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New height of Apple stupidity/selfishness
- Thread starter bunce66
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And yet somehow you appear to be happy paying the "Apple Tax" on anything else you brought from them. Sorry, when you you start to think that Apple sold cheap things?
It's thier right to charge whatever the heck the feel they should for something like this. Our right for an out-of-warranty repair is to decide if we feel it's a value to have a fully professional repair job backed with a warranty, or if we should go somewhere else.
The driveshaft on my pickup truck needs replacing. My local dealer wants $800 to do the work, my local mechanic $375.
One represents the manufacturer with all the associated markup and 'prestige'. One will get the same work done for less.
You see me whining and bitching about how much a Chevy dealer jack's up the price? Nope, because I have alternatives and it really seems like the OP decided that had zero interest in looking for alternatives and instead expended effort into coming here to whine.
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The latch on my 2010 toyota tacoma console broke. Toyota wanted well over $200 for the part. Well for the entire piece the latch was attached to as well.
On line instructions free, a non-exact but functional part $3.50.
I understand apples rationale. If the back is damaged/bent during the repair Apple would have to eat the cost of a new back panel. Imagine the thread if the genius scratched the back of the MBP,
There are many added costs apple would incur. The glue, cleaning agents, used wipes, tools, gloves and so on would become hazardous material. Additional SDS requirements, storage, training in the proper usage and disposal, compliance state to state.
Is $300 justified? We all know the answer to that.
I am sure if any business owner wanting to provide a service saw the costs with considerations to the compliance, storage, disposal, training, risks and other costs to integrate the service may very well opt to carry the entire assembly versus the part.
So $6 smackaroos gets you the part which means Apple can get them for even less. The parts listed include the feet, glue and a screwdriver...
Since people continue to use a car dealership as their example of labor rates, which has to be one of the worse examples on the planet, lets do the math again.
Amazon sells the parts for $6. Lets now add in the so called Apple tax and say Apple sells you the same parts (minus the screws driver since they are doing the work) for $20.
A claim was made Apple pays their employees $21 an hour (bogus, but we will use it anyways for the sake of argument) and that Apple labor rate is 3 times the hourly rate (again bogus but we will use it anyways) so that puts Apples labor rate at $63 an hour. Lets get crazy and bump Apples labor rate up to $70 per hour.
The op was quoted $300 to repair with parts so using the highly inflated numbers from other posts:
- Apple Parts Cost: $20
- Apple Labor Cost: $70
I'll stop laughing shortly.............
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I don’t get this. Why’d any company need to justify whatever they’re charging for anything for that matter?! They put a price for things and if you’re not willing to pay that then there are other options. No company has to justify pricing to anyone.
Which part of "Apple don't sell Rubber Feet" is so lost on you?
I quoted the $21 based on Glassdoor reporting the average base salary being $42K - a technical specialist commands even more - ~$64K. So, want to demonstrate why you think it's bogus?
Also, now I come to think about this more, Apple almost certainly don't keep ANY of these bases in their stores, requiring you to have the MacBook sent off (shipping handling etc), then it has to be processed and repaired and sent back.
My Series 3 is heading off for repair - probably just needs the OS reinstalled - $290 without warranty.
And that's for an itsy bitsy Apple watch that probably requires a quick flash and go.
Quit thinking this is a simple Apple feet removal job. It's obviously not - you want Apple to perform this then their ONLY solution is to replace the entire base. Period. End of story. Want it. Want it cheaper, then go the DIY route and buy the rubber feet and do it yourself- Apple will not stop you from doing so.
You want to distort facts by making it appear they do something else, then please, be our guest. However you'd be totally wrong in every conceivable respect. If that's what it takes though to help you sleep at night then go for it.
I understand what you are trying to portray with your Toyota latch example, but it is a flawed example.
Toyota were charging for a bigger (and i assume brand new) part, than just the latch plus labour/installation costs. It is of course a lot more expensive than the cost for you to do it yourself with a cheaper similar part you sourced yourself, but i think Toyota's price is still a hell of a lot more justifiable than Apple's quote for the OP!
And grabbing a flat panel of aluminium off a shelf, unscrewing the old one and screwing the new one in place is a $300 job? Wow, inflation has been bad over the last 24hours.
Your forget the shipping of the MacBook there and back, the cost of storage of said item, the warranty of work etc.
Expensive? Damn right. Justifiable? Sure, it's Apples gig, they can charge what they want and you can go elsewhere if you don't like the price.
I dunno you tell me.. The only people trying to justify the ridiculous price Apple quoted the OP here is the Apple defenders using grossly inflated numbers and making insane comparisons to car dealership labor rates....
The rest of us are just shaking our heads in disbelief at the price the OP was given....
