Apple claims that they can’t replace reader MTW’s MacBook battery because the laptop’s case is chipped. The minor cosmetic damage doesn’t affect the computer’s functions and isn’t even on the same side as the laptop’s battery, which stopped holding a charge months after the case cracked.
MTW writes:
My white macbook has suffered a ding on the bottom right side. It’s cracked, not a big deal. A few months after the crack occurred, the battery stopped taking a charge. It shows up in system profiler, but it won’t charge. To make sure it’s not the laptop, I swapped the battery from another Macbook and it worked fine.
All seems fine, normal warranty replacement. The unit is still covered by apple care, battery has under 100 cycles on it. It should not be dead yet. The Apple Store refuses to replace the battery because the unit has suffered cosmetic damage. The battery is separate from the unit and should be treated as such. The computer works fine, I have typed this message on it, but it’s not very portable without a battery.
Help!
We’ve seen several MacBooks with the same chipped case and they all run fine. Escalate your complaint, possibly by bundling your request to Steve Jobs along with a “Get Well Soon!” card.
Has anyone else had Apple refuses valid warranty service because of a cosmetic issue?
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I’m not so sure that Apple can refuse Applecare service for the included battery unless they can prove that the “damage” to the laptop’s case also damaged the battery per the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act…
Worth fighting, I believe.
@Justin Kohler:
At the risk of feeding a troll, did you even read my post? My iphone cracked several months before I had any problems with it. It was in my pocket all day when it cracked, I didn’t drop it or subject it to any particular abuse. I doubt a case would have made any difference. In any case, I didn’t ask or expect to get the crack fixed. I didn’t bring the phone in until many months later when it started to have problems. I was told point blank that my cracked screen invalidated any and all warranty claims, and even disallowed me from PURCHASING a battery replacement for the phone. My only option was to buy a new 3G phone (with new contract) or a replacement 2g phone, $200 out of pocket either way. I was also told that if the crack had connected to the button or earpiece holes, then the crack itself would have been a coverable repair, which I thought was totally arbitrary and silly. The phone was absolutely