New height of Apple stupidity/selfishness

[akash.nu]

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..

If they did that for every little part that goes in the computers then it will get real messy and will be very hard to keep control over.

As much as Apple is known for their brilliant customer service, it’s important to understand that they can provide such service based on the fact that they keep control over everything.

Streamlining such supplies is key to that. Ordering as per Adhoc demands is really not how such a huge corporation can function.

 

[raqball]

If they did that for every little part that goes in the computers then it will get real messy and will be very hard to keep control over.

I disagree... Lenovo sent me a screw kit free of charge. Here my my post from earlier:

Well.... Funny story but I had a screw come loose on my Lenovo X1C a while back. Called Lenovo and they sent me a screw kit for free.. They didn't try and extract $300 from me for the kit and they sent it, overnight I might add, for free...

I suppose Lenovo could have constructed the machine in such a way that the screw would be $300 to replace but they didn't...

Apple can easily have access to every replaceable part in the machine. Maybe they don't stock it in the store and it needs to be ordered.. Fine! No complaints from me if that were the case...

 

[akash.nu]

I disagree... Lenovo sent me a screw kit free of charge. Here my my post from earlier:

Just because one company does something doesn’t mean another company will do the same. I don’t hear Lenovo’s name as the most valuable company on the planet, neither are they known for world class customer service. Drawing such comparisons don’t really mean much when the scale of their business is nowhere close to Apple.

Apple can easily have access to every replaceable part in the machine. Maybe they don't stock it in the store and it needs to be ordered.. Fine! No complaints from me if that were the case...

Apple does have access to all the parts but making them separately available to the customers officially requires a lot more than just stocking them.

Should they keep it or not is a different topic but I’m just trying to rationalise why they don’t do it the way you or the OP is expecting them to.

Ps. I had to pay more than half of the actual cost of a wahl trimmer when one of the attachments broke. So yeah, it’s not just Apple. Just depends how different companies deal with spare parts.

 

[Arran]

This seems to happen to many Apple laptops after a few years. When this happens to mine, I do not bother asking for Apple to repair, I just fix them using Sugru. Sugru is so useful for Apple laptop owners, that I cannot understand why it is not even available in Apple stores:

https://sugru.com/tech-gadget/14-apple-life-hacks

Sugru is an incredible idea. Thank You!

I've had several MacBooks with missing feet. I normally slap on little circular clear plastic bumpers from Home Depot. They're made for sticking on the bottom of coasters, vases, etc., but sit perfectly in the recess in the aluminum base.

Invariably, though, they catch on something and fall off. It's because they aren't smooth and rounded - so the edge catches on things and gets knocked off.

Sugru sounds like it was made for this application. You could force some of it inside the hole in the aluminum to mechanically anchor the new foot. I need to give this a go. Thanks again.

Edit: I found a writeup: http://www.instructables.com/id/Fixing-Macbook-Pro-Rubber-Feet-with-Sugru-Giving-/

 

[raqball]

Drawing such comparisons don’t really mean much when the scale of their business is nowhere close to Apple.

Really? 20.4% to 7%... Who has the larger scale of business?

 

[akash.nu]

Really? 20.4% to 7%... Who has the larger scale of business?

That chart shows the number of units shipped. We all know windows PCs still covers the majority of the share in the world in terms of numbers.

A £200 item compared to a £1200 is not the same, is it? Apple is way bigger business and uses way more premium parts than Lenovo.

It’s just different business models. That’s why I’m saying such comparisons don’t make much sense.

Also, that chart doesn’t show if by PC it means desktops or laptops. That percentage might look different in that case.

 

[canuckRus]

Sugru is an incredible idea. Thank You!

I've had several MacBooks with missing feet. I normally slap on little circular clear plastic bumpers from Home Depot. They're made for sticking on the bottom of coasters, vases, etc., but sit perfectly in the recess in the aluminum base.

Invariably, though, they catch on something and fall off. It's because they aren't smooth and rounded - so the edge catches on things and gets knocked off.

Sugru sounds like it was made for this application. You could force some of it inside the hole in the aluminum to mechanically anchor the new foot. I need to give this a go. Thanks again.

Edit: I found a writeup: http://www.instructables.com/id/Fixing-Macbook-Pro-Rubber-Feet-with-Sugru-Giving-/

Was about to suggest same as icey mountain. Slightly pricey but nowhere near original quote. Only needs some kind of mould for perfection.

 

[raqball]

Apple is way bigger business and uses way more premium parts than Lenovo.

