although i usually loom in the background just reading everything, i am so upset with apple at this point that i needed to vent. here's the deal: i send my al pb 1.25 15" that is 9 months old in to be repaired because the computer stopped being able to charge. the apple care people tell me 3-5 days to replace a logic board and ill have it back. i'm all about that, no issues. well 5 days goes by and nothing. no update on the repair website and all apple can tell me is that the repair is on hold. finally after 7 days and repeated calls they inform me that they found white spots on my display (which had never been an issue before) and that the hold was because they were replacing my entire display and it was backordered. again no problem, new screen without any hassles,fine with me. so after 13 days i finally get my computer back. they replaced the display, logic board, diffuser, and battery. first thing i do is go to plug in the power cord and there is a nice sized dent in between the power and modem plugs, but i look past it to make sure everything else is working. i turn it on plug in my ipod and it mounts just fine. i left and brought my ipod with me. when i come back in i throw my ipod back in the dock and get no response. the ipod doesn't even show it's charging. i check the system profile and under firewire get "no information can be found". so im like what the hell. i messed with it for about 10 minutes and decided to take it to the apple store. as i am packing it up in the bag i look at the screen and it is literally peeling apart on the left side. the entire housing for the screen is actually split a little more than 1/8" then on top of that it is completely pinched to the screen in front (sorry if its not a good description but i can take a picture if anyone actually cares) i take it in to the apple store and none of the genius' even want to mess with it and advise me to send it to cali. i call apple and they tell me that the problems with the screen aren't covered by apple care or the warranty so there is nothing they can do. it was only after completely losing it on this poor guy (note that i have never once had to raise my voice to apple people in 7 years) that he transferred me to the supervisor who finally agreed that since they just replaced it they would "take a look at what they could do". I just find this completely unacceptable. Not only did they replace a screen i truly never needed in the first place with a busted one, i got a bonus dent and another faulty logic board. now im going to have to wait at least another 7 days to get this back and even then they might not fix everything. i didn't know what to do so i figured id let you guys give me some feedback.
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Powerbook Repair Hell
- Thread starter Illmatic
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I feel your pain, sorry there dude.
I hate to hear a story like this, makes it worse when it seems Apple made a mistake and doesn't fess up and can only help by saying "we will take a look".
Sure changes your attitude towards them doesn't it. I had that model of machine as well until I downgraded. My iBook is my primary machine, don't know what I would do if something happened to it other than hope my 3 backups would hold everything I cherish.
Hope you get it fixed with no further problems.
I hate to hear a story like this, makes it worse when it seems Apple made a mistake and doesn't fess up and can only help by saying "we will take a look".
Sure changes your attitude towards them doesn't it. I had that model of machine as well until I downgraded. My iBook is my primary machine, don't know what I would do if something happened to it other than hope my 3 backups would hold everything I cherish.
Hope you get it fixed with no further problems.
The same with my 12" PB
The hard drive burned out one day and I sent the unit to Apple on a thursday, I had no Apple Care and be sure they wanted me to sell that and the extra 100% card for you to be fisrt in line at the genious bar. Of course I didn't get any of that, Apple care is an stupid investment in my eyes.
So, I left the Powerbook at the Soho store on Wendsday and they shipped on Monday! Because I called over and over and with as a cryning baby I had the PB back by Saturday.
The screws are in bad shape and you can tell the unit was opened because is not brand new sealed in the borders.
I forgot a bunch of details but the service sucked big time, they wanted me to spend more money to get Apple Care, they are actually opening a very small window for them to repair your stuff, if I do not call and be on my PB it could take easy 15 days for them to do the job. And... that was and easy thing to do, I wonder what would happend if the problem is one of those that happen periodically and is hard to spot?
The hard drive burned out one day and I sent the unit to Apple on a thursday, I had no Apple Care and be sure they wanted me to sell that and the extra 100% card for you to be fisrt in line at the genious bar. Of course I didn't get any of that, Apple care is an stupid investment in my eyes.
So, I left the Powerbook at the Soho store on Wendsday and they shipped on Monday! Because I called over and over and with as a cryning baby I had the PB back by Saturday.
The screws are in bad shape and you can tell the unit was opened because is not brand new sealed in the borders.
I forgot a bunch of details but the service sucked big time, they wanted me to spend more money to get Apple Care, they are actually opening a very small window for them to repair your stuff, if I do not call and be on my PB it could take easy 15 days for them to do the job. And... that was and easy thing to do, I wonder what would happend if the problem is one of those that happen periodically and is hard to spot?
