[memory-minus]

Hello all...

I am a long time Apple devotee and this is the first time I have ever had trouble with repair service.

I took my PowerBook in to my local Apple store earlier today to have the screen replaced due to white spot problem. They ordered the new screen last week in order to minimize downtime. So I go in to pick it up tonight... they hand it over and I open it up to look it over.

Horror ensued.

The screen was "bouncing" from front to back as I adjusted the position, as in, the hinge was all screwed up. Certainly not the smooth hinge action I was used to. When I let go of the screen when adjusting it, it bounced. It also now makes a creaking sound.

Not only that, but the screen bezel was separating from the LCD panel!

To make matters worse, I noticed the front bezel near the latch button was now warped, pulling away from the case and no longer flush with the palm rest!

Now, I take VERY good care of my computers and this PowerBook was no exception. The "genius" who I want to name so badly because I have had run ins with his attitude in the past (just not to this magnitude) told me the hinge "bouncing" I was experiencing was "within spec"!!!!

He admitted the LCD panel should not be separating from the bezel (gee thanks) and ordered a NEW screen that will arrive "soon" and he will replace it AGAIN. Never mind the current screen feels like it could just fall off or crack at any moment and is not flush with the bottom half of the computer.

When I brought up the front bezel warping, he claimed this too was "within spec" and that "anytime you open a PowerBook, it will never go back to being flush".

I was livid. I told him that was unacceptable. He started into "well, we replaced the screen for you" as if he were doing me a favor. I told him not to use that as leverage against me, that the white spot problem is a well-known, documented issue for which Apple has an organized repair program for. This is ridiculous! I told him I want the bezel fixed when the new screen is installed. I just can't believe the balls this guy had to tell me all these problems were "within spec" when my PowerBook was perfect (save white spots) when I brought it in. He said he'll "see what he can do when I bring the PB back in".

Just ranting because I foresee much bitching in the near future in order to get my PowerBook back to the way it was when I brought it in for repair. It's like going to get your oil changed and being told that brand new dent they put in the side of your car is "within spec"! Argh!

[wowok1234]

Those things definitely should not happen. If it comes back again in the same condition it's time to either email Steve-O or have a friendly chat with Apple Customer Relations.

Which Apple Store was this? Did they do the repair in-house? I thought that Apple Retail Stores can't do in-house repairs of portables, but I could be wrong.

[STAT]

Yes, this story is infuriating. I'll be looking forward to hearing what happens of it next.

Oh, and I too thought that they always sent off portables to be repaired.

[memory-minus]

That is what is so weird... I too thought they sent portables off for repair like they did when I brought my Rev A 17" PowerBook in, but I was told they are doing this particular repair (don't know about others) in-house. In theory it is very convenient for those of us who use our portables on a daily basis and need minimal downtime, but so far it has not been worth the overwhelming hassle of a shoddy repair job.

This happened at the Southpoint, Durham, NC store.

If it is not 100% fixed when the new screen comes in, I will start with the store manager and work my way up the line. I have contact information for him and his boss, the regional manager. I have *never* had to email Steve with a problem but I am already getting the feeling I should go ahead and start drafting that one.

[Cowwie]

I've had trouble getting service at the Durham store. My hard drive is basically died tonight (I'm running OS X off my iPod right now, actually). I took it into the store about two weeks ago to get some kind of fix. I don't know who repaired it but they ended up just writing zeroes to the hard drive and that stopped the odd noise coming from the machine for about three days. Do you know of any "geniuses" that are helpful at the Southpoint store? I'm heading there tomorrow regardless, so...

[Simon]

You guys should talk to the manager of this Southpoint, Durham, NC store about the lousy customer service you're getting. If he doesn't cooperate tell him that you will contact Apple regarding the problem. Then call up the mothership and let sh!t hit the fan. I can't imagine Steve and Co. want their nice and stylish stores to get such a bad rep...

[memory-minus]

Well my new, new screen came in yesterday so I dropped the PowerBook off this morning. When I entered the store I immediately asked for the general manager and calmly (no matter how upset I might get on this forum or thinking about it at home, I never take it out on actual people) explained what I described in my original post, and told him why I found this to be unacceptable. He said they would work on the PowerBook today and try to get everything fixed. I'll post the results later on tonight...

