Apple Care Experiences

greeneggsaregoodgreeneggsaregood
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hello Everyone!



Well my first apple computer has been one plagued with power troubles and i am now awaiting a box from apple so i can send it in for them to trouble shoot again.



I have a 800mhz 12" ibook with 640MB ram and have been through three power adapters and two batteries in less than eight months. I get about an hour of life if i dare take my portable computer with me...which needless to say is depressing and when running the ibook on just battery power the machine is so unresponsive i dont even want to use it. I have changed the power settings and even apple store employees are surprised how slow it is.



My deliema is thus: if they can not resolve this I need to buy apple care within a few months just to continue to use my computer. i dont feel this is right but as of now i get two months and a few weeks for each power adapter as my ibook seems to be killing them. and each new adapter and service call is about $164 US, which i know buying apple care will pay for itself, but my concern is why should i have to buy apple care just to continue to use my notebook. I should get more than a year out of both battery and power adapter yet i have several of each already.



The Apple care reps on the phone are skeptical that the techs will be able to reproduce my power issue and told me not to hold my breath. So what do i do if apple care does not find anything wrong with my ibook? the Rep told me basically i am stuck with the laptop and i was kinda surprised that he said this because i didnt not ask about replacement or refunds or anything pertaining to that. Any advice pertaining to your apple care experiences and what i should expect would be great, since i am not looking forward to a $1600 paper weight.



Thanks and hope your all enjoying the weekend.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    Unfortunetly it seems like the 700/800 iBook generation was a bad one. I have had the mb replaced on mine because of a semi-normal video problem. Then swapped my power adaptor. Now I have two problems: The new mb have major sound problems of numorous types and the battery have problems recharging. AND the new power adaptor is getting awful hot just like old one did before it died.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    I think I'll skip my story this time.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    kennethkenneth Posts: 832member
    I think Apple forgot that "Customers are first".. this kind of thing.



    It is tough to deal with AppleCare nowadays than last year.

    Reasons,

    I had a malfunctioning logic board and melt rubber on the top case of PowerBook G4 Titanium. I first called AppleCare (within one year warranty), they were welcome to fix my problem IF I send in my PowerBook to the repair center. Okay.. I drove to the The Seattle Mac store (AppleStore is not even built during that time), explained my problem and they sent it to Apple. Due to the back order parts, I waited for almost 4 weeks to get my PowerBook back. I sold it anyway during last Summer with AppleCare.



    Now, in the 2003. I called them regarding the old Delta fan inside my new DP 1.25 PowerMac (FW800). They were making excuse and refused to help. I walked down to the AppleStore and hope talking to a Mac Genius could help. No goal. It is a "fraud". I know Apple admitted that their pervious PowerMac G4 (MDD) were using poor power supplies and loud fans, so they came up with an exchange program. Mine is different. Of course, my serial number of the FW800 didn't accept in the exchange program. (expired in June 30) In fact, they were using a "MDD leftover" noisy Delta fan and put it into my supposed to be quieter FW800 tower. That's lame.



    I know some people bought the Verax fans for their PowerMac G4.. but I can't afford some $200 fans.



    Apple support goes south these days. Actually, I saw one thread on "noisy fan" in the Apple discussion board was killed. One guy was even on their blacklist.



    Apple might get a good PR on iPod, iTMS, or G5.. but their support is a nightmare.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    ryukyuryukyu Posts: 450member
    Well, I have to ad some positive notes for Applecare.

    A few months ago, my dual 1ghz Quicksilver refused to boot into OSX, but would boot into OS9.

    Turns out one of the processors fried itself.

    Anyway, I placed a call to Apple Tech Support, after spending about twenty minutes on the phone, going through some diagnostics, they set up an authorization for me to take to my local authorized Apple Repair Center.

    Within two days of taking it in, I had my Mac back with a new logic board and new processors. Been running fine since.

    So my experience with their support was pretty good. I can't say the same for some of the PC companies that I have dealt with at work.

    I think Applecare is even more essential for laptops.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    ijerryijerry Posts: 615member
    I had a brown out condition at my house, and it killed the Harddrive in my iMac. I called Applecare, and they tried all the firmware they could, until they finally concluded that it could only be a hardware issue. They gave me an authorization code. The next day there was a repair man at me door fixing my iMac, he not only put in a new HD, but also a new logic board. I had my Mac back in a day, that was some great service. So that is my experience, and I am really thankful for how well I was taken care of.
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