Refund or Repair, which bullet to bite?

[Elbeano]

I just got a new 12" powerbook last saturday and it has been giving me a few problems that I deem inexcusable for the price. Number one big one, the latch won't shut, and I have had no luck with advice from here or any of the actual apple forums. I seemed to have it to the point where if I pinched it around the latch when I was shutting it, it would close. It was far from being perfect, but if it would work all the time, I could have lived with that. Now it won't close at all. Combine that with my system crashing in the same way twice last night (see this post), and I'm not sure what to do. I see it as one of 4 potential options. They are listed in the order of which I would prefer.

1. I take it back to the apple store (which is unfortunately around a 2 hour drive) and exchange it. I'm not sure if I would be able to do this or not, but because of the two separate problems it seems like this would be the easiest. I think this solution seems fair because this is my first mac, and a gesture like this on their part could either make or break me as a mac user for life.

2. I take it the same apple store mentioned above and have them repair it. I don't know whether or not they would do it that day, or whether I would have to leave it there and then come back, at the expense of another day of driving and tolls.

3. I take it to an apple approved repair place and have them do it. There is one of these about 40 minutes from me.

4. I return it and take the 10 or 15% restocking fee hit ( I can't remember which one it is). I really don't want to have to do this, because it will cost me a lot of money, and probably leave me never wanting to get a mac again.


So, you all see my dilemma. I would appreciate any advice you can give me on this subject. I really love my mac other than these few problems, so I really want to work this out without costing me any more money. Let me know what you would all do, and any potential factors or options of which I either overlooked or am unaware.

 

[jxyama]

call apple. at the very least, call the apple store before trekking 2 hours, if you are going to go there.

most likely, they will offer to repair - and send you a box to ship your PB in. i doubt they will exchange it for you, but who knows.

returning for 10% restocking fee sounds kinda silly because the machine is under warranty and you should be able to have it fixed.

 

[Elbeano]

I know it does seem kind of silly to want a refund. However, if I'm going to spend more time fighting to get a powerbook that does everything it's supposed to do than actually using it, then I want as much of my money back as I can have.

 

[jxyama]

have you called apple and asked about it? their repair is fairly speedy, from what i've heard.

i sympathise with you getting a defective one to begin with - i hope your repairs go smoothly and quickly. i wouldn't return for a fee, it just sounds like too much of a price to pay to take another chance on a new machine. you need to put up with the repairs just this once and hopefully, your eventual machine will perform without any hiccups.

 

[Elbeano]

Well I tried calling them this morning, but I was going to be on hold for about 15 minutes, and I can't be away from my students that long. I may try again at lunch, but even if I get the latch fixed, it still doesn’t explain the bugs last night. Now, if it's just a glitch, I can deal with that. Lord knows that I've had to deal with enough of those in windows. Macs don't even have the blue screen of death. However, if it can be attributed to a heating problem (which makes sense to me since it happened in quick succession), then I have another problem to deal with.

 

[Jovian9]

If you want a refund you have to do it within 10 days. First I would call AppleCare and see what they recommend. Most of the time if you send something off for repair you have it back in 3 or 4 days (or at least I have)......but the repair process is not always quick.......I bought a 17" PowerBook last month and it's been a lemon: bad battery and charging problems. I sent it off for repair Wednesday the 14th of April and I still do not have it back....it's been waiting on a part (so they can fix it) now for 11 days. Though I did call customer service and complain and they sent me 512MB RAM for it free. So if you send it off for repair....do your best to inquire about how long it will take. Make sure you call them before 10 days so that you have the option of returning or replacing it.

 

[Jovian9]

Well I tried calling them this morning, but I was going to be on hold for about 15 minutes, and I can't be away from my students that long.

Most of the time if it says 15 minutes on hold...it will only be 5. Everytime I've called it's been b/t 8 & 15 minutes but has taken no more than 5 minutes to speak to someone.

 

[0s and 1s]

Why would you be charged a 10% restocking fee for returning a defective product? If you wanted that many problems, you would've purchased a Dell! Definitely talk to the Apple store manager before making the 2 hr. journey. Good luck. Keep us updated.

 

[jxyama]

Why would you be charged a 10% restocking fee for returning a defective product?

it's just the way apple operates. they will only accept returns with 10% restocking fee, whatever the reason for return. if the machine is defective, they will repair it - but you won't get a refund.

 

[Elbeano]

I just called apple care, and the guy said that presumably the problem with the hatch should be an easy fix for any authorized repair place. He didn't think there would be any advantage going to the store instead of going there because if it isn't a simple fix I'd have to send it to apple to repair regardless of which of the two places I go to. The only problem is the authorized repair place is about 40 minutes in one direction, and the store is about 2 hours in the other. He also said if my other issue was in fact a heating problem it was likely caused by having my powerbook sit on my bed. Even though it wasn't even hot enough yet to have the fan on. So, in about two and a half hours I will be heading down to the authorized repair place. We'll see how that all turns out. I get the feeling that as soon as I get to the store the latch is going to start working again. Irony works like that.

 

[Mord]

that restocking fee is illegal here in the uk oh yhea

i got a refurb ibook for £650 a while back and the next week i noticed the price had droped by £100 and conveniently my track pad fried jusy alfter i had a bath sent it back for a full refund and got the same modle for £100 cheaper oh yhea!