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Yet another thread about how Apple has lost me as a customer
- Thread starter 7031
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As I understood it (as well as Wikipedia and numerous dictionaries), and it seems that this is also what you are saying, warranty basically meant "your device is guaranteed to last this amount of time (if it doesn't, then we'll fix it for free because we say it's supposed to last this long)"
Of course in this day, it no longer means that, because it sounds weird with AppleCare: "your MacBook is guaranteed to last a year, but if you pay us a few hundred dollars, it is guaranteed to last two more!
"Same for Dell, Bestbuy, etc.
Yes. But batteries are another thing. We're used to and know for a fact how a battery will last on your typical notebook/laptop. Once you develop "breakthrough battery technology" and do not back it up with warranty, it sounds sketchy don't you agree?As I understood it (as well as Wikipedia and numerous dictionaries), and it seems that this is also what you are saying, warranty basically meant "your device is guaranteed to last this amount of time (if it doesn't, then we'll fix it for free because we say it's supposed to last this long)"
Of course in this day, it no longer means that, because it sounds weird with AppleCare: "your MacBook is guaranteed to last a year, but if you pay us a few hundred dollars, it is guaranteed to last two more!
Same for Dell, Bestbuy, etc.
The OP has had his machine for more than 3 years so maybe YOU AREN'T "GETTING IT". Most of his concerns have since he got it were about heat. Any Mac notebook user knows that they get warm to hot like any notebook. The OP has mentioned nothing about a meltdown or anything becoming defective due to the heat so at this time nobody knows if his heat concerns were normal or not.
Secondly, in terms of his other issues, he got a lemon, it happens, plain and simple. Since when does the amount of money spent on something guarantee perfection? Is it reasonable for someone to expect something they bought to work perfectly? YES. Is it reasonable to trash the whole OS, trash the brand and completely switch due to one machine being a lemon? NO. Reason why? Because to switch to another platform as the answer to the problem is being naive. That Windows machine the OP has his eye on could just as well give him double the problems his Macbook gave him. What's he gonna do then, switch back to the Mac ?
The OP has had his machine for more than 3 years so maybe YOU AREN'T "GETTING IT". Most of his concerns have since he got it were about heat. Any Mac notebook user knows that they get warm to hot like any notebook. The OP has mentioned nothing about a meltdown or anything becoming defective due to the heat so at this time nobody knows if his heat concerns were normal or not.
Secondly, in terms of his other issues, he got a lemon, it happens, plain and simple. Since when does the amount of money spent on something guarantee perfection? Is it reasonable for someone to expect something they bought to work perfectly? YES. Is it reasonable to trash the whole OS, trash the brand and completely switch due to one machine being a lemon? NO. Reason why? Because to switch to another platform as the answer to the problem is being naive. That Windows machine the OP has his eye on could just as well give him double the problems his Macbook gave him. What's he gonna do then, switch back to the Mac ?
Ahh, beat me to it.
(Especially with technology where there are so many components and where the size of those components are small, I don't know why people would think that it should be perfect whether it be a computer from Apple, or a car from BMW or Mercedes. Things break. People shouldn't sit there and try to find excuses as to why they spend x amount of dollars for something to fail.)
Totally. The majority of repair items were 'minor', i.e. squeaky space bars and iffy track pad buttons, but things like the MBA hinge are known design faults.
But it's how a company deals with those issues that really matters.
Normally, with some insistence, Apple will bend to pretty much any request.
So your computer broke out of warranty and you're mad that Apple won't fix it?
Of course, of course, them big corporations are always the good people that want nothing but your fun and pleasure. I bet they feel really guilty for having to charge money for their products. It's them little people who save for a long time to get that item who don't get it. Maybe they can't afford 400$ for the extended warranty after their 2000$ computer, damn they are really stupid.
Boo Hoo.
I bought the HP ZD7000 years ago. Turns out there was a video card defect (Nvidia 5600 Go, if I recall correctly). I shipped it to HP 4 times for repair, they expedited the shipping and I always had it back within 7 days of calling. After the 5th time, I told the rep this was enough, he agreed, and I got a brand new ZD8000 with upgrades.
Sometimes things break. HP treated me very well in this case, but never admitted there was a widespread defect (a lawsuit helped that come to light, however) but they made sure I was a happy customer.
