replacing your HD voids warranty?

[whoknows87]

I was arguing with a senior manager at the apple store, had issues with my MBP and I was being honest and said that I changed my HD , he said you shouldn't have done that, I was like does it void the warranty he said yes I pointed out that in the MBP Manual it shows instructions , he said no it does not I said Yes he laughed and said NO seriously I have the manual in front of me right now I think I'll go back and show him the page

 

[GGJstudios]

I was arguing with a senior manager at the apple store, had issues with my MBP and I was being honest and said that I changed my HD , he said you shouldn't have done that, I was like does it void the warranty he said yes I pointed out that in the MBP Manual it shows instructions , he said no it does not I said Yes he laughed and said NO seriously I have the manual in front of me right now I think I'll go back and show him the page

It doesn't void the warranty. The manager is misinformed.

From the MacBook Pro User Guide:

Your MacBook Pro does not have any user-serviceable parts, except the hard drive and the memory.

If Apple says the part is "user installable" then it does NOT void the Apple Warranty or the AppleCare Protection Plan, unless you damage something in the process. However, Apple will not cover any user-installed parts.

 

[whoknows87]

It doesn't void the warranty. The manager is misinformed.

From the MacBook Pro User Guide:



Apple Warranty: Installing Memory, Expansion Cards, User Installable Parts Does Not Void Warranty

If Apple says the part is "user installable" then it does NOT void the Apple Warranty or the AppleCare Protection Plan, unless you damage something in the process. However, Apple will not cover any user-installed parts.

I thought so , I'm definitely going back with the manual because he clearly looked at me like I dont know what I'm talking about, trying to get me to admit that iscrewed something up, they misdagnosed twice, HD failure, HD Cable then told me logic board $300 fix, turns out it was the HD Cable my laptop works like new right now ( fingers crossed) I will go back tomorrow and tell him everything you guys said was just plain wrong trying to get me to do all these repairs wasted my time, he did say next time come see me personally
they should give me something free like an iPad or something for all my troubles haha

 

[thedarkhorse]

If the macbook has a built in door designed for swapping out drives like ram then it shouldn't effect the warranty. If it is one of the older macbook pros or any other macbook that needs to actually be taken apart to access the hard drive then yeah that can void your warranty.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Every time I've had a repair on a MacBook Pro I've had this argument with Apple. The last time they said they would make an "exception" to "appease" me, even though they provide instructions on their web-site on how to swap out hard drives. They have tried to get out of repairing my MBP even though the problems were not relate to the hard drive.

The problem is that Apple tells its employees that this voids the warranty, so the employees are only repeating what they've been told. When I worked for the Apple Store Online we were told to tell customers to upgrade hard drives and RAM at the time of purchase because they couldn't be upgraded later without voiding the warranty (this was before the retina MacBook Pro and MacBook Air). I don't know if we were told this out of ignorance or out of pressuring the customers to make for upgrades.

 

[whoknows87]

Every time I've had a repair on a MacBook Pro I've had this argument with Apple. The last time they said they would make an "exception" to "appease" me, even though they provide instructions on their web-site on how to swap out hard drives. They have tried to get out of repairing my MBP even though the problems were not relate to the hard drive.

The problem is that Apple tells its employees that this voids the warranty, so the employees are only repeating what they've been told. When I worked for the Apple Store Online we were told to tell customers to upgrade hard drives and RAM at the time of purchase because they couldn't be upgraded later without voiding the warranty (this was before the retina MacBook Pro and MacBook Air). I don't know if we were told this out of ignorance or out of pressuring the customers to make for upgrades.

this guy was the senior manager of the store, after arguing with one of the Genius guys he had enough with me and said I'll get my manager i was like great, comes the manager straight face telling me all this crap, I'm definitely going back with the manual and will ask him to show me where does it say it voids the warranty , I will come out victorious

 

[JTyler82]

I Just had this argument with my family who are NOT mac lovers. When they saw me pop the back off my Pro, they flipped out and started saying I voided my warranty.

