Charger from eBay Damaged My MacBook Pro

Lharry2015 on 11/12/2015 - 18:40

Moved to Forum: Original Link

I purchased '60W Adapter Power Charger Cord for Apple MAC MacBook' from atcsells on ebay, considering its good rating. Charger came with 3 years warranty (link given below). Just after couple of days it stopped working and also damaged my laptop. I sent pictures of damage to seller and after couple of reminders seller refund my amount and offered me $5 as compensation for laptop damages. Repair costed me $330 to and its a huge blow to me.
Kindly confirm if seller should compensate for damages happened due to the charger.

Listing link: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291255185966?_trksid=p2057872.m27…

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Comments

  • ozhunter on 11/12/2015 - 18:45
    +15

    I don't think the seller is required to pay for damages and I think it's unlikely you could get compensation from him.

    If you want to take the risk and buy unofficial chargers, then that's on you.

  • Apple96 on 11/12/2015 - 18:48
    +2

    Well, you brought a third party charger, knowing that it isn't sold by apple. It sucks it has damaged your macbook pro, but you should of brought offical. I mean quick google search shows how bad they are. They aren't built to apple standards, and wouldn't be surprised if in the official ones there's a regulator or something to stop damage to your macbook. And to quote someone off the macrumors forums, "Considering you can easily spend 2 grand on a MacBook Pro, why take chances with a non-Apple charger?"

  • scrimshaw on 11/12/2015 - 18:50
    +6

    And this, dear readers, is why one should not scrimp and save on laptop chargers (or mobile phone chargers, for that matter).

    Buy the original OEM product. You'll get real warranty as opposed to shonky warranty from some Chinese-based ebay seller.

    • Baysew on 11/12/2015 - 19:28

      And try to stay out of the bath when charging devices

  • harry2015 on 11/12/2015 - 18:51
    +1

    He sold me something which was faulty and damaged my equipment. If seller is charging me certain price (keeping its margins) and promoting it with warranty, isn't it his responsibility to ensure the product sold is of good quality? Yes, buyers should be vigilant but this doesn't mean anybody and sell 'anything'.

    After getting my MacBook Pro repaired, I bought authentic one from Dick Smith.

    • ozhunter on 11/12/2015 - 18:53
      +2

      If seller is charging me certain price (keeping its margins) and promoting it with warranty, isn't it his responsibility to ensure the product sold is of good quality?

      No, it's his responsibility to repair or refund the item he sold you within the warranty period. It's ebay. There's a lot of junk on there.

    • Apple96 on 11/12/2015 - 18:55
      +1

      I've notice a lot of electronics on ebay are good, until you use them like 5 times and they break.

    • kipps on 12/12/2015 - 10:28

      As a matter of pure law, it is the seller's responsibility… But as a matter of practicality, are you going to pay the costs associated with reviewing eBay's terms, determining the appropriate court to bring this claim, and how are you ever going to enforce any judgment obtained against the seller?

      Have you opened dialogue with the seller? What are they offering?

    • demiurge on 19/12/2015 - 23:55

      It's about time you take responsibility for your own actions. You cheap out and got burned.

  • Kozhutki on 11/12/2015 - 18:52
    +4

    Definitely on you. You should always use authentic chargers for expensive electronics. These third party chargers are usually shit and don't regulate the current flow which can burn out the insides. People have been fatally electrocuted from these types of chargers as well.

    Life lesson, don't feel too bad. And don't abuse the seller, you know what you're buying.

  • djones145 on 11/12/2015 - 20:08
    +3

    u spend 1-2 k on a laptop and went el cheapo on a charger…. o.O

  • [Deactivated] on 11/12/2015 - 20:13
    +1

    edited :I don't want to get banned again.

    • scrimshaw on 11/12/2015 - 20:28
      +1

      To answer your original question, that's because most people don't know much about electronics in general and underestimate the importance of having a power supply that's reliable and can deliver clean, uninterrupted power.

