More positive Apple repair experiences
More positive Apple repair experiences
Our initial report on a positive Apple repair experience has spurred quite a response, with dozens of readers submitting stories of outstanding and above-protocol service from Apple, its retail stores, and third-party Mac retailers.
Glad tidings at the Apple Store
Len Williams was successful in getting an Apple retail store to replace a screen affected by the notorious "white spot" issue reported extensively on MacFixIt:
"I was one of the early purchasers of the aluminum Powerbook 15" 1.25GHz laptops in December of last year. I had heard of the dreaded "white spots" but everything seemed fine on my screen until about 4 months later when they slowly started to develop on my screen. I took my 'book in to the Glendale, CA Apple Store on a Sunday and the guys at the genius bar told me I'd get it back in about 2 weeks. Instead my Powerbook was delivered to me, fully repaired, on Tuesday (less than 48 hours from when I'd taken it in to the Apple Store) at no charge whatsoever. Prior to the repair my screen had 2 dead pixels that were a minor annoyance but that the Apple employees said weren't enough to warrant a replacement screen. The new screen is perfect with nary a dead pixel. What floored me was the responsiveness on the repair. It's always a pleasant surprise to get something better than expected, faster than you'd hoped for. Kudos to Apple's repair line."
Mark Erwin has a story about how Apple's repair team went outside the bounds of a normal warranty to replace his daughter's iBook with a broken display:
"I must share an experience that will keep me as a loyal Apple customer. After high school graduation, my daughter and I went to the local Apple store where she selected a 12" iBook to take with her to college. With Apple's student promotion, she received a free ipod, HP printer and Microsoft Office at a great price.
"The day after our purchase we took a trip to Washington DC and my daughter proudly took her iBook to watch a DVD on the flight. The plane took off and she opened her iBook to the horror of a shattered display. The only time it was out of its case was for security.
"Upon return a week later, we went back to the Apple Store at the Biltmore in Phoenix to tell them our tale of woe.
"Fully expecting a 'Sorry, but this is not a warranty issue. Try turning in a claim on your homeowners insurance.' The manager said, 'This is not our normal policy, and if you comes back with the same issue, we won't be able to help, but since you only had it for one day, let's see what we can do.'
"To our pleasant surprise, he opened a brand new iBook, installed the airport card and ram, and sent her on her very surprised and thrilled way to college."
Jim Murphy notes the difference between his treatment at a national computer chain and Apple's retail outlet:
"A long-time Apple user and supporter, I've unexpectedly had tremendous problems with my Apple G4 desktop that I bought on 5/29/03
"These included at least 4 major system crashes, 2 archive and restore operations, 2 times zeroing out of the hard drive, over 24 kernel panics, numerous bitmap problems, [...]Unfortunately, the large national chain store where I bought it provided less than adequate service and support. In January of 04, my Mac was in the shop three weeks out of four. They didn't feel waiting 10 days or so for a computer was a problem -- even though I explained that I had just started my own business and needed it desperately."
"Finally, frustrated and disgusted and beset by continuing problems,, I took my G4 to the Apple store in King of Prussia in late July, of this year. Jeff Elliot and the rest of the people there treated me very well, communicated with me, and did everything they could to fix it. Finally, after several days of testing, my buying new Apple RAM, and more kernel panics at home, they replaced the multiprocessor and logic board. That was $975.62 worth of parts and testing under warranty. So I didn't pay a thing."
One reader reports some patient, hands-on attention from a Genius Bar representative:
"A few weeks ago my G4 867 simply would not boot up one morning, instead hanging on the fray Apple logo screen with the spinning gear wheel. Since I manage all of my family finances on my Mac, and the bills were due to be paid that week, it became critical to me to get the machine back up and running as soon as possible. (It would not even boot from the CD drive, thus preventing me from running any kind of disk repair utilities.)
"The next day I took it to the Rockingham Park Mall (Salem, NH) store, fully expecting to have to leave the machine to have it repaired at considerable expense. Instead, despite having to wait almost 90 minutes for my turn with ?the Genius,? once he became available, he had my Mac back up and running within an hour. [...] The Genius at the Rockingham Apple store spent the better part of 90 minutes getting me back up and running, and he did not charge me a dime! I was incredibly impressed, considering that my machine is 2 years old and certainly beyond warranty. Out of appreciation for this stellar service, I immediately purchased a subscription to Apple?s ProCare plan before I left the store."
Speedy delivery MacFixIt reader Robert had his broken PowerBook back in hand a day and a half after it was sent in for repairs:
"My 1G HZ TiBook is my fifth generation apple 'book - starting from a PB 140 in 1996; it's just over 18 months old. It went back when I originally purchased it (apple store) because of a problem with the DVD/CD drive - it scratched a 3 inch dia circle on every disc inserted, including the original system discs. Apple replaced all the discs, even replacing a Norton SystemWorks disc I had bought.
"I called on a Monday morning, had a box delivered by airborne that evening - and they took the PB away immediately. I had it back in my hands in 36 hours - 11 am delivery Wednesday!"
Two days was all it took to repair one reader's out-of-warranty Pismo:
"One Saturday night last March, while visiting my sister, I was browsing the Apple Store at Mall of America. The Genius Bar had no customers so I went over and asked about a nagging issue that was beginning to affect my Pismo ? the screen would glow red at startup and then quickly turn grey except for the lower corners, which would stay red.
"I was told that it was either a screen or graphics chip issue and they could send it in for repair if I?d like. I said, 'Yeah, it?s long past Apple Care coverage and the cost of a new screen would probably be prohibitive.' They said they had a new program ? for about $300 they will send it in for repair. Whatever it needs will be repaired or replaced and it will be sent back to me right away. I said, 'Yeah, what if it needs BOTH?' They said, 'It?s a flat rate ? we?ll fix it.' I said I?d think about it and maybe bring it in the morning. So that night while I was using my sister?s 1.25 GHz PowerBook, I realized I?d feel like I was downgrading if I had to ditch my Pismo for a new PowerBook ? So on Sunday morning, as I was leaving MSP for home, I swung by the Apple Store and delivered my PowerBook. They said it would be packaged that day and sent to Apple on Monday. At 10:00am on Wednesday, my Pismo was at my door with its bright new screen, tight hinges, and a new IR lens (which had fallen out the day I bought it)."
Apple recently issued a recall for batteries contained in some Titanium PowerBook G4s. Based on reader reports so far, Apple is replacing the batteries with incredible speed:
Peymon Gorkani writes "I participated in the replacement process through web yesterday, August 19th and I received the new one today with a letter instructing me to discharge the old one and send it back to Apple This is the fastest service I have seen, it is just great."
MacFixIt reader Ralph adds "Some amazing news to report regarding the battery recall program. I clicked on the recall site yesterday afternoon and provided my information. This morning at 10 a.m. my replacement battery was delivered to my door. Incredible."
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Resources