MBP Battery Replacement Service takes long at Apple?

[GoztepeEge]

Hello!
Last week, on 02.12.2021, I went to Apple Store Munich due to a battery problem with my MBP early 2015 13”.

They got the device, and a paid battery replacement process has started. The genius bar told me that it was going to take 5-7 days. I accepted.

After he got the computer, I received an SMS telling me how to track the repair status. I checked at that day, it was like “your product is going to be shipped out shortly”, it was meaning that the product was going to be sent to Czech Republic, which I was already informed.

But now today, 07.12.2021, the status still stays the same. I started feeling like something is not going well. And there are lots of comments about this issue on Internet, some guys were made waited 15-20 days.

Has anyone experienced a similar/the same issue? Normally I would need to get my computer back on the Thursday, however it seems this is not going to happen, because the status is still “will be shipped out to repair center”.

 

[GoztepeEge]

UPDATE: Today is the 9th of December, which was the estimated finish time of the repair, however it is obvious that something is not going good.
Yesterday I talked to Apple, told that I can not track the status of my device because it is still "will be shipped to the repair center", they told me that the product was shipped at the same day, on the 2nd of December, but they did not get it back from repair yet.

Now nobody has any idea about the status, when it will come back, and what will happen tomorrow or next week for example.

At the store, when I brought my device to talk to Genius Bar, they told me it was going to take up to 5-7 days, which also the system showed us, and I proceeded but I actually have lots of submissions and programming works that I have to finish until this Sunday. In this case it is probably that it is going to take really long, maybe until next weekend. Nobody knows. But I am extremely unsatisfied right now.

Just for your information. Be careful when you give a product to Apple for a battery replacement.
Their status tracking system does not work, the Apple Support via phone does not help at all, and their estimated process time is a lie. Now I am in a bad situtation.

 

[throAU]

Courier services at the moment are pretty bad at updates.

I've had various things shipped from US and China to Australia and typically there's no updates for several days or a week, then a bunch of updates once it reaches Australia.

Or just no updates until delivery.

It's understandably frustrating, but Apple are only able to tell you what their courier gives them as an ETA and they're all over the place at the moment due to pandemic related issues.

My partner works in freight and there's quarantine issues, lack of to ship things in, etc. The situation in Europe is also pretty fluid at the moment.

 

[GoztepeEge]

Courier services at the moment are pretty bad at updates.

I've had various things shipped from US and China to Australia and typically there's no updates for several days or a week, then a bunch of updates once it reaches Australia.

Or just no updates until delivery.

It's understandably frustrating, but Apple are only able to tell you what their courier gives them as an ETA and they're all over the place at the moment due to pandemic related issues.

My partner works in freight and there's quarantine issues, lack of to ship things in, etc. The situation in Europe is also pretty fluid at the moment.

I would understand every possibility, but the genius bar at the store last week did not give me any info regarding this. I told him that I have works on my computer to do, I have submissions and every software is currently installed on my computer. He told me that this was going to be up to 5-7 days. Now it is 5 days and no information update.

What I am pretty pissed off is that each person at the store gives me a different information!
Yesterday I called, he told me that the device has reached to the repair center, and still there.
Today I called, a different representative told me that there is no news and he was supposed to contact UPS, then he was going to call me to inform again, he said. But guess what, no call!
Even the Apple Support itself is pretty none in this case. They are able to do nothing.

I do not think that any shipment can take this much time from Munich to Pegatron in Czech Republic. I do not believe this is the problem with the UPS. Even it is the case, Apple should have done something, as the situation is really annoying right now.

 

[throAU]

I understand your frustration but once the package is handed over to the courier, there's not much Apple can do.

And they're not in the business of annoying their customers deliberately...

 

[GoztepeEge]

I understand your frustration but once the package is handed over to the courier, there's not much Apple can do.

And they're not in the business of annoying their customers deliberately...

I understand you say that this is right now the issue caused by the carrier, the UPS in this case, right?
I have no problem with it, I also agree, however the Apple should have given me a "valid" information regarding the estimated time and also current status of my computer. Because I already asked about these to the Genius Bar, once I got there on the last Saturday.

Anyway, I am still trying to be informed by making more effort with calling the store, that tomorrow I will try as well.

However I still do not believe a package can take 7 days to be delivered from Munich to somewhere in Czech Republic. This is not realistic. After this situation I lost my belief to the Apple. It is because you know there are lots of companies who work together with couriers like DHL, UPS etc. Each company should ensure that the user/product owner always be informed regarding the status of his/her product. This is the way to keep that person satisfied and happy. You see that I am now here trying to find a solution to obtain information about my product, which was supposed to be sent to a repair center in Czech Republic, and which was then said to be "hopefully" in the repair center. Even though the Apple has no idea about the status. Would you accept it if you were me?