Moral of the story: Don't let a bad experience get you down. I would gladly buy another HP laptop in the future.
I bought the HP ZD7000 years ago. Turns out there was a video card defect (Nvidia 5600 Go, if I recall correctly). I shipped it to HP 4 times for repair, they expedited the shipping and I always had it back within 7 days of calling. After the 5th time, I told the rep this was enough, he agreed, and I got a brand new ZD8000 with upgrades.
Sometimes things break. HP treated me very well in this case, but never admitted there was a widespread defect (a lawsuit helped that come to light, however) but they made sure I was a happy customer.
Moral of the story: Don't let a bad experience get you down. I would gladly buy another HP laptop in the future.
i would rather have the program that can repair your notebook if anything happens, my friend who is a ubuntu on a lenovo guy gets his lenovo repaired for free. he had soda spill on the key board which is a nightmare cause it takes 2 day total to fix. there is always going to be faults in the system, not everypiece of technology will work perfectly, if it did then the government should be knocking on doors to see how they did it.
It appears the OP had his notebook for at least 3 years. That is longer than I've had any one windows machine.
That said, if you're in the UK it would be useful to know the laws and know how or if they apply. Start here EU Product Warranty Directive
That said, if you're in the UK it would be useful to know the laws and know how or if they apply. Start here EU Product Warranty Directive
At work we have a PowerMac G3 that has original parts and still works like a clock. Same with pair of PowerMac G4's. I own (or owned) a MacBook Pro 15", Unibody MacBook Pro 17", Mac Mini, white MacBook, MacBook Air, 2 iBooks, PowerBook Wallstreet, iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch, Apple TV, and a PowerMac G3. Guess what, while I have had a few issues here and there they ultimately work great and all issues have been covered under warranty, free of charge.
That is why I keep buying Apple. Sorry you had a bad experience, its not the norm at all.
That is why I keep buying Apple. Sorry you had a bad experience, its not the norm at all.
It's not even 2 years old, they were released in February 2008.
Check this thread for advice on getting free repairs under The Sale of Goods Act.
800 pounds is enough to get a refurbished one from apple, get your 3 year plan on the refurbished product, and voila
As a side note, I have felt since buying my first appliance and computer with my own money after college, that Chinese made products simply do not hold up. It is hit or miss, so I always shell out the money for extended warranties. In day and age, it makes no sense not to get a warranty on bigger purchases from home theatres, to computers, to friggin insurance on our homes. Just get it
As a side note, I have felt since buying my first appliance and computer with my own money after college, that Chinese made products simply do not hold up. It is hit or miss, so I always shell out the money for extended warranties. In day and age, it makes no sense not to get a warranty on bigger purchases from home theatres, to computers, to friggin insurance on our homes. Just get it
Yeah, I gotta say, I've been a long-time Mac owner, and have had great luck with them.
My first was an old Performa I bought from Sears back in 1994(?). It was also my first computer ever. I bought a Mac on the recommendation of my company's IT guy who HATED Macs. Thanks Andrew! I got online with that Mac too (America Online back in the day when you paid for long-distance access numbers BY THE MINUTE in addition to your AOL bill). Ahhhh, good times!
My next Mac was a PowerMac 7200. It was my first PowerPC ever, too. I bought it from a local authorized Apple reseller who operated out of his home. He was at Apple back in the beginning, and the stories he had to tell were just awesome. During this time, I got into gaming (shareware Doom anyone?), AOL went flat-rate (aah, my wallet thanks you!), moved to a local ISP with local access numbers (woohoo!) This allowed me to get into online gaming (Quake and Descent were so much fun back then).
My next Mac was a Power 8600/250:
Processor: 250MHz 604e Motorola (1MB inline cache)
Bus: 100MHz
RAM: 240 MB interleaved DIMMs (1 GB max)
Hard Drive: 4 GB Ultra-SCSI (10 MB/s)
24X CD-ROM
Internal ZIP Drive
3.5 floppy drive
10Base-T Ethernet port
ATI Radeon 7000 Mac Edition 32MB graphics
4 USB 1.1 ports
I gt a lot of mileage from that old girl. I went from system 8, to OS 9, to a hacked version of OS X when it first came out.
