Yet another plug for Apple
Hello, my name is Laurel, and I’m an Apple addict.
This time around, I sent in the MacBook to AppleCare for some repairs. I’d kind of let them accumulate, mostly because I never want to part with my laptop long enough to get it fixed, but the time had come. You see, I planned to give the laptop to The Inconvenience to use for law school, so it needed some AppleCare love before that could happen.
Off it went with the following:
- cracked bezel around the LCD/palmrests (defective plastic issue)
- iSight feedback noise related to lighting (defect)
- some keys no longer working (pretty sure that was my fault, and by ‘my’ I mean ‘the Girl Child’)
- coffee spilled on the bottom right corner of the LCD, which then wicked up INTO the LCD (definitely my fault)
I was expecting to be charged for the spill damage, at least, and sure enough I received an estimate asking me to authorize a $775 repair. ACK. No way we can afford that right now, especially since the laptop was still functional – just sorta stained.
I called AppleCare and explained to the first guy (a human being speaking first-language American English) I talked to that I needed them to just go ahead and fix the other stuff and skip the LCD. He said they couldn’t do that, but was kind of unclear on why, and said they needed to transfer me to the Tier 2 supervisor. Okey-dokey.
Enter Donald (another human being speaking first-language American English), my Person Of The Year. He explained that they can’t do a partial repair, because they test and re-warranty the computer’s condition when it leaves the facility. I, in turn, explained that I hadn’t known that, and sorry-for-the-sob-story-but… and told him why I was getting it fixed and that we really don’t have money for a $775 repair. Could he make an exception and just acknowledge somehow the LCD was no longer covered? He couldn’t do that, so I then asked if we could reduce the cost somehow.
(This is the part where Don becomes Person Of The Year.)
Don then said, “I will go ahead and make an exception for you, because I appreciate you being honest about spilling coffee on your computer. Most people send them in and pretend they don’t know what happened to them. So, thanks. I’ll authorize a full repair at no cost.”
I am sending Don a Christmas Card.
Oh, I didn’t mention the part where Apple had overnighted a box for me to send the MacBook to them, which was overnighted to them, and then overnighted back to me when the repair was done. I mailed it on Monday. It came back to me before noon today. Three-day turnaround.
When it arrived, I found:
- A new top case
- New bezels around the LCD and palmrests
- A new keyboard
- A new trackpad
- A repaired or replaced iSight (it’s not whining anymore)
- OS X 10.5!
That’s right, FREE OS UPGRADE. I had been dual-booting OS X 10.4 and Ubuntu, and they wiped the drive and installed 10.5. I don’t know if that was some Apple tech’s way of saying OS X > Linux, but whatever – I’m pleased as punch about it. I had gone to Ubuntu because 10.4 was getting so far behind the curve, and I couldn’t afford to upgrade to 10.5, so problem solved.
I. Love. Apple.
We’re also going to have a slight issue with The Inconvenience co-opting this for law school, methinks.
That is AMAZING!
I have been jonesing for one of those expensive ($2400) Apple lappies to run Final Cut Pro ($1200) on. With service like that, well, any concerns about that just dissolved.
The two companies I have dealt with the most that have consistently had EXCELLENT customer service are Apple and USAA. I recommend them both heartily.
If you go Mac, you’ll never go back.
Spring for AppleCare, my friends. Once you buy into the AppleCare mafia they will take care of you. If you don’t you seem to get a lower tier of service.
I had a PowerBook once that had a manufacturing defect, but upon sending it in, I received it back complete with a new case and new hinge (mine was kind of wonky), even though there was a pretty obvious dent from the time I dropped it once.
i love hearing stories like this.
really, i do. y’see, i used to be one of those tier 1 techs. it’s so nice to hear of people treating those techs like they’re human, rather than screaming obscenities for the entirety of the call. and it’s true: treat the tech the way you’d want to be treated, and (at least at Apple), they’ll do what they can for you.
The only time I get mad at first-level support is if they are rude or deliberately obtuse. Otherwise, I do my best to make it very clear whatever issue I have is not their fault.