MacBook Air repair

[Maxapple]

Hey everyone,

My MacBook Air stopped working and I took it in to the apple store for repairs. they said it is the hard drive.
Does any one know how much a repair of this kind (ie. putting in a new hard drive) should cost?

they charge 80$ for diagnostic , 90$ for a hard drive + labor .

is this a reasonable price? or should I have it fixed somewhere else.

Thanks in advance for all the help

 

[lucifiel]

Sounds like you're out of warranty. If that's the case, why not DIY? There are plenty of guides out there on the net.

If you DIY, then you won't have to pay the labour costs, and just the cost of the HDD?

 

[sevimli]

I just came from genius bar for the same problem, dead HDD (80gb PATA drive).

Total cost billed to me was $225.00.

$139.00 HDD
$86.00 Labor

And they were not nice to me at all, I read all those nice replacement stories at genius bar, but I was so unlucky.

 

[Scottsdale]

I just came from genius bar for the same problem, dead HDD (80gb PATA drive).

Total cost billed to me was $225.00.

$139.00 HDD
$86.00 Labor

And they were not nice to me at all, I read all those nice replacement stories at genius bar, but I was so unlucky.

That's too bad. For that price, you could have nearly bought a 64 GB Runcore SSD for it.

I agree with you. The vast majority of these "Geniuses" are complete jerks. A bunch of arrogant punks given a title to make them feel superior to the common Apple fan. I find their attitudes disgusting and the Apple way seriously lacking when it comes to the "Geniuses and Genius Bar." I would say 70% of my experiences have been a young punk who acted like a conceited jerk and who actually know less than the average forum member. Something about their title and power leads to a spirit unfit for "assisting" customers in any way. The worst thing is, they will be complete punks until a girl takes in the same computer with same problems, and the girls walk out with brand new replacement computers and being treated like queens. What a worthless system!

 

[sevimli]

That's too bad. For that price, you could have nearly bought a 64 GB Runcore SSD for it.

I agree with you. The vast majority of these "Geniuses" are complete jerks. A bunch of arrogant punks given a title to make them feel superior to the common Apple fan. I find their attitudes disgusting and the Apple way seriously lacking when it comes to the "Geniuses and Genius Bar." I would say 70% of my experiences have been a young punk who acted like a conceited jerk and who actually know less than the average forum member. Something about their title and power leads to a spirit unfit for "assisting" customers in any way. The worst thing is, they will be complete punks until a girl takes in the same computer with same problems, and the girls walk out with brand new replacement computers and being treated like queens. What a worthless system!

I apologize, forgot to add that I declined the service!

I've placed an order for 64gb SSD for same price.

BTW: I had too many meetings today, I asked my wife to go there... All she remember is how hard the genius was trying to pull of a date and the bill after several polite "no"s!

 

[Spacekatgal]

I've never gotten anything but great service at the genius bar. They gave me a new iPhone a week ago because mine had cracks in it, and they were nice enough to replace my iMac 27 when it had a yellow screen.

I doubt many of you have had this experience, but sexism definitely exists in the geek world - but it's sometimes worse because they think they're too intelligent to fall prey to it. As a result, I have had the experience frequently of being talked down to for being a girl. This generally doesn't happen at the Apple Store, though it did when buying my Macbook i7. At one point my husband was like, "She's the one buying it. Why not talk to her instead of me?" The dude was 40 - so, yeah big surprise there.

But yeah, I don't think it's bad customer service at all. I <3 the genius bar!

I wouldn't put the Runcore in it if you can't even get customer service on it. (See another thread here.) I'd just eat the $200. But, if you do go the DIY route, there are replacement drives on eBay. It's not hard at all to do it yourself.

