I would like to warn all prospective purchasers of Apple products that the company does everything it can to avoid repairing faulty devices. I have spent the past sixteen months trying to get them to repair faulty wifi detector on my Macbook Air; they send me round and round in circles; customer reps repeatedly tell me that if I leave product with their service, it will take "weeks" to look at and "they probably won't find problem anyway." After months, I managed to find a mailing address for their Customer Services office - in IRELAND! And they have not replied to my letters in more than four weeks! Do NOT buy from this terrible company! Apple is the new Microsoft...
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Poor to nonexistent Apple Care service
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This may not apply to you and your situation, but in my experience, when we read stories like this, there is usually much more to the story than is told in a forum post. I have not personally experienced problems with Apple refusing to even look at a device when i was experiencing issues.
And, again, in my experience, I have NEVER known Apple to "avoid repairing faulty devices". Make an appointment with your local Apple store genius bar and demonstrate the issue to the Apple tech. If I thought that Apple was refusing to look at my device issue, I'd most definitely email Tim Cook. Make your issue known to Apple at the highest level and see what happens. Apple has people who will research these types of issues/claims.
And, again, in my experience, I have NEVER known Apple to "avoid repairing faulty devices". Make an appointment with your local Apple store genius bar and demonstrate the issue to the Apple tech. If I thought that Apple was refusing to look at my device issue, I'd most definitely email Tim Cook. Make your issue known to Apple at the highest level and see what happens. Apple has people who will research these types of issues/claims.
Well, I now have five weeks of unanswered correspondence with Apple, and I think that's enough info to provide testifying to the failure of the company to support their products. But then there are many trolls out there... and Apple may be more interested in supporting THEM than their products...
Troll? Um, ok. Do you want help or do you want to fight on the internet? Have you made an appointment and taken the MBA to Apple?
Again, this may not be the case with your issue, but there could be 2 options here: either you have a legitimate complaint and no support from Apple, or there is more to the story than is being told. For example, there was the story that Apple wanted to charge $1250USD to replace a battery in a laptop. You can read about that here.
As noted above there may be something else to the story.....
My experience with AppleCare is nothing but stellar. Their tech support is the BEST!
For example, one of my relatives recently had a screen go bad on their out of warranty 13" MBP; he called Apple, and sent it to their repair facility and received it back in less than a week- Repaired for FREE.
I don't know how to top that!
m
My experience with AppleCare is nothing but stellar. Their tech support is the BEST!
For example, one of my relatives recently had a screen go bad on their out of warranty 13" MBP; he called Apple, and sent it to their repair facility and received it back in less than a week- Repaired for FREE.
I don't know how to top that!
m
Well. Just today, I have received a replacement of internal SSD, for free.
Here is my story.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/22887637/
Here is my story.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/22887637/
I'm confused, why are you writing letters to them? Have you set up a support session on the phone with the company?
My experience with Apple Care, (when needed), has been outstanding! I had a white MacBook with issues. Apple sent me a mailing box, they contacted me my phone on the progress on repair, and I had the laptop back with in two weeks. I had an issue with a HD on my Quadra, Apple sent a tech to my studio. He ordered a new HD and offered in install it!
I have owned Apple products since 1988, with only two repair issues. I am very pleased with Apple Care!
I have owned Apple products since 1988, with only two repair issues. I am very pleased with Apple Care!
My AC experience for many years was positive. Things changed with Cook. I don't buy or recommend AC now. Several months ago I wanted to have a repair done on a MBA that was out of warranty. Clearly a customer pay service. The AC phone rep managed to offend me on that call. He was trying to establish culpability without even asking for the serial number to check warranty status. Dummy! They are mercenaries now and can't even get that right.
I took it to MicroCenter.
Effective May 18, 2016 Citi is offering 24 months of extended warranty on items purchased with their cards. That will be my two year extended warranty.
I took it to MicroCenter.
Effective May 18, 2016 Citi is offering 24 months of extended warranty on items purchased with their cards. That will be my two year extended warranty.
Last November I brought my Mac to the Apple Store for one final goodbye checkup before my AC+ expires. They found couple of dead pixels and replaced the screen for me with no issues....I have a few more great stories with AC+ as well.
@ScottBradfield Don't know what the heck Apple is the new Microsoft means in the context of repairs exactly...
@ScottBradfield Don't know what the heck Apple is the new Microsoft means in the context of repairs exactly...
I've never had a problem with AC. I've not been as long of an Apple customer as most on these forums. My first Mac was a second hand white iBook back in 2006.
I've had 3 problems since then, and one actually had to do with AC itself.
First one was my 2011 iMac's display was developing a weird "stain" on the right side, but only after it had been on for more than 3-4 hours. They took it in to replace the display without even turning it on to check, this was 2013.
Second one was last year, my iPhone 5S was having what seemed to be having issues keeping a charge. They plugged it in, ran a test, told me that the logic board was failing, replaced it on the spot.
