Apple Gives Macbook Smasher A New Macbook
Apple contacted me over the weekend and arranged for me to pick up a new macbook on Tuesday...I am also going to be posting a follow up video for youtube to explain how apple went above and beyond any expectation I had for a company.
The popularity of the video got someone's attention and they exchanged the broken pieces of the old macbook for a brand new model... I'm very happy now. Apple bent over backwards for me, and they assured me a simple letter would have gotten the same results. I suppose I might have to try that next time before I break out the sledge...
-Michael
If you recall, Michael was pissed because Apple denied his warranty repair, saying there was liquid damage. Michael denied spilling any liquid, and made a video of himself smashing his Macbook with a sledgehammer.
Now, for the future, remember that if you want to dispute an Apple warranty denial based on alleged user damage, you can request pictures. Also, like Apple said, a letter is probably in order. Then again, you can't deny the power of an effective product smashing video with over 100,000 YouTube, 48,000 views on Consumerist, views and 1400 diggs.
PREVIOUSLY: Man Teaches Apple To Not Repair His Macbook By Smashing It With Sledgehammer
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Comments:
Headline should read, "Overgrown baby throws tantrum and gets his way."
Any sign of the GeekSquad footage anywhere?
Anyone?
I don't know if this should be in 'Above & Beyond'. Apple should have repaired the darn thing in the first place.
Michael, you owe Qwell a macbook.
(or at least a "Thank you")
I'm smashing my iBook cause it's old, the screen is too dark, and it's all scratched up. Stevie J, feel free to send me a new one.
Black or White, I don't care. I'm not racist. You can even send me a grey one. Possibly one with a black top and a white bottom, or the other way around. Not particular.
I'm sure if you send Ben an email he can get in touch with me. I think you should probably give Ben a new MacBook for his troubles as well.
1. make video of you smashing a laptop
2. ...
3. PROFIT!
i'm surprised it took that long. of course apple is gonna spend a couple hundred bucks in manufacturing costs to hand him a new one, it's great/cheap p.r.
So I guess it's ok to throw a temper tantrum and bully one's way into a new MacBook?
I think this sets a terrible precedent for resolving service issues. Will I now have to break out a camera and prove myself a major d-bag ala Michael every time there's a problem with my product?
Sellout. If a company had pissed me off THAT much, called me a liar and ripped me off when I shelled out for their extended-warranty BS, I'd have shoved their replacement up their rears (or smashed IT too and posted another video).
Once I dropped my ice cream and screamed myself blue in the face until the man behind the counter gave me another.
Of course, I was four at the time. YMMV.
"Apple bent over backwards for me, and they assured me a simple letter would have gotten the same results."
The simple letter, in my mind, is what Consumerist is about. I'm glad you got your replacement laptop and even happier you learned your lesson.
"Apple bent over backwards for me, and they assured me a simple letter would have gotten the same results. I suppose I might have to try that next time before I break out the sledge..."
I seem to recall that very suggestion being made in the original post on this subject.
I guess the next time a company doesn't fulfill my expectation to the 'nth' degree on the first go, I'll just smash some shit up and wait for the free goods to start rolling in.
@Xerloq: Sadly, I don't think any lesson was learned. By taking the low road he still got a replacement machine AND he got the notoriety generated from the YouTube vid.
This guy is a giant douche. He doesn't deserve a bloody dime. His video was a tasteless, humourless waste of time and bandwidth. He resorted to immature whining and got what he wanted. I think much less of Apple now for giving in like this.
"I am also going to be posting a follow up video for youtube to explain how apple went above and beyond any expectation I had for a company."
Congratulations! You're officially a puppet! It took Jim Henson and government cronies many lifetimes to master what you did by unleashing the power of the interweb.
Dick.
People who annoy you...
Maybe "Below and Beyond" would have been a better category...
If I remember correctly (too lazy to actually go back and look), but didn't he comment on his site, and also in the comments of the original article on this site, that he gives companies exactly one chance, and that's that, no exceptions? Isn't this actually him giving a company a second chance and going against everything he purported to believe?
Great precedent here - act like a moron, film it, reward it.
> they assured me a simple letter would have gotten the same results
Horse pucky. You can search Macintouch.com for my and others' stories of Apple's customer service stonewalling.
I love my Mac, I hate what I saw of Apple Customer Relations. Guess I should have made a viral video instead of just posting some pictures on Flickr.
@el_gordo:
This guy is a giant douche. He doesn't deserve a bloody dime. His video was a tasteless, humourless waste of time and bandwidth. He resorted to immature whining and got what he wanted. I think much less of Apple now for giving in like this.
--
So basically he acted like a typical Apple-Fan-Boy and got what he wanted....
Sounds like Apple's just catering to their core audience -- people who have no common sense, nor life.
@Trick: So basically he acted like a typical Apple-Fan-Boy and got what he wanted....