It's funny what people think they know

 

[T5BRICK]

Every time I've had a repair on a MacBook Pro I've had this argument with Apple.

this guy was the senior manager of the store, after arguing with one of the Genius guys he had enough with me and said I'll get my manager i was like great, comes the manager straight face telling me all this crap, I'm definitely going back with the manual and will ask him to show me where does it say it voids the warranty , I will come out victorious

This is exactly why I suggest calling AppleCare as opposed to taking the computer into the store. If you have a legitimate failure, they'll send you a box and a pre-paid shipping label to return the computer for repair or replacement. The only time I wasn't able to have my issue taken care of right away was because of a re-occurring failure on a MBP. I had to ask for tier 2 support, and after 10 minutes they had agreed to send a replacement and a return box for my old computer.

I dislike dealing with the Apple store for anything other than iPhones, iPads and iPods(which they just swap out on the spot).

 

[andymac2210]

It seems that recently Apple has went from good with repairs and such to trying to game people on warranty.

I guess once the mark has spent their money it's over.

 

[whoknows87]

It doesn't void the warranty. The manager is misinformed.

From the MacBook Pro User Guide:


If Apple says the part is "user installable" then it does NOT void the Apple Warranty or the AppleCare Protection Plan, unless you damage something in the process. However, Apple will not cover any user-installed parts.

I have the Mid 2009 Model, I've looked through the Manual they do provide instructions on how to replace the HD and Memory they do recommend that an Apple certified Tech does the repair doesnt say you cant do it, the do also mention the battery being a non user installable part , I was trying to find out if it mentions memory and HD being user installable parts , is it anywhere in print online or in the Manual ? that same exact quote you quoted

 

[heisenberg123]

I just had mine in for replacing the battery, the genius knew i had 3rd party RAM and hard drive in when he ran his dignostics its set an alert for those 2 components he just asked if they were 3rd party to confirm why they were flagged during the dignostics. No issues at all for warranty.

NOW if you damage the sata cable while doing the hard drive swap or damage the ram slot your on your own for that fix

 

[sweetbrat]

I thought so , I'm definitely going back with the manual because he clearly looked at me like I dont know what I'm talking about, trying to get me to admit that iscrewed something up, they misdagnosed twice, HD failure, HD Cable then told me logic board $300 fix, turns out it was the HD Cable my laptop works like new right now ( fingers crossed) I will go back tomorrow and tell him everything you guys said was just plain wrong trying to get me to do all these repairs wasted my time, he did say next time come see me personally
they should give me something free like an iPad or something for all my troubles haha

So you swapped the hard drive, then had problems with the new hard drive and took it in to get repaired? If so, then the new hard drive isn't under warranty, only the original one that came with your computer. If something got messed up when you swapped the hard drive, (such as a problem with the cable) then that wouldn't be covered, either. Is it possible you misunderstood and he was telling you that the problem with the hard drive wasn't covered under warranty because you swapped it? That's very different than voiding your entire warranty. Just trying to get clarification, not trying to make any accusations...

 

[Orlandoech]

I Just had this argument with my family who are NOT mac lovers. When they saw me pop the back off my Pro, they flipped out and started saying I voided my warranty.

It's funny what people think they know

More annoying than funny, oblivious people need to be smacked lol.

 

[whoknows87]

So you swapped the hard drive, then had problems with the new hard drive and took it in to get repaired? If so, then the new hard drive isn't under warranty, only the original one that came with your computer. If something got messed up when you swapped the hard drive, (such as a problem with the cable) then that wouldn't be covered, either. Is it possible you misunderstood and he was telling you that the problem with the hard drive wasn't covered under warranty because you swapped it? That's very different than voiding your entire warranty. Just trying to get clarification, not trying to make any accusations...

No the issue was not with the HD at all , me replacing my own HD actually helped narrowing down the possible causes, turned out to be the HD Cable from the get go before I even replaced my HD, he was trying to tell me that replacing anything on this Model voids the warranty which is not true the RAM and HD are user installable parts that do not void the warranty , I just came back from the Apple store and came out victorious , he took the time out to listen to everything I was saying , I pointed everything out in the Manually , anyways I got a 10% off card lol as a token of appreciation haha yeah just a hook to get me back so I can buy something within 3 months, but hey its the thought that counts