Filed under: Retail, Bad Apple, Apple, Macbook Pro
Apple's quality dwindling: My MacBook Pro sob story
When faced with the dilemma of upgrading my iBook G4 in June, I started looking for a replacement that would have the same performance as my Intel iMac. I decided upon getting a MacBook Pro 15". With money in hand, I eagerly clicked the "buy now" button on Apple's website. Little did I know that I would be trading in my MacBook Pro more than 6 times over the next 2 months. I received my first MacBook Pro, and it was beautiful. I loved everything about it. However, after 2 weeks of use, I started noticing the screen striping symptom that others before me have noted. This problem usually occurred after charging the computer from a half-filled battery and unplugging the MagSafe power cable. I didn't think anything of this problem, since it only happened once or twice. After another week of use, the striping problem started becoming an everyday part of charging the computer. I called Apple and even emailed them the picture that you see above (minus the additional note) -- they did nothing and said it was a "software glitch."
The first MacBook Pro did have another problem: When I went to check my email one day, every program would crash repeatedly. I immediately ran the Apple hardware test (AHT) to find out what was going on. As any unlucky person (me) would have it, the memory sticks were dead. I called AppleCare, told them all of the problems I was having and then told them about the AHT results. They set up a replacement order since I was having hardware problems within the first month of ownership.
Continue reading to learn more about my MacBook Pro woes.
Replacement #2
Here goes again ... a new MacBook Pro would surely fix the situation, right? Nope. This time, Apple completely fails when they send a refurbished unit (even after they told me it would be new). I call Apple back and they can't believe the situation. They offer to send me yet another replacement.
Replacement #3
Replacement number three comes via FedEx. What to my amazement do I see? Yeah ... it's another refurbished unit. Complete with finger prints on the screen, glue substance on the trackpad, and broken up pieces Styrofoam in the box. I called Apple back with a little less less amusement this time: they offered to cancel the current order, return the refurbished unit, and let me order the same product. They claimed this method was faster than going through AppleCare. I asked them if they could upgrade the RAM or do something for my wasted time. They offered me $45 off the new order and free overnight shipping. I was a little disappointed, but accepted.
Replacement #4
I returned the previous MacBook Pro and went to order the new one. With my order processed, I called Apple back to claim my $45 and free shipping. The representative tells me that the shipping has been added and the price has been adjusted. I get home to see that the MacBook Pro would be arriving in 5 days. "What? How could this be ... they just added the overnight shipping!" I called them back and found out the the rep did not, in fact, add the shipping. They offered to give me a $50 case to go along with my MacBook Pro. At this point, they could have just upgraded the RAM and called it a day.
Replacement #5
My "new" order arrives. I stared at the box for several minutes, speechless. Apple had sent me a box with a previous person's shipping label still attached. I peeled back the white sheet of paper Apple had covered it up with. There was a note to Apple from the previous recipient: "Opened and noticed that this was not my correct order." I opened it and notice that it had been resealed. Nice. Very nice. I called Apple back ... once again they sent me another replacement.
Replacement #6
When was the last time Apple was shipping MacBook Pros with Tiger installed? That's right, I received a MacBook Pro running Tiger. There wasn't even an upgrade DVD included! I once again called Apple only to hear that they would be sending me another replacement. I told them, "This is my last time doing a replacement. Make sure you get the order right this time, or else you've lost a customer."
Replacement #7
I received my seventh replacement yesterday, and so far all seems well, but we'll see.
Situation outcome
"7th MacBook is the charm," or so the saying goes. I must admit, the FedEx lady and I have become good friends. This situation has definitely changed my view of Apple and how their products might not be necessarily worth the "Apple tax" that we all pay.
Oh, who am I kidding? Tomorrow morning I'll be the same fan boy that I've always been.
Do you have an Apple story like this to tell? Be sure to sound off in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
(01) said 12:12PM on 8-01-2008
That's...unbelievable. I do have to ask why you didn't resolve this at a store (I'm assuming none close enough)? Glad you finally got a working unit, good luck!
Reply
Doug said 1:40AM on 8-02-2008
You would get the same run around in the store despite the promise of "rock star" customer service. I would have insisted I get my money back and then just made another purchase. I think after 5 or 6 machines, I think you could make the case that the two of you must part ways. Did you report the situation to your credit card company?
Tony Bowman said 12:13PM on 8-01-2008
i bought a refurbed, 1st-gen 15" MacBook Pro in June of '06 and have had exactly ZERO problems with it. I've installed SMC Fan Control and run the fans at about 2500 RPMs continuously, and that goes a long way to keeping the keyboard comfortable cool. hah. when i'm doing video encoding/transcoding or some other hosepower-intensive task, i jump the fans up to about 5500 RPMs while i'm doing it, and then drop it back down when i'm done.
the fans are rated for 6000 RPMs, so it's all good.
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Neil said 2:21PM on 8-01-2008
I bet your case is warped.
Tony Bowman said 2:56PM on 8-01-2008
not that i've noticed.
Alexis said 6:40AM on 8-03-2008
My LCD had dust behind it after a few months, so i took it to the apple store and got it replaced. I also told them that the bottom case was warped. They said that as fine and that they would change it.
