From: Karo
Date: March 21, 2007 5:00:42 PM CDT
To: steve@apple.com
Subject: Extreme dissatisfaction with my MacBook Pro and AppleCare service
To Whom it May Concern:
Please review the following tale of woe regarding a service issue I have with my MacBook Pro with AppleCare (serial Wxxxxxxxxxx). The issue at hand: My MacBook Pro does not go into sleep mode automatically when the lid is closed.
This seemingly innocuous and small problem has yet to be fixed after six months of phone calls to AppleCare and after sending my laptop away for repair. Twice. I have reset a small army's worth of PRAM and PMU. The issue is always "fixed." But it always comes back. I am tired of waking up to a drained battery in the morning, tired of making call after call to AppleCare, and after today's stunning incompetence on the part of Apple's phone support, I am simply fed up.
***
My current service (Dxxxxxxxx) was requested on Wednesday, March 14. My DHL box arrived Friday the 16th, and the laptop was dropped of at the local DHL facility Monday the 19th. Service was requested when it became clear that issue above had not been fixed last time computer had been sent in (dispatch number Dxxxxxxxx) in late February.
I checked the repair status online on the morning of Tuesday the 20th. It said the issue was being diagnosed. At approximately noon the message changed to "on hold -- need information." I assumed if the information was needed from me, I would be contacted. I was not, so the evening of the 20th I called and was told that the information was not needed from me, but from a specialist.
Wednesday the 21st the message remained the same. Around noon I called again. I provided the woman with whom I spoke the serial number, dispatch number, and case number. She entered every number incorrectly. After eventually accessing my file, she told me there was nothing more she could tell me.
I then did research on Apple's web site and found that the "on hold -- need information" message means that additional information is needed from the customer. I call back again. This time I am transferred directly to someone in the dispatch department (why did this not happen the first two times I called?). I am told that the problem is that the technicians can not replicate the problem, which reads as, "computer does not sleep."
(When I requested service on the 14th I repeated over and over again that that is not the issue. The agent on the phone would read back to me, "computer does not sleep" and I would correct her. Multiple times. Yet the issue was still transcribed incorrectly.)
I once again clarify the issue. I repeat, as I have countless times, that I have reset my PRAM and PMU and that the problem goes away, but only temporarily. It always comes back, usually after about 24 hours (although it was two weeks after it was returned to me when I sent it in for service last month). I provided the agent with the thread number in Apple discussions (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=636696&tstart=30) which has over 250 replies, all people who have the same problem. I provide the agent with a case and dispatch number of another MacBook Pro that had the same problem -- 74439066 (repair ID D10869804).
Please note that I was never notified via email that additional information was needed from me. In fact, my Apple ID was never linked to this service. If I had not checked the repair status online myself, repeatedly, who knows how long the laptop would have sat there at the service center, waiting for additional information.
It is now three and a half hours later, when I check the status online, the message remains "on hold -- need information."
***
To sum up, here are the problems my MacBook Pro has had since I was apparently foolish enough to order a new product it the day it was announced:
* Power adapter has been replaced. Twice.
* Battery bulged, warped the case, and was replaced.
* A two inch "smear" was visible on the screen against dark backgrounds.
* Corrosion of the topcase resulted in black spotting along the left wristrest.
* Aforementioned warping resulted in separation of topcase from side panel.
* DVD player refused to play all but brand-new, untouched disks. Any smudge or scratch rendered the disk unplayable.
* Lid of laptop would close on its own if positioned at an angle of less than about 40 degrees.
In Apple's defense, all issues were quickly taken care of. All except this one niggling issue that has plagued me for months, ever since the release of 10.4.8 update six months ago. I realize this problem is not a large one; however, a $2000 laptop should work as advertised. A $350 extended warranty should fix any issues promptly. Every time I send the laptop away I am left without the machine I work from home on. Every phone call that I make to AppleCare is time that I cannot get back.
I am not unreasonable; I understand computers will have problems. But so many in the span of just over a year? All I want is my MacBook Pro to work as it should. Please ensure that when it or its replacement arrives back from the service center the machine will go to sleep when the lid is closed and that the problem does not come back.
I have have owned three Apple laptops and one desktop since 1994, and I have worked on Macs in the office since 2000. What a shame it would be if Apple lost me as a customer and an enormous word-of-mouth proponent of its hardware over an issue as trivial as this one.
Sincerely,
Karo
Date: March 21, 2007 5:00:42 PM CDT
To: steve@apple.com
Subject: Extreme dissatisfaction with my MacBook Pro and AppleCare service
To Whom it May Concern:
Please review the following tale of woe regarding a service issue I have with my MacBook Pro with AppleCare (serial Wxxxxxxxxxx). The issue at hand: My MacBook Pro does not go into sleep mode automatically when the lid is closed.