Uhh, no. The typical Apple fan-boy would either one of two things:
1. Assume Apple could do no wrong and just accept the fact that he did spill something on his laptop.
or
2. He would blog it using one of his other Macs. He would carefully document the entire ordeal, send letters (with due respect) and perhaps end up getting a replacement by pulling the right strings in an appropriate fashion.
This guy is not your typical fan-boy. He states that it was the best laptop he's ever used... It's highly likely he's a defected Windows user, fed up with having to fix and patch and guard his OS with bloatware. He has clearly been an exclusive member at the Apple Party, carrying his black MacBook, (finally) getting noticed by the girls. Then one day, his cool-person membership blew up in his face. And he got angry. So angry that he acted against this new clique in violent frustration. He knew that he never would have fit in anyways. So he wanted to go out looking tough in front of all the other PC users.
Trust me, the Apple fans were happy to be rid of this loser.
But hey, don't look at me, I don't own a single Apple product.
@ Thrust: How old are you? 12?
The guy was an idiot to begin with... he didn't try contacting customer support again, or by writing a letter. Apple did bend over backwards for him.
What a douche. This guy seriously did NOT deserve a new Macbook. For one, I have serviced notebook computers, and water damage is water damage. The guy probably just spilled something on his shiny new laptop and felt like an idiot, so he tried to cover it up. Not only that, but he then proceeded to throw a tantrum on the internet (iTantrum?). He didn't deserve all the attention he got and he certainly shouldn't have been given a new Macbook.
Maybe Apple took the attention as advertising, and a chance to show the world that no matter how big babies customers can be, they're always there to mommy them.
@el_gordo: I'm with ya Gordo. No Apple, not even quicktime!
@quiksilver180: 25 actually, but it's news to me that having conviction must make someone immature. Tell you what, lets try a test. Give me ten dollars to NOT kick you in the nuts, then I WILL kick you in the nuts, but then give your ten bucks back. Doesn't balance does it? That's what apple did. They took his money, then kicked him in the nuts. So smash the laptop, post another video (and f**k the gift-coerced message that apple did right by him), and switch to PC.
This guy is such an ass and does not deserve a new laptop--he obviously spilled something on it. And Apple has proven, once again, that they have the best customer service in the industry.
If I was Apple I wouldn't have sent him anything!
This guy acted like a baby as many others have stated already.
But Apple seems to be in a good mood in the past few days. Just look how many "you know whats" they have replaced after people got them broken.
Though my hope is, that Apple is starting to slowly sell off their current MacBook line, anticipating the new ones due in October. At least rumors a thickening.
He doesn't deserve it in the least.
He's joined the likes of Paris Hilton in that he is a moron that became a "media" magnet for 15 mins because of his ridiculously childish actions, and now people are throwing free product at him.
Sad.
Doesn't deserve a new MacBook at all.
So he can throw a tantrum and get a new MacBook after he spilled water on it and didn't tell the truth? What a load of shit.
What if Apple offered to repair the MacBook for free, but he had already broken it into pieces by the time the letter arrived in the mail? That would have been outrageous.
This absolutely sickens me that this guy got a free laptop out of this.
I understand that this guy was upset that it wasn't a free repair, and I'm sure it was rewarding to smash up a laptop with a sledgehammer (I've wanted to do that for years)... but for Apple to turn around after seeing the video of him taking a sledgehammer to it, and then give him a 1500+ dollar laptop? Re-fucking-diculous.
That is like taking a car in for an oil check, finding that there is damage to the engine, driving the car off of a cliff, and then Ford saying "well, that's a nice wreck you have there... totally voids our warranty... care for a free new Taurus?"
Computers don't ship with liquid damage and people often don't know when something gets spilled inside them.
I don't agree that he should have been offered a free repair, just shown the evidence of damage. Why should Apple take responsibility for something that is not defective? This was a reward for irresponsible behavior and a continuation of a poor precedent, all at a very visible level.
Final Score:
Apple: 0
Caveman/douche/ass/tantrum boy: 0
I don't know if I'm the only one who feels thusly, but this guy is a massive douchebag.
The amount of money you spend for an exended warranty should shift the burden to apple to show not only that the liquid damage wasn't caused by it, but that the liquid damage was the CAUSE of the problem being experienced.
Otherwise, if there is any small smudge on the case, on the inside or anywhere on the machine it will free Apple from any obligation under the extended warranty contract whatsoever. If this happens a long time prior to the expiration then Apple will enjoy a substantial windfall because of the customer's accident. And that is unconscionable.
Therefore, if they truly believe it is the customer's fault, can prove it, and will use it to deny any subsequent claim under the extended warranty no matter whether it causes the problem or not, then they should immediately cut a check for the time remaining on the extended warranty-that is fair.
ahhhh...the power of viral internet videos.