Last Wendesday, I was sitting in my dorm room by myself, doing homework on my Macbook, which is less than two months old. After typing my essay for a while, I went on my bed to do some other homework. Nobody else was in the room at all during this time, just me. After about 10 minutes, I returned to my computer, opening it only to see that 1/3 of the screen was broken.My MacBook has never been dropped, I didn’t bump it, close it with any more force than I had ever previously closed it with, hit it on or with anything, nothing fell on it, and nothing (such as a pen) was resting on the keyboard when I closed it. I opened it, and the screen was cracked.
After freaking out and not being able to sleep all night because I was worrying about it, I went to the Apple Store in Chestnut Hill, MA for my appointment with the Genius Bar at 6:30pm. The genius, Jason, who helped my mother and I, was really awesome. I cannot say anything negative about him. He did what he could to help us, which was to tell us that, essentially, my $250 AppleCare warranty was basically a waste of money because now I had to pay $755 to have my screen fixed because it wasn’t covered under the warranty.
Uhm…excuse me? When I was buying the MacBook, the sales associate who forced Apple Care onto me, told me that it would cover anything that should happen to the computer, aside from water damage. I must stress that the associate, at the particular store where I went to ask about the problem, told me ANYTHING would be covered EXCEPT for water damage. Well, this isn’t water damage. Yet, they still tell me I have to pay $755.
So, Jason gets the manager, Chris, to come talk to us. Everything went downhill from here. Of course I was upset, my computer which cost $1704 when everything was said and done, was broken after almost exactly two months, and they wanted another $755 to fix it even though I didn’t cause the damage and I have the warranty.
Chris was awful. Some people just should NOT be in customer service. We explained what had happened, and all he could say was that I MUST have dropped my computer, which I didn’t, or whenever he responded to something I said or asked, he “couldn’t” comment on it. Well, when it went back and forth for a while of “You dropped it” and “No I didn’t!”, I finally asked, well, are you calling me a liar? He comes out with another one of his “I can’t comment on that”. Wow, was I so mad at this point.
I picked up my laptop, walked over to the nearest people looking at computers, showed it to them and said not to buy a Mac. At which point, Chris comes over to me, and physically puts his hands on me and pushes me away from them (yes, he really touched me. yes, he really pushed me. No, it wasn’t a very hard push, I am not bruised or injured, but the fact still remains that he did something that he should have NEVER done), and he told me to leave the store, making a scene and running out into the hallway of the mall and saying “Get out!” and calling for security.
Yes, I was wrong in apparently “Harassing” other customers. Please note that everything was 100% civil until maybe the last 90 seconds of my probably hour in the store. Everything was fine until he basically told me I was lying.
All I want is to not be treated like crap by a company where I’ve spent thousands of dollars on their products (2iPods and songs on iTunes before I owned my MacBook), and where I buy a warranty that I was convinced by the Apple Salesperson would cover anything except for water damage. I would not have bought this computer had the salesperson been honest to me about what the warranty did and did not cover. All I want is for my MacBook to be fixed by Apple.
Stephanie,
Assuming everything you say is true and occurred as you described, I have an idea for you. Go back to the store and talk to Chris. Ask him one last time for a warranty repair as there’s no way you could have dropped it. When he says no, inform him that you now feel compelled to exercise your civic duty and warn other customers about the dangers of buying a macbook, and that you will be standing outside the store for the next few weeks showing anyone who will listen to you your damaged screen and story. He’s right that you can’t do this inside the store but he can’t do anything about you outside the store.
The situation and tactics are similar to the one described in this post, “How To Kick A Scammy Car Dealer In The Nuts.” In that case, a man was deprived of his rightful $1500 discount and so he printed up flyers explaining his issue and informed the store that he would be spending his next few weekends in front of the dealership’s sidewalk passing them out. There, the dealership was smart enough of a businessman to cut the writer his check on the spot without him even having to pass out a single flyer.
You might try saying something like this to Chris (a customized version of text lifted from Unscrewed) before you start warning other citizens :
“Chris, at this point, it doesn’t really matter to me whether I get my money back or my laptop repaired or not. I am going to exercise my First Amendment right to stand on that public sidewalk in front of your store. I’ll show my laptop to anybody walking into your store and tell them my story”
‘ll bet that, in just a handful of Saturdays, I can convince a couple of dozen people to shop elsewhere. It could end up that, by not paying me what’s due to me, you lose ten times that much in future business. It won’t put any cash in my pocket, but I’ll feel a lot better about things. What do you think?”
The key is to be cool and collected. You might be quaking with anger inside, but outside, you’re James Dean. You’re not making it personal, it’s just business, and you’re just a citizen performing your civic duty.