You are going in circles trying to defend Apple...

1st you say Apple can't stock all the parts because of their volume of sales. Then you say it's because of premium parts when that was proven incorrect... My X1C was a $2400 machine, it's widely considered the gold standard for quality and components and yet they had the screw kit in stock and sent to me overnight.....

What exactly is premium about a rubber foot?

 

[gnasher729]

So, two of the black rubber feet on the bottom of my 2014 MacBook Pro came off after 3 years of use. What should be a super simple thing turns out that they claim they need to replace the entire bottom piece for about $300. Can you believe that?

I went to the local DIY store, and bought a pack of twelve felt feet that usually go under chairs to protect your floor from scratching, less than £2 for twelve, and I still have eight spare ones. Somewhere in a drawer. I probably buy new ones when I need them because I won't be able to find the ones I bought :-(

 

[akash.nu]

You are going in circles trying to defend Apple...

1st you say Apple can't stock all the parts because of their volume of sales. Then you say it's because of premium parts when that was proven incorrect... My X1C was a $2400 machine and they had the screws kit in stock and sent to me overnight.....

What exactly is premium about a rubber foot?

I’m not defending anyone. I’m just saying there could be valid rational behind the price Apple has quoted.

I’m not saying it’s due to volume of sales. I’m saying as a business it doesn’t make much sense if things like that is not required on a regular basis. This might not be the case with Lenovo.

All of us are really speculating here without really knowing anything about how the businesses function either way, be it Lenovo or Apple.

 

[bruinsrme]

I disagree... Lenovo sent me a screw kit free of charge. Here my my post from earlier:



Apple can easily have access to every replaceable part in the machine. Maybe they don't stock it in the store and it needs to be ordered.. Fine! No complaints from me if that were the case...

Broke one of the pop out feet on my Microsoft 4000 keyboard. Call microsoft, they do not provide the feet. Nor do they provide glide pads for their mouses.

 

[raqball]

Broke one of the pop out feet on my Microsoft 4000 keyboard. Call microsoft, they do not provide the feet. Nor do they provide glide pads for their mouses.

So in the defense of Apple we've now been reduced to comparisons like this? I damaged the box that my pop tarts came in but I am gonna guess that if I called Kellogs they'd tell me they don't sell extra boxes.............................

I guess that's proof enough that Apple is a-ok charging $300 for a rubber foot...

 

[bruinsrme]

So in the defense of Apple we've now been reduced to comparisons like this? I damaged the box that my pop tarts came in but I am gonna guess that if I called Kellogs they'd tell me they don't sell extra boxes.............................

I guess that's proof enough that Apple is a-ok charging $300 for a rubber foot...

Defense? Not at all. Just understand the logistics behind why companies would make the decision not to offer such parts/services or offer them at an extremely high cost and that apple isn't the only one that makes such decisions.

 

[Idefix]

Man, just when you get a perfectly reasonable rant going, somebody comes along and rains all over that totally justified rant.

Bad design is bad design, even if your name is Apple.

The feet on my 2008 mbp were bad design, because the screws holding the bottom case on were underneath the feet. You had to pry the feet off to get to the screw, so you couldn't use strong adhesive.

Apple replaced those feet for 2 reasons:

1. For good customer relations, (and it was easy to do, even if the feet were destined to come off in next to no time,)
2. As a tacit acknowledgement, in retrospect, that it was bad design (they came off way too easily.)

The feet on my 2012 mbp are, once again, bad design. The genius explained that the feet are held on by a screw from inside the case, so what should be a minor repair is way more complicated (ie you can't just glue it on if you're Apple.)

 

[TiggrToo]

Man, just when you get a perfectly reasonable rant going, somebody comes along and rains all over that totally justified rant.

Bad design is bad design, even if your name is Apple.

The feet on my 2008 mbp were bad design, because the screws holding the bottom case on were underneath the feet. You had to pry the feet off to get to the screw, so you couldn't use strong adhesive.

Apple replaced those feet for 2 reasons:

1. For good customer relations, (and it was easy to do, even if the feet were destined to come off in next to no time,)
2. As a tacit acknowledgement, in retrospect, that it was bad design (they came off way too easily.)

The feet on my 2012 mbp are, once again, bad design. The genius explained that the feet are held on by a screw from inside the case, so what should be a minor repair is way more complicated (ie you can't just glue it on if you're Apple.)

Please don't tell me that you buy Apple products because they use cheap manufacturing processes...