"We're going to repair your screen that wasn't even broken to begin with" = we mucked up your screen during your repair, but don't worry, we're not going to charge you for it and fix it for free. You're welcome"
Dude that sucks, i would be flipping out if that happpened to my baby. I'm surprized at the "care" you got. When i returned my ipod,they just gave me a new one because it was under warrenty.. ( i didn't have apple care)
when i bought my pb, i wanted to make sure that things would be covered just incase becuase i'm prob going to have this computer for at least 4 years and want to be on the safe side.
its an electronic, who knows what could go wrong with it.
Did apple try to see if the charger was bad..and not your computer...
when i bought my pb, i wanted to make sure that things would be covered just incase becuase i'm prob going to have this computer for at least 4 years and want to be on the safe side.
its an electronic, who knows what could go wrong with it.
Did apple try to see if the charger was bad..and not your computer...
FuzzyBallz said:
well, the applecare for powerbook already costs $450 and is ridiculously high price for extended warranty. in my opinion, that is.
That's a f**king outrage. They break your screen, and dent your PB, then at first have the cheek to say there's nothing they can do, and only after loosing your rag does some seniour jackass say, "oh, we'll see what we can do". Bastards.
I've owned Macs since 1986 and have never had to have one repaired except for a 15" Apple CRT. A friend of mine had his machine damaged when he sent it to Apple. The next time he sent it in, he took a bunch of photos of the machine so he had proof of its condition if it were damaged during repairs.
Pictures are a good idea.
I have Applecare, and I have a hunch that I won't ever use it. If my PB hasn't phreaked out yet, it won't. If it wasn't free of defects, it would have mucked up by now. Obviously everything works. And if my HD dies in a year, its not as if Apple will replace a 2 year old HD because I'm under warranty. They only handle manufacturers defects, which I think every company should handle for free. Think about it -- its a "manufacturer's" defect, meaning they built a shoddy product. It SHOULD be their responsibility.
I bought AppleCare, but I'll think twice next time. It was my first laptop. My PB is covered under Home insurance anyway for around $7 USD per year, which covers accidents and theft with no deductible, so I don't even see why I spent so much on a warranty.
I have Applecare, and I have a hunch that I won't ever use it. If my PB hasn't phreaked out yet, it won't. If it wasn't free of defects, it would have mucked up by now. Obviously everything works. And if my HD dies in a year, its not as if Apple will replace a 2 year old HD because I'm under warranty. They only handle manufacturers defects, which I think every company should handle for free. Think about it -- its a "manufacturer's" defect, meaning they built a shoddy product. It SHOULD be their responsibility.
I bought AppleCare, but I'll think twice next time. It was my first laptop.
My PB is covered under Home insurance anyway for around $7 USD per year, which covers accidents and theft with no deductible, so I don't even see why I spent so much on a warranty.
My PowerMac went wrong in it's first year (new logic board), and in it's 3rd (not long ago, new CPU's!). That little lot would have cost me more than my AppleCare would have. I must say though, I wasn't to impressed with the service the 2nd time round, but at least it got fixed and was not damaged.
FuzzyBallz said:
Your view is why AppleCare is optional. Steve is probably happier with people like you that are willing to pay the price for full repair.
Repairs on computers are a gamble. Either you will have one, or you won't after the first 12 months. In the case of PB's, I think that it's safe to say that most any repair is going to cost over $350. So it comes down to the risk you are wanting to assume in getting your notebook or computer repaired.
For some the $350 for a PB AppleCare is minor (and maybe you are right with your $500) in order have peace of mind for 3 years total. For others, like yourself maybe, look at it as a chance to buy the newest model after doing cost/benefit analysis.
Chip NoVaMac said:
Unlike you and your fellow "I need to send in my computer for RAM upgrade" consumers, I can fix a Mac or PC by myself, thank you very much.
FuzzyBallz said:
Watching your posts here, do you always wake up on the wrong side? You seem to always post the negative.
What I was referring to was those of us that face $300+ repairs after the first 12 months. Because of Mac Rumors we don't need the support as much as we do the repairs.
I would never expect that Apple would pay for the upgrade of my memory under AppleCare. But for the cost of the RAM and the installation, I think that is a small price to pay.
To be honest your negative rants are getting very non-productive to the discussion.
FuzzyBallz said:
My iMac G4 had 2 problems one week after the first year was over (luckily I bought AppleCare 2 weeks earlier). The SuperDrive went out and the screen became too hot and warped. This would have been very expensive had I not had AppleCare.......
Note: 1 week after the normal 1 year warranty was over.
It is a good investment.
Illmatic,
I bought a refurb Rev A 17" PB (1GHz 60GB Hard Drive) in March. Within a month the battery went out and the logic board went out. I sent it in for repair and they had it for 4 weeks d/t not having the proper parts to replace it. Finally (after calling 10 times to get the status on the repair) I asked for the number of Apple's Customer Relations department (can't find it now though or I'd give it to you). I called Apple Customer Relations about the issue. Within 10 minutes she had cancelled my repair, sent me a brand NEW (not refurb) Rev B 17" PowerBook (1.33GHz 80GB Hard Drive) and a 512MB RAM stick to put my PowerBook at 1GB of RAM.
