I'm having big issues with getting my Macbook fixed by Apple at the moment. Sorry this is such a long read (I'm doing it partly to keep a track of what's happened so I can easily file a complaint!)
Spec:
MacBook Pro Retina, Mid 2012.
2.3GHz Intel Core i7
RAM 16GB (Although Currently 8GB - Read on for Details)
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.8.3
Now, it all started with a graphical issue that was quite hard to explain.
When moving the cursor along the dock, over the applications folder and onto the trash can, the documents folder would glitch out slightly, shaking a little and shrinking in size. (This happened about 1/3/13)
This graphical glitch then got worse over about 3 days and spread to the whole dock. I have my dock set to magnify when scrolling over. When hovering over the dock it would jutter and shake up into its magnified position.
Then, i noticed gestures like app exposé and show desktop made the whole screen glitch out as they transitioned. Also, when scrolling on any application (especially mail and safari) the content would jutter up and down violently. Nothing is smooth anymore.
I've tried to capture the problem with my iphone camera, but it doesn't show up so well.
At this point I booked an appointment at an apple store (the closest being an hour away from where i live). Went there on 9/3/13, they said they need to replace the logic board as it was happening in my bootcamp partition as well as the stores os loaders as well (meaning it wasn't a software fault). I agreed. This is the report it got submitted with (little annoyed with the condition being listed as 'ok', it is pristine condition, zero marks!):
Apple Repair 1 - Logic Board
Took 7 days to complete (14/3/13). My brother picked up the MacBook for me as I was unable. I wasn't able to get it off him for another 2 days. Eventually I checked to see if it was working, which it wasn't. The graphical glitch was still very apparent (if not more so). I don't understand why they would return the computer when it's so obviously still faulty.
Regardless, I phoned up the store and organised a new appointment on the 22/3/13. I mentioned on the phone that my iPhone 5 had also been malfunctioning (showing notifications ages after vibrating). They said they would look at that as well. I booked the appointment on 19/3/13, so plenty of time for them to get their stuff together, right?. Wrong. Drove the hours journey to the store, parked in the only expensive car park there is around there and went to the Apple store (all at my expense, obviously). They didn't have a macbook appointment for me, only an iPhone appointment. I was pretty angry at this, I'd come all the way only to be told the appointment I had booked wasn't booked correctly. Not my fault, theirs, yet I was made to feel very lucky when they managed to find someone to look at my macbook. He said that the screen must be at fault and must be replaced. I was very sceptical about this, but he was very, very sure it would work. I managed to get him to assure me it would be replaced by the next day (23/3/13). This guy didn't email me a work confirmation document. On top of this, they didn't even look at my iPhone problem until I went back later in the day.
Next day, went back to pick it up. I received no email or phone call saying it was ready (Even though they said they would). Drove back to the store and some 'genius' grabbed my mac from the back. Said it was all fixed. Within about 5 seconds of turning it on, it was super obvious that it was still broken. Me, pissed off at this point, showed the guy who got his manager. After waiting ages to see the manager, he finally came out and empathised with me until I felt sick. His 'solution' was for me to leave the Macbook with him one more time so they could replace the logic board. Again. Obviously, I was not impressed with this suggestion, but he seemed to think that they must have replaced the logic board with another faulty logic board. There was no option B. i had to say yes. He said it was going to take another 5 days, until I managed to talk him into bumping up the priority. 5 days went down to 1 day. He said that it could be done within hours, but couldnt promise anything, which left me in the lurch because I didn't know whether to go home or not!. I decided to stay. Here is the report submitted with this repair:
Apple Repair 3 - Logic Board
After a couple of hours I was called and told the logic board was replaced. Then I was called again saying it had passed the diagnostics and was ready to be picked up, but was still displaying the graphical glitches. So the problem still wasn't fixed. All they said they could do now was to escalate the problem to the engineers (whoever they are). My requests for a new macbook to replace this faulty one were shot down in an instant, apparently that wouldn't solve the problem for me?
So I went into the store and collected the macbook, no one wanted to speak to me and the guy that did was very patronising and definitely rubbed me up the wrong way. I left drove all the way back home and decided to write this. At which point i realised three things; my Macbook is now only showing 8GB of memory, the backlit keyboard doesn't light and airport won't automatically connect to my home network anymore. So basically they replaced the logic board with the WRONG ONE. Are they actually trying to get rid of me as a customer? I'm lucky i noticed, I just assumed they would have gotten that right. see here I have to wait until tomorrow before I can call them to set this straight. I'm not happy.
Does anyone know what this problem is, how it can be resolved and what I should do in regards to the terrible service I've received? I have tons of work i need to do, and this is just making everything so much more difficult.
tl;dr My Macbook Pro Retina has a graphical error. Apple have replaced the display once, logic board twice and left me with 8GB less RAM than when I took the Macbook in (fitted the wrong Logic board). Also the keyboard doesn't light anymore. The graphical problem still persists.
