I just purchased my Macbook about 2 and 1/2 months ago. I purchased an Apple because everyone told me they were superior computers and that Apple had the best customer service around….boy was I lied to!
When I purchased my laptop, I also purchased an Apple Care warranty, you can never be too safe, especially when you’re putting out so much cash for a laptop.
I opened up the laptop one night to use it, everything was fine. Closed the laptop to prevent dust from getting on it while I watched a movie on TV. Opened up the laptop after the movie was over. First thing I noticed was a blue line running down the middle of the screen, then there was some black patches on the screen and what looked like cracks. Over the days it progressively got worse. It looks like it is cracked internally.
I brought it to my local apple repair center, they sent photos of my screen to Apple. Now Apple is refusing to repair the screen, claiming that there was physical damage to the laptop…which there was not! There’s no logical reason why this should have happened to my laptop, and I’m extremely disappointed with the lack of understanding and customer service I’ve received from Apple.
The guy I spoke to flat out said we’re not repairing your laptop because it looks like you damaged it on purpose. Who the hell would purposely break the screen of their laptop after only having it for a couple months??? I babied this computer because I spent a year saving up the money to purchase it, I’m a student and I don’t exactly have a lot of cash lying around. I’d have to be psycho to purposely damage something I saved up so long for.
Seriously, buying an apple was the biggest waste of $1900 I’ve ever spent! I’m now stuck with an unusable laptop that I can’t afford to fix (I was quoted $925 to replace the screen). Any ideas on what I should do?
I was considering filing a complaint with Better Buisness Bureau or selling my laptop for parts on ebay (which would majorly suck because I would never get back what I paid for the machine) and purchasing a different laptop from a different company.
Any suggestions?
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My computer was hibernating on my desk open and I went to it, woke it up and there was colorful lines running vertically for about 2 inches from the righthand side. An hour on the phone with AppleCare and they say its a loose cable. They make a “Genius” bar appointment for me. I go and wait an hour, despite the appointment. The “Genius” pinched the side of my screen and a black blob spiderweb formation stretched out across the screen. He says “Well obviously this is cracked” I say, I feel no cracks anywhere! The book is pristine, no damage anywhere. He tells me its an internal crack that is deemed “accidental damage” which isn’t covered on the warranty and its 600 bucks to fix. I was livid. It was just some colorful lines until he messed with it!
3 hours on the phone with AppleCare tonight and they tell me they cant make an exception. I will call back every day until i get somewhere with this.
Holly on January 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm | Link
I think we need to get all the people who this has happened to together to fight this. I’ve made a formal complaint to the B.B.B, I’m also going to publish an article in my university newspaper describing what Apple is doing to its customers. What pissed me off is that the rep from Apple flat out accused me of physically damaging my laptop. Since when is opening your laptop physical damage? This whole situation is infuriating! I’m definitely not going down without a fight. I will call Apple every day if I have to. Something needs to be done about this obvious defect!
Lindsay Chapman on January 27th, 2008 at 11:13 pm | Link
UPDATE:
I was persistent, and guess what….
APPLE IS COVERING THE COSTS OF REPAIRING MY SCREEN!!!!!
YAY I WON!
Message of this story: BE PERSISTENT! DO NOT GIVE UP
Lindsay Chapman on January 28th, 2008 at 10:53 am | Link
THEY ARE FIXING MINE TOO!!
I am so excited! It took probably 10 hours of my time total, but it was well worth it to not have to cover this repair.
DO NOT GIVE UP!
Holly on January 28th, 2008 at 5:17 pm | Link
honestly this is why i’m probably going to pick up a used dell for like $200. that way its more or less getting cannibalized for parts if it breaks.
Andrew on February 27th, 2008 at 11:16 am | Link
Sounds like we have a class-action cause(s)-of-action(s) (law suit).
Ticked Off Lemur on March 2nd, 2008 at 3:05 pm | Link
This happened to my monitor 18 hours (!!!) after I purchased my first macbook this weekend. I’m in the process of dealing with Apple Customer Service. The people at the apple store this weekend refused to believe I didn’t drop my laptop. I’m both relieved and heartbroken to know that this happened to others.
Mindy on March 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 am | Link
When they replaced the lcd for free they broke the wireless and one of the clips that hold the casing on. I sent an email to sjobs@apple.com and withing 24 hours i had a brand new macbook in my hands with all my old info transferred over.
Holly on March 3rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm | Link
Wow lucky you Holly. When I orignally emailed Steve Jobs about my laptop he refused to believe what I said and wouldn’t do anything for me. Luckily I had taken photos of my screen before the damage got severe so I had proof of the progression and talked to someone who was compassionate enough to authorize a repair. Now my laptop is fixed.
BUT I still would not recommend an Apple. Especially if this is the kind of problems they have. Problems that the company refuses to acknowledge.
Get a Dell and save yourself the hassle.
If I could go back in time, I never would have bought an Apple.