For the couple of cases per store per year they could literally have a couple of panels sat in the back, a couple of packets of screws, 10 minutes with a genius and viola.... and don’t forget it’s Apple that changed the procedure to an (officially) store-only one. As for going elsewhere, well, going with Apple still has a few benefits, though they are increasingly being counterbalanced by a growing list of negatives.
They can? Oh, how magnanimous of you to give them that permission. And, pray tell, what else should they have as a few 'spares' whilst they're at it? Some MacPro cases, a few iMac spares, how's about the clamshell for some Powerbooks whilst their at it, just on the offchance...?
It's painfully obvious you don't get how retail works.
This thread has run its course and I'm out.
In my case I thought the dealer solution was asinine. One of two things I had to consider. Accept the services the dealer offered or seek an alternative solution.
How does your explanation fit the scenario. Apple doesn't provide the service of replacing the feet. You can make up cost per hour and so on. The service is not provided. They offer a back panel with the feet installed. As in my case the latch was attached to the frame but not sold separately. However, there was an alternative.
Regardless of how inexpensive the part is, what they pay their employees, or how simple the task appears to be, apple doesn't provide the service.
For $6 the OP can do the job themselves. For a 3 year old laptop I wouldn't have wasted my time driving to a store, waiting to see someone and driving back home. Instead I would have asked the forum how to replace the feet.
Then get the materials, sit my butt in front of the TV, remove the back plate, replace the feet, install the back plate and laughed at how easy it was and how much money I saved.
For me round trip to the store 90 minutes.
Waiting for the repair let's say 60 minutes
I will be conservative $60 an hour for my time. that is $150 or time I could have been doing other things.
Or
Amazon - 5 minutes to order parts.
do the job while watching TV and sipping scotch 45 minutes.
I would have gone for the latter.
Or it's painfully obvious that you don't get how customer satisfaction and customer service works...
Oh I agree but that's not the point of the thread. Maybe the OP does not feel comfortable doing it themselves. The point of the thread was not if the OP can do it cheaper themselves but it was the ridiculous price Apple gave him for rubber feet replacement...
If they want to offer in-store repair work on their products, does it not make sense to have spare parts kept in stock? The walk in-walk out again happy model is something Apple likes to tout, if they want to tout it they have to offer it. Yeah probably best to end it there if you have to resort to personal insults. Ciao.
Toyota was charging for an assembly, not a part. Apple charging for an assembly not a part.
My latch solution (part) cost me $3.50. For them to replace it (bigger part like the back panel) would have been over $300.
And a whole lot more work than unscrewing and re screwing 10 screws too.
You forgot the glue............ That Apple glue must sell for $1500 a gram...
Understand. OK no scotch for the OP while replacing the feet.
I do not disagree $300 for the back panel is simply ludicrous.
However, learning can be uncomfortable. Something unfamiliar can be uncomfortable/terrifying. But damn it is gratifying to conquer those things that are unfamiliar.
If you tube didn't have 50 videos on this I would be surprised.
Youtube has been a valuable learning tool for me, especially in the case with my latch.
If Toyota 'did an Apple', they'd charge you for a whole new door
Toyota was charging for the assembly not the part on the assembly.
Based on the part that could be ordered, the contents of the box included frame, washers, latch and screws (already assembled)
What he / she meant I believe was if Toyota pulled an Apple then the latch would not have been replaceable. It would have been manufactured in such a way that it could not be replaced and an entire door would have needed to be purchased..
I used this type of example earlier in the tread with a screw replacement in my Lenovo.
What I’m trying to say is, there’s no point in shaking head or cribbing about it. Companies can charge whatever they feel like.
Also, the price is not just for the rubber feet, it’s the whole back panel which means Apple will have to literally take everything out and reassemble on the new back panel.
They just don’t have the feet as separately replaceable parts because either it’s a really rare occurrence or the cost of managing these items is too much for Apple to consider keeping them as separate inventory.
Things that look minor to consumers might not be as such when it comes to huge corporations. Everything has a process and reason.
It’s not really like the way consumers look at it.
I don't disagree with any of this.. My point is still the same though. $300 to replace a missing or broken rubber foot is insane! Pure insanity! I honestly don't know how any rational person can defend that price.
If the parts are available to Amazon sellers for $6 then Apple has access to the parts as well. Maybe they don't stock them and it's a special order... Fine! Charge for the special order, charge for the shipping of the order to the store, charge for parts cost and charge for the labor. Fine, fine and fine!
That process and cost amount would be significantly less than the $300 the OP was quoted..
So lets tally up doing it that way.
- Special order of parts = $10
- Shipping = $10
- Parts = $20
- Labor = $70