Is it cheaper to fake a battery repair than to buy new?

My girlfriend recently had an issue with her MacBook battery (it wasn't charging). I called apple support for her and got them to ship us a new one. It took forever because they were on back order but when it arrived it was just a battery in a box. There was no fancy apple box, with fold-out flaps and a manual on the care and feeding of the battery. It was just the battery. I'm sure this has everything to do with the price difference.

If you buy computer parts on-line you usually get this option you can buy the "retail" version of a piece of hardware and it arrives like it would if you bought it from a store. Or you can get the "OEM" version and just get the hardware in a box.

Thanks Clair!

Gary, we purchased a replacement from macwizards.com and it's worked well. I think another was just released from fastmac.com (I think).

Don't they keep track of the serial numbers? When my battery needed to be replaced, I had to enter my battery's model and serial number into the system.

The warranty difference is the most plausible reason for the price difference. Apple's probably making equal profits regardless of which route you chose to buy the battery.

Don't worry your macbook battery will just burst into flames anyways. BTW, my wifes macbook (not pro) is in the shop because the battery won't hold a charge and guess what its delayed b/c the batteries are on backorder....can we say "silent battery recall"

Who cares about the battery? How about the 11 repair jobs?

Why is Apple completely incapable of building a solid laptop? Why do they continue to build shit laptops? Yes, 11 repair jobs qualifies not as a suck laptop but as a shitty laptop.

The TiBook. The MacBook. Come on, Apple, stop boning your customers.

I noticed a similar difference in price here in the US when my first MBP battery bloated. I sent the battery back though, no use keeping the ugly thing.

A battery purchased through the service department of Apple only carries a 90-day warranty. That's why it's cheaper. A retail battery carries a full-year warranty.

Guys, kindof off topic but does anyone recommend a good power adapter replacement for my 12 inch PB G4 (1.5gHz)?

Mine seems to be acting up...

Thanks!
Gary

I did this last year. I ordered a MacBook the day they came out and when I got it in the mail it would not recognize it had a battery. They said it was a battery issue and mailed one to me, but that didn't work and they realized I needed a new laptop. I read on the paperwork that came with the new battery that if I kept it they would charge me less than what it would cost to buy one brand new so I just kept it and have two batteries. This has been a HUGE help on long trips or flights. Just think if Apple offered an option for it's laptops where for a little over $100 you could double the battery life of your laptop. Who wouldn't jump at that??? I know I did:)