Lindsay on March 4th, 2008 at 9:21 am | Link
Purchased a MacBook last August. November of that year the hard drive ended up going, a semester worth of work gone. Jump ahead to this spring and the hard drive went once again. The people at the apple store in my area were more than glad to fix it, along with alot of shoulder shrugs and “i’m sorry’s”, as no one could give me a concrete answer as to why this was happening.
Long story short, they tried “bribing” me with a 120GB external hard-drive, “just in case” anything like this would happen a THIRD time. Ended up having a 15 minute conversation with the “assistant-manager” of the store in my area, who got more angry than I did, over what, I dont know. They’ll be sending my MacBook out today for a “new one”, I just hope it isn’t refurbished.
I have to say that the customer service with Apple so far has been awful. It’s 99.9% impossible to find an individual to go out of their way to help you. I’ll still be in contact with the regional manager in my area as to why the assistant manager had to act like a five year old.
Joe on June 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm | Link
wow I am contemplating an Apple but got foiled by their moronic credit app. maybe i will buy a Sony. FWIW my current POS Toshiba generated a class action suit. I of course knew nothing about it but i got a 35$ coupon FOR MORE TOSHIBA CRAP. SIGH.
If you guys were really successful then HOORAY, maybe a Macbook is worth it.
there is hope…
GibGrl on September 1st, 2008 at 4:31 pm | Link
SUE THEM!!!
Erin on September 13th, 2008 at 9:14 pm | Link
I agree that Apple has changed drastically since the old days. I bought a lap top wanting to get away from Windows and have nothing but a headache with dealing with the genius bar and insturctors. Then I found out my expensive window based phone would not down load the address book, so I had to buy an iphone which ended up being a hassel since it is not business friendly.
Most of the Apple people are very nice, but the others treat me like crap. I have a weird email address that I got back before the gmail etc came around. Because of this, to set up my email addresses, there is a little studying that must take place. I have been told to get rid of my email address, they did not care that it was on all my business cards, just major agravation.
I recently called to see if someone could set up two address books, one for mobile me and another type of address book for my sales calls. Ex: 850 phone numbers and I only need 200 or so. I was on with mobile me for over an hour, told to call the address book people, the girl was just rude and wanted to give me back to mobile me when I kept explaining this was not a mobile me solution, to writing the apple store to request knowledge on a different address book. I was told that they were not trained for this type of solution to a problem, to call mobile me again. I was on the phone & ichat for over for over 3 hours. Apple thinks like other companies. we don’t have jobs to do to support their expensive gadgets. Anyway, I agree apple can be a real stick in the mud. Truthfully I would not do it again, if I had known all the hassels.
And the problems of the laptops, it does not surprise me. This would have to be esculated to management.NOTE: “Do Not Deal with a Customer Service Rep”, they are very limited with their solutions.
Pamela on December 16th, 2008 at 2:09 pm | Link
HI,
I BOUGHT AN APPLE MAC BOOK MB 403 SERIAL NO WQ8095ZJ0P1 IN DUBAI ( UNITED ARAB EMIRATES )I GAVE GIFT TO MY SISTER IN MUMBAI AS ITS NEARLYA YEAR I TOLD HER TAKE IT TO APPLE AUTORISED SERVICE CENTER IN MUMBAI BUT WHEN I CAME TO KNOW ABOUT AFTER SALES SERVICE EXPERIENCE I WAS TOTALY APPOINTED COZ THE GUYS ARE VERY RUDE N THEY SAY WHEN YOUR MACBOOK DOESNOT HAVE A PROBLEM WHY ARE YOU BRINGING FOR SERVICE WHEN TOLD PLZ CLEAN THE KEYPAD THEY SAY WE DONT DO THIS SEND TO DUBAI FROM WERE YOU BRUGHT IT.IS THIS STANDARD OF APPLE AFTER SALES SERVICE I WAS THINKING TO BUY APPPLE PROTECTION PLAN BUT I AM THINKING NOW.THE ADDRESS OF SERVICE CENTER IS SHOP NO 7 GROUND FLOOR ARUN CHAMBERS TARDEV MUMBAI CENTRAL MUMBAI INDIA CONTACT NO WITH ISD CODE +912228521702 HOPE YOU GUYS ARE SERIOUS ABOUT UR SERVICE AND WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.I WILL TELL YOU WHAT EVEN DELLS AFTER SALES SERVICE IS GOOD THAN THIS COZ I HAD DELL BEFORE THIS.
THANKS.
REGARDS
AMOL HAWARE
EMAIL: amolhaware@yahoo.com
CELL : +971508703249.
AMOL HAWARE on January 25th, 2009 at 8:58 am | Link
Over the past year and a half I have purchased two types of Mac computers, both from Future Shop at Northland Village in Calgary, AB. Only recently was I informed that there is a Future Shop extended warranty and a Mac extended warranty one can purchase.
Having never been informed of the differences when purchasing the computers, I was under the impression that I was purchasing extended warranties through Mac and not the Future Shop. Today I am told by Mac “oh well that’s too bad, it’s not an extended warranty through Mac, it’s the Future Shop”.
Without going into all the details, I would just like to say that if Mac is going to have other retailers selling their products, they should also be ensuring that customers are being given full information on warranty options and what the differences are.