I spent around $2300 on my refurb PowerBook and ended up getting a $2999 brand new PowerBook and a $300 (Apple Priced) stick of RAM. I would suggest you call customer relations and be very specific about your issue and see what they will do.
Hope this helps!
I bought a refurb Rev A 17" PB (1GHz 60GB Hard Drive) in March. Within a month the battery went out and the logic board went out. I sent it in for repair and they had it for 4 weeks d/t not having the proper parts to replace it. Finally (after calling 10 times to get the status on the repair) I asked for the number of Apple's Customer Relations department (can't find it now though or I'd give it to you). I called Apple Customer Relations about the issue. Within 10 minutes she had cancelled my repair, sent me a brand NEW (not refurb) Rev B 17" PowerBook (1.33GHz 80GB Hard Drive) and a 512MB RAM stick to put my PowerBook at 1GB of RAM.
I spent around $2300 on my refurb PowerBook and ended up getting a $2999 brand new PowerBook and a $300 (Apple Priced) stick of RAM. I would suggest you call customer relations and be very specific about your issue and see what they will do.
Hope this helps!
As I mentioned in another thread a few weeks ago, my 12" powerbook hard drive started getting cranky, and was displaying SMART errors. I sent it back to be repaired (only 2 months old). That was NINE AND A HALF weeks ago! I have emailed customer services, I phone them almost every day, and have wrote them a very strong letter to tell them how dis-satisfied I am. They say it has left the factory and should be with me any day now, but they cant give me a tracking/delivery number, and keep telling me to call back on friday if it hasn't arrived yet. I wish I had just payed £110 for a new hard drive and fitted it myself, or alternatively sent the HD back to toshiba, and got a replacement straight from them. There is now no way on earth that I would EVER get applecare on anything. I was still under the 90day free support, but the standards of service I have received are an absolute joke.
i'm not sure whether it's already been posted..
but as far as applecare goes, you can sell it back to apple, at the start of every year...less 33%...
in aus anyways
but as far as applecare goes, you can sell it back to apple, at the start of every year...less 33%...
in aus anyways
Jovian9 said:
Although what most people don't seem to realize is that if they pay for their electronics with a credit card, the standard warranty is doubled by the credit card company (varies by card, obviously, but the vast majority have this). So basically, you get 1 year through Apple, 1 year through the CC company (who usually just credit you for the purchase price after you send them the defective laptop unless the repair estimate was super-cheap). I had to do this once, very easy. At the very least, its something to keep in mind. You can use it in tandem with manufacturer's extended warranties, like Applecare, as well. 1 yr. Warranty + 2 years Applecare + 1 year CC warranty... you've got one old machine still under warranty.
That really really really sucks. I bought Apple Care because I knew that the constant traveling from home->school->back and all around the town would mean that it is a good idea to make sure that it is protected.
My friend has a Gateway laptop, and he bought the extended warrenty. Well, he had to use it. He sent it in because it wouldn't start up. It came back...with a broken sound card and LAN card. So, back it goes. And it stays there. He calls Gateway, and they tell him that they will ship him a new one, but it just needs to be authorized, which should happen <24 hours. 26 hours later, he calls them. Turns out, that can't happen...it will take 72 hours, including the ones already wasted. Fine. But my friend had taken badge numbers and names. Well, eventually he got it back 2 weeks later. Still broken. They had (possibly) never looked at it. He was really mad.
Also, now the thing is not stable AT ALL, so all essential data is stored on a USB flash memory stick. He saves things onto it, then transfers it to his home computer.
He said that he was looking at the PowerBooks, which is great seeing as he used to hate Macs in general.
My friend has a Gateway laptop, and he bought the extended warrenty. Well, he had to use it. He sent it in because it wouldn't start up. It came back...with a broken sound card and LAN card. So, back it goes. And it stays there. He calls Gateway, and they tell him that they will ship him a new one, but it just needs to be authorized, which should happen <24 hours. 26 hours later, he calls them. Turns out, that can't happen...it will take 72 hours, including the ones already wasted. Fine. But my friend had taken badge numbers and names. Well, eventually he got it back 2 weeks later. Still broken. They had (possibly) never looked at it. He was really mad.
Also, now the thing is not stable AT ALL, so all essential data is stored on a USB flash memory stick. He saves things onto it, then transfers it to his home computer.
He said that he was looking at the PowerBooks, which is great seeing as he used to hate Macs in general.