[plamparello]

Sorry for the long text but here is the story.

I purchased a new black Macbook back in august of 2006. Since then I bought a power cord and new battery after they both broke. I tried purchasing apple care but the one year time frame expired a week before and they told me I couldn't get it despite the fact they originally sold the apple care to me and later sent me a letter telling me it was too late (it took me a while to get my money refunded). Anyway, the computer was working fine until I brought it in for a top case replacement. The Apple Store was kind enough to replace the top case for free despite the computer not being covered by apple care. This was because the top case was a common defect they knew about.

While the top case was being replaced, they ran a diagnostic on the hard drive telling me it was failing and, without my authorization they replaced it for free at the same time. I was very happy at the time they were doing all these "favors" but then the real problems began.

After they replaced the hard drive, the computer started acting funny/having abnormal delays on startup and shutdown. I brought it in and they couldn't find anything wrong so I got the computer back. On another occasion, the issue manifested and they replaced the hard drive again. There were still problems after the hard drive and they reinstalled the OS on two other occasions. Now they have the computer in again (I believe a 6th time) and the apple genus told me if they are unable to fix it by changing the cables connecting the hard drive to the logic board to "talk to a manager to see what they can do." The genius appeared optimistic that something would happen but I couldn't read him to recognize what exactly.

My issue here is before I go in, I am looking to learn about other stories and find out what type of replacements people get. I was made no promises but I have read stories about getting new Macbooks. I would be happy with a refurbished one at this point (being out of a laptop for 4 weeks) but am trying to see what kind of bargaining power I have in the negotiation process. Even a credit towards something will be better than this now broken door stop they created.

Any stories about people getting laptop replacements after repeated problems out of apple care would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[byeehaaw]

so heres the story on how i got my sr mbp replaced to a unibody mbp shortly after the new unibody mbp came out.

so i bought my mbp for college in 2007. I was having problems with it in november. My isight stopped working and i went to the store to get it fixed. They sent it back to the warehouse and got it "fixed". I take it back home only to find the same problem. Altogether my laptop was out for 3 weeks when they finally replaced my logic board. Everything was fine til the summer. my hd was really flaky. i took it to the store, nothing they could do so i just reformatted it and everything was fine. This past october my cd rom drive was glitchy. it could not read or write. I was on teh phone with tech support and they helped me reset my pram. after that it was fine, but i had read stories and i kinda wanted a new mbp. So i kept complaining to my guy on the phone. he was really nice i said i paid so much money for this and it keeps bugging out. I'm in school and not located near any applestore. i told him i heard of people getting replacements. I have had multiple problems is there anything you can do with me. After a bunch of pushing he put me on the phone with customer relations. There i complained again nicely of course, and the lady said she couldnt guarantee me anything. So she put me on hold and looked up my mac history of repairs and such. After 10 minutes of waiting she said she was able to give me a replacement, but she didnt know which model i would be getting (whether it was a SR or a unibody mbp). what she did tell me were the specs of my system. They were def. an upgrade of mine, so when it came in the mail i had myself a fresh unibody mbp. I had to send back my old one of course, but right now im loving my unibody mbp. that is why you buy applecare