Ok, I just have to vent for a bit here…but first I want to say that I have always loved Macs and Apple computer…I endorse them, support them, fix them and use them. I’m encouraged with their recent decisions, intel chip, dual boot, fun with Parallels, etc. Wish I could get a new Intel-based one….some day. But I digress…
Here’s the background of my “hellish” support issue with Apple. I was reading the Apple Support site trying to figure out if one of my 2 G4 laptops were affected by the battery recall (1 yes, 1 no). Then I read about a display issue on the 15″ Apple G4 Powerbook. I realized, after reading through the case, that mine was experiencing the same symptoms, however, the serial number did not fall within the range.
Since I still had about 200 days left in my AppleCare, I took the laptop in to the nearest Apple store. They reviewed it and told me that it wasn’t part of the serial number extended warranty, however that it might be covered under my AppleCare. The only “issue” was that there was some damage on the case of the laptop. The Genius Bar guy said that they would review it.
So it was all shipped away and I crossed my fingers. I tried to track the progress about a million times a day online…finally it was received and then the status was set to Repair in Progress.
About a day later, I received a voicemail from the support people saying that my machine was NOT covered under the extended warranty and that to fix it, there would be a $1200 charge. They gave me a number to call and discuss…
…and then the fun began. I called the number and entered my repair number. It was just a status line and it gave me the status of Repair in Progress (just like the website) and that was it. No option to discuss with anyone…NADA. I continued to try and call, thinking that it was before hours or something. No luck.
So, I sent a note to Apple support via email/webform. I referenced my Repair ID. They did respond fairly quickly…and basically told me what I already knew…that they tried to contact me and that it wasn’t covered under the Warranty Extension. They also gave me a different number to call, with option 2 to press. I tried that…and it went to the same support line.
I have since then sent 2 more emails to support since I am stuck in a status that will not allow me to talk to anyone by calling the repair line. I am assuming that if they change the status to: On hold – Need information or something similar, that I would be able to punch out to talk to someone.
The second thing that I’m peeved about is that it is obvious that the screen is defective, manifesting the same issue as the one within the serial number range…
Anyway…hopefully a happy outcome soon…
