My Powerbook screen broke itself

my best story from an apple store, is as follows. one day I'm sitting there waiting for something at the bar, my iPod, I don't remember, but this girl came in and was complaining about the queue for almost the entire about an hour she had to wait, and then said, once she got up to the bar, "so, i'm having a little trouble with my iBook. It's been working great, but when I came back from class the other day, it wasn't working right." so the genius slides the iBook across the bar, turns it around, and opens it up to reveal a *completely* shattered LCD. Not wanting to beat around the bush, he tells her, "This is not covered, as its accidental damage, since LCDs don't crack themselves, and it would be $1200 to send it to depot" (or something like that). Long story short, her dad yelled at that genius, another genius, and 2 members of the store management team for about an hour, while about then mall security showed up and he quieted down. I also heard the geniuses talking about how they took the computer in the back to take pictures and document it in the system, so any AppleCare rep would see exactly the extent of the damage.

Near the end of her father's tirade, the daughter asked the store manager "So you're telling me that you've never closed something inside your laptop?" "No, I haven't, and if I did, it wouldn't be covered" he replied. To which she merely said "You're a liar." To the store manager. After an hour of him and the other guys being telled at. Honey, or vinegar?

It made me feel good to see that the store didn't cave to that asshole and his holier-than-thou daughter.

"To be honest, I wish Apple *would* offer a Premium version of their AppleCare which covered all issues -- no questions asked -- like what is offered by the other major companies (aka Dell). It's basically an insurance program / support contract. I would pay for it."

Check out safeware.com; they offer computer insurance that covers pretty much anything except for theft from an unattended vehicle. I pay around $100/yr for around $11,000 in coverage. A few years ago my PowerBook screen was accidentally cracked and a few days and a $50 deductible later I had a brand new screen.

(Not affiliated, just a satisfied customer.)

About a year ago, when my iBook was just turning one i noticed that the little Apple emblem from the outside of the case was shining through. So i was like ok i can deal with this and i'll get it dealt with later. 2 months later it's getting pretty clear so i decide to bring it to the apple store.

They say that probably the thing that blocks the two things was out of place. Unfortunally they were very wrong. They send it off for repair. About a week later I get a call saying to get the screen repaired would be a $1100 repair (I did have apple care). So i start to figure out why. Turns out the Apple emblem was pushed in and was pushing into my screen. They told me that if the solutiong were not fixed the screen would crack and slowly die out. While the iBook stis in their shop i request pictures to see the damage. How hestitant they were to take pictures must have been the reason that the computer got repaired.

In short there are ways for a Apple Laptop screen to break itself.

Marc.

Granted that comparing a Corporate Warranty to a retail warranty is not fair. They are different beasts. I used the corporate warranty as an example cause thats what I knew off hand. I did some digging and here's what I found.

For comparisson:
CORPORATE:
Dell Latitude D610 purchased for $1750, 3-Years Comprehensive Support (Accidental coverage) is $50 extra.

RETAIL:
Now looking at the retail side... the $1910 (Inspiron 6000) with Comprehensive Support, includes Accidental damage. The rebate drops this $250)

So Dell had an accidental warranty. My question is does Apple have any accidental warranty? If I purchased a powerbook or macbook or macbookpro I would definitly look into it if its available.

Marc, Dell sells their accidental damage protection to regular customers as well, not just to companies

IBM and HP also offer 'accidental' protection/insurance

When I bought my iBook from CompUSA a few years back, I bought Comp's 3 year plan instead of Apple Care. It is a no questions asked repair/replace plan, covering accidental damage to the screen.

Much better than Apple Care IMO.

I manage an Apple Centre (Reseller) and see this sort of thing all the time.

The experiences mentioned in this article seem relatively tame. Just a week ago I had a gentleman bring in his iBook 14" with a shattered screen. When I refused to fix the computer under warranty he proceeded to argue it for the next hour. He even phoned Apple Customer Services from our shop and argued with them for 20 minutes. Whilst still on the phone to Apple, he dialed 999 (911) and told the EMERGENCY SERVICES that we were breaking the law and they should come right away.

The police nearly came to arrest him for wasting their time.

Comment 1 is a totally different situation. You cannot compare the warranty for a corporate purchaser to a retail warranty.

Hello!!!

I'm sure if you were a corporate purchaser of Apple laptops that arrived broken, Apple would replace them no questions asked.

you can replace the LCD yourself, easy to do

the screen itself can be found for $300 if you look online

i cracked the screen on my Titanium PB G4 a couple years ago. I have never gotten around to getting it fixed (Apple offered to fix it for $1300) so I use a crappy HP monitor. Still brings tears to my eyes. I figure if I've waited this long I can wait another year to get a new MacBookPro and a nicer monitor for my current PowerBook or eventually get the display fixed.