 

[throAU]

However I still do not believe a package can take 7 days to be delivered from Munich to somewhere in Czech Republic.

Haha.

That's across countries, I've had packages take 3-4 weeks to get from one side of Australia to the other, and there's no international customs clearance and daily flights

COVID has really messed things up.

 

[Christopher Kim]

It's unfortunate that the Apple reps didn't tell you the full, accurate story. They're probably still quoting the same timelines that they've been given as standard, which were probably developed in pre-COVID days.

FWIW, I have done 2 battery replacements. One was for my 2016 13" MBP (the first one with Touch Bar) in 2019 as part of the keyboard service program (butterfly keyboard), which included a new battery and top case. I dropped this off at an Apple store in the US (California) on a Thursday, and I picked it up 2 days later on Saturday. This was because they had the parts on-site and the repair was done locally.

The second time was just a few months ago, I got my wife's mid-2014 15" MBP's battery replaced. Same Apple store. They said that because this is an older model (basically 2 full MBP "generations" old now), they have much more limited stock of these. It took a full week (5 business days), as they had to send to a local California service location where they keep stock of these older parts.

Your MBP is of the same vintage (2014/2015s) so will be limited stock for those batteries, and you have the more difficult situation of not being in the US, and having to deal with cross-border (even if within EU) shipping, all during this tough transportation logistical COVID-environment.

I definitely empathize that Apple should have been more upfront with you on how long it would take, especially if you need that computer for work/school and were counting on having it back by the estimated date. That being said, almost certainly everything is fine, it's just delayed. Rather than stressing out, spending hours on calls trying to talk to Apple support who will likely have nothing they can really say, if it were me I would just sit tight until next week, and wait for an update. It'll be better for your mental health, and almost certainly will have the computer back to you in the same timeframe.

 

[GoztepeEge]

I definitely empathize that Apple should have been more upfront with you on how long it would take, especially if you need that computer for work/school and were counting on having it back by the estimated date. That being said, almost certainly everything is fine, it's just delayed. Rather than stressing out, spending hours on calls trying to talk to Apple support who will likely have nothing they can really say, if it were me I would just sit tight until next week, and wait for an update. It'll be better for your mental health, and almost certainly will have the computer back to you in the same timeframe.

Thank you for sharing your own experiences with me, these are valuable for me now. I wish I could get the same experience like 5 days complete of the battery replacement, however you see what I am encountering with.

You are right, I ought to be more relaxed and take my time by giving them more time, as I started understanding that Apple is done in this case. They are extremely relying on the UPS deliveries, and now they are blaming the UPS as well. I could understand that, however they should have been informed about the logistics issues before taking my MBP from me. The COVID is not a new thing around the world, we have been fighting it more than 2 years maybe. So I am pretty sure they are already informed and experienced regarding the logistics problem, so they would just inform me about them. Instead, the Genius Bar guy was pretty confident that it was going to take up to 7 days. Weird!

And also some new things happened today, listen what is going on
UPDATE: Almost a few hours ago I called the Apple Store again, told them I should get a call from them as I talked to a representative and he was supposed to check the status with the UPS, then he was going to call me back.
He checked all the repos in his system, talked to some colleagues, and got me back in 5 minutes, so told me that they can not reach the UPS to obtain an information, even the UPS does not give them a new information hence he did not call me back yesterday, my computer was shipped with UPS yesterday (!) and now it might be on the road, or might already be delivered to the repair center, they have no idea, and the only thing all can do is just to wait.
Then he continued like; no worries, if your computer is lost, we will give you a new one. For now let us just wait for it.

You see that Apple reps has no idea about what is going on, but they assume there is an issue as they just offered me to give a new MBP if my device is really lost, which is the thing that might be the case right now.

So for now, I am sure that I can not complete this week's submission in my university education. This is bad. I hope I can at least complete the next week's submission if Apple makes something to get my computer back to me, otherwise I will be really pissed off.

Now I will just stay calm, chill, and wait. However I do not know what happens if my computer is really lost and no new information exists 1 week later. What will be the procedure to assign me a new MBP, this is going to be really complicated.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

You're just going to have to "wait this out".

Consider:
If it gets lost "in transit", they'll probably offer you a new one...

 

[GoztepeEge]

OP:

You're just going to have to "wait this out".

Consider:
If it gets lost "in transit", they'll probably offer you a new one...

Yes I decided to wait for any news until the next Friday.

However I believe they do not offer me a new MBP easily, they are going to make trouble and make me wait more due to procedures. Who knows... ??‍♂️