You're not going to believe this, but Apple really rocks (again)!

[MotionMan]

First there was the free Time Capsule;
Then there was the free keyboard;
And the free iPod Touch;
And then TWO free keyboards;
And yet another free keyboard.

Now, I bring another 'Super Customer Service Tale From the Apple Store, Which, BTW, ROCKS!!!':

I have a 2011 17" MacBook Pro that I use for work (though it is my personal property). On Monday, the screen crapped out. There is an Apple Store walking distance from my office, so I checked the Genius website and found they had an available appointment in 3 hours - I grabbed it!

I took the computer to the store and, to make a long story short, they said it was the video card and the fix costs $600...

HOWEVER, it is a known issue with these MacBooks, so the fix is FREE!!!

But, can you believe it gets better?

I picked up my MacBook today. On the work order, it showed that, not only did they replace the Logic Board, they also fixed THREE other problems I have had with the computer, but did NOT EVER mention to them when I dropped it off: 1) they replaced the keyboard (which had a few wonky keys), they replaced one of the two speakers (which had been malfunctioning) and they replaced the freakin' optical drive (which stopped working a year ago and I had totally forgot I even had since I completely stopped using it when it broke).

For those of you not keeping score that is:

1. New Logic Board;
2. New keyboard;
3. New speaker;
4. New optical drive.

All for zero dollars and zero cents.

Wow.

MotionMan

 

[HiroThreading]

Apple's support is second to none. It's the primary reason why I struggle to leave the Apple platform be it Macs, iPhones or iPads.

That's what so many Windows/Android fans just fail to understand. Most of Apple's customers aren't students or kids with excess time on their hand -- they're mostly working professionals who don't have the time to be dealing with downtime, random bugs or a support phone call all the way in India.

 

[master_shake_]

was it nvidia based?

sounds like bumpgate lol.

 

[Tweak155]

I wouldn't say it truly cost $0 as this type of stuff is factored into their MSRP, but ultimately from your point of view it makes sense to feel that way. I've only had to use Apple support once and it too went very smoothly. No complaints, it's part of buying into the prices, but people pay for conveniences all the time.

 

[MotionMan]

It is especially good for me because I originally got the MacBook for free and only had to pay $50 for a repair to make it work.



MotionMan

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I'm glad you got good service but, your MacBook sounds like a real lemon .

 

[dclive]

I had something very similar happen:

Late 2011 MBP 17" with AMD graphics (most 2011 Mac models with AMD graphics experienced a recall...)
Bad camera
Dings on case

After it was all said and done, I got the MBP17 back from Apple with all three things fixed.

I was very impressed! And this was an old, old Mac. (They did this in mid-2016)

 

[Phynaz]

was it nvidia based?

sounds like bumpgate lol.

Bumpgate was 2008.

 

[KeithP]

For those of you not keeping score that is:

Apple products frequently have problems. Instead of designing reliable products they offer good service to try and make up for their substandard quality.

FTFY

-KeithP

 

[Rottie]

Very nice

 

[MotionMan]

I had something very similar happen:

Late 2011 MBP 17" with AMD graphics (most 2011 Mac models with AMD graphics experienced a recall...)
Bad camera
Dings on case

After it was all said and done, I got the MBP17 back from Apple with all three things fixed.

I was very impressed! And this was an old, old Mac. (They did this in mid-2016)

Sorry for the delayed response... I stopped getting notifications for some reason.

How did they take care of the dings, knock them out or replace the shell?

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

I'm glad you got good service but, your MacBook sounds like a real lemon .

You think? It was built in early 2011 and had no problems until late 2015 (Optical drive) and mid- to late-2016 (everything else).

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

FTFY

-KeithP

I dunno. Most of my Apple stuff is pretty rock solid. Considering how many units they sell and how high their customer satisfaction is (separate and apart from their stellar customer service ratings), I think they have a good job in the design process.

MotionMan

 

[slugg]

Apple's support is great if you don't have a mission critical machine, you have hours to waste with their appointment system, and you can deal with not having your machine for days or weeks at a time. So I'm still weary about using them for business machines. I've been burned pretty bad in that area.

