Eventually, I spoke to an AppleCare specialist, Alvin, who had me take the machine in again with a case number (visit #5). This time they replaced the logic board, and told me that the PMU tested within spec. Upon bringing it home, it failed to boot, and since then has been kernel panicking on a regular basis - this time on sleep, on boot, and also during normal operation. I phoned AppleCare again, and after three days and six to eight people, I was finally given to Michael Guerra on Wednesday April 26, and he assured me that this was an issue that needed to be resolved. He sent me an e-mail containing a disk image of a data capture program so that engineering could look at the Kernel Caches to address the wake from sleep, boot and other Kernel Panic issues I was dealing with. I ran the program, e-mailed it back to him and he told me that he would get back to me that day at the earliest, and Thursday morning at the absolute latest.
Thursday came and went, Friday came and went and since I had received no correspondence from anyone at Apple, I decided to try and reach Michael, but got his voicemail. I was a bit concerned that maybe something had gotten lost and that no one was aware of the case, so I called AppleCare again and was given to Doug. After going through all of my case files, he said that engineering had gotten back to Michael and had a couple of questions, which he relayed to me and I answered. He told me that someone would be back in touch with me on Monday.
Monday came and at 12:00 EST, I decided to see what was happening. I initially spoke to Chris who said "whoa" when he looked at my case file, and was eventually given to John, who told me that they still had not heard back from engineering, and the reason I haven't heard from Michael is that he has not been at work (Michael sits next to John, apparently). John said that there was nothing he could do to escalate my case any further, and that there was no one else that I could talk to to resolve my issue. I explained to him at this point that I had about eight to ten hours of cell time, five trips to the Apple Store, 8 total days of repair time, at least 6 hours of my own troubleshooting time invested in this machine, and that it still didn't work. Additionally, I expressed my concern that an "escalated" issue had gone five days and that no one had called me to inform me of progress or where we were. He simply stated that we "had to wait."
Unsatisfied with this answer, I called Apple Customer Relations, who transferred me directly back to AppleCare, where I proceeded to go through the hour-long process of explaining to a new set of folks what was going on. I was eventually handed off to another product specialist, Ryan, who reviewed everything and told me that there was nothing that we could do but wait. At this point, I asked Ryan what I should tell my customers. He said he did not know what to tell me, nor how long it would take engineering to get back to me (in fact he said it could be up to a week). I told Ryan that this was simply unacceptable based on what I had already been through, and that I couldn't hang up the phone with another "we'll get back to you" that never gets followed up on. He asked me what I wanted. I told him I wanted a working machine, or a working replacement.
Ryan put me on hold for about ten minutes and came back to tell me that my unit was "not eligible for replacement." I asked him what else needed to be replaced to warrant a replacement. He told me that he "couldn't make that call," and that I "was told Saturday that engineering had to make the decision" (thanks for the lecture, Ryan). At this point, I asked Ryan if I would speak to his immediate supervisor, to which he responded that he was the highest level of Apple support I could talk to. It was at this point that he also stated that "if this is a business critical machine," that I should have a backup machine, to which I replied "I did order a backup last week, and it arrived at my house dented and scratched from the factory (Case#62378677). I asked him if he could give me a definitive time when I would be contacted and he said "I'm sorry, I cannot promise you when we will get back to you."
Mr. Jobs, this has honestly been a total nightmare for me. I have been trying to tell my clients for four weeks that "my machine is in for service" or "my machine is having trouble," and quite honestly, they don't want to hear it anymore. I can't blame them. I took this machine in four weeks ago, because I knew that the Volvo Ocean Race, a sailing event that I cover here in Annapolis, would be coming to town and I wanted to have a fully operational machine for this once-every-four-year event. In desperation, I purchased a refurbished 15" PowerBook G4, only to have it arrive dented and scratched, requiring my afternoon to box it up, send it back and then phone in the tracking so I could get a replacement sent for the next day.
Everyone I have dealt with at Apple has been courteous, and I have extended them the same candor. What I cannot understand is why I am expected to go through 15 to 20 erase and installs, testing and swapping out RAM and peripheral inputs time after time, to take the machine into my Apple Store five times in four weeks (to be sent home twice - once after the machine kernel panicked in front of a tech), have my machine basically rebuilt (logic board and two new processors) and still be told that I have to continue to suffer with a machine that is virtually useless to me because of all the kernel panicking/ At this point contacting you is a last=ditch effort because I have no more time in my schedule to sit on hold with AppleCare...I've used all the spare time I have, yet I have no resolution.
After everything I have done (and as you've read, I have obliged and jumped through every hoop that's been placed in front of me), I deserve a better answer than "engineering could take up to a week to get back to us/you after I have already waited five days for an initial response to my engineering data submission with no contact from anyone. It's some of the worst (but polite) customer service I have ever dealt with in my life.
I paid good money for my machine, but yet after four weeks I am forced to sit and wait for a call back that I truly fear at this point will never happen. And then what am I left with? I call AppleCare again, and get someone who says "I'll call you back when we hear from engineering." I guess I do not understand why a machine that has a new logic board, two new processors and a PMU that "tested within spec," according to Shane at the Annapolis Store is not "eligible for replacement" when it is till not functioning - and AppleCare has the data logs to confirm it. What else do I have to endure to get the working machine I paid for to make my living?
Many thanks and best regards,
Gary Reich
President, iGary Communications, LLC
*** Admiral Drive ***
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: ***-***-1552
Fax: ***-***-1552
P.S. - I fixed all the typos before sending.