 

[gwsat]

I think that how folks are treated at the Genius Bar is more a function of the management at that Apple Store than anything else. All of the help at the OKC Apple Store have been uniformly helpful and courteous to me. I suspect that is because they know if they don't treat the store's customers respectfully, the manager will come down on them like a ton of bricks. Nothing I know of is more likely to insure courteous treatment of customers than knowing that mistreating a customer could get you fired. If the managers act courteously and respectfully and make sure that everyone working for them understands that such conduct is a requirement of the job, sure enough, the helpers will act just as courteously as the bosses do. Unfortunately, if the supervisors act like twerps, just the opposite result is sure to follow.

 

[Synchromesh]

You can always try to locate a slightly used (or new) Samsung SSD that came with these Air originally. If you get a used one don't forget to TRIM it using some Linux tools like wiper.sh before install OS X.

 

[Scottsdale]

I've never gotten anything but great service at the genius bar. They gave me a new iPhone a week ago because mine had cracks in it, and they were nice enough to replace my iMac 27 when it had a yellow screen.

I doubt many of you have had this experience, but sexism definitely exists in the geek world - but it's sometimes worse because they think they're too intelligent to fall prey to it. As a result, I have had the experience frequently of being talked down to for being a girl. This generally doesn't happen at the Apple Store, though it did when buying my Macbook i7. At one point my husband was like, "She's the one buying it. Why not talk to her instead of me?" The dude was 40 - so, yeah big surprise there.

But yeah, I don't think it's bad customer service at all. I <3 the genius bar!

I wouldn't put the Runcore in it if you can't even get customer service on it. (See another thread here.) I'd just eat the $200. But, if you do go the DIY route, there are replacement drives on eBay. It's not hard at all to do it yourself.

I have sent my wife in after getting crappy service. Once she walked out with a brand new MacBook Pro and the other time a brand new iPhone in the box. The MBP they wouldn't even fix it for me let alone give me a new one. The iPhone was less than a week old, and they wanted to swap it with a "refurbished" model without the box. It seemed obvious the refurb would have been new, but I wanted a real box with it since it was new (within a week). That "Genius" was a complete jerk. Funny thing is that time my wife saw the same guy, and he was "an angel" to her.

These Geniuses have real problems when dealing with someone who questions anything. I ask why this or why that, and they're so damned conceited and arrogant it's ridiculous. When you call their bluff, they clam up and just act worse. They refuse to ever admit when they're wrong or when they're making crap up.

I believe wholeheartedly that you have never had problems... but it's not that easy for a guy to walk in there and deal with those punks. Guys need to go in and act like they don't know anything and act like they're idiots... because if they let out that they know as much OR GOD FORBID MORE THAN the Genius the party is over for the customer.

I would recommend every guy to send his wife, girlfriend, or mother in his place for all AppleCare/Genius appointments.

 

[Spacekatgal]

I have sent my wife in after getting crappy service. Once she walked out with a brand new MacBook Pro and the other time a brand new iPhone in the box. The MBP they wouldn't even fix it for me let alone give me a new one. The iPhone was less than a week old, and they wanted to swap it with a "refurbished" model without the box. It seemed obvious the refurb would have been new, but I wanted a real box with it since it was new (within a week). That "Genius" was a complete jerk. Funny thing is that time my wife saw the same guy, and he was "an angel" to her.

These Geniuses have real problems when dealing with someone who questions anything. I ask why this or why that, and they're so damned conceited and arrogant it's ridiculous. When you call their bluff, they clam up and just act worse. They refuse to ever admit when they're wrong or when they're making crap up.

I believe wholeheartedly that you have never had problems... but it's not that easy for a guy to walk in there and deal with those punks. Guys need to go in and act like they don't know anything and act like they're idiots... because if they let out that they know as much OR GOD FORBID MORE THAN the Genius the party is over for the customer.

I would recommend every guy to send his wife, girlfriend, or mother in his place for all AppleCare/Genius appointments.

Is it possible that the problem is not with the genius, but with how you chose to handle the situation? I mean, women are used to being is positions of unequal power. I think we're socialized from an early age that being very polite is often the best way to get our way. I think a softer approach often helps when you are dealing with people you need help from.

If you think people are "arrogant" and "punks" they might not want to help you.