UPDATE: Phoned the Apple store and asked to speak to the manager. After being on hold for ages I was put through to a lady (who i assume was the manager. I spoke to an American manager previously). She wanted me to go back into store to sort it out. I explained I'm not coming back in until I know what will be done. After a bit of back and forth, she agreed to order a new replacement Macbook stating it would take up to 2 weeks. I guess that's the best outcome, even if it does mean I have to stick with the broken mac a bit longer. I think I still plan on filing a complaint after this is over.
Oh, she also said all of the Retina MacBooks in store are producing the same graphical error...which I can't actually believe...
UPDATE 2: It's been 2 weeks and I still haven't received a replacement Macbook. I had to phone them asking where it was. They said they didn't know or how long it would take.
UPDATE 3: Phoned Applecare, they said they couldn't help me due to it being older than 4 weeks. After some negotiation I managed to speak to a customer service rep who said he would contact the store manager on my behalf and check back in a couple of days time to see if I had been contacted by said manager. He also said the current delivery date for the replacement Macbook is 19th April.
UPDATE 4: The manager never phoned me. I had to phone him, he was rude and unsympathetic. He said I've just got to wait and there is nothing he can do and he doesn't know when the replacement will arrive. After 28 days of waiting for my replacement (and 1 month, one week and 4 days since i first entered the Apple store with the problem) I received a phone call saying the new machine is instore. I can't pick it up until the 4th May due to my uni commitments. To be continued...
UPDATE 5: I decided to send an email to the Tim Cook email address that is online. Thought why not? I just explained the whole story and my dissatisfaction. The next day first thing in the morning Apple Care called me up to 'check up on me'. The guy on the phone said that he would compensate my trouble by sending me a baseball cap to my home address. LOL. I find that more of a joke than offering nothing at all (I didn't ask for anything btw). Later in the day, the manager from the Apple Store in Bristol phoned me up. Whether it is a coincidence or to do with the email i sent, i dont know. Basically she said that its unacceptable that I can't get the Macbook until the 4th May so she's organised a courier to come to my uni house, pick up the broken one, drive back to bristol swap it out for the new one, drive back to my uni house and deliver it to me. All in the same day. A 7 hour round trip. Crazy, but I don't care I just want my Macbook. So this is to be completed on Monday 22nd May. She then offered me 15% off my next purchase in store. Almost as useless as the hat. I'll see what turns up tomorrow...
UPDATE 6: I finally have a working, new Macbook Pro retina. Excellent. It took 7 weeks and 4 days from the onset to get a working Macbook, but at least it's here now. The courier told me that it has cost Apple £240 to deliver the Macbook to me. He showed me the receipt. I also received a 15% off my next purchase voucher, which isn't great. How do I feel about Apple now? I have lost respect for what I once considered a great company with great customer service.
Spec:
MacBook Pro Retina, Mid 2012.
2.3GHz Intel Core i7
RAM 16GB (Although Currently 8GB - Read on for Details)
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.8.3
Now, it all started with a graphical issue that was quite hard to explain.
When moving the cursor along the dock, over the applications folder and onto the trash can, the documents folder would glitch out slightly, shaking a little and shrinking in size. (This happened about 1/3/13)
This graphical glitch then got worse over about 3 days and spread to the whole dock. I have my dock set to magnify when scrolling over. When hovering over the dock it would jutter and shake up into its magnified position.
Then, i noticed gestures like app exposé and show desktop made the whole screen glitch out as they transitioned. Also, when scrolling on any application (especially mail and safari) the content would jutter up and down violently. Nothing is smooth anymore.
I've tried to capture the problem with my iphone camera, but it doesn't show up so well.
At this point I booked an appointment at an apple store (the closest being an hour away from where i live). Went there on 9/3/13, they said they need to replace the logic board as it was happening in my bootcamp partition as well as the stores os loaders as well (meaning it wasn't a software fault). I agreed. This is the report it got submitted with (little annoyed with the condition being listed as 'ok', it is pristine condition, zero marks!):
Apple Repair 1 - Logic Board
Took 7 days to complete (14/3/13). My brother picked up the MacBook for me as I was unable. I wasn't able to get it off him for another 2 days. Eventually I checked to see if it was working, which it wasn't. The graphical glitch was still very apparent (if not more so). I don't understand why they would return the computer when it's so obviously still faulty.
Regardless, I phoned up the store and organised a new appointment on the 22/3/13. I mentioned on the phone that my iPhone 5 had also been malfunctioning (showing notifications ages after vibrating). They said they would look at that as well. I booked the appointment on 19/3/13, so plenty of time for them to get their stuff together, right?. Wrong. Drove the hours journey to the store, parked in the only expensive car park there is around there and went to the Apple store (all at my expense, obviously). They didn't have a macbook appointment for me, only an iPhone appointment. I was pretty angry at this, I'd come all the way only to be told the appointment I had booked wasn't booked correctly. Not my fault, theirs, yet I was made to feel very lucky when they managed to find someone to look at my macbook. He said that the screen must be at fault and must be replaced. I was very sceptical about this, but he was very, very sure it would work. I managed to get him to assure me it would be replaced by the next day (23/3/13). This guy didn't email me a work confirmation document. On top of this, they didn't even look at my iPhone problem until I went back later in the day.