I then went to pick my machine up (i was using my powerbook G4 for a few days.... it was killing me) and it turned out they had put the wrong type of LCD on (non glossy). I wasnt too pleased, and they said they had no glossy LCD's in stock, so i went back a few days later. I was told they would change it same day, but the 'genius' and the genius bar said that I would have to wait a week. Obviously i wasnt pleased, and after complaining to the manager they did it after 2 hours. They were going to also charge me for the bottom case, which was warped, but decided to not charge me because they had made a mistake with the screen... Not too impressed...
James Donevan said 12:14PM on 8-01-2008
"Apple's quality dwindling"
Based on your story, you actually mean: "Apple's customer support dwindling". You had one faulty unit, then five instances of poor customer service. This would be a far more important, and disturbing, story if the title were accurate: i.e. you had received six poor quality units.
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(01) said 12:48PM on 8-01-2008
I think he's more talking about the letter Apple sent to resellers informing of them of impending stock shortages...As such, getting a new, replacement machine is likely to be more difficult right now.
eric f. said 11:46AM on 8-02-2008
@(01) , that interpretation is quite a reach, considering that "stock issues" weren't even mentioned in the post.
But I agree, with James Donevan, It's a customer service issue, not a general company-wide quality issue.
IMO, the title is purposefully vague in the attempt to gain readership with a sensationalist headlines (big surprise).
Victor Agreda Jr said 12:18PM on 8-01-2008
Jeez! Quality has been going down since Steve came back, partly because computers became a commodity and the price wars were not pretty to a company who has long prided itself on the mantra "more expensive, but worth it." Oh, and they had kickin' margins.
But I have seen build quality just go to hell. My first G3 Mac was a rev1 blue and white tower. The one with a bus glitch that prevented me from adding enough storage to do the video editing I was trying to do. Oh, and the firewire bridge died about 5 weeks into ownership. Subsequent replacement failed about a day after the warranty ran out.
Then there's the joke of the ever-devolving keyboards on ibooks. Rubbing off letters, clackety boards, etc. From an icebook to last rev G4, they just kept getting faster and crappier (except the screens, which did improve).
Don't get me started on optical drives...
Still, sending you a Tiger machine is just sloppy.
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Jsett said 12:19PM on 8-01-2008
I had a first generation MacBook Pro that had a logic board fail shortly after the warranty had expired. I paid a nice price to have it replaced, only to see it fail again less than 30 days after. Luckily it was replaced for free since they had a 90 day hardware warranty on the board. It was a little frustrating but compared your woes, it looks like I had it easy.
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paul said 12:19PM on 8-01-2008
Your sob story, in addition to being annoyingly whiny, also is inaccurate, your Replacement #4 isn't even a replacement, but story about someone not giving you overnight shipping. When you are complaining, being inaccurate is shooting yourself in the foot.
Anyway, personally i would have kept the first replacement, the refurbished one which apparently you didn't even turn on and had no defects. In my experience Apple's refurbs are LESS likely to have something wrong with them than a new one, and they have the same warranty.
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Christina Warren said 12:30PM on 8-01-2008
If you paid for the brand new unit (and not the discounted refurb price) and had issues in the first month and Apple said they were giving you a new one, you wouldn't balk at receiving a refurb? I have pretty high tolerance for that kind of thing (I worked in computer retail for far too long and understand what it is like to be on the other side of the aisle), but I wouldn't accept that. Not unless they wanted to credit me the difference between the refurb and the new unit.
paul said 12:50PM on 8-01-2008
if after receiving a faulty new unit and then get a perfect condition refurb that looked new and acted new and had the same warranty as a new one, then yes, i'd be glad i got the computer i wanted and would save myself a whole lot of hassle and use the computer i had in my hands that worked as i wanted it to. but then again i look at my computers as tools more than possessions or status symbols, so maybe if I had different priorities i'd feel differently.
obviously, i'm not defending Apple here, they have performed terribly, but I don't see this situation as an aberration, and so i AM discussing strategies to use when things like this happen.
Rubbinz said 12:52PM on 8-01-2008
So basically, Paul, if you walked onto a car showroom and picked out and paid for that shiny brand new one, you'd have zero problems if I gave you the one I keep in back that is used for test drives and already has 300 miles on it.
Me, personally, I'm not loyal to any 1 company for anything. If I'd been through what Cory went through I'd be shopping for a different system elsewhere.
paul said 12:56PM on 8-01-2008
Rubbinz, you computer as car analogy is genius, except for the fact that the only similarity between the two is they are things people buy. to really push your point you should have used a new cheese vs. moldy cheese analogy.
the_0ne said 12:58PM on 8-01-2008
You are joking, right? You would allow a company to make you bend over and accept an inferior product when you purchased it brand new.
Robot Kitten Face said 1:02PM on 8-01-2008
Paul, just quit now and admit you're an asshole troll.
Rubbinz said 1:07PM on 8-01-2008
Well, Paul, if your only answer is to argue the analogy fine. We can accept that you're the type that pays for new, but accepts refurbished as the same. President Bush depends on people like you to go out there and toss money around to boost the economy. ;-)
Hawkman said 6:10PM on 8-01-2008
I don't think I'd have a problem with a _perfect condition_ refurb either, to be honest. Obviously they were wrong to send it, though, and Cory was quite entitled to return it. But as it turned out, if I'd kept a pristine refurb unit at step 2 I think I'd count myself ahead of the game here! ;)