It's like today at the iPhone 4.0 launch. AT&T had an activation error, and I needed a genius's help to fix it. There were literally 1000 other people in line, but I was very polite and they took 40 minutes to help me.

 

[still in school]

Is it possible that the problem is not with the genius, but with how you chose to handle the situation? I mean, women are used to being is positions of unequal power. I think we're socialized from an early age that being very polite is often the best way to get our way. I think a softer approach often helps when you are dealing with people you need help from.

If you think people are "arrogant" and "punks" they might not want to help you.

It's like today at the iPhone 4.0 launch. AT&T had an activation error, and I needed a genius's help to fix it. There were literally 1000 other people in line, but I was very polite and they took 40 minutes to help me.

The only reason they're helping you so swell is because you're a female. It's the closest those genius' will ever get to a girl. I'm always polite everywhere I go, even at fast food drive throughs. Hell, a clerk at Fry's even gave me their employee discount! But it never fails, I always get shotty service from the Genius bar. My air rev a. recently broke again and I sent my gf in there. Guess what? She walked right out with a Rev C. BNIB. But I will agree, service varies greatly from store to store.

 

[Spacekatgal]

The only reason they're helping you so swell is because you're a female. It's the closest those genius' will ever get to a girl. I'm always polite everywhere I go, even at fast food drive throughs. Hell, a clerk at Fry's even gave me their employee discount! But it never fails, I always get shotty service from the Genius bar. My air rev a. recently broke again and I sent my gf in there. Guess what? She walked right out with a Rev C. BNIB. But I will agree, service varies greatly from store to store.

Okay, fair enough. I can't really know what it's like to walk a mile in your shoes. Perspectives differ. My husband is always incredulous that I've never gotten a ticket either.

Bri

 

[still in school]

Okay, fair enough. I can't really know what it's like to walk a mile in your shoes. Perspectives differ. My husband is always incredulous that I've never gotten a ticket either.

Bri

LOL. And I also agree with him. I get a speeding ticket every year, even on my birthday once. With the exception of this year. I guess i've been lucky? (knock on wood) and every time I go handle my tickets, the ratio of males to females is 10:1.

 

[halledise]

I just came from genius bar for the same problem … … … And they were not nice to me at all, I read all those nice replacement stories at genius bar, but I was so unlucky.

Genius's (or should that be Genie-i) they are not.

If they were truly genius they wouldn't be working in an Apple Store for $20 an hour

 

[lucifiel]

Genius's (or should that be Genie-i) they are not.

If they were truly genius they wouldn't be working in an Apple Store for $20 an hour

Geniuses, it doesn't have a greek root, i think.

 

[soph]

Geniuses, it doesn't have a greek root, i think.

It's Latin and, surprisingly, "genia" in plural. Apparently sprites were neutra in old Rome.

 

[Gaijin de Moscu]

I just came from genius bar for the same problem, dead HDD (80gb PATA drive).

Total cost billed to me was $225.00.

$139.00 HDD
$86.00 Labor

And they were not nice to me at all, I read all those nice replacement stories at genius bar, but I was so unlucky.

Same here with me. No nice story with the friendly Geniuses.

Solid state drive, 64 GB, same as in 2008: 731 CHF (685 USD)
Labour: 95 CHF (89 USD)
Plus taxes. Total repair cost - 830 USD.

For this amount of money, I "could" buy the latest 256 GB Photofast, and insert it myself. But I found a 430-USD Runcore DIY solution since 128 GB is plenty for my MBA.

Should have sent my wife instead - a shame she doesn't acknowledge the existence of computers!

 

[halledise]

Geniuses, it doesn't have a greek root, i think.

you are absolutely correct.
I did have a greek root once - was fantastic if I recall … …

 

[lucifiel]

It's Latin and, surprisingly, "genia" in plural. Apparently sprites were neutra in old Rome.

Oh there we go....now I know.

you are absolutely correct.
I did have a greek root once - was fantastic if I recall … …

Best post of the thread.