Next day, went back to pick it up. I received no email or phone call saying it was ready (Even though they said they would). Drove back to the store and some 'genius' grabbed my mac from the back. Said it was all fixed. Within about 5 seconds of turning it on, it was super obvious that it was still broken. Me, pissed off at this point, showed the guy who got his manager. After waiting ages to see the manager, he finally came out and empathised with me until I felt sick. His 'solution' was for me to leave the Macbook with him one more time so they could replace the logic board. Again. Obviously, I was not impressed with this suggestion, but he seemed to think that they must have replaced the logic board with another faulty logic board. There was no option B. i had to say yes. He said it was going to take another 5 days, until I managed to talk him into bumping up the priority. 5 days went down to 1 day. He said that it could be done within hours, but couldnt promise anything, which left me in the lurch because I didn't know whether to go home or not!. I decided to stay. Here is the report submitted with this repair:
Apple Repair 3 - Logic Board
After a couple of hours I was called and told the logic board was replaced. Then I was called again saying it had passed the diagnostics and was ready to be picked up, but was still displaying the graphical glitches. So the problem still wasn't fixed. All they said they could do now was to escalate the problem to the engineers (whoever they are). My requests for a new macbook to replace this faulty one were shot down in an instant, apparently that wouldn't solve the problem for me?
So I went into the store and collected the macbook, no one wanted to speak to me and the guy that did was very patronising and definitely rubbed me up the wrong way. I left drove all the way back home and decided to write this. At which point i realised three things; my Macbook is now only showing 8GB of memory, the backlit keyboard doesn't light and airport won't automatically connect to my home network anymore. So basically they replaced the logic board with the WRONG ONE. Are they actually trying to get rid of me as a customer? I'm lucky i noticed, I just assumed they would have gotten that right. see here I have to wait until tomorrow before I can call them to set this straight. I'm not happy.
Does anyone know what this problem is, how it can be resolved and what I should do in regards to the terrible service I've received? I have tons of work i need to do, and this is just making everything so much more difficult.
tl;dr My Macbook Pro Retina has a graphical error. Apple have replaced the display once, logic board twice and left me with 8GB less RAM than when I took the Macbook in (fitted the wrong Logic board). Also the keyboard doesn't light anymore. The graphical problem still persists.
UPDATE: Phoned the Apple store and asked to speak to the manager. After being on hold for ages I was put through to a lady (who i assume was the manager. I spoke to an American manager previously). She wanted me to go back into store to sort it out. I explained I'm not coming back in until I know what will be done. After a bit of back and forth, she agreed to order a new replacement Macbook stating it would take up to 2 weeks. I guess that's the best outcome, even if it does mean I have to stick with the broken mac a bit longer. I think I still plan on filing a complaint after this is over.
Oh, she also said all of the Retina MacBooks in store are producing the same graphical error...which I can't actually believe...
UPDATE 2: It's been 2 weeks and I still haven't received a replacement Macbook. I had to phone them asking where it was. They said they didn't know or how long it would take.
UPDATE 3: Phoned Applecare, they said they couldn't help me due to it being older than 4 weeks. After some negotiation I managed to speak to a customer service rep who said he would contact the store manager on my behalf and check back in a couple of days time to see if I had been contacted by said manager. He also said the current delivery date for the replacement Macbook is 19th April.
UPDATE 4: The manager never phoned me. I had to phone him, he was rude and unsympathetic. He said I've just got to wait and there is nothing he can do and he doesn't know when the replacement will arrive. After 28 days of waiting for my replacement (and 1 month, one week and 4 days since i first entered the Apple store with the problem) I received a phone call saying the new machine is instore. I can't pick it up until the 4th May due to my uni commitments. To be continued...
UPDATE 5: I decided to send an email to the Tim Cook email address that is online. Thought why not? I just explained the whole story and my dissatisfaction. The next day first thing in the morning Apple Care called me up to 'check up on me'. The guy on the phone said that he would compensate my trouble by sending me a baseball cap to my home address. LOL. I find that more of a joke than offering nothing at all (I didn't ask for anything btw). Later in the day, the manager from the Apple Store in Bristol phoned me up. Whether it is a coincidence or to do with the email i sent, i dont know. Basically she said that its unacceptable that I can't get the Macbook until the 4th May so she's organised a courier to come to my uni house, pick up the broken one, drive back to bristol swap it out for the new one, drive back to my uni house and deliver it to me. All in the same day. A 7 hour round trip. Crazy, but I don't care I just want my Macbook. So this is to be completed on Monday 22nd May. She then offered me 15% off my next purchase in store. Almost as useless as the hat. I'll see what turns up tomorrow...
UPDATE 6: I finally have a working, new Macbook Pro retina. Excellent. It took 7 weeks and 4 days from the onset to get a working Macbook, but at least it's here now. The courier told me that it has cost Apple £240 to deliver the Macbook to me. He showed me the receipt. I also received a 15% off my next purchase voucher, which isn't great. How do I feel about Apple now? I have lost respect for what I once considered a great company with great customer service.
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