I just had my first experience w/ AppleCare, and what a disappointment. Last night I noticed while working on my TiBook that it wasn't charging. I then noticed that the AC adapter plug ring wasn't glowing either orange or green. When I went to check the wall outlet I picked up the power brick and nearly fried my hand it was so hot. I tried calling AppleCare, only to find they don't offer 24/7 support like Dell and others. Tried the Apple website, but no help there.
Called AppleCare this morning. After 20 minutes on hold, I got to speak to a tech, Chris, who told me I had to reset the power management system before he could offer any additional help (I couldn't understand how this could affect the adaptor becoming incredibly hot, but he was adamant). It was as if the guy was reading from a script (and he probably was). I can imagine a conversation like the following:
"My power brick has melted and there's a fire in my living room"
"Sir, you must reset the power management system, then call back"
When I got home, I did the reset, to no effect. The adaptor got extremely hot within a minute or so, and began to emit a chirping noise along with an electrical odor.
I called AppleCare again and, after another 20-minute wait, reached a different tech, Dan, who promplty asked for my "case number". I told the rep I hadn't been given one. He then said I'd have to pay $49 for "per incident" support and asked for my credit card #. When I told him I was experiencing a hardware problem with a three-month (96 days to be exact) old machine, he said, "no matter, it's $49 for 'phone support' after 90 days". No explanation of how calling for warranty service could represent "phone support". So, out with my credit card.
After explaining the problem to him he puts me on hold for several minutes before coming back to tell me he's transferring me to a "product specialist" The product specialist tells me they're going to treat it as a safety issue, and that I need to go through a questionnaire with him. It's quickly evident that the purpose of the questionnaire has nothing to do with diagnosing my problem and everything to do with limiting Apple's product liability.
"Sir, were you injured in any way during this incident/"
"Sir, was there any damage to the area beneath or around the adapter during this incident?"
...and so on and on...
Finally, the guy says he's going to send me a new adapter and wants to know if I need the cord as well. I tell him I have no idea, since I don't know what caused the problem to begin with. After pausing to consider for a minute, he decides to send me a new power cord as well and then acts as if he's doing me a great favor. He tells me I should get everything within within "three to four days" So it's back to my Dell and IBM laptops for the rest of the week.
The TiBook is my first (and now almost certainly last) Apple product, based in large part on this experience. As a professional business consultant, I have to hand it to Apple: offer half the service of your competitors at twice the price. Somehow I foolishly thought that after shelling out $3K for this thing, I could expect Lexus-like service. Ha!
Called AppleCare this morning. After 20 minutes on hold, I got to speak to a tech, Chris, who told me I had to reset the power management system before he could offer any additional help (I couldn't understand how this could affect the adaptor becoming incredibly hot, but he was adamant). It was as if the guy was reading from a script (and he probably was). I can imagine a conversation like the following:
"My power brick has melted and there's a fire in my living room"
"Sir, you must reset the power management system, then call back"
When I got home, I did the reset, to no effect. The adaptor got extremely hot within a minute or so, and began to emit a chirping noise along with an electrical odor.
I called AppleCare again and, after another 20-minute wait, reached a different tech, Dan, who promplty asked for my "case number". I told the rep I hadn't been given one. He then said I'd have to pay $49 for "per incident" support and asked for my credit card #. When I told him I was experiencing a hardware problem with a three-month (96 days to be exact) old machine, he said, "no matter, it's $49 for 'phone support' after 90 days". No explanation of how calling for warranty service could represent "phone support". So, out with my credit card.
After explaining the problem to him he puts me on hold for several minutes before coming back to tell me he's transferring me to a "product specialist" The product specialist tells me they're going to treat it as a safety issue, and that I need to go through a questionnaire with him. It's quickly evident that the purpose of the questionnaire has nothing to do with diagnosing my problem and everything to do with limiting Apple's product liability.
"Sir, were you injured in any way during this incident/"
"Sir, was there any damage to the area beneath or around the adapter during this incident?"
...and so on and on...
Finally, the guy says he's going to send me a new adapter and wants to know if I need the cord as well. I tell him I have no idea, since I don't know what caused the problem to begin with. After pausing to consider for a minute, he decides to send me a new power cord as well and then acts as if he's doing me a great favor. He tells me I should get everything within within "three to four days" So it's back to my Dell and IBM laptops for the rest of the week.
The TiBook is my first (and now almost certainly last) Apple product, based in large part on this experience. As a professional business consultant, I have to hand it to Apple: offer half the service of your competitors at twice the price. Somehow I foolishly thought that after shelling out $3K for this thing, I could expect Lexus-like service. Ha!
just elaborate a little more on what you are exacly mad about.
