This poor guy is named Steve. Steve’s Macbook keeps trying to light his house on fire, so Steve would like replacement. He’s already sent the computer for repair several times, gotten it back, at which time it tried to light his house on fire again.
The machine in question (which is not pictured here because Steve sent it to Apple to be repaired) likes to shoot off sparks that land on his copy of the New York Times. The NYT is not only the paper of record, but it also functions rather effectively as tinder.
Steve would like his Macbook replaced, Apple. He’s written to Steve Jobs and dealt with Apple’s executive customer service people and is still being denied a replacement. He does not want another (this will be the 4th) repair. He wants a new Macbook that does not double as an infernal device.
Here’s Steve’s letter:
Dear Mr. Jobs,
I hate to write you about this as opposed to going through the normal channels of communication w/ costumer service but my Macbook laptop has been in for repair 3 times and has had the battery replaced once and the power cable replaced once after sparking violently and singing my desk.
Now it’s happened again! I was going to plug in the power adapter to the computer and it sparked violently at the connection and toasted the newspaper next to my laptop!
On top of this my screen is still not quite right (I’ve had it replaced 2x due to a yellowish hue of the screen) – I work in graphics & color correction and this is a big issue for me! (Yes I’ve calibrated it several times – the issue seems to be with the hardware). I’m not sure if macbook screens are just yellow by design or what, but the person who sold me the laptop a year and a half ago said the screen would be perfect for my work, and so far it’s been anything but.
I have apple care, so it hasn’t been too expensive getting the work done, but it has cost me a LOT in time and due to the fact that it’s nearly set my room on fire twice now, I’m really at the end of my rope. I want to file the highest kind of appeal at this point! It seems every time I appeal the service department on the phone they tell me to just wait it out for the new parts – and every time I take the laptop into the store to have them check out the screen discoloration they say there’s nothing wrong with it, even if I A/B the screen next to one that looks pristine.
Please know, I am a big fan of your operating system and software – and I was under the impression that your hardware was top notch, but the pro-dell notebook I had before I bought my mac only ever had one issue, and as soon as there was a hardware problem they issued me an entirely new notebook that was a gigantic upgrade in return for my patience and inconvenience at work (they upgraded my single to dual core and added an amazing graphics card, which I never imagined a computer company would do for someone).
Consider my case. My name is Steve [redacted]and my macbook’s serial number is [redacted]. If you could help me out here I would be very grateful. I want to write an article for the tech blog I occasionally write for, documenting my experience with the laptop over the last year and a half and the subsequent dealings w/ tech support/replacements/etc – I think this would be a really great chance for you to help a poor mac user out and let there be a happy ending to his story.
Best,
Steve
Three days later we got an update from Steve:
Hi Alex -
The problem is still in flux. I’ve been speaking with Dina @ Apple Executive relations regarding the issue. They sent me to the apple store yesterday who stayed open late to repair my laptop because I had expressed that time was a big factor – this was really awesome of them, and the guy who helped me out (Derek, at the 14th St. Apple Store in NYC) was really helpful.
BUT! Alas, my problems just got worse. I got the computer back to my house and plugged it in to my external HD which I run the Apple backup program Time Machine on. It wasn’t until it began backing up my system that I realized that the repair to my laptop had totally hosed my OS. The HD is gone from the finder, my DVD drive no longer works consistently (perhaps a side effect of the original shock), and now my backed up HD image has been totally corrupted since I (stupidly) allowed it to do a nightly backup before testing out the machine.
Dina called me back, and I explained what happened and she put me in touch with a specialist who was also very courteous and helpful but also ruled that the issue (at least with the DVD drive) was hardware based, not a result of the software I have on the machine. Dina was gone for the day, but I feel like at this point, after I was mis-led on the quality of the macbook display LCD, the 2 fires it nearly started, the DVD issue, and now the hosing of my essential files, I shouldn’t have to go back in to the store and wait for yet another repair. I don’t trust the process! It will have been my 5th time in for a repair on this 1.5 year old machine!
My reasoning is, I was mis-sold on the quality of the glossy macbook screen, which the salesman assured me was of adequate quality to do basic color correction work in graphics – it turns out, it’s far from that. I can live with being a sucker to some degree, but now that the computer has put me and my home in danger twice, and still isn’t working after all of these repairs; I either want my money back or a Macbook Pro with a matte screen which is actually acceptable for the work I intended the computer for in the first place. If that’s asking too much I would settle for a refund for the computer and the apple care and apple software I bought for the computer since it’s been a giant loss now that I have no computer and my files have been corrupted as far as I can tell.
