I lost my screw

[joegomolski]

I was handling my MBA last night. I turned it over to look at the bottom, and there's a screw missing.

Got out my screwdriver and check the other screws, 3 more were quite loose.

Just a caution t check your own MBA, and see what yours is like.

So I called my local Apple Store, we have no screws.

Called AppleCare, we don't have any screws to send out, we can't do that. But we can set you up with a service ticket.

I have to say that it is absurd to send my MBA in for repair, when all I need is a screw.

Anyone have an idea where I can get a screw?

 

[clayj]

My advice is to press your local Apple Store to order some of these in... surely you're not the only person who's ever going to need one. Remind them of the customer sat hit, not to mention the expense that they would incur, if you are forced to send your MBA to have a screw replaced.

 

[duffyanneal]

I say bring your trusty screwdriver to the nearest Apple Store or Best Buy.

...... or just have the AS order you a screw.

 

[sparkstack]

I was handling my MBA last night. I turned it over to look at the bottom, and there's a screw missing.

Same thing happened to me. See here

Call Apple care again and explain it properly. They will ship you a new machine and ask you to return yours via a prepaid shipping label.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

Whoa! A new machine for missing some screws? If it were mine, I'd go to my ace hardware and grab one that fit, grinding it down if need be. Unless Apple uses some really rare screws...?

But yeah, I'd put pressure on an Apple store or Apple Care to send you some screws. It'd be less costly for them and you in the long run I would think.

EDIT: read Spark's post. If the hole isnt threaded, you may have a different issue. Its not that hard to thread them, but I'd try and go the Apple way.

 

[mashinhead]

your wife is gonna be pissed.

 

[sparkstack]

EDIT: read Spark's post. If the hole isnt threaded, you may have a different issue. Its not that hard to thread them, but I'd try and go the Apple way.

What? I'm pretty forgiving regarding cosmetic issues, but come on, be real. You seriously suggesting that I should have gone down to my local Ace Hardware, bought a tap and then threaded the hole myself? On a $1800 laptop that was less than two weeks old? Don't be silly.

I would have been happy for Apple to repair it, but they wanted to send me a new one. I didn't ask for a new one outright when i called, i just explained the problem and emailed the pictures to them and they offered the exchange.

The Applecare assistant was concerned that there may have been some other screw holes on the machine that had the same problem, hence why they wanted to swap it out.

Great service.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

Didnt sound too great to begin with. As a customer,you should always work your way up the tiers of service, etc, which I see you ended up doing.

Like I said previously, "go the Apple way" as threading a screw probably isnt the best option. But parting for days for a screw...bleh gotta remind myself of the threads.

 

[/"\/oo\/"\]

My advice is to press your local Apple Store to order some of these in... surely you're not the only person who's ever going to need one. Remind them of the customer sat hit, not to mention the expense that they would incur, if you are forced to send your MBA to have a screw replaced.

Or you could make a genius bar appointment at your local store, explain the situation and ask nicely for them to order screws for you...rather than walking in and demanding a screw OR ELSE, which is both the wrong way to start things and completely asinine.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

I get the feeling that he called and asked politely already, looking at the OP.

 

[iFizz]

Anyone have an idea where I can get a screw?

Try the personal ads.

Seriously though, as stated before, AppleCare. Not convenient, but it is probably the best way to go.

 

[krye]

I say bring your trusty screwdriver to the nearest Apple Store or Best Buy.

...... or just have the AS order you a screw.

NO DOUBT!!! If they're gonna be total jerks about it, I'd walk in there and just freakin' take one out of a floor model. F 'em.

 

[joegomolski]

QUOTE=sparkstack;5037670]And when I picked it up off thedesk today I found a screw
Looks like the hole it was in hasn't been threaded."

After I read your post I looked at the empty hole, where the screw should have been, and you are correct, the hole was not threaded.

Geez.

What about QC?

This will be my second replacement. The original MBA was replaced because, the original, first production run, had a heating problem, and mine also had a battery problem.

So Friday I'm off to the Apple Store, 60 miles one way, about 3 hours round trip.

But that's a lot better than waiting 3-5 days for AppleCare, and the aggregation of talking to people at AppleCare who will deny there's a problem, and so do the multiple phone call dance.

This time I will call Apple Corporate Relations, and tell them how happy I am.

 

[clayj]

Make sure you unbox the new MBA in the store, so you can ensure there are no issues with it. (I know this may seem obvious.)

 

[joegomolski]

I lost my screw, postscript.

When to the Apple Store on Friday. They were adamant. No exchange for an MBA, for a lost screw.

This is their argument. "We will not exchange an MBA for something so minor as a screw dropping out. It wouldn't be profitable."

By the way the reason my screw dropped out is there is a bracket inside the case which cracked. That's way there are no treads inside the screw hole.
All of the 10 screws on the bottom of the MBA screw into this bracket.

My MBA has received gentle care, it's never been even bumped let alone dropped from any height.

I'm not too happy about Apple's policy. It seems to me that if the bracket inside the case is so delicate, as to break without an obvious indication, other than a missing screw. Then how often will my MBA be making a trip to an Apple Certified Repair Center?

I think their policy with the iPhone is much saner. Apple sends you a temporary replacement, then you send in your iPhone, when yours returns, you send the loaner back to Apple.

Apple says that in the USA, I'm the only 1 to experience this problem.
As you can see in an above post, I'm not the only one.

I would really like to hear if anyone else has had this problem.

 

[sparkstack]

there is a bracket inside the case which cracked. That's way there are no treads inside the screw hole.

Rubbish. The posts that the screw is supposed to thread into are part of the top shell molding. There is no bracket. If you must insist on dealing with the store rather than making a call to AppleCare, ask them to take the bottom off. You will see there is no bracket. Even if there was a bracket, where did the store employee summise the bracket had got to?

At this point I would just call AppleCare and tell them what the store told you.