I've had good experiences for years with Applecare on ipods, so when I bought my mbp, it seemed like a no-brainer.
When I bought it, a little over three years ago, there were a few minor problems. A line of pixels were white going all the way across the screen near the top and the superdrive made all kinds of weird clunking noises. Since everything still worked, I decided that I would live with the issues and get them taken care of someday if anything ever went wrong.
A few months ago, that superdrive started refusing to burn discs. At first it was intermittent, then eventually just quit altogether. At this point, I considered sending it in for repair, but I generally need the computer and rarely need to burn a disc, so I lived with that as well.
Then finally last week, my hard drive gave out. Slowdowns, freezes, and finally refusing to boot up altogether. I managed to notice it going and get a fair bit of my data that wasn't backed up off the drive before it went. (Oddly enough, SMART never noticed the drive was going, while my G4 server ran on a "failing" drive for months with no ill effect. Go figure...)
Anyhow, since the computer was completely useless at this point, I figured it was finally time to bring it in. I took it to Carbon Computing in Ottawa, pointed out the issues. The tech noted the two small dents on the back of the display and one dent roughly above the hard drive, and also that the lid was crooked (It's been crooked since it was new, and really I had forgotten about that entirely). He said they might not be able to do anything about the display, which I thought was fair.
Today, I was informed that all the things I mentioned were broken, as well as the hinge needed to be replaced. Because of the dents and a "dried substance" inside the machine, Apple refused to cover anything. If I would like to have the machine repaired, the bill will come to somewhere around 2100 dollars.
Now, I'm not overly rough on my stuff. It gets used in professional environments as a tool. so certainly is not babied, but I do exercise as much care as you would treat any piece of technology. Furthermore, one of my reasons for choosing the mbp is because it has a reputation as a tough machine (which it is. It has suffered a number of dents with no issues) and Apple's reputation for service.
I could understand them not wanting to cover the display, since there are two dents on the back of the panel. I could understand them not wanting to do the hard drive, since it looks like I dropped something right on top of it. I suppose you could extrapolate from the dents on the machine that I've swung it around by the hinges and refuse to cover that. I have no idea what the deal is with the superdrive. And I fully understand why a dried substance inside the machine is a bad thing and entirely not the manufacturer's fault, but unless it covers every part in the computer, I think it's pretty extreme to refuse to cover anything. Since I don't remember ever spilling anything on it, I doubt it's a large enough spill to cover the hard drive, superdrive, hinges, AND display.
I don't know... I doubt that there's anything I can do to refute this. Their refusal to touch the thing does technically fall under their TOS. It's just frustrating to know that the dents have nothing to do with the problems. I would be happy if they would cover even just one issue, to let me know that I actually have an expensive warranty that was worth buying. The screen and superdrive have had issues from day one, and the dents have been there for literally years. I highly doubt it's taken that long for shock trauma to kill a hard drive. A few dents on an aluminum computer that is over three years old doesn't scream of maltreatment to me.
I suppose the lesson here is twofold. First of all, get all minor problems taken care of right away, just in case. Secondly, don't expect to receive Applecare if you haven't babied your computer.
As for me, I guess I'll go buy a hard drive and void my warranty so I can keep using the computer. The warranty is apparently useless anyway, unless I want to call and ask where the internets are on my computer. I highly doubt that I'll ever be buying Applecare again though. Bit of a waste of 400 bucks if you ask me.
When I bought it, a little over three years ago, there were a few minor problems. A line of pixels were white going all the way across the screen near the top and the superdrive made all kinds of weird clunking noises. Since everything still worked, I decided that I would live with the issues and get them taken care of someday if anything ever went wrong.
A few months ago, that superdrive started refusing to burn discs. At first it was intermittent, then eventually just quit altogether. At this point, I considered sending it in for repair, but I generally need the computer and rarely need to burn a disc, so I lived with that as well.
Then finally last week, my hard drive gave out. Slowdowns, freezes, and finally refusing to boot up altogether. I managed to notice it going and get a fair bit of my data that wasn't backed up off the drive before it went. (Oddly enough, SMART never noticed the drive was going, while my G4 server ran on a "failing" drive for months with no ill effect. Go figure...)
Anyhow, since the computer was completely useless at this point, I figured it was finally time to bring it in. I took it to Carbon Computing in Ottawa, pointed out the issues. The tech noted the two small dents on the back of the display and one dent roughly above the hard drive, and also that the lid was crooked (It's been crooked since it was new, and really I had forgotten about that entirely). He said they might not be able to do anything about the display, which I thought was fair.
Today, I was informed that all the things I mentioned were broken, as well as the hinge needed to be replaced. Because of the dents and a "dried substance" inside the machine, Apple refused to cover anything. If I would like to have the machine repaired, the bill will come to somewhere around 2100 dollars.
Now, I'm not overly rough on my stuff. It gets used in professional environments as a tool. so certainly is not babied, but I do exercise as much care as you would treat any piece of technology. Furthermore, one of my reasons for choosing the mbp is because it has a reputation as a tough machine (which it is. It has suffered a number of dents with no issues) and Apple's reputation for service.
I could understand them not wanting to cover the display, since there are two dents on the back of the panel. I could understand them not wanting to do the hard drive, since it looks like I dropped something right on top of it. I suppose you could extrapolate from the dents on the machine that I've swung it around by the hinges and refuse to cover that. I have no idea what the deal is with the superdrive. And I fully understand why a dried substance inside the machine is a bad thing and entirely not the manufacturer's fault, but unless it covers every part in the computer, I think it's pretty extreme to refuse to cover anything. Since I don't remember ever spilling anything on it, I doubt it's a large enough spill to cover the hard drive, superdrive, hinges, AND display.
I don't know... I doubt that there's anything I can do to refute this. Their refusal to touch the thing does technically fall under their TOS. It's just frustrating to know that the dents have nothing to do with the problems. I would be happy if they would cover even just one issue, to let me know that I actually have an expensive warranty that was worth buying. The screen and superdrive have had issues from day one, and the dents have been there for literally years. I highly doubt it's taken that long for shock trauma to kill a hard drive. A few dents on an aluminum computer that is over three years old doesn't scream of maltreatment to me.
I suppose the lesson here is twofold. First of all, get all minor problems taken care of right away, just in case. Secondly, don't expect to receive Applecare if you haven't babied your computer.
As for me, I guess I'll go buy a hard drive and void my warranty so I can keep using the computer. The warranty is apparently useless anyway, unless I want to call and ask where the internets are on my computer. I highly doubt that I'll ever be buying Applecare again though. Bit of a waste of 400 bucks if you ask me.
