Thumbs up for Apple repair service

John on 22/08/2011 - 11:55
Last edited 22/08/2011 - 12:16

I just want to share a very satisfying experience I had with Apple repair support.

First, if you have a valuable apple product, buy the Applecare warranty.. it's worth it! (eBay sells some legitimate ones at good prices).

Now.. on to my experience..

Few months back I had a HDD failure. Sadly, my Macbook Pro is out of warranty and I had to pay $300 to replace with new HDD. I thought "bummer, coulda get some other technicians fix it for less.." but oh well..

Unfortunately, ever since that the laptop has been having problem.. crashing several times randomly..

I took it to Apple for repair last month.. they did software repair because they suspected its the software, doesn't help… Then they replaced the RAM, doesn't help… Today, they are doing the last option, replace the motherboard (and I hope it'll fix it)

Now, the total cost I would need to pay for being out of warranty, could've been $600-$800 easily. But Apple is doing all these for FREE!! because they consider it 'repeat repair' and because they didn't spot the problem the first time, they are taking responsibility for it.

I am very impressed with their attitude. Had i repair it at any other places, there's no way on earth they'd offer to replace RAM and motherboard for free, even if they causes it! This is customer service at its best.. despite the problems I had to go through, I am still one very satisfied customer :)

I'm not an Apple fanboy, but this is making me one :P

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Comments

  • blackrider89 on 22/08/2011 - 11:59

    I don't like them but their services are good in general. And your case in particular.

  • scotty on 22/08/2011 - 13:14
    +2

    Apple repair service is good, until you tried out those Next Business Day Dell or Lenovo services. NBD upgrade from 1 year to 3 years on Dell Vostro/Latitude is even cheaper than AppleCare, and the technician actually comes to your work place to replace whatever the failed component is.

    I had multiple Latitudes provided by work over the last 10 years, and had motherboard, hard drives and LCD panels replaced on the spot, usually within the next business day.

    On the other hand my old iBook had fried motherboard (a known problem with iBook G3), I had AppleCare, I have to physically bring that to an Apple centre and it took around 2 weeks to have it fixed so I can pick up.

    • CuteChocobo on 22/08/2011 - 13:47
      +1

      Agree with Scotty! Whilst AppleCare does seem like a good service and all. It cannot compare to my Lenovo's next day service and Acer 4-Hr repair promise. And with regards to the cost, both Lenovo and Acer costs a fraction of what we had to pay for AppleCare!

      Love the Acer 4-Hr promise! You rock up, and they let you sit there either read magazine, surf web, or just pop around the corner to shop while they fix. They will give you a call when it's fixed. If they can't do it under 4-Hr the will deliver to your home your fixed product and leave a sorry card =)

      As for Lenovo's business next-day guarantee they actually come and PICK UP my laptop!! Awesome, don't need to drive to whoop whoop to get it fixed. 3 times where my Lenovo had failed, 2 times because of HD failed and broken fan. Once spill coffee damage. All fixed within the afternoon! Best service ever.

      So I wouldn't say that they are the BEST, but maybe for apple followers they are indeed the best (since they hate comparing to other products)!

      Same as Scotty, I HAD AppleCare, but don't iDontCare about it anymore =P

  • John on 22/08/2011 - 15:23
    +1

    Oh wow, I didn't even know Lenovo's next-day service guarantee. What an awesome service.

    I've left the Windows system for a while now, I was tempted to go back but with all my original MAC softwares the best I can think of is buying a PC and run a Hackintosh!

  • mxyzptik on 22/08/2011 - 16:20
    +2

    Yes, credit where credit is due.

    I have also found Applecare's support to be great and one of the few extended warranties I have been happy to buy.

    I recently found my first-ever Protection Plan was just over the 3 years limit, but as I hadn't registered it, Apple said they would refund the total cost (a not insubstantial $400)!

    They had no legal requirement to do so, so I think they were very generous - wonderful customer service!

    • mxyzptik on 22/08/2011 - 21:58

      oh and I forgot … very recently our iPad1, which we bought on launch so it was well outside the standard warranty period, suddenly wouldn't work (was locked in "recovery mode"). I rang Apple on the Friday and on the Sunday picked up a brand new one, no arguments - pity it wasn't an iPad2! :)

      • John on 23/08/2011 - 11:10

        That's nice. The great thing about yours and my story is that our stuff is out of warranty, and yet they still do it for free. They are not obliged too, but they still do it.

        Did they tell you why they replaced it with a new (or refurbished) one for free?

  • arcticmonkey on 22/08/2011 - 20:31

    Also had a good experience with Apple after having problems with my iPhone. They replaced it straight away with pretty much no questions asked. As a result, I bought another iPhone a year or so later. Good work, Apple!

  • djones145 on 22/08/2011 - 20:54

    my friend had a iphone, she dropped it in water
    took it to apple (was within warrenty), the guy turned a bind eye and she got a new iphone! o.O

    i was hoping she could bring in my old iphone 3gs and try to change it for a iphone 4! lol, say it changed overnight :P

    • Ambiguous on 23/08/2011 - 12:36
      +5

      Let me guess, she's cute?

      • Doey21 on 23/08/2011 - 14:21
        +2

        Man I'm gonna go and apply for a job as an apple store genius.

        • John on 23/08/2011 - 14:55
          +3

          I gotta say, there's always hot chicks around in Apple store.

  • maybeamacy on 23/08/2011 - 13:19

    My iPhone broke once, then 3 replacement units broke afterwards. Apple then sent me a BNIB iPhone instead of the refurbish stuff you get from the Apple Store.

    I was happy, not so much with travelling to the apple store all the time though.

  • gadgetguy on 24/08/2011 - 12:24
    +3

    I think its luck as to what kind of service you.

    We took my girlfriend's Macbook to Doncaster Apple Store. It was 4 months out of warranty and had a problem with the display flickering intermittently (I had a video of it to show them).

    The "Genius" was very dismissive and said we should have taken the extended warranty, nothing he could do apart form a very expensive repair.

    I took it to a third party shop and they quoted $600.

    A friend suggested trying a different Apple store so we went to Chadstone. The guy there couldn't have been more different. He was able to reproduce the issue and spotted a small crack around one of the hinges. He said it was a known fault and the screen would be replaced free. He said he was going to fix it anyway for free even without the crack as it was not long out of warranty.

    So the moral is if you get knocked back, try another store!

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