Reader JB is a big Apple fan, but he doesn’t understand why his wife’s defective power cord isn’t covered by her warranty. He writes:
The center pin from her power brick BROKE OFF in the computer. Now, Apple’s infamous for power-cords that fray and break, but this is a totally new failure in my 18 years as a sysadmin. NEVER have I seen the pin of a power adapter break off in its computer.
She took it to an Apple store in the metro DC area (I’m not sure where. She’s living down there for school right now, while I’m home in Boston) and it seems they told her – 3 times: the local Genius, the Genius’ manager, and the regional service supervisor – that since they’ve never seen anything like this before (which isn’t surprising), they’re not going to cover it and instead she needs to pay them $300 for a new power board and for a new adapter.
In the mean time, she’s SOL.
We’re going to give JB’s wife the benefit of the doubt that she didn’t purposefully mangle her power cord or try to rope cattle with it. JB says they did not mistreat the machine. With that in mind, is “We’ve never seen anything like this before” a good enough reason to give someone when turning down their warranty coverage? Read JB’s letter inside.
JB writes:
Sadly, this report will be short on details for 2 reasons, which will become apparent as we go.
I’ve been a fan of Apple’s since the late 70′s, when I 1st got an Apple ][+. Over the years, I've owned exactly 4 brand-new computers (as opposed to various used/trash-picked boxes, or the ones work has given me.) 3 of them have been from Apple (The above mentioned A][+, a Mac Plus, and my current Mac Book Pro, and 1 was an Apple ][ clone (a Basis 128!).
Sadly, they’re REALLY getting on my nerves when it comes to my wife’s iBook.
She has not had good luck with Apple’s hardware over the years, and her current machine has been, while better than her previous one, still problematic – 2-3 new hard drives, a board or 2, and a couple of keyboards, at least. Apple has, mostly, dealt with reasonably good grace, but have been difficult from time to time, and we all know how the dumbing of the Genius Bar has gone.
The latest problem is a cake-taker, though. The center pin from her power brick BROKE OFF in the computer. Now, Apple’s infamous for power-cords that fray and break, but this is a totally new failure in my 18 years as a sysadmin. NEVER have I seen the pin of a power adapter break off in its computer.
She took it to an Apple store in the metro DC area (I’m not sure where. She’s living down there for school right now, while I’m home in Boston) and it seems they told her – 3 times: the local Genius, the Genius’ manager, and the regional service supervisor – that since they’ve never seen anything like this before (which isn’t surprising), they’re not going to cover it and instead she needs to pay them $300 for a new power board and for a new adapter.
In the mean time, she’s SOL. She has no computer. She has no school notes. She has none of the records of her previous discussions and issues with Apple about this and past machines. (Yes. I know. I’m a sysadmin. Where are her backups? The Cobbler’s Barefoot Children syndrome strikes again.)
I’ve suggested that she try to borrow a battery from said store and use Firewire Target Disk mode to get files off, and I’ll be forwarding her the exec CC contact info in http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/executive-customer-service/get-applecare-executive-customer-service-2 10715.php but really, this is, in my EVER so humble opinion, a joke! Just because the failure isn’t common, if it isn’t obviously (or even likely) a case of malfeasance on the part of the warranted (which I’d think would be obvious. The power adapter’s shield would have to be mangled if my wife, for some weird reason, had broken the pin off herself.) then it should be covered, or at LEAST much more carefully investigated before being rejected.
I’m… miffed.
Thanks for listening,
JB
From what we can tell, JB’s wife’s machine is a lemon, or maybe her computer is just cursed. Anyone out there got suggestions for JB? Exorcism? Crystals? —MEGHANN MARCO
(Photo: CB Photography)
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Meh. You only ever hear about the bad stuff. What you don’t hear about is the millions of people who happily use their Apple hardware every day without fail. Plus people who love Windows are always looking for an opportunity to point at Apple and claim they’re inferior. I have a G4 ibook. I’ve never had any kind of problem with the power adapter or anything else. I even had the keyboard replaced under Applecare when I spilled half a litre of water on it. I’m perfectly happy and I got more than I paid for as far as I’m concerned.
My first laptop was an eMachines M6809 purchased from Best Buy with extended warranty and the power adapter failed several times. The laptop would get so hot that it would melt the pin off the cord. The first time, the insertion point melted around the pin and that section of the laptop had to be replaced to remove it. However, the Geeks did not initially agree it was a warranty repair. They said it could be deemed abuse. The laptop would have to be sent to their repair facility and a determination made. They’d let me know. I was adamant that the melted plastic at the end of the power cord and the pin welded into the laptop was not of my doing. It’s is on its third or fourth power adapter now no questions asked.
If the pin is stuck in the laptop, something else is probably going on. If not, power adapters may legitimately not be covered for wear. In any case, I wouldn’t deal with store lackies. Call the support line and ship it back.
I am having the same problem and then some. My machine no longer wanted to turn on, I left it off with the battery out for a few days in hopes that maybe it would resolve itself. When I went to charge it back up I inserted the power adapter normally and it felt weird, so I pulled it straight back out only to have the tip break off. I am being quoted somewhere around $250 to fix a faulty desing issue. I cant afford this, I thought I had bought a relible well built machine, not one where a little pin from the power adapter would cost me $250. I have attempted to contact the number listed earlier in this thread. The first person I spoke to said it was accidental damage and would not be covered by my warranty, but accident to me would mean pure chance, this is happening to too many people to be chance. I left a message with Jean and I truly hope Apple steps up and helps me out by replacing a part that does not cost them very much. I will continue to be a loyal Apple customer if they do, if not, well, just wait and see how many people I can convince not to buy from them.
After calling Jean another gentleman named Allen called me back. They still deny that it is an issue and will not help me in any way. Thank you Apple, I will not be buying your products ever again, and Im spreading the word wherever I can.