesome. So they sent it in and sent it back and it only took them 8 days...
Then I pick it up and the girl at the front can't tell me what was wrong with it. She told me that they "didn't replace anything" but assured me that everything was now operating fine, and I assumed that they just tightened something or plugged something back in. I didn't check it in the store either, again assuming from my previous experiences with other companies that they had actually done something to it to make it better - I have never had a problem getting anything repaired on warranty with an obvious hardware problem. Upon getting home and putting the Speck case back on, I booted up and the problem was still obviously there...except worse....almost CONSTANT flickering.
I called Apple again and told them about my situation, only to have them tell me that it didn't look like they actually did ANYTHING to the computer. Everything was "within specs" at the repair center. So, regardless of the fact that I had an obvious problem verified by Genius Bar Guy....nothing was done when I sent it in. NOTHING. After being shuffled around at the call center the last guy gave me a code for a "forced repair"...an option that, in his words, "makes us repair whatever we determine is wrong with your display." HUH? This option will take yet another week - "3-5 business days at the earliest" - to pursue.
I have never had to fight this much with any computer CS and I've had Toshiba, Dell, Gateway, etc... Even with an obvious problem I have to "force" Apple to repair a defective part?? Isn't that why we have warranties? Not to mention that as the guy explained it, again they get the power of determination even with a "forced repair" and could (if they really wanted to be jerks) just send it back again as "within specs." I am upset that I have paid thousands of dollars for this hardware, been without a computer for a week, and I am still not guaranteed even an honest attempt at fixing it the first time I sent it in. It does not bother me that I have to go through the repair process - I understand that is part of owning any computer. However, it DOES bother me that I have an obvious problem that Apple is trying their hardest NOT to fix.
So...because I have been searching all over the Web to find a fix:
1) has anyone had these kind of display problems?
2) Has anyone had experience with a "forced repair?" I haven't been able to find anything about it online.
3) Does Apple give loaners? He told me to schedule the fix ASAP as the force code will run out but right now I simply cannot give up my computer for another week. I could give up my computer now if they gave me another so I can get some work done over Easter.
Thanks for any suggestions!
I am new to posting in forums but I really need some outside-Apple suggestions. I have had a MacBook Pro since mid-October and I am now starting to have an issue with it, as can be expected with any tech product. When I returned from Spring Break I opened the computer up to find a strange flickering display. I held the screen trying to adjust it and it went back to normal, but the minute I released it, the flickering began again. It was sporadic but it was there, so I called Apple and made an appointment. Over the next few days the flickering increased. This flickering can best be described as a "solarized" type look - bright colors suddenly get all sorts of weird shades, everything looks highly pixelated, and there is a weird vibrating/quivering effect that gives me headaches if I look at it too long. Now I know nothing about technology but this seems to me to be something loose or disattached with the display, because pressure on the back of the display does help and it does go back to normal sometimes.
So here begins the real problem with Apple support in the Mac store. When taking off the Speck case, he noticed a tiny dent in the bottom corner of the display which came as a surprise to us both. Immediately, he accused me of dropping it, to which I replied that I used the Speck case and a separate laptop compartment in my backpack, and I had NEVER dropped it. He said, "I'm just calling it as I see it...and I see it's dented....so that is going to void your warranty because you damaged it when you dropped it." We then argued for 5 min. over whether I dropped it, and he tried to get me to think of every possible moment I could have dropped it. Then he noticed that the display hinge was incredibly loose....on the OPPOSITE corner of the computer. And that was where the pressure was fixing the problem. So then he said..."oh that's lucky...the dent seems to have nothing to do with the display so I guess you're covered." I now had the luck of now being covered by my own warranty, awesome. So they sent it in and sent it back and it only took them 8 days...
Then I pick it up and the girl at the front can't tell me what was wrong with it. She told me that they "didn't replace anything" but assured me that everything was now operating fine, and I assumed that they just tightened something or plugged something back in. I didn't check it in the store either, again assuming from my previous experiences with other companies that they had actually done something to it to make it better - I have never had a problem getting anything repaired on warranty with an obvious hardware problem. Upon getting home and putting the Speck case back on, I booted up and the problem was still obviously there...except worse....almost CONSTANT flickering.
I called Apple again and told them about my situation, only to have them tell me that it didn't look like they actually did ANYTHING to the computer. Everything was "within specs" at the repair center. So, regardless of the fact that I had an obvious problem verified by Genius Bar Guy....nothing was done when I sent it in. NOTHING. After being shuffled around at the call center the last guy gave me a code for a "forced repair"...an option that, in his words, "makes us repair whatever we determine is wrong with your display." HUH? This option will take yet another week - "3-5 business days at the earliest" - to pursue.
I have never had to fight this much with any computer CS and I've had Toshiba, Dell, Gateway, etc... Even with an obvious problem I have to "force" Apple to repair a defective part?? Isn't that why we have warranties? Not to mention that as the guy explained it, again they get the power of determination even with a "forced repair" and could (if they really wanted to be jerks) just send it back again as "within specs." I am upset that I have paid thousands of dollars for this hardware, been without a computer for a week, and I am still not guaranteed even an honest attempt at fixing it the first time I sent it in. It does not bother me that I have to go through the repair process - I understand that is part of owning any computer. However, it DOES bother me that I have an obvious problem that Apple is trying their hardest NOT to fix.
So...because I have been searching all over the Web to find a fix:
1) has anyone had these kind of display problems?
2) Has anyone had experience with a "forced repair?" I haven't been able to find anything about it online.
3) Does Apple give loaners? He told me to schedule the fix ASAP as the force code will run out but right now I simply cannot give up my computer for another week. I could give up my computer now if they gave me another so I can get some work done over Easter.
Thanks for any suggestions!
I was firm, not rude, sometimes you have to be that way. I am very satisfied with the service I have received from Apple, sorry you had that issue