To answer your question Cowwie the only genius that I'd say I have an excellent track record with left the store some time ago. The general manager is a very laid back guy who is easy to talk with, so I'd suggest bringing it up with him.

[Cowwie]

Wow, I wish I knew the guy that I was working with, maybe it's on my printout... but I took my PB in, showed the guy that I had the thing running off my damn iPod and I was in two weeks prior, and he told me after about 10 minutes at looking at my laptop that he would order me a new hard drive (since they didn't have any in stock) and it'd be ready in a day. Sure enough, I picked up my PowerBook about 12 hours later, no problems or complaints. It seems going in during the lunch period is a good way to get stuff done with the people I have dealt with, although they seemed understaffed today with two people out on the floor.

[Simon]

Originally posted by Cowwie:
Wow, I wish I knew the guy that I was working with, maybe it's on my printout... but I took my PB in, showed the guy that I had the thing running off my damn iPod and I was in two weeks prior, and he told me after about 10 minutes at looking at my laptop that he would order me a new hard drive (since they didn't have any in stock) and it'd be ready in a day. Sure enough, I picked up my PowerBook about 12 hours later, no problems or complaints. It seems going in during the lunch period is a good way to get stuff done with the people I have dealt with, although they seemed understaffed today with two people out on the floor.

12 hours? Twelve? Hot damn.

You guys with an AppleStore in the US are so lucky. In Europe if my dealer says he has to order a replacement disk from Apple it takes about a week for the damn part to arrive.

[LORL]

Originally posted by memory-minus:
Well my new, new screen came in yesterday so I dropped the PowerBook off this morning. When I entered the store I immediately asked for the general manager and calmly (no matter how upset I might get on this forum or thinking about it at home, I never take it out on actual people) explained what I described in my original post, and told him why I found this to be unacceptable. He said they would work on the PowerBook today and try to get everything fixed. I'll post the results later on tonight...

To answer your question Cowwie the only genius that I'd say I have an excellent track record with left the store some time ago. The general manager is a very laid back guy who is easy to talk with, so I'd suggest bringing it up with him.

Running your computer off your iPod is a horrible idea. Those drives aren't designed to do that. Just a heads up so you don't kill your 'Pod.

[LORL]

What is all this nonsense about e-mailing Steve Jobs about Applecare repair experience?

[SAKOILSKY]

AppleCare = AppleCareLess.

Having been a long term mac devotee, and never having had problems before - well, the HD died on my old G3 iMac (but such things can happen) - until now; and this, I've discovered, alot of Mac users are underwhelmed to discover, is with Apple's after sales repair team - which is truly the worst I've ever encountered.
Basically I sent my Powerbook 15" 1GHz off to have the LCD replaced as it had a serious case of the dreaded 'white spots', (more like great big white smears. I explained I needed it, (I mean you always need it - thank god I bought a good s/h eMac for the kids or I'd be in serious trouble!) for an important trip to Austria. They promised me a 10 day max turnaround. I explained I'd send it later, if they thought it would take longer. They told me it should def. not take longer than 10 days. (Have you no5ticed how they love the condtional, 'should', they seem to use it in every sentence). I 'should' have known the folly of trusting them.
I sent the PB off on the 14th Oct. On the 22nd Oct i was told that it had been fixed on the 18th but hadn't been despatched from the Repair Centre for some reason. 'She' spoke with repairs, and told me they would have it despatched any day. I waited, and of course it never came. And then it all became truly kafkaesque. After days & hours and hours spent on the phone, (their phone tree is absurd), finally, on the 27th I spoke with the head of the 'escalation team'. He actually sounded concerned, and told me that it was a shame it was too late (in the day) to ring the repair centre, as he would then be able to clear this up, (i.e. my now perhaps lost PB, not that anyone would admit to this), within "2-4 minutes". He promised to ring me in the morning with an update, and with the issue resolved. Of course, like al the other promises I'd had of apple tech/customer relations calling me back, it never happened. I finally got hold of him late afternoon. He then told me, (contrary to what I had been cont. told, ref. it had been fixed on the 18th Oct); that it had in fact only been fixed on the 26th, and that the delay had been down to waiting for parts. He then assured me that it 'should' (that word again), be despatched by the weekend. When I complained about their terrible service, etc., and how many hours I'd psent on the phone - he said, Apple had a policy of no compensation, and that it was "my choice" to ring them. 'Choice'! A funny word for it. Ridiculously arrogant.