I added a Soundblaster LIVE! card to it (for better gaming sound that never really took off then)
I upgraded the graphics once (Voodoo 2 8MB card) before I got to the ATI card you see above. I was able to get great framerates on Quake 2, Quake III Arena, Aliens vs Predator, Podracer, decent framerates on Clive Barker's Undying, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, and Deus Ex became playable at last!
Then, games started to go above and beyond my Mac's abilities. But, I discovered Adobe Illustrator, and my former gaming Mac started doing double duty as a graphics Mac. Over the years I got to be really proficient with Illustrator (being a longtime Trek-head, I did a lot of starship orthographs).
That's where I am now. Of all the Macs I've owned, I've never gotten Applecare on them, and the PowerMac 8600? I'm posting this message from her as we speak. Bought it in 1997, and she's still going strong.
I've never had a Mac behave like you describe. Sorry it happened to you.
I'm sorry, but that's just life.
Tough. You got it in 2007, used it til June this year and then it broke.
It's out of warranty, so obviously Apple won't do anything about it. Did you really expect them to?
There was a yellowing on the screens on the MBP 15" I had one.
I also received one with dead pixels they took back.
My old classic IPOD seems to have finally bit the big one.
You shouldn't have to pay for Apple care that is a crock. If your product is so good than give a 3 year like other companies do.
But my new MBP 13" is great so far.
I also received one with dead pixels they took back.
My old classic IPOD seems to have finally bit the big one.
You shouldn't have to pay for Apple care that is a crock. If your product is so good than give a 3 year like other companies do.
But my new MBP 13" is great so far.
What are these "other companies" who "give" 3 year warranties with their computers?
As a designer of electronic equipment, let me weigh in:
Most electronics follows a "bathtub" curve model for defects. After the first few months there is a very low constant failure rate until end of life, where is rises again.
Electronic components, when not subjected to temperatures >85degrees have decades of MTTF.
The only exception are electrolytic capacitors, which depending on the quality, have as few as 2000hours lifetime at 85degrees (before they are out of spec.).
Temperature cycles causing expansion/contraction of the printed circuit assemblies are the other major cause of failure, which may be worse in newer equipment manufactured with RoHS compliant non-Pb solders (I think this is one of the issues iwth the infamous nvidia 8400 card problems, due to new die bonding techniques)
As AppleCare doesn't cover user error - the largest cause of terminal failure, I consider it a "protection racket" - a well designed machine should withstand years of typical use. Apple uses COTS components, with the premium the charge they should be able to design it to last.
Since Apple has been making laptops for a long time, one would assume they have an inkling how to test them and "typical operating environments", but it is clear that they have often been unwilling to do anything about certain issues like heat dissipation, rather than adding some slots for the fans to function effectively.
If I was the OP I would attempt a motherboard replacement myself.
I was only going by what another poster said. Here, I'm quoting it for you.
Regardless, the OP needs to research and whether he has had his notebook 10 years or 1 year, he should know his rights.
It's a Rev D (MacPro 4,1), so it couldn't have been bought in 2007. But even though the 12 months manufacturers warranty has expired, they may be able to claim under The Sale of Goods Act, which covers goods for up to six years.
The OP in the thread I linked above had a new screen fitted to his out of warranty iMac free of charge so it's worth 7031 contacting Apple again and trying this approach.
Honestly, at this point, posting this thread three different times is just trolling. It's not going to change anyone's mind, and all it's doing is venting frustration in a way that will get most people here riled up.
I'm sorry to hear about your experiences, and I'm sure some of us have had similar, disappointing incidents with Apple.
My best suggestion at this point is to write a gently worded letter to Apple,explaining that you are a longtime customer, and how you understand that your computer is no longer under warranty, but are still disappointed about your experiences.
Coming back repeatedly to tell everyone in an Apple forum that Apple sucks and you're never buying another one isn't going to get you very far.
I'm sorry to hear about your experiences, and I'm sure some of us have had similar, disappointing incidents with Apple.
My best suggestion at this point is to write a gently worded letter to Apple,explaining that you are a longtime customer, and how you understand that your computer is no longer under warranty, but are still disappointed about your experiences.
Coming back repeatedly to tell everyone in an Apple forum that Apple sucks and you're never buying another one isn't going to get you very far.