Thanks Apple!

[Jenks]

I have a 3.5 year old mac book pro, 2.2 core 2 duo. I've never even had a burp from this machine in 3.5 years. A couple of weeks ago I was working on it and the screen went black. Never a good feeling. I could boot the computer and hear it start up, but no video. I took the computer to Computer Solutions, an authorized mac service place here in St. Louis and left it with them for diagnosis and repair. I never bought apple care, which wouldn't have mattered anyway since it still would even be a half year out of warranty from that as well. A tech guy called me last friday and said "Well, i have good news and bad news." When people say this, the bad news is ALWAYS worse no matter how good the good news is. "Good news is, all your data is still here, the bad news is your Logic Board has failed, which runs about $900-$1000 to repair for parts and labor." FUCK! I wasn't about to invest $1000 into a 3.5 year old laptop when i could just yank the drive and make it an external and buy a new laptop. The guy said this kind of thing doesn't happen often and maybe it's worth shooting apple the test results and explaining the situation to see if they might cover some or all of it, even though it's 3.5 years old with no warranty. Worth a shot i guess...so i submitted to apple and waited.

ZING! They called yesterday, Apple replaced the logic board, plus paid for my diagnostic fee and labor at Computer Solutions, and i'm typing this post on my laptop now. Didn't cost me a penny.

Thanks for the sweet customer support Apple!

[DreamGirlie]

Re: Thanks Apple!

I have a macbook pro about the same age out of warranty and I have had a few different issues and each time I went to the Apple store they replaced the parts for me for free. I LOVE apple customer service.

[floridaorange]

Re: Thanks Apple!

Wow, that's great man, don't know of any other electronics based company with that level of customer service which translates into superior customer satisfaction in my opinion.

When water got on my macbook keyboard and I left it closed over night to find condensation on the screen the following day it wouldn't turn on, and nothing the reps over the phone could figure out either....the apple store fixed the problem and replaced a few other cosmetic issues at no cost the same day I dropped it off...

[Kamal]

Re: Thanks Apple!

Dell did that for us at work as well (2 years out of warranty and swapped out a few Mobos that were causing random reboots)

[Homskillet]

Re: Thanks Apple!

Oh yeah, well I had an HP laptop that broke about 2 years later. Called up their support, spent an hour on the phone, sent it in to their support.

They sent it back with a new mobo... still broken...

Thanks HP!

[toasty]

Re: Thanks Apple!

Thanks for the sweet customer support Apple!

This is exactly the reason that Apple customers are so loyal. First and foremost, their shit just works, and works intuitively, but when it doesn't they totally stand behind it. I had my iPod Touch conk out on me while I was in Jamaica last year. I took it in, and the tech played around with it for a few minutes, said he thought it looked like water damage which technically wouldn't be covered, but just gave me a shiny new iPod anyway.

[floridaorange]

Re: Thanks Apple!

Dell did that for us at work as well (2 years out of warranty and swapped out a few Mobos that were causing random reboots)

Dells are usually solid machines from my experience, and you can bet they are going to help out corporate accounts. My college had dells in all the labs, libraries etc out in Cali.

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Thanks Apple!

I've got a close friend that has had his laptop about as long as you have, and in the last year and a half he's had to go get three logic boards put in it, and is now getting his 4th one. They've been pretty cool about fixing his computer that was under apple care and the 90 days on his last logic board just failed. He's supposed to get it back in a day.

I was watching videos on my imac the other day and suddenly the left speaker popped and nothing was coming out of it. I later found out it was just a software/hardware glitch and it fixed itself. I am so glad I didn't have to take it in.

[floridaorange]

Re: Thanks Apple!

p.s. my wifes macbook pro should be arriving any day now...

[toasty]

Re: Thanks Apple!

In related news, I had a chance to play with an iPad over lunch. Man is that thing slick. I have no real use for it whatsoever, but I'm still finding myself having to resist the temptation to get it.

[ganjamo]

Re: Thanks Apple!

I used to work as an apple technician an several MBP models have a video issue going on and if they see that your computer is one of those you are able to get a free mobo in case the failure in your laptop qualifies.

Glad you got it solved mate.

btw i got an apple care on ebay for 130$ for my 08 MBP

[clintlove]

Re: Thanks Apple!

had that happen to my powerbook after about a year of having it, apple repaired it with no problem

I still have that powerbook (7 years old) and was using it daily until a few months ago when I got an imac