By Tues 2nd Nov, it still hadn't arrived and so I rang again. Another ten minutes on hold - terrible music as ever - and then put through to customer relations, The first time the phone was cut off, after 10 minutes; the 2nd time I was put through, the phone cut off after 15 minutes, 'The other person has cleared'! So I rang again, and this time told the tech rep., (you have to go through this layer first, even if you know they can't do anything for you - when, as with my case, it is in 'escalation'!) to connect me while I was still on line with him, in case I was cut off again. (By now I was getting a little paranoid). He managed to get through to customer relations after putting me on hold once more for around 15 mins. And then, out of the blue, I was informed, that no, the computer hadn't been fixed on the 26th!, but had in fact been lost/misplaced. And that they had ordered a replacement!
I was then told that this would take between 7-10 days. (Why do they say this for everything? esp. seeing as it never seems to be true).
Well, I thought, as least it would be an upgrade, as they were giving me the 1.33 GHz model.

Of course, it never arrived anywhere near the 7-10 day mark, In fact I am still waiting. It's now 35 days since I sent the PB to them for repairs with their 10 day return promise!
On Monday 15 Nov I was told that it had been sent from Taiwan to Luxemburg TNT (they couldn't tell me when it had been sent), and that only when it arrived there and had been processed, would I be able to get a consigment no. off TNT in order to track it, etc. For some reason Apple can't track it from Taiwan to Luxemburg to tell me if its definitely on route etc. Obv., it's on an old chinese junk steamer guided only by the stars, in the middle of the ocean somewhere.
They gave me a reference number on Monday, but it's no good for TNT as it's not a TNT no, as the idiot apple tech rep first told me it was. He told me it should be there by Thursday, (I tried today, it's not).
I rang apple again yesterday for an update - nothing new, except a new apple tech guy who admitted how bad it was, and told me the customer relations had 'fobbed him off', telling him to tell me that it 'should' be at Luxemburg, and get a consignment number by Friday.
I live in hope.
Apple after sales & repairs is trul the pits in my experience - the worst I've evr experienced.
AppleCare! They are certainly keen on continually sending you emails to extend your warranty - at �269 for a PB & with such terrible serivce, no thanks.

I spoke to a friend who runs a magazine & web journal dedicated to all things digital (esp. in the art/culture/theory areas). They used to run entirely on Macs (they used to preach Mac abck then) when they started in the early 90's. Now they wouldn't dare, they told me. Great machines/software, but the after sales/repairs end of Apple is just too bad in their estimation, and far too risky to run an entire business on - so they use both now, with PCs predominating.

What are Apple playing at?
It's just such bad business, it's almost mind boggling!
How can they treat mac users so badly - I mean, we've carried the torch for over a decade, telling people how great Macs are etc etc.
This is my first experience of AppleCare. And I hope it will be my last.
My next mac will definitely not be bought from Apple direct, or from any store that relies on them entirely for repairs/replacements. There are resellers that handle this themselves, and that's exactly where I'll be heading.
Argggghhhhhh!
Meanwhile I live in hope, waiting, waiting, for my replacement powerbook...
I've already had to cancel an important trip to Austria - I'm meant to be doing a gig/performance at a laptop event on the 24th (will prob. have to cancel this as well, etc etc).

[STAT]

Wow. That story is truly sobering.

[dwood]

as someone who has replaced the screens before.....

the hinge and the lcd all part of the assembly you replace, if there was some looseness in the hinge, it came out of the parts box that way.

as far as the front casing by the latch... it's a terrible design, and a pita to get latched back. also the tech wasn't lying when he said once you take them apart you can't get it back flush, it really is next to impossible to do.