This seemingly innocuous and small problem has yet to be fixed after six months of phone calls to AppleCare and after sending my laptop away for repair. Twice. I have reset a small army's worth of PRAM and PMU. The issue is always "fixed." But it always comes back. I am tired of waking up to a drained battery in the morning, tired of making call after call to AppleCare, and after today's stunning incompetence on the part of Apple's phone support, I am simply fed up.
***
My current service (Dxxxxxxxx) was requested on Wednesday, March 14. My DHL box arrived Friday the 16th, and the laptop was dropped of at the local DHL facility Monday the 19th. Service was requested when it became clear that issue above had not been fixed last time computer had been sent in (dispatch number Dxxxxxxxx) in late February.
I checked the repair status online on the morning of Tuesday the 20th. It said the issue was being diagnosed. At approximately noon the message changed to "on hold -- need information." I assumed if the information was needed from me, I would be contacted. I was not, so the evening of the 20th I called and was told that the information was not needed from me, but from a specialist.
Wednesday the 21st the message remained the same. Around noon I called again. I provided the woman with whom I spoke the serial number, dispatch number, and case number. She entered every number incorrectly. After eventually accessing my file, she told me there was nothing more she could tell me.
I then did research on Apple's web site and found that the "on hold -- need information" message means that additional information is needed from the customer. I call back again. This time I am transferred directly to someone in the dispatch department (why did this not happen the first two times I called?). I am told that the problem is that the technicians can not replicate the problem, which reads as, "computer does not sleep."
(When I requested service on the 14th I repeated over and over again that that is not the issue. The agent on the phone would read back to me, "computer does not sleep" and I would correct her. Multiple times. Yet the issue was still transcribed incorrectly.)
I once again clarify the issue. I repeat, as I have countless times, that I have reset my PRAM and PMU and that the problem goes away, but only temporarily. It always comes back, usually after about 24 hours (although it was two weeks after it was returned to me when I sent it in for service last month). I provided the agent with the thread number in Apple discussions (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=636696&tstart=30) which has over 250 replies, all people who have the same problem. I provide the agent with a case and dispatch number of another MacBook Pro that had the same problem -- 74439066 (repair ID D10869804).
Please note that I was never notified via email that additional information was needed from me. In fact, my Apple ID was never linked to this service. If I had not checked the repair status online myself, repeatedly, who knows how long the laptop would have sat there at the service center, waiting for additional information.
It is now three and a half hours later, when I check the status online, the message remains "on hold -- need information."
***
To sum up, here are the problems my MacBook Pro has had since I was apparently foolish enough to order a new product it the day it was announced:
* Power adapter has been replaced. Twice.
* Battery bulged, warped the case, and was replaced.
* A two inch "smear" was visible on the screen against dark backgrounds.
* Corrosion of the topcase resulted in black spotting along the left wristrest.
* Aforementioned warping resulted in separation of topcase from side panel.
* DVD player refused to play all but brand-new, untouched disks. Any smudge or scratch rendered the disk unplayable.
* Lid of laptop would close on its own if positioned at an angle of less than about 40 degrees.
In Apple's defense, all issues were quickly taken care of. All except this one niggling issue that has plagued me for months, ever since the release of 10.4.8 update six months ago. I realize this problem is not a large one; however, a $2000 laptop should work as advertised. A $350 extended warranty should fix any issues promptly. Every time I send the laptop away I am left without the machine I work from home on. Every phone call that I make to AppleCare is time that I cannot get back.
I am not unreasonable; I understand computers will have problems. But so many in the span of just over a year? All I want is my MacBook Pro to work as it should. Please ensure that when it or its replacement arrives back from the service center the machine will go to sleep when the lid is closed and that the problem does not come back.
I have have owned three Apple laptops and one desktop since 1994, and I have worked on Macs in the office since 2000. What a shame it would be if Apple lost me as a customer and an enormous word-of-mouth proponent of its hardware over an issue as trivial as this one.
Sincerely,
Karo
Apple is like... Mustang, or Corvette, or Spiderman. They command such blind, unthinking brand loyalty, they don't need the product to actually be decent anymore.
Posted by: Emptyman | Friday, March 23, 2007 at 01:18 PM
i hear ya on that.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v393/julie27/fuckapple1.jpg
Posted by: | Wednesday, May 16, 2007 at 01:32 AM
I feel so much happier now I unerdstand all this. Thanks!
Posted by: Elouise | Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 07:52 PM