My rant about my ordeal of buying a new powerbook from Apple.
Sorry, its a bit long.
The following is the event ordered chronologically:
June 9th: bought new Apple powerbook G4 1.5 GHz with 1 GB of RAM (two modules of 512MB).
June 16th: received the new powerbook shipped from Shanghai, China
June 18th-19th: noticed random freezes while browsing the web, playing dvd, music, using quicktime, ... Sometimes the memory reporting 768MB instead of 1GB.
June 19th: called tech support, agreed that the second module is a bad ram, request apple to send me a new ram.
June 21st: received a new ram from Apple, marked as SDRAM, 512MB, DDR333, SODIMM in the box. However, the box contains a wrong kind of RAM for the powerbook (twice as long in one dimension as the correct RAM for the laptop). This is a RAM for a desktop. Returned this wrong RAM to apple.
June 22nd: called tech support again, was referred to a "product specialist", he promised that he will rectify the problem, going to send a new RAM and personally ensure that it will be a correct one.
June 24th: received a new ram from Apple, same deals as on June 21st, wrong RAM again. Returned it again to Apple.
June 25th: called tech support, got referred to a "product specialist" again named Chris, asked me to go to apple store, RUDELY accussing that I don't know the correct RAM for the laptop (I took out the one from the laptop, and the RAM that Apple has been sending to me is about twice as long and of course it won't fit in the slot).
June 26th: went to apple store, waited for 1 hour for the genius bar, the repair person won't replace the RAM because they don't have a replacement part in stock (apparently Apple doesn't replace with a NEW part). So he pingpong me back to call the tech support.
June 26th: called the tech support again, got a referred a third time to a "product specialist" named Tim (Austin call center), arguing that I should have gone back to Apple store and let them order the RAM for me. After arguing for 30 minutes (**sarcasm mode on** EXCELLENT customer service), he finally will send me a new RAM. All this time, I am providing a credit card number (3x).
June 29th: received a new RAM from Apple, and again it is a wrong kind (a desktop version) mislabelled in the box.
June 30th: complained again to the tech support, ask to talk to a manager, he won't let me (because it is not in the standard procedure). Hello, is sending me a wrong RAM three times in the row in the standard procedure? Talked to a "product specialist" again, promised will send me a correct one via different channel.
June 30th evening: received a box from Apple, apparently my second return to Apple has been RETURNED to me. The reason: "mis-identified module".
The NERVE!!!! THEY HAVE THE NERVE TO RETURN THE WRONG RAM THAT THEY SENT TO ME BECAUSE IT DOES NOT MATCH THE DESCRIPTION IN THE BOX. WHAT? THEY SENT ME THE MISLABELLED PRODUCT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!
WORST TECH SUPPORT AND CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!!!
The whole ordeal, no apologize from Apple until the product specialist in June 30th. I still don't know if he will come through though.
WOW, thats feel good ranting.
What will you guys do in this situation?
Update (July 2nd): I have finally received the correct kind of RAM for my powerbook. The last two product specialists that I talked to on June 30th and July 1st are awesome. They apologized and let me keep the RAM that was returned to me. I was also sent a new RAM (not a replacement part).
I consider this case closed. Thanks to all the support and great advice, its a happy ending.
Sorry, its a bit long.
The following is the event ordered chronologically:
June 9th: bought new Apple powerbook G4 1.5 GHz with 1 GB of RAM (two modules of 512MB).
June 16th: received the new powerbook shipped from Shanghai, China
June 18th-19th: noticed random freezes while browsing the web, playing dvd, music, using quicktime, ... Sometimes the memory reporting 768MB instead of 1GB.
June 19th: called tech support, agreed that the second module is a bad ram, request apple to send me a new ram.
June 21st: received a new ram from Apple, marked as SDRAM, 512MB, DDR333, SODIMM in the box. However, the box contains a wrong kind of RAM for the powerbook (twice as long in one dimension as the correct RAM for the laptop). This is a RAM for a desktop. Returned this wrong RAM to apple.
June 22nd: called tech support again, was referred to a "product specialist", he promised that he will rectify the problem, going to send a new RAM and personally ensure that it will be a correct one.
June 24th: received a new ram from Apple, same deals as on June 21st, wrong RAM again. Returned it again to Apple.
June 25th: called tech support, got referred to a "product specialist" again named Chris, asked me to go to apple store, RUDELY accussing that I don't know the correct RAM for the laptop (I took out the one from the laptop, and the RAM that Apple has been sending to me is about twice as long and of course it won't fit in the slot).
June 26th: went to apple store, waited for 1 hour for the genius bar, the repair person won't replace the RAM because they don't have a replacement part in stock (apparently Apple doesn't replace with a NEW part). So he pingpong me back to call the tech support.
June 26th: called the tech support again, got a referred a third time to a "product specialist" named Tim (Austin call center), arguing that I should have gone back to Apple store and let them order the RAM for me. After arguing for 30 minutes (**sarcasm mode on** EXCELLENT customer service), he finally will send me a new RAM. All this time, I am providing a credit card number (3x).
June 29th: received a new RAM from Apple, and again it is a wrong kind (a desktop version) mislabelled in the box.
June 30th: complained again to the tech support, ask to talk to a manager, he won't let me (because it is not in the standard procedure). Hello, is sending me a wrong RAM three times in the row in the standard procedure? Talked to a "product specialist" again, promised will send me a correct one via different channel.
June 30th evening: received a box from Apple, apparently my second return to Apple has been RETURNED to me. The reason: "mis-identified module".
The NERVE!!!! THEY HAVE THE NERVE TO RETURN THE WRONG RAM THAT THEY SENT TO ME BECAUSE IT DOES NOT MATCH THE DESCRIPTION IN THE BOX. WHAT? THEY SENT ME THE MISLABELLED PRODUCT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!
WORST TECH SUPPORT AND CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!!!
The whole ordeal, no apologize from Apple until the product specialist in June 30th. I still don't know if he will come through though.
WOW, thats feel good ranting.
What will you guys do in this situation?
Update (July 2nd): I have finally received the correct kind of RAM for my powerbook. The last two product specialists that I talked to on June 30th and July 1st are awesome. They apologized and let me keep the RAM that was returned to me. I was also sent a new RAM (not a replacement part).
I consider this case closed. Thanks to all the support and great advice, its a happy ending.
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