 

[MotionMan]

Apple's support is great if you don't have a mission critical machine, you have hours to waste with their appointment system, and you can deal with not having your machine for days or weeks at a time. So I'm still weary about using them for business machines. I've been burned pretty bad in that area.

I have never wasted hours with their appointment system. I make the appointment, I show up at that time and I am seen within 15 minutes of that appointment time. "Hours"? Really? If you have been spending hours waiting after your appointment time, then you may not have actually had an appointment

Does Apple have an enterprise option for purchasing and servicing their products?

MotionMan

 

[Aikouka]

That and the fact that we have an Apple Store in town is why I push my mom toward getting an iPhone over an Android phone. I mean... if we're being honest, neither of them are simple to use. Apple has a bad habit of stuffing too many things into their settings menu and never telling you about them or even features. (You should see how amazed people are when I tell them about the Force Touch trackpad feature!) As for Android, they try to make it simple, but sometimes, asking the user for things like permissions is a good thing, but if you do it too much, people are just going to hit "Yes" and move on. (Just check to see how often they read UAC pop-ups in Windows!)

 

[KeithP]

Well, since I posted something less than useful in this thread earlier, I felt I needed to come post this Apple service story I just experienced…

A person I help from time to time was having problems with his current generation (still under warranty) Time Capsule. On one of his iMacs, he kept getting a message that the Time Machine backup was corrupted and it had to be recreated. This iMac was only a couple of years old. However, his second machine, an older iMac, was working fine with the Time Capsule, no problems at all.

He called Apple support. After some troubleshooting steps the Apple operator confirmed this was a known issue with Sierra and some particular hardware combinations and that Apple was working on a fix but didn't have it ready yet. He then told my friend to pick out any external drive from the Apple store up to $300 in value and Apple would ship it to him so he could use that for a backup drive until the issue with the Time Capsule was resolved. They also said the drive was his to keep even after the problem got fixed.

FWIW, he picked out a 3TB LaCie USB/Thunderbolt drive. It arrived in two days.

My friend was happy with the outcome and I have to admit, if I was in his shoes, I think I would be satisfied with the result as well.

-KeithP

 

[MotionMan]

I just was exchanged a brand new wireless keyboard for one I bought at a grade sale that, as it turned out, had battery acid in the battery compartment.

Another Apple win, at least for me.

MotionMan

 

[tsupersonic]

The one time I tested Apple's support/genius was for a lightning cable replacement. It took an hour for the "genius" to diagnose the issue and to tell me the cable was dead. Really dude? This was with an appointment (since I know how the Apple store is always busy). I got a new cable, but it shouldn't have taken more than five minutes...I haven't used their support for anything else (granted all my Apple products are now out of warranty).

 

[MotionMan]

The one time I tested Apple's support/genius was for a lightning cable replacement. It took an hour for the "genius" to diagnose the issue and to tell me the cable was dead. Really dude? This was with an appointment (since I know how the Apple store is always busy). I got a new cable, but it shouldn't have taken more than five minutes...I haven't used their support for anything else (granted all my Apple products are now out of warranty).

That seems really unusual for the Apple Genius.

And, may I humbly suggest that, even if the item is out of warranty, give the Apple Store a shot - you can sometimes be pleasantly surprised (like secret replacement programs).

MotionMan

 

[tsupersonic]

That seems really unusual for the Apple Genius.

And, may I humbly suggest that, even if the item is out of warranty, give the Apple Store a shot - you can sometimes be pleasantly surprised (like secret replacement programs).

MotionMan

Yeah, it shocked me. Anyways, I only have a few remaining Apple products - iPhone 6 (not my DD, need to sell), iPad Air (still working like a champ for Netflix/Youtube/media consumption), MBPr 2013 (still going strong).

 

[Zaap]

^ I hope that was in the early days of lightning cables.

Because any time since then it would have been better just to toss a questionable cable and splurge a couple bucks for a new one, than waste any time at all in an Apple store over it. Unless it was literally a transaction like: Walk in. "This cable no longer works. I'll take this new one for it." Walk out.

 

[tsupersonic]

It was in the days of the iPhone 5S so late 2013 maybe 2014? I expected a quick transaction like that, but nope. Back in the day lightning cables were $15 for a good third party cable.