[gatormac]

I am not really sure what to do about this. Basically, I took my Powerbook into a Apple recommended service provider as the latch on my Powerbook was not working properly. While I was there, I asked him to check the dead pixels on the screen. There are only about 4 or 5 of them and I wanted to know if there was anything that he could do to fix them.

He told me that fixing the latch on the LCD panel was a real pain in the neck and that if he inflated the number of dead pixels, he could just order the entire LCD panel (i.e. screen and all) with no problem.
I told him I was not that comfortable with doing this but he said he would call Apple and find out.

I called him back today and asked if he had ordered the latch assembly and told him I had found out that I did not have enough dead pixels to get the panel replaced. He was really upset about this and told me..."look I ordered the whole panel....there is no need for you to call Apple, just keep quiet about it". I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I know some of you may say "what's wrong with you - you're getting a new panel"....but this is completely dishonest on his part - that he did go ahead and inflate the pixel count.

Doesn't he have to send the old panel into Apple at some point ?
Is he not the one responsible for verifying the number of dead pixels ?

Any suggestions on what I should do at this point ? I just don't like the way this is playing out.

Rebecca

[f1000]

Did the guy put his hand on yours and tell you that you're very beautiful?

[mduell]

4 or 5 dead pixels may not meet Apple's standards for defective, but it certainly meets mine.
You're getting two defective parts replaced. Be happy.

[John123]

You're a better person than I am, Rebecca.

But, since you're trying to do the right thing, I would say that the easiest thing to do is call him up and explain that you want the latch and only the latch repaired...and that if he is interested in doing that work, he can, or you can find someone else to do it. He can send the part back to the depot before trying to put it in yours, so it shouldn't be a big deal. I think if you calmly but firmly tell him it's just not acceptable, and that you're unwilling to be party to fraud, he'll back off. He doesn't want to lose his business with Apple for sure over one silly panel replacement.

You're the kind of gal my mama always told me I should look for to marry...it's too bad more people don't have your sense of ethics!

[f1000]

Originally Posted by John123

But, since you're trying to do the right thing, I would say that the easiest thing to do is call him up and explain that you want the latch and only the latch repaired...and that if he is interested in doing that work, he can, or you can find someone else to do it. He can send the part back to the depot before trying to put it in yours, so it shouldn't be a big deal. I think if you calmly but firmly tell him it's just not acceptable, and that you're unwilling to be party to fraud, he'll back off. He doesn't want to lose his business with Apple for sure over one silly panel replacement.

Maybe it isn't that simple. I don't know how the repair business works, but if he's doing this work under warranty, then isn't he being reimbursed for labor by Apple? If that's so, then the time it takes for him to disassemble and replace the latch might be greater than the cost of simply replacing the entire lid assembly. Any certified repairperson want to chime in? Detrius?

[olePigeon]

Here's nice answer:

It's a gray area, especially when it comes to LCDs and dead pixels. Very few companies even have a policy for replacing LCDs, and most of them are something like "7 dead pixels or more." I think Sony has one of the better policies at like 3 pixels.

Personally, I think they should replace it. But the companies claim it's flaw in the design process, not in the manufacturing. Either way, it's a flaw and the consumer gets jipped.

I think the technician is being very nice and morally conscience. While Apple's official policy is 7 dead pixels or more, it's not gonna hurt Apple in any way if they replace the LCD. It's like selling you a car with no breaks and telling you it's a design flaw and not a manufacturing flaw.

Well, maybe not that bad, but you get the anology.

I don't see anything wrong with taking the fixed LCD as long as Apple gets back the other one. If it meets Apple's quality check, what's the harm? They'll put it in another product or returned as a service part.

What if you didn't like the color of the socks you bought? They're perfectly good socks. Take back the red socks, get the blue socks. The company will sell red socks anyway.

[romeosc]

Apple doesn't eat the bad screen... they send it back in nbulk to their vendor who recertifies it. The tech realized that some screens end up with more or less stuck pixels
after several thousand miles of shipping!