You can also consider typing up a flyer that briefly explains your problem and provides people an email address to contact you at. Bring those along with you. Show them to Chris. Hopefully he’ll see the error of his ways and you won’t have to use them.
Or you could call the Apple Warranty Department, or just fwd your complaint to sjobs@apple.com, though we’d really like to see you give the in-person approach a try.
The manager told us via email that he didn’t push Stephanie.
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In college, I dropped my laptop and cracked the screen. Fortunately my dad bought an extended warranty from Best Buy (it wasnt a Mac) because the sales associate specifically told him that the screens broke easily and it would be covered. So, when he found out it was NOT covered, he did some internet research and discovered scads of identical stories of how salespeople were promising warranty coverage, and he sued Best Buy for false advertising and they settled and gave us $500. I wouldnt recommend this unless you have a legal background and tons of free time (like my dad did), but it worked for us.
I would look into also bringing up assault charges, if you can, look up the statutes on assault, usually it doesn’t have to involve any bruising or injuries. Another item to look up is harassment, harassment can be defined as unwanted contact with another.
You have witnesses to that persons actions, right?
As for the Managers actions, I would find out who that persons Regional Manager is and file a complaint or still complain to the email address that was provided by the consumerist.
I bet you have a CAT, don’t you? There is a good chance that fluffy jumped up on your desk, and hoped on your laptop closed, applying just enough external pressure to crack the display and screw you over royally. My cat has broken multiple parts on my old PowerBook, and almost all of them happened right after I walked out of the room…
She totally broke it. Apple, don’t give her anything.
My sister did drop her apple laptop and cracked the frame–oops–and it was under warranty. She took it in to Apple and told them and the said since she dropped it, it wasn’t under warranty and the quote was $600 BUT the genius also gave the name of a couple companies who were Apple authorized repair places. She also did a search online on the apple site. She took it an Apple authorized repair shop, they fixed it for $120 but the best part was because she got it fixed at an authorized place, it’s still under warranty.
My advice, get it fixed elsewhere. It’ll probably be a lot cheaper.
Tkviz–my roommate’s cat knocked over my laptop (on table). Luckily there was only very minor cosmetic damage (a scratch) and while I wasn’t happy–I was thankful it wasn’t worse.
Cats are fast and for some reason, there’s something about the laptop screen that attracts them.
Mmmm Apple and their amazing customer service.
As if the battery scandal isn’t enough.
As for the screen cracking… it looks damaged but as an owner of a similar computer you know it doesn’t take much to damage it and you should always know exactly what your plan covers but if you don’t like the service at that store you can always go another store. I understand what he said must of been upsetting but the problem with todays customer service is that you don’t hear what you want to hear because they have to tell you what the company tells them to tell you. I have faught many battles over that.
On another note.. people have been questioning already if your computer was actually dropped and if you’re with holding facts but has anyone questioned the truth behind him putting his hands on you? You can press charges if you want but most stores these days are heavily equiped with cameras and if they show something other than what you’re accusing him of, and if he has seen this, he can trun around and slap you with harrassment and deformation of character.
I wish you luck in getting your screen fixed but I think the best option is for you to try to work with another Apple store or to get a different type of laptop somewhere else.
Having worked in the PC industry for several years, yes that mark is the result of physical damage to the chassis or screen.
Also, there’s nothing more obnoxious than being confronted with “ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR”, because you already know the answer to that question. No, you’re not necessarily intentionally lying, but you’re certainly mistaken.
I have a friend who is a manager at an Apple store. Basically he says (not specifically on this case, but others) if a customer puts up enough of a fuss, they will replace the computer. Manager’s have the authority to do that. So I say, keep going until you get the new computer. You will suffer the bad karma if you’re lying. Or enjoy the new computer if you’re not.
@bradg33:
Charges of assault can be brought if someone is in immediate apprehension of bodily harm. Assault is the threat. Battery is the touch.
From Black’s Law Dictionary:
assault, n. 1. Criminal & tort law. The threat or use of force on another that causes that person to have a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact; the act of putting another person in reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery by means of an act amounting to an attempt or threat to commit a battery.
try shaking it. are you sure you didn’t drop it? i can’t comment anymore.
Try actually contacting Apple about this. My husband and I both own Macbooks. Our Apple Store on campus is run by total wankers who pretty much treat all customers like assholes, but we’ve always been given first class treatment when dealing straight with Apple. We just call them, they send us a box to ship our computer in, we ship it, we get it back in a week, voila.
Always remember that the words “anything” and “everything” don’t always mean the same thing as anything or everything. If somone says “this warranty covers anything but warranty damage” you really do have to ask “anything? even if I drop it?” The CSR may be making the honest assumption that you’re not actually believing they’ll cover your foul-ups.
