I'm never getting my computer back!

[RoJoHen]

15 days ago, I dropped off my MacBook at the Apple Store.

14 days ago, they called me and told me they were going to replace the Logic Board. They didn't have any in-stock, so they needed to order one.

8 days ago, they called me and told me that the Logic Board was never broken. Instead, it was the keyboard. In order to fix the keyboard, they would need to ship my computer to "The Depot." Repairs could take 3-7 days (which means it should have been done no later than yesterday).

Today, I called the Apple Store to check on my computer, and they have no idea if it's done or not. According to their records, it is still at "The Depot" (whatever that means), but they have not been updated on the status of the repair.

I am getting annoyed. Can't they just give me a new one or something?

 

[Joshua Howard]

I don't know anything about Macs, so "Logic board" sounds kind of corny to me; but gathering that what they actually intended to say was "Motherboard", I am forced to bring up a really elementary question: How do you confuse a faulty motherboard with a faulty keyboard?

Patience is probably your best bet; I know how irritating it is having a computer that you want to use sitting in a shop though.

 

[Luckyflux]

Yea right! How does an "expert" confuse a system board with a keyboard? Something doesn't smell right...

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, the problem was that the computer wouldn't turn on, however the battery was fully charged. I believe they assumed (which, in this industry, is probably not the way to go) that the Logic Board was faulty. They replaced the Logic Board, and it still wouldn't turn on, so then they actually bothered checking to see what was REALLY wrong with it.

The Power Button was broken, which meant they had to have the whole keyboard/trackpad/power button thing replaced.

 

[Shikarnov]

Technically a motherboard is a logic board. The "mother" designation simply distinguishes it from the other logic boards ("daughter" boards) that connect to it -- like PCI cards, and etc. And since we're talking about a Macbook, it's pretty unlikely there's gonna be several boards inside. So "logic board" works.

 

[Miss Chicken]

When my previous computer broke down twice during the first year I had it Acer arranged for the repairs to be done at my house. First time the DVD drive had to be replaced, the second time the fan. This was a desktop computer and it was under warranty.The longest wait I had between phoning Acer and the technician turning up was three days.

 

[Kestra]

Dude, you probably messed up your computer because of something stupid you did while drunk. Correct? You're getting it fixed, you're not shelling out $$$, and it's still under warranty. Consider yourself lucky and try and be a bit patient.

 

[RoJoHen]

When my previous computer broke down twice during the first year I had it Acer arranged for the repairs to be done at my house. First time the DVD drive had to be replaced, the second time the fan. This was a desktop computer and it was under warranty.

Mine is under warranty, too, thank god. I'm doing all right with my old computer right now, but I had a bunch of pictures on my Mac that I wanted to have printed and framed to decorate my new apartment. That's the most annoying thing right now.

 

[Shikarnov]

Dude, you probably messed up your computer because of something stupid you did while drunk. Correct? You're getting it fixed, you're not shelling out $$$, and it's still under warranty. Consider yourself lucky and try and be a bit patient.

If I was without my computer for two weeks, I'd be going bullshit on Apple - warranty or not. That's just unacceptably poor service.

It's also why I never bother with the extended warranty (AppleCare), and either scour the 'net for suggestions when something breaks, or bring it to some kind of local repair facility with techies that actually want to win and keep my business.

 

[RoJoHen]

Dude, you probably messed up your computer because of something stupid you did while drunk. Correct? You're getting it fixed, you're not shelling out $$$, and it's still under warranty. Consider yourself lucky and try and be a bit patient.

I am being patient, and if they had told me, "It'll be 3 weeks before it's fixed," that would be fine. But it was supposed to be fixed a week ago. It wasn't. Then then told me it would be fixed by yesterday. It's still not fixed. It's not even at The Apple Store!

I don't mind waiting. I do mind being dicked around. If you're going to quote me a time frame for the repairs, have the repairs done in that time frame. And if they are going to take longer, have the courtesy to keep me updated. I shouldn't have to be the one to call and check.

 

[Joshua Howard]

The moral of the story here (though not so applicable dealing with Apple products) is that if you have a choice, it is always best to take your computer to a little private computer repair shop as opposed to one of the corporatey big-time places.

 

[Miss Chicken]

^^^ Which isn't aalways a wise thing to do if the computer is still under warranty.

 

[Amaris]

Dude, you probably messed up your computer because of something stupid you did while drunk. Correct? You're getting it fixed, you're not shelling out $$$, and it's still under warranty. Consider yourself lucky and try and be a bit patient.

If I was without my computer for two weeks, I'd be going bullshit on Apple - warranty or not. That's just unacceptably poor service.

It's also why I never bother with the extended warranty (AppleCare), and either scour the 'net for suggestions when something breaks, or bring it to some kind of local repair facility with techies that actually want to win and keep my business.

