For the last 2 years, I've been one of those people who tells everyone how wonderful Apple is and how much I love my mac. If you were one of those people, I apologize. I'm going to try not to make this too whiny, but I'm pretty annoyed.
I saved my pennies and bought a Powerbook about 18 months ago, justifying the extra expenditure of about $800 for a Powerbook over an iBook (about $1200 at the time) with the idea that it would last longer since it had more memory and computing power. I didn't buy Apple Care- $350 seemed like a LOT of money to shell out, on top of what I'd just spent.
My mac was fine and happy until about 6 months ago, when it started slowing down and making strange noises. John thought it was the fan...which I could live with. Then, 6 weeks ago, it died completely. Various computer geeks pronounced it unsaveable, which was frustrating since I had been foolish enough not to back it up. We ordered a new hard disk before I left for NY, which arrived this week. When John tried to take the old one out and put the new one in, he realized that it was going to be more difficult than he'd originally thought. If you google "powerbook hard disk replace", you come up with various 15-step procedures, with the potential to irreparably damage your computer at each step. Oh, and there seems to be a consistent problem of Apple putting the screws in too tight, so that people can't get them out if they need to. None of this would have been covered by that $350 extended warranty, by the way.
If I want Apple to replace the hard disk, it's going to be about £150 here or $200 in the US. I called Apple to ask if there was anything I could do about it, and they were unappologetic and not terribly interested. I'm not really sure where to go from here...I guess I've joined the expanding ranks of those who like Macs but who are incredulous that the company doesn't give a shit when they go wrong. Any suggestions as to contacting anyone who DOES care would be appreciated.
Will return to the regularly scheduled Blogging soon.
3 comments:
Kate, really bummed out and sorry to hear about your trials with Apple. They are also getting a huge amount of negative press about I-pods that do the same thing...die for no apparent reason, and when the user contacts Apple, their attitude is screw you, we gotcha money, you need us more than we need you, goodbye and go away.
Anyway, looking foward to seeing you and John again real soon. Much needed rain here today, took down the storm enclosure with Edward, taking it easy for the day. Call when you can, Love, Dad
Call back Apple and keep talking to supervisors until you get what you want.
They replaced my iPod once -- 0 cost to me, they even paid for shipping both ways (and no, I didn't buy any extended warranty)
There is someone at the other end of that phone who has the power to fix your computer at no cost to you. Keep that in mind, and perservere! You just need a chunk of time and some patience, you can get SOMETHING out of them.
Good luck,
evan
Mine died this weekend, too.
There aren't profanities strong enough.
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