Last issue I had was in 2013, I bought AC for my, then, new 15" rMBP. I had issues with using my Cintiq with it. Took it in, and according to their records there was no AC on it. I provided them a copy of my sales receipt email, they were as baffled as I was, but they replaced my MBP (even tho by their records it was "out of warranty") and made sure that the AC for this one was properly registered.
So, yeah, even in the Cook-era, I've had zero issues with AppleCare.
I've had 3 problems since then, and one actually had to do with AC itself.
First one was my 2011 iMac's display was developing a weird "stain" on the right side, but only after it had been on for more than 3-4 hours. They took it in to replace the display without even turning it on to check, this was 2013.
Second one was last year, my iPhone 5S was having what seemed to be having issues keeping a charge. They plugged it in, ran a test, told me that the logic board was failing, replaced it on the spot.
Last issue I had was in 2013, I bought AC for my, then, new 15" rMBP. I had issues with using my Cintiq with it. Took it in, and according to their records there was no AC on it. I provided them a copy of my sales receipt email, they were as baffled as I was, but they replaced my MBP (even tho by their records it was "out of warranty") and made sure that the AC for this one was properly registered.
So, yeah, even in the Cook-era, I've had zero issues with AppleCare.
[doublepost=1464790927][/doublepost]My update to sixteen months of trying to get Apple to repair my laptop.
I made numerous phone calls to their tech support line; two different tech support reps never replied to my follow up emails when their initial suggestions (rebooting system in different ways) didn't improve situation. I booked a Genius bar session, where I was sent home again to reboot the system - the tech there told me if I left the machine, it might take weeks to look at it, and then they probably wouldn't find the problem. The problem is pretty easy to distinguish: the wifi bars are always solid, even in weak reception areas; they never show less than full bars, and then they drop off. Finally, I wrote three letters to their Ireland based customer service centre, which were ignored; when I received a form letter sending me back to the phone support (which hadn't improved anything in many months of calls), I wrote a letter of complaint, and now I seem to have a rep who returns my calls. Problem still isn't fixed. There are systemic problems with the Apple Care system, from what I've learned, but you can take that or leave it. It reminds me of custiomer service issues with PCs many years ago when I decided to switch to Apple. Best, Scott.
Thanks for that. Will do. Scott
[doublepost=1466006454][/doublepost]
Hi all. I wanted to update my experience with Apple and, esepcially, Apple Care over the last sixteen months, and explain why I will never again purchase another Apple product.
I would also like to say that I find it interesting that, whenever I post a negative review of Apple Care performance, there are PROMPT replies from individuals talking about how wonderful Apple Care has been to them.
Here's the story, and my latest update:
When I purchased my Macbook Air sixteen months ago, I soon noticed that the wifi bar ALWAYS registered FULL BARS, even when, as it turned out, the signal was too weak to use, or even nonexistent. For this reaon, I was never able to work offline with any confidence - I run an online teaching programme - and as ALWAYS getting thrown off in the middle of lectures, classes, work, etc. I went to my "Genius" bar and received al sorts of runarounds: I should reinstall everything, wait for next update, never heard of this problem it must be software I downloaded, all the usual. Eventually, I spent hours with Apple Care phone techs, took it to another Genius bar, etc. Twice a tech told me they would "stick with me" until the problem was solved - then, when the problem wasn't solved, they didn't reply to my numerous phone calls and emails.
I tried to find an address to send a LETTER to Apple - this was surprtisingly difficult. You will note (from the comments below, or from Apple specialists) that they prefer you to KEEP CALLING and NOT register complaints in writing. We all know why this is.
Finally I arm-twisted one tech into giving me an address - in IRELAND. I wrote them FOUR times, and only after the fourth letter did I receive the usual form letter: thyey advised me to call the Apple Care team. I wrote again and registered a formal complaint. I received a call from a woman named Olena Kahramanlar, who said SHE would see this through to a repair or, as I requested, a replacement.
I went through another two weeks of calls and emails. Finally, today, Olena called to explain that the problem I was reporting was "expected behaviour" for the laptop, and Apple was "gathering information" on how consumers felt about this. They would not be able to repair the laptop. They would not replace it. As I understood, this was a common fault with the laptops and they did not cosnider themselves reponsible for fixing it (within my lifetime.)
I wrote her seeking written confirmation of her conclusions. Surprise: No reply.
I will say it again: this is a terrible company, protecting itself from "confirmed" issues with its products. The three year Apple Care warranty I purchased was not worth the adhesion agreement in was stapled to. I would beware anybody who pops up and says, "Hey! I love Apple Care! They are cool!"
As one respondent, suggested, I will copy this to Tim Cook.
Best,
Scott
I had a problem with an iPhone and was assigned a dedicated rep who emailed me all of his contact info. That was the last contact I had with the guy.
All of my phone calls went unanswered and unreturned and none of my emails were ever answered.
Every time I called in to the 800 number they'd look at my case and try to pawn me off on that same nonresponsive rep.
They'd all swear that they'd look into it also but nothing ever got done.
I finally emailed Tim Cook and my problem was resolved in three days.
Aside from resolving my problem, no other effort was made to go above and beyond.