Are you kidding? I used to get Dell laptop drives in that were already 3 weeks overdue! They would just get rotated through the system until they finally reached me and I actually fixed what needed fixing. I found a priority repair order sitting in the system that was slated for return to the customer in August of 2007. It was March of 2008.

J.

 

[RoJoHen]

Dude, you probably messed up your computer because of something stupid you did while drunk. Correct? You're getting it fixed, you're not shelling out $$$, and it's still under warranty. Consider yourself lucky and try and be a bit patient.

If I was without my computer for two weeks, I'd be going bullshit on Apple - warranty or not. That's just unacceptably poor service.

It's also why I never bother with the extended warranty (AppleCare), and either scour the 'net for suggestions when something breaks, or bring it to some kind of local repair facility with techies that actually want to win and keep my business.

Are you kidding? I used to get Dell laptop drives in that were already 3 weeks overdue! They would just get rotated through the system until they finally reached me and I actually fixed what needed fixing. I found a priority repair order sitting in the system that was slated for return to the customer in August of 2007. It was March of 2008.

J.

This does not make me happy.

 

[Amaris]

If I was without my computer for two weeks, I'd be going bullshit on Apple - warranty or not. That's just unacceptably poor service.

It's also why I never bother with the extended warranty (AppleCare), and either scour the 'net for suggestions when something breaks, or bring it to some kind of local repair facility with techies that actually want to win and keep my business.

Are you kidding? I used to get Dell laptop drives in that were already 3 weeks overdue! They would just get rotated through the system until they finally reached me and I actually fixed what needed fixing. I found a priority repair order sitting in the system that was slated for return to the customer in August of 2007. It was March of 2008.

J.

This does not make me happy.

Oh, you should be alright. Dell probably repairs more laptops a day than Apple sells in a week.

J.

 

[RoJoHen]

Are you kidding? I used to get Dell laptop drives in that were already 3 weeks overdue! They would just get rotated through the system until they finally reached me and I actually fixed what needed fixing. I found a priority repair order sitting in the system that was slated for return to the customer in August of 2007. It was March of 2008.

J.

This does not make me happy.

Oh, you should be alright. Dell probably repairs more laptops a day than Apple sells in a week.

J.

I just feel like my little laptop is being tortured in this mysterious "Depot." I mean, really, how can the store not know how the repairs are coming along?

They're replacing a part. I'm no computer expert, but how long can that actually take?

 

[Amaris]

This does not make me happy.

Oh, you should be alright. Dell probably repairs more laptops a day than Apple sells in a week.

J.

I just feel like my little laptop is being tortured in this mysterious "Depot." I mean, really, how can the store not know how the repairs are coming along?

They're replacing a part. I'm no computer expert, but how long can that actually take?

Anywhere from 72 hours to six weeks, on average.

J.

 

[RoJoHen]

Oh, you should be alright. Dell probably repairs more laptops a day than Apple sells in a week.

J.

I just feel like my little laptop is being tortured in this mysterious "Depot." I mean, really, how can the store not know how the repairs are coming along?

They're replacing a part. I'm no computer expert, but how long can that actually take?

Anywhere from 72 hours to six weeks, on average.

J.

I mean the actual physical act of replacing the part. Take out old part. Put in new part. An hour or two?

And what I really don't understand is why they were able to replace the Logic Board in house (they simply had to wait for it to be delivered) but to replace the keyboard they had to ship the computer off somewhere.

 

[Amaris]

I just feel like my little laptop is being tortured in this mysterious "Depot." I mean, really, how can the store not know how the repairs are coming along?

They're replacing a part. I'm no computer expert, but how long can that actually take?

Anywhere from 72 hours to six weeks, on average.

J.

I mean the actual physical act of replacing the part. Take out old part. Put in new part. An hour or two?

And what I really don't understand is why they were able to replace the Logic Board in house (they simply had to wait for it to be delivered) but to replace the keyboard they had to ship the computer off somewhere.

The queuing takes the longest. You may have your laptop looked at within the first 24 hours of arrival at the depot, but more than likely not. The only products that get that treatment are high end corporate accounts, and only if they pay for it. Most likely, they'll get to your laptop within 3-5 days, repair the part at the same time they're repairing about a 100 laptops simultaneously, and then they'll pack it up and send it on down the line, to where you'd get it (after packing and shipping) after about two weeks total from arrival at the depot to departure. It's not uncommon to take longer, and sometimes it's shorter, but they're never just replacing one part on one laptop.

J.

 

[RoJoHen]

Then they shouldn't say 3-7 days, should they?

As I said earlier, I don't mind waiting. Just give me a realistic estimate so I'm not frustrated when it's not ready when you said it would be.