Let me know if you think this is a reasonable request – I feel like after a computer nearly lights your house on fire you should be considered a special case and I honestly kind of feel like regardless of dealing with the executive level of support at Apple, I’m still jumping through the normal front-line tech support hoops.
Best,
Steve
Yesterday, another update from Steve:
I asked for a refund and was denied. I also mentioned how much personal and business data I lost – the plea fell on deaf ears.
I mentioned I heard apple had the best support, she was unmoved even by stories of others getting replacement computers from apple for less severe issues than this one.
I think my plan is this: Im going to try and cut my losses, get the computer repaired at the shop as many times as it takes to get it back in pristine condition and then put it up on eBay. I can’t possibly make back what I lost but I can get this white beacon of despair out of my life and move on to a company who gives a crap about their customers.
Here is a picture of the scorch & melted paint on the desk and the toasted newspaper I had next to the DC in & one photo showing how they were aligned on the desk when it happened. I wish the desk wasn’t painted black either, it would make the burn easier to pick out but you should be able to see it without any trouble.
I’m sure if I wasn’t sitting there when the spark occurred to extinguish the newspaper the house may well have gone up.
Steve
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Sorry to hear of such a terrible experience.
I would just point out that if someone is in the graphics/color correction industry, very few laptops cut the mustard. Laptop screens have far more limited color gamuts than do desktop monitors. Having said that, the new Macbook Pro 15″ with the LED backlit screen, matte, is probably one of the best laptops to do color correction with. It can be calibrated successfully, and has a far wider color gamut than older laptop screens. Go to Rob Galbraith’s website, a wellknown photographic technologist, who has done careful testing.
I don’t want to be critical, but I’m shocked that you would take a storeclerk’s opinion, even if he was a “Genius”, before checking with others in your own industry, because the above info, is not exactly a secret.
Until I see some pictures proving his Macbook actually sparked or caught fire, I don’t believe a word of it. The first thing Apple would have done if he called in with a complaint like this is ask for photos.
Also, this bit about your backup image being hosed, sounds a bit overwrought. Okay, you are overwrought, given what you have gone through, but still, I strongly doubt that Time Machine hosed your backup. It copies incremental changes to a new file. It doesn’t change older backups.
The HD may be gone from your Finder, because it could be one of the Finder Preferences was changed, so that you don’t see mounted Hard Disks.
Actually, the more I read Steve’s messages, the more puzzled I become. If you “calibrated” your screen, why is it showing a yellowish hue? It’s calibrated, right? And, if the uncalibrated screen of the laptop in the store looks pristine, has it ever occurred to you that perhaps you are not calibrating your LCD properly? Maybe, it’s the operator and not the tool. I mean, how do 3 screens all have the same yellow-ish hue, when you say the ones in the store are “pristine”. This starts to sound a bit Munchausenish. Are you sure you aren’t creating these problems?
And, blaming an unnamed salesperson seems just so lame, for a work-critical component. Why would you trust some kid? Why not ask someone you work with in your industry?
If you have Applecare, it shouldn’t have cost anything to get the repairs done. Implying that you actually paid something, sounds rather odd.
And then the whole, I’m a tech blogger, and I’m going to write about your great service, is just so lame as a threat. And, the Dell gave me a better computer for one little problem. Now, if you think Apple is going to be moved because Dell did so well by you, think again. What you’ve done is indicate that you have a history of trying to extract higher-end equipment by complaining.
I’m sorry, but I have come to the conclusion that this story is a sham. Even the scorched newspaper looks a bit phony. Having you considered videotaping the sparking episodes and putting it up on Youtube?
Oh, the DVD problem, try booting your Install disk and hold down the D key, it’ll run a Hardware Test.
@shadow735:
My point wasn’t where I bought the computer (in fact, I purchased my computer NEW at a brick-and-mortar retailer, it’s just that NOW you can find them for next to nothing on eBay). My point was that there are much better computers to be had for MUCH less than what Apple’s charging for their exciting new, er, “thinness” feature.
If eBay’s not your thing, buy a good system from last year’s (discounted) models at a place like Fry’s for a reasonable price, rather than shelling out two grand or more for one of Apple’s Macbook Air “computers”.
There are computers that are a smart buy, and then there are computers that are just designed to sell a few million units based on flashiness. Guess which category the Macbook Air falls into.