Unfortunately, my experience with Future Shop has been getting a very rushed, young person who doesn’t really want to give me the time of day, let alone proper tech support. Today the young man at Future Shop didn’t even know that there was actually a 1-800 Future Shop tech support number that he could have given me. I had to call upon management to get that information.
If that is the level of training Future Shop provides for their computer guys, I really do not want to be bringing my Mac there for servicing. I think Mac would do better to get things straightened around in these areas of customer long-term care and satisfaction.
Rose on May 5th, 2009 at 11:47 am | Link
As we have read and said in the many threads on many other sites, apple loves to invent cool, lifestyle enhancing things, make them look really shiny, sell them to people who do not fancy themselves to followers of Bill Gates, and then completely and absolutely abandon the customer to the oblivion of untrained Customers service people who are so far away from the US that the time delay on the phone actually makes conversation impossible, and who do nothing but read scripts given to them to address problems straight out of the website FAQs.
In trying to diagnose a problem with my laptop, I spent a combined total of two hours on hold 30 to 40 minutes at a time. An operator at apple actually hung up on me as I literally begged to be connected to someone who could help me. I have several apple products and I have really loved the Macbook, and customer service has been both good and bad over the years, but at this point I am certain that I will NEVER buy another apple product again. If you buy a 500 dollar PC laptop, at least you can always find some shop to work on it. If you own an Apple product and it is in need of service, you can’t phone them, you can’t e-mail them, there is no apple store in my or your town, and you can be certain that the local computer repair shop won’t even know what what a mac is.
So that’s it. I don’t want to kick a man when he’s down, but Steve Jobs, YOU SUCK.
p on June 22nd, 2009 at 6:54 pm | Link
we purchased an apple mb something or other laptop for my daughter for Christmas 2008. Got the Icare insurance for a good sum. Now her charger is broken after 6 months. We needed an appointment to have it replaced. The appointment is 5 days away. We could all be dead by then and what would it matter. Why can’t you walk into an apple store and have your product replaced? Well, now that it’s not a cash deal, they have you wait as long as they please. Great job, Apple. Reminde me get another one of your products real soon.
linda on July 15th, 2009 at 1:02 pm | Link
I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH WRITER, APPLE COULD NOT CARE LESS ABOUT HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO A PERSON TO THINK THEY ARE BUYING TOP OF THE LINE COMPUTER, PLUS EXTRA WARRANTY TO MAKE SURE IT WILL LAST FOR YEARS.
BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE US CANNOT AFFORD THESE THINGS EVERY DAY. IT IS A MAJOR INVESTMENT FOR SOME OF US TO MAKE, AND WHEN THE COMPUTER FAILS,THEN WE ARE LEFT HOLDING THE BAG, IF YOU CHOSE TO GO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU WAY,PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS I WILL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU WITH MY OWN COMPLAINT. SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE ABOUT THESE MULTI MILLION DOLLAR CORP TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE THAT ARE HARD WORKING PEOPLE FOR EVERY PENNY THEY GET.
SUZETTE DAKEN on October 16th, 2009 at 10:48 am | Link
Apple Customer Service is really getting crummy. Like Microsoft, they now outsource their help desk to Asia. The staff there has to put me on hold to phone a US store (that’s what they told me!) to fix the problem. Does this make any sense? I’ll never again recommend apple to anyone. I thought Microsoft was bad, and it is. Now I wonder if apple is any better…
far horizons on October 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 am | Link
If anyone is interested in hearing how my data transfer went…I went to the concierge in the orange shirt exactly as told on the activation card to drop off my old laptop and external hard drive. They said go to any guy in a light blue shirt on the floor. The guy in the light blue shirt that I went to told me to bypass the line and go to any cashier. Before doing this a guy (an employee) in a medium blue shirt at the front of the line told me to get to the back of the line. I told him I was only doing as his colleague said so he announced to all he would make an exception but ‘just this time’. The nice cashier endeavored to process the data transfer but couldn’t do it from her computer. So we went to the floor to setup the onetoone account but ran into technical problems. While she was off speaking to someone for help I got a lecture from a different guy in a medium blue shirt (his name James) that I was not to leave my water bottle on the counter.
Even though it was bone dry empty and the workshop that was being conducted at the adjacent table was led by an instructor that had exactly the same bottle- the only difference was his was full! There were also participants at the table that had water bottles that they were actively drinking from. I wish James had looked around a little before lecturing me. More important, if water bottles are not permitted on tables there should be proper signage and all staff should follow policy. After a 2 hour rigmarole my old hardware finally got into the hands of someone competent. My complaint: why did I have to deal with 5 other clerks before reaching this one?
Chris McGlinchey on November 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 pm | Link
i’ve got an iphone but it’s not letting me download the futures everytime i try to download itune or quicktime pretty much everything it says thank you for downloading now you should ejoy your movie or musics things like that so i guess my question is how do i download this futures? can anyone try to help me please thank you.
ploblem downloading softwares on January 20th, 2010 at 11:13 am | Link