Macbook Pro 2011 "Radeongate" – question about Apple's Repair Extension Program

[Beliblis]

Hi,

About 2 years ago, my 15" MBP suffered the "Radeongate" video problem. At the time, Apple didn't offer a suitable solution for me. (Their repair offer was too expensive for me, and on some forums I had heard stories that Apple's repair may not last for long).
So, when the problem happened with my MBP, I took it to an independent repair centre to have the dGPU replaced for £250. Although this was done by a reputable company, the repair didn't work out. Got the money refunded. But ever since then the MBP has been sitting on my shelf.

Then Apple came out with their Repair Extension Program... which will expire end of Feb this year.

I'm tempted to bring my machine in for a repair. But of course Apple will probably notice that the machine has been opened and worked on before.
What's the worst case scenario, if Apple notice the machine has been worked on before? Would they charge me some sort of 'penalty' service charge? Or would they simply refuse warranty repair? (In which case I'd say: nothing to loose, and worth giving it a try).

 

[USB-Cedric]

I opened up and 'worked' on my macbook pro 2011 too and I just gave to them and they fixed it for free. They don't really seem to care since it's not a typical 'warranty' situation.

 

[Beliblis]

What did you work on? Did you just open it? Or did you go as far as removing the motherboard?

A few months after I purchased my MBP, I had a tiny spill, which cased a couple of sticky keyboard keys. So I took the machine apart and replaced the keyboard with a used one. So I'm pretty sure that once Apple works on my machine, they'll notice it's been opened before.

Did you have to sign anything when you took your machine in for repair? (Like some sort of 'promise' that it's never been worked on before?)

 

[USB-Cedric]

I replaced my RAM, hard drive and thermal paste. I did sign something yes, I read it quickly but it didn't say anything about me never opening it before.

 

[Beliblis]

Sounds good. May give it a try and hand it in to them.
Did they question your non-original RAM and hard-drive? (I've heard stories on the forums here that Apple sometimes want the machine in a pretty much 'original' state, i.e. no 3rd-party ram etc...

 

[USB-Cedric]

Sounds good. May give it a try and hand it in to them.
Did they question your non-original RAM and hard-drive? (I've heard stories on the forums here that Apple sometimes want the machine in a pretty much 'original' state, i.e. no 3rd-party ram etc...

They didn't question anything, the guy who I gave it to clearly knew nothing about tech and the boys in the actual fixing department obviously didn't care because they just handed me my laptop about 3 days later and said 'All fixed sir!'

SSD and RAM were both crucial and very obviously not native.

 

[coolant113]

My Macbook Pro failed 3 times within a matter of 2 weeks, sent it back and forth 3 times within that time period and the "fix" only lasted for roughly 2 days each time. I called up and complained, they replaced it with a brand new MBP.

 

[Beliblis]

They didn't question anything, the guy who I gave it to clearly knew nothing about tech and the boys in the actual fixing department obviously didn't care because they just handed me my laptop about 3 days later and said 'All fixed sir!'

SSD and RAM were both crucial and very obviously not native.

Great. Thanks for the thumbs up!