      There's a pretty good article online showing a teardown of the macbook charger. It's got quite a bit going on underneath the hood, even a 16-bit microprocessor that does all the voltage and current monitoring and regulation. Article even susses out how much it actually costs to produce the charger (it's cheap for apple to produce but the profit margins are of course huge). Regardless of the rip-off price tag, imitation units just aren't built safely enough

      http://www.righto.com/2015/11/macbook-charger-teardown-surpr…

      • [Deactivated] on 11/12/2015 - 20:41

        That wouldn't cost much to make. I can get all the components for less than $10 from China.
        THe PCB looks quite well designed, though. I hope the engineers are getting paid well for it, because that sort of design requires many years of experience. Whoever routed the lanes is very talented, but I suspect it was done automatically and has at least 3 layers.
        The numerous zener diodes is probably why it has that microprocessor and because is there are a few amplification stages and a reference voltage indicated by the diagram.
        I'd love to learn how they minimise capacitive coupling, because I often have those problems when I build my own PCBs and cram SMDs together.

        • eug on 11/12/2015 - 21:28
          +2

          That wouldn't cost much to make. I can get all the components for less than $10 from China.

          What about R&D and prototyping costs, manufacturing, packaging design, packaging itself, warehousing, shipping, retail margins, staff labour costs, etc?

          Sure, genuine PSU prices are on the high side. But there's more to it than just component cost.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/12/2015 - 23:41

          @eug:

          When you quote me like that and pretend like I want to sell it on a large scale of course it doesn't make sense.
          I was merely saying that the components and if I had the design would cost me less than $10 to make.

          It's funny how you buy into all that bullshit. They're ripping you off either way and their Chinese manufacturers.

        • eug on 12/12/2015 - 11:06

          @tendollar:
          You might want to re-read what you wrote, in context.

          The post you were replying to was talking about how the genuine PSU isn't a simple, basic design.

          You come along and say that won't cost much to make, you can get the components for $10.

          I was merely saying that the components and if I had the design would cost me less than $10 to make.

          And what exactly is your point? Of course ripping off someone else's design will be cheaper than actually paying a team to develop, prototype, manufacture, and ship something.

          It's funny how you buy into all that bullshit.

          Sorry to see that you're so deeply affected by this. I hope you get over it soon.

  • Save Medicare on 11/12/2015 - 20:27
    -2

    The listing says "This high quality replacement adapter provides your laptop with safe and reliable power." I am not a lawyer but I believe you could make a complaint to your state small claims tribunal, as the item sold was not fit for its intended use, and caused damage to your property.

    HOWEVER, the listing does say incompatible with macbook pros made in the past four years so unless the seller only just added that, or you are using a supported model, you might be out of luck.

    • harry2015 on 13/12/2015 - 10:42

      The original charger model is A1344 and seller has mentioned this model number in his listing.

      "60W Adapter Power Charger Cord for Apple MAC MacBook 13" A1181 A1344 A1185 A1278"

  • mskeggs on 11/12/2015 - 21:55

    I'm sympathetic, but you are leaving out some key points.
    The main thing you didn't know when you purchased the charger was that the configuration of Magsafe 1 and Magsafe 2 connectors is subtlely different, and if you try and force a magsafe 1 connector onto a magsafe 2 port you could get a spark/short.
    The other thing you didn't know is that some 3rd party magsafe 1 chargers have a connector that looks like magsafe 2.
    This is one of them.
    I know, because I attempted to save a few bucks too, by ordering the charger that 'looked' like a magsafe 2, even though my macbook wasn't listed as compatible.
    Fortunately, I was a little more cautious, and tried the connector before I plugged it in, and realised it didn't fit. I had an old White Macbook, and discovered it fitted perfectly on it and charged it.

    Ironically, a few weeks later, I mistook it for my Apple charger, and caused a spark when I went to attach it. Luckily, it didn't damage my macbook (maybe because it was off at the time). So I learned to be careful with the old format connectors on my new macbook.

    I think you did what I did, and ordered the charger even though your newer Macbook wasn't listed as compatible.
    If that is the case, it is a bit unfair to try and get compensation for the damage.

  • Bonsaichop on 11/12/2015 - 22:21
    +1

    This is why I posted this about after market chargers on another thread: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/222238#comment-3239324

  • thepigs on 12/12/2015 - 08:33

    if you had a good lawyer and expert witnesses you might win in small claims court. apparently apple chargers also explode…

  • eqv on 12/12/2015 - 16:44

    Well in Australia, or at least in NSW, the seller would have been liable for the consequential loss.

    See http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/Businesses/Selling_goo…?

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