@Jordan Lund: That seems like the best way of handling that type of situation. It was the same with the water in the laptop. Honestly, why should the company believe you when you say you didn’t damage it? Instead of getting snippy and offended as if they’re calling you a liar, you do the sensible thing and ask them why they are so sure. It shouldn’t be “your laptop was dropped” “NO NO I didn’t drop it” … it should be “Your laptop was dropped” … “really? I’m quite confident it was never dropped, in fact it appeared to be quite safe on my desk.. why do you believe it was dropped?”
At first I was going to call bullshit on this. Screens don’t just crack. but from the patter on the screen, it looks like that bottom corner is where there is damage, and it could be the screen coming apart or the bezel pressing to hard against it, or even the hinge being mis aligned. If it had been a split in the center of the screen or a nice spider web style patter I would have definitely called her on it, but this could be legit, id have to look at it in person to be sure though.
Watch out about doing any kind of demonstrating outside the apple store. The sidewalk is public, but malls are NOT public property inside. They’re private property, and it’s very likely that security will be called to drag you off.
So handing out fliers may not work so well.
@dantc: It’s been removed. While I’m inclined to believe Stephanie, the removal of the post there certainly doesn’t inspire confidence.
@Her Grace: Luckily, google cached it for me! (in the preview, the link making thingie is weird/broken–search for the address [community.livejournal.com/macintosh/2986631.html] on google and it will come up, though, and the cached link is available)
@Her Grace: It was removed. But before it was removed, she edited it to resemble the post here, highlighting the bits that made her look better.
That is to say, she likely deleted it. I haven’t seen any stern lectures from the community mod, so I’m inclined to believe she did it herself.
@dantc:
Yes, I deleted the post. I wasn’t really into comments on my personal journal with people harassing me.
Also…I tried posting this before but I don’t see the comment on the page.
I emailed sjobs@apple.com and received a phone call the next morning. I dropped off my MacBook for repair at the Natick, MA store. I emailed consumerist to have this page updated with that info
I had a dell laptop that did the exact same thing.
I was using it, closed the lid, carried it to a different room, and when i opened it the screen was cracked.
this was about 5 weeks after i bought it.
I finally convinced dell to take the laptop back and inspect it for damage.
Tthe crack started on the edge of the panel with no damage to the case.
I finally took the issue high enough up the chain and they gave me an entire new laptop.
I think the problem was a defect on the LCD panel edge or in the case that stressed it enough to crack.
@stephaniek: Horseshit. You obviously know how to set your personal journal to friends only and restrict commenting, you just didn’t like the feedback you were getting there.
Enjoy your new laptop, princess. Try not to break this one.
QUOTE
“Yes, I deleted the post. I wasn’t really into comments on my personal journal with people harassing me.”
You Steph have a “personal” journal that was open to the world, however it was personal.
Let me get this straight, it was personal but you had it on livejournal…
Teets
Hm… this worries me, I got my father a laptop for his birthday at Fry’s and paid an extra 3 year warranty. I spefically ask the saleperson what it covers. he told me as long as i did not smash or throw it. And that’s it. He also told me laptop monitor always mess up and this extra will be useful when that happens…
I wonder now if all sale reps only say what you want to hear and leave out the important part like we will blame it on you instead!!
Somewhere on this website in the past, I believe there was a link to contact Steve Jobs at Apple.
When the manager pushed this customer it became an actionable assault under most every law that deals with that type of event. Steve Jobs should be contacted to negotiate a settlement that resolves his employee’s assault on a customer.
@BadStoat: “Watch out about doing any kind of demonstrating outside the apple store. The sidewalk is public, but malls are NOT public property inside. They’re private property, and it’s very likely that security will be called to drag you off.”
This would represent a typical response to free expression in a fascist country.
I dropped my laptop and they did the same type of thing but the screen is prone to getting cracked. I have dropped it about 20 times and dropped it once on a airplane it showed up. I dont think that a LCD screen just cracks for no reason like that.
I also had a screen issue. I held it from behind (cradled) the SAME way their staff holds their’s when making appointments. That resulted in finger prints damaging the screen. Apple Care didn’t cover it and I sold it for $800 less as-is.
Re. arguing with you and accusing you of doing something you didn’t, that just happened to me today. I returned 3 items unopened, and they accused me of opening them. I was refunded but insulted. I 100% did NOT open those boxes, and in fact saw the employees opening them to check everything out. I have written a formal complaint and will send one to headquarters as well. It’s one of those times when you wish you’d photographed the ‘evidence.’.