[geeks] Another data point re: Apple Support

[John Francini]

If previous Apple behavior is still being followed, you will indeed 
get the same unit back.  However, you'll also get a sheet listing all 
the stuff they've replaced.  Don't be surprised if they replace 
practically all the guts in the lower case save for the drives -- 
they generally make sure the unit is 100% functional before it comes 
back out.

John Francini

At 15:43 -0600 1/11/07, Lionel Peterson wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>Just another data point regarding Apple support - I bought a MacBook 
>Pro Core 2 Duo for about 20% off list from the Refurb section on 
>their site (I guess it was a returned Xmas gift someone bought new) 
>- it was unusual that the curent model was available there.
>
>Anyway, when I got it, the WiFi appeared dead. Rather than beat my 
>head against the wall, I decided to take the Geek Point hit and go 
>to the store and ask for help. Luckilly, the Guru was able to 
>recreate my problem (got an IP from the server, but no 
>connectivity). Then, to isolate HW from SW problems, he tried to 
>boot off an ext. firewire drive that is known-good. That failed to 
>boot. Then he tried a scond, known-good firewire drive - that also 
>failed. He put his hands up., declared this a HW problem, and 
>decided there was no point in going on debugging it.
>
>He then told me that since I bought it refurb, he couldn't swap for 
>a new laptop - I'd have to get it repaired or return it for credit. 
>My local shop has an estimated 2 week backlog of systems awaiting 
>repair...
>
>I called Apple today, got bounced to every department, and in the 
>end, they made me three offers:
>
>1) Return it for 100% credit
>2) Return it for credit (plus $100 more) towards any other system 
>they sell (but they have no Core 2 Duo laptops in refurb, at _any_ 
>price)
>3) Send it in to CA for repair, with a 5-7 buiness day turn-around...
>
>I thought hard about trading it in on a 24" iMac Core 2 Duo system 
>(that would have taken advantage of the $100 "extra" credit they 
>were offering), but in the end I'm going to mail it back to CA, on 
>the hope that it will get fixed quicker (won't have to wait for 
>parts) and be 100% right when it returns...
>
>So now, I wait for the DHL box to arrive to return the laptop to CA...
>
>All in all, I'm happy with the trade-off - if I bought a new MacBook 
>Pro it would have been replaced immediately at the local store, no 
>questions asked, but since I saved 20% on the price, I took my 
>chances and got a bad unit - I wonder if I'll get the same unit 
>back...
>
>Lionel
>_______________________________________________
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-- 
John Francini, francini at mac.com

"The journey is more important than the destination-that's part of 
life. If you only live for getting to the end, you're almost always 
disappointed."     -Donald Knuth