LATEST TERRIBLE NEWS: long story short: they are insisting on the 2020 M1 13". And todays manager was extremely unhelpful and careless.
I went to the store, genius Bar, there was none of the persons I talked to 2 days ago. I could not find the employee, nor the manager.
Another manager came to my desk, told me that the previous manager is sick and not here, but he is already informed about the issue.
We started talking. First, he told me that the issue is still going by the UPS. Hence we need to wait until tomorrow. If tomorrow no news exist, okay it is 100% time to replace the device with a new one, that is 2020 M1 13". And he also was like already informed about my concerns like input ports, and displays.
Here is what have happened!:
After he told me these, I started talking. I expressed that I am feeling like it is a DEJAVU, because I was already told the same things 2 days ago by the previous manager and the employee.
He told me again, the investigation is still going even today. He was expressing confidently like he does not know (!) if my device lost or not. But the previous manager was already guessing it is 99% lost, and he understood all of my concerns 2 days ago. Todays manager was so confident and careless, did not even try to understand and help. He just went through the ordinary process.
Then I told him one more thing:
I had all the ports and 2 display support with my Early 2015 device, but now you are offering me the 2020 M1 one and you are considering these two devices as equal. How do you give me 2 additional monitor support and the HDMI-SD Card ports?
He answered like:
We can give you a HDMI dongle, and I am not sure but we can maybe try to give the SD Card dongle as well. And when you purchase a USB Type C Hub, you can get 2 display support with the help of that hub.
Can you believe this? He wants me to spend money and purchase an expensive TypeC hub for the 2 additional display problem. And also he was not sure to give the SD Card dongle as well, which I will completely ignore and deny.
After 1 hour of talk, I got really angry and upset. I started expressing the same things; he was not looking at the issue from the perspective of my job and education. I told him that I always and everyday need 2 display support and HDMI-SD Card ports. Instead of understanding and finding a better solution, he was so confident and careless to offer me 2020 M1 13", with a free dongle (!), and he advised me to purchase an expensive TypeC Hub for the displays.
The guy who offered these to me was the "manager" of that store. Imagine please. It was "Apple" (!).
He kept also telling me that if I want a 2021 14" MBP, I have to pay the price difference. I can not get it. This is not fair. They took my device from me, and they are now trying to take the productivity and usability features from me as well. He does not care how I was using my Early 2015, he does not care about the functionality, he does not care about the ports and display support.
The only things he were mentioning was like "Your device was around 1100 USD in 2016, but now we are giving you a 1500 USD device for free (for free? look at the below to see what is for free)", and also "2020 M1 device is more faster than yours, so it is enough and fair to have it".
You see that he is just looking at the issue from the perspective of "speed and hardware" and "price".
I got really upset and unsatisfied after all these, when I expressed my feelings to him, he was careless as well.
There is one more thing which made me to lose all of my trust to the Apple employees/managers:
2 days ago when I asked the first manager about any price, like, "how much should I pay when you give me a replacement for free", he told me that "There will be no price, zero, as we have lost your computer".
But today, the new manager told me that: "In either case like 2020 M1 or 2021 14", you have to pay the battery replacement cost as 209 Euro. If you want to upgrade from 2020 to 2021 MBP, it will be 209 Euro + the difference in between two devices (around 800 Euro)".
I was really shocked at that moment! There existed a completely different information. First manager told there will be no cost, zero, todays told there will be at least the battery replacement cost in either case.
Terrible experience!
I made another appointment for tomorrow to see the previous employee and the manager, as they were way more helpful and trying to find a way to make me satisfied. And also in these 2 days, these people give me completely different information.
Now the final options are:
1) To have a chance to get the 2021 14" for free (almost impossible if I consider today)
2) To get the 2020 M1 13" for free (almost impossible as well since he wants me to pay the battery replacement price)
3) To pay the difference only from 2020 to 2021 (almost 800 Euro, but almost 650 Euro with student discount)
4) To pay the difference (either normal or student cost) + the battery replacement cost (209) which todays manager wants