So, I gave my sister 1200 for her 15" Macbook pro, revision A (I believe).
Still under warranty, the day I bought it, the hard drive crashed. I tried reinstalling OSX with no luck. I drove 1hr to the apple store, and the genius said to try wiping the drive and reinstalling, and if that didn't work, to call him, and he'd get a hard drive to install in it.
So I drove an hour back home and did so. It ran for a day or two... then crashed. So, I called in, told them what was wrong, set up an appointment, specifically requested to let them know to get the hard drive in advance as previously promised. The guy on the phone said that he had added it to his notes and that they would be ready for me the next day when I brought it in for service.
Another hour drive to the Apple Store, I showed up, and said here it is, I need a hard drive. He booted it up, witnessed the failure, and said "yup, the harddrive is bad. I'm going to order one for you right now."
What??
So he gave me the option to leave it there for a few days while waiting for shipping, but I opted to keep it and boot to my backup so I actually have the use of a computer. After all, he said it should be there tomorrow, maybe in 2 days max. So, I drove 1hr home, and get a call FOUR days later saying that the hard drive is here, so I can drop it off any time.
So 1hr trip back to the apple store to drop it off. It's Saturday, he says it'll be fixed by tuesday. 1hr trip home.
Tuesday morning before I wake up, I get a voicemail "Hey, we put in that hard drive, and for some reason that one didn't work either, so we've got another one on order...". I drove a 2hr round trip that thursday to pick it up.
4 days later, it hangs, I reboot, and I get no apple, no spin-wheel, no question mark on a folder, no chime. Just grey, and nothing else. I had just finished putting all of my backed up files on the brand new hard drive, and reformatted my backups so I could use my new 160GB external as the backup.
So I call in, try the stuff I had already tried off of their website per their instructions over the phone, and they send a box the next day to send it in yet again. I ask if they can at least save my data since the hard drive is brand new and the symptoms suggest it's a motherboard issue. He says "yes, they should definitely save your data. I'll make a note here to make sure that happens for you." Super. After all, if they didn't, all those pictures over the last 4 years would be lost forever, and that would suck.
So I put it in the box, sent it off, and a week later got it back (yesterday). Turned it on - it boots!
.... and the hard drive has been replaced, along with the other stuff that was obviously the cause of the problem.
... and my data is gone.
So that blows. They simply did not do what they said they would do, resulting in a huge sentimental loss.
Then, I boot up the OS, install firefox and adium. Run firefox for the first time. It crashes. Run adium - it opens, but opening an IM window crashes it. Run safari, click on an email in Gmail - it crashes. Open system preferences... won't do it. Open disk utility to check permissions. Disk utility won't even open.
I'm not to thrilled at this point, so I call in. Despite the fact that i'm irate at this point, I suck at being mean or putting my foot down about anything, because I work in the service industry, and I know the guy on the other line is not at all at fault for what I"m dealing with, and doesn't deserve the ranting of some guy having issues.
So he puts me on hold for 10 minutes while explaining my syptoms to a specialist. I'm instructed to wipe the drive and reinstall, and call back if that doesn't do it.
So, I've done that now, and it keeps hitting a point where it just stops making progress in the installation process. It says it's copying files... but it doesn't move, the hard drive is no longer spinning - just making a jitjit-jitjit-jitjit sound.
SO...
... here I am, having paid 1200 for a computer a month and a half ago, and having had the full use out of it for less than a weeks time total. Should I go through the motions, send it in again, and do this over again, or is it about time they reimbursed me for both my trouble and their failure to fulfill their promise, and get a new MBP or something?
And if I am in a position to make demands, what should they be, and how do I go about making them that won't make me feel mean?
Thanks for reading guys - I'm so frustrated. I love apple products, and I don't want this to ruin it for me... but it's getting there...
-Evan
Still under warranty, the day I bought it, the hard drive crashed. I tried reinstalling OSX with no luck. I drove 1hr to the apple store, and the genius said to try wiping the drive and reinstalling, and if that didn't work, to call him, and he'd get a hard drive to install in it.
So I drove an hour back home and did so. It ran for a day or two... then crashed. So, I called in, told them what was wrong, set up an appointment, specifically requested to let them know to get the hard drive in advance as previously promised. The guy on the phone said that he had added it to his notes and that they would be ready for me the next day when I brought it in for service.
Another hour drive to the Apple Store, I showed up, and said here it is, I need a hard drive. He booted it up, witnessed the failure, and said "yup, the harddrive is bad. I'm going to order one for you right now."
What??
So he gave me the option to leave it there for a few days while waiting for shipping, but I opted to keep it and boot to my backup so I actually have the use of a computer. After all, he said it should be there tomorrow, maybe in 2 days max. So, I drove 1hr home, and get a call FOUR days later saying that the hard drive is here, so I can drop it off any time.
So 1hr trip back to the apple store to drop it off. It's Saturday, he says it'll be fixed by tuesday. 1hr trip home.
Tuesday morning before I wake up, I get a voicemail "Hey, we put in that hard drive, and for some reason that one didn't work either, so we've got another one on order...". I drove a 2hr round trip that thursday to pick it up.
4 days later, it hangs, I reboot, and I get no apple, no spin-wheel, no question mark on a folder, no chime. Just grey, and nothing else. I had just finished putting all of my backed up files on the brand new hard drive, and reformatted my backups so I could use my new 160GB external as the backup.
So I call in, try the stuff I had already tried off of their website per their instructions over the phone, and they send a box the next day to send it in yet again. I ask if they can at least save my data since the hard drive is brand new and the symptoms suggest it's a motherboard issue. He says "yes, they should definitely save your data. I'll make a note here to make sure that happens for you." Super. After all, if they didn't, all those pictures over the last 4 years would be lost forever, and that would suck.
So I put it in the box, sent it off, and a week later got it back (yesterday). Turned it on - it boots!
.... and the hard drive has been replaced, along with the other stuff that was obviously the cause of the problem.
... and my data is gone.
So that blows. They simply did not do what they said they would do, resulting in a huge sentimental loss.
Then, I boot up the OS, install firefox and adium. Run firefox for the first time. It crashes. Run adium - it opens, but opening an IM window crashes it. Run safari, click on an email in Gmail - it crashes. Open system preferences... won't do it. Open disk utility to check permissions. Disk utility won't even open.
I'm not to thrilled at this point, so I call in. Despite the fact that i'm irate at this point, I suck at being mean or putting my foot down about anything, because I work in the service industry, and I know the guy on the other line is not at all at fault for what I"m dealing with, and doesn't deserve the ranting of some guy having issues.
So he puts me on hold for 10 minutes while explaining my syptoms to a specialist. I'm instructed to wipe the drive and reinstall, and call back if that doesn't do it.
So, I've done that now, and it keeps hitting a point where it just stops making progress in the installation process. It says it's copying files... but it doesn't move, the hard drive is no longer spinning - just making a jitjit-jitjit-jitjit sound.
SO...
... here I am, having paid 1200 for a computer a month and a half ago, and having had the full use out of it for less than a weeks time total. Should I go through the motions, send it in again, and do this over again, or is it about time they reimbursed me for both my trouble and their failure to fulfill their promise, and get a new MBP or something?
And if I am in a position to make demands, what should they be, and how do I go about making them that won't make me feel mean?
Thanks for reading guys - I'm so frustrated. I love apple products, and I don't want this to ruin it for me... but it's getting there...
-Evan