All of my phone calls went unanswered and unreturned and none of my emails were ever answered.
Every time I called in to the 800 number they'd look at my case and try to pawn me off on that same nonresponsive rep.
They'd all swear that they'd look into it also but nothing ever got done.
I finally emailed Tim Cook and my problem was resolved in three days.
Aside from resolving my problem, no other effort was made to go above and beyond.
You may simply need to try and get a different Apple rep. I had a stuck button on my iPhone 4s some years ago and I took it into the Apple Store. The first guy disassembled the phone and popped the button back up, but the button immediately got stuck again soon thereafter.
I went back to a different store and asked to have the button fixed again. The second guy offered me a replacement on the spot. That replacement phone was flawless and is still in use today by my wife as a hand-me-down.
So, Scott, your problem is with the wifi indicator at the top right of the screen? Not with anything else, just the indicator?
Do you know you can option-click (or possibly cmd-click) the indicator to get the actual signal strength in dbs? Does that help at all?
I suspect what you are seeing is expected behaviour. Apple are expert manipulators and if displaying full bars makes people feel good about their computer then Apple will display full bars. So long as there's a working signal, why not? Frankly the bars mean nothing, and they always have meant nothing. If you want to debug a network connection use the expert tools not the bars.
The way you are rampaging all over the Internet with this copy&paste consumer revenge, suggests you might be the type who goes in too hard with the Apple reps and while each has tried to help, on discovering you are raging about a (excuse me) non-issue they have had difficulty politely extracting themselves from your displays of anger and frustration and have found it easier to ignore you. If you are wrong, or if it's just a matter of opinion, what else can they possibly do?
Honestly I don't know if you are dealing with a non issue or not, but by the reaction you're getting it sounds like you are.
If it helps at all, the last time I had an interaction with Apple they replaced my broken iPhone for free. I told them I dropped it and it broke, and they gave me a new one.
I've no idea why. My best theory is just because I was nice and honest.
Do you know you can option-click (or possibly cmd-click) the indicator to get the actual signal strength in dbs? Does that help at all?
I suspect what you are seeing is expected behaviour. Apple are expert manipulators and if displaying full bars makes people feel good about their computer then Apple will display full bars. So long as there's a working signal, why not? Frankly the bars mean nothing, and they always have meant nothing. If you want to debug a network connection use the expert tools not the bars.
The way you are rampaging all over the Internet with this copy&paste consumer revenge, suggests you might be the type who goes in too hard with the Apple reps and while each has tried to help, on discovering you are raging about a (excuse me) non-issue they have had difficulty politely extracting themselves from your displays of anger and frustration and have found it easier to ignore you. If you are wrong, or if it's just a matter of opinion, what else can they possibly do?
Honestly I don't know if you are dealing with a non issue or not, but by the reaction you're getting it sounds like you are.
If it helps at all, the last time I had an interaction with Apple they replaced my broken iPhone for free. I told them I dropped it and it broke, and they gave me a new one.
I've no idea why. My best theory is just because I was nice and honest.
Apple consistently has the very best grades for top level tech support. I expect the problem Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair
I've found that even if you have a genuine problem with a computer, if you call up with an immediate bad attitude and are short-tempered with the advisor, you're not going to get very far. Believe it or not, most people are unwilling to help if you treat them like dirt. I suspect a similar thing may have happened here.
Let me tell you first-hand from working in customer care; if you're just a little polite and treat the person on the other end of the phone like a human being, they'll be more than happy to help. If you're taking advantage of a phonecall to blow some steam, be abusive and make the advisor's day miserable for a problem they haven't caused, they'll do everything they can to do the same for you.
Where I work, multiple viruses/malware issues are not covered under warranty, and it's a chargeable repair. These are in our T&Cs from the start. However, I'd normally sort it out remotely free-of-charge, even if you're well out of warranty. Normally it's just a MWB/AdwCleaner scan to do the trick, along with sweeping scheduled tasks/context menu in CCleaner. If it's a little more tricky to fix, I enjoy the challenge and learn a little more along the way.
However in all my time, I've only charged one person for a malware removal. That's because they thought calling up, swearing and shouting with a 'customer is always right' attitude, was the right way to go about what they needed.
Let me tell you first-hand from working in customer care; if you're just a little polite and treat the person on the other end of the phone like a human being, they'll be more than happy to help. If you're taking advantage of a phonecall to blow some steam, be abusive and make the advisor's day miserable for a problem they haven't caused, they'll do everything they can to do the same for you.
Where I work, multiple viruses/malware issues are not covered under warranty, and it's a chargeable repair. These are in our T&Cs from the start. However, I'd normally sort it out remotely free-of-charge, even if you're well out of warranty. Normally it's just a MWB/AdwCleaner scan to do the trick, along with sweeping scheduled tasks/context menu in CCleaner. If it's a little more tricky to fix, I enjoy the challenge and learn a little more along the way.
However in all my time, I've only charged one person for a malware removal. That's because they thought calling up, swearing and shouting with a 'customer is always right' attitude, was the right way to go about what they needed.