You can always return - even if Apple doesn't want you too
dabirdman -
Yes - for the money, you want it the new powerbook to be perfect. By way of a general consumer tip and not intended as legal advice...
Forget about talking to engineering - sounds like the RUN AROUND, esp. with the photos, etc. - please Apple! Call apple and demand a replacement. You are paying a good deal of money for a notebook that meets your reasonable expectation (closing lids have certainly been represented by apple to be the norm in their advertising). This is a material term of the contract for you, and further is guaranteed by consumer law. What Apple thinks - DOES NOT MATTER.
Further, under the uniform commericial code (often abbreviated as the U.C.C.) versions of which are in force in California and most other states, you have a reasonable period to inspect (often 30 days for consumer goods, some folks try to make it sound like a plus "try it for 30 days... money back" - BUT NOTE, it can be a lot longer period for a defect that is not easily noticed - several months, even) and either accept or reject a product. Your signing for it from the FedEx guy DOES NOT constitute acceptance of the product. If Apple says that you can't get a replacement - you can simply let them know that you view the powerbook as not meeting your expectations and that you're not accepting it.
How this works most of the time is that you'd just call up the company - here Apple (or any retailer you purchased from) - and ask them for instructions (any return number, etc.) and send it back to them for a refund. While you'll likely loose shipping costs, this is a good way to get rid of the flawed machine if they won't simply set up an exchange (for which they might be jerks about and charge you shipping anyway). You can then place a new order with Apple or go to an Apple store. If you end up going to an Apple store - open up the carton and look at the machine, boot it up even (a little insistance can go a long way, esp. with other potential customers looking on). before you sign the credit card receipt or write the check. It's just easier to refuse delivery at that point. [another aside for general use: some companies try to put a disclaimer in - no returns on certain products. These sorts of terms generally never survive a legal challenge, but you'll generally have to take them to or at least threaten small-claims ct. to get relief. Thankfully, this is not what you're dealing with here].
It's a pain in the ..., I know to have to return and place a new order, but I understand that when an expectation is not met - it can drive you crazy - utility aside. Further - we shouldn't be subsidizing apple's manufacturing problems. Apple has a nice OS, but the bottom line is that they're just another company that want to beef-up their retained earnings. They will not assert your rights for you - and likely will try to get you to just keep your current notebook (recall the poor dual G4 folks still begging for a noise fix on their 2002 machines). (Aside: There are other companies who would physically come to your house within 24 hrs. and make the problem right, giving you a stop-gap machine if necesssary. Apple needs to get its act together here).
Small update - I've just read apple's return policy. I like that company a little less everyday. Well, insist that it's a defect - you're right, it is certainly one and demand an exchange or refund. The simply return is hamstrung by a 10% restocking fee. It's not clear that Apple can really do that - although, there are cases out there that allow for a reasonable fee for returns for no reason (that is, when the product conformed to the contract fully, and folks are just taking it back to be nice).
Here, we're not dealing with a simply return on a whim or buyer's remorse. No, rather you've recieved a computer that doesn't meet apple's representations and your expectations, so this is certainly a defect exchange/return. You're still not accepting the product under the U.C.C. and you're still entitled to either a full refund or exchange with no fees.
Any position on Apple's part that they must determine that the product meets their view of defective is still nonsense. You can tell them what the problem is, the problem is not what Apple intended, or you expected. That should be it. The notion that Apple has a veto over your rejection is just nonsense.