Yeah, that is by far the ugliest hoodie I have ever seen on a decent looking guy.@weakdome:
This would make a kick ass Anti-mac commercial for Intel or something, the Mac and PC guys are in that white place and the PC guy is trying to talk to the Mac guy, and the Mac guy doesn’t say anything, he just walks around with a lighter and burns whatever is around.
@ecwis: I took Apple to small claims and I got what I wanted.
Simply because the cost of sending a lawyer or establishing precedent in your case was far lower than sending a lawyer.
You got off lucky.
Oh. Crap. SHOULD READ:
Simply because the cost of giving you what you wanted or establishing precedent in your case was far lower than sending a lawyer.
You got off lucky.
I guess you’re bound by the EULA too. “any damage or loss of property isn’t our fault lol”
Under Australian law they’d be required to fix the desk and laptop and recall the entire line. That’s probably why they’re unwilling to admit that it’s even happened. one pissed off user is easier to handle than recalling an entire product line.
@ElizabethD: seconded!
i don’t understand why people feel so entitled to replacements of computers and electronics. read your warranty and know what kind of service you’re entitled to before you enter into a big purchase like this. just because your computer problem is slightly more dramatic than others doesn’t mean you’re automatically entitled to a replacement. applecare extends your warranty to 3 years instead of one. it does not promise replacement products. it is not magic. it sounds like apple is trying really hard to repair the laptop. they’re not really under any obligation to replace it according to applecare terms ([www.apple.com]). pretty much everything in the terms makes it clear that apple will repair OR replace items at its discretion, and there’s no guarantee of replacement if repair is unsuccessful. it also specifically says apple’s not responsible for data loss during repair. it does suck for steve, but it doesn’t mean apple is a terrible company. it just means steve doesn’t know what he bought.
also, how many dell laptops have caught fire? a bit more dramatic than a singed NYT…
[www.theinquirer.net]
[www.engadget.com]
[www.farrin.com]
[computerworld.com]
[images.google.com]
It tried to catch the NYT on fire? The Macbook isn’t a malfunctioning computer, it’s a hero.
It seems to me that he should get it repaired and plug it in at someplace else…
Example a cyber cafe. I bet it doesn’t cause a problem there…
Someone a few posts up hit it right on the head…
It IS a GROUNDING problem, My Dell Inspiron 8000, 7 years old and still working! Developed the same problem ~the same time as their recall on their power supply bricks…
The ground goes bad in them. Normally you don’t see this, or know there is a problem until you go to plug a GROUNDED external device into the system through any port. YOU GET SPARKS!!! Enough to light up a dark room! Holding the plug near the connector is enough to cause the sparks to jump a few millimeters!
As soon as it is plugged in though, the system is grounded and it works again. pulling the plug causes the same problem…
I would be willing to bet that that is the problem, and when HE plugged in his EXTERNAL drive to do backups, he fried something which caused the bad transfers…
So something in the chain of power from where he is plugged in from the mains to the computer is where the grounding problem has occurred.
Maybe he used a 3 to 2 prong adapter? Or maybe the extension cord plug is failing and the ground nub is loose???
In any case, they make CHEAP wiring checkers you can get at radio shack for like 6 bucks. Plug it into your home wiring in various places… I am betting you will see the problem on there…
@ElizabethD: … And by “creepy” I assume you mean “hot.”
2nd’d!
Film it baby. One sided stories…yeah, whatever.
I’m an IT technician at a school with over 600 MacBooks and we’ve had an occasional lemon (especially due to a batch with faulty Seagate hard drives which Apple quickly rectified). I’ve seen a few power cords short where it connects to the computer…it’s not the computer but the cord, and usually after taking some abuse. There’s nothing inside that can shoot sparks out without tripping thermal shutoffs in the adapter and on the logic board. The charred newspaper looks like a fabrication.
I mean seriously…video or it isn’t real. I don’t believe this for a minute, and actually think this guy is trying to get publicity, $$$ or something. It doesn’t quite feel right and with someone high up at Apple handling it, I’d say Apple is being very responsive to something they probably know is B.S.
Also, it makes me laugh when people say that this post made them change their mind. Those posts seem trollish.
When supporting many computers, you see a pattern where the same people seem to always have problems….even when they are given new computers. It almost defies common sense. You can’t help but assume that they are abusing their hardware. Every company in the world has to deal with these people. The problem is
@CaliforniaCajun: I know I am necroing this post, but just FYI, lawyers are not allowed in small claims court in most states. Apple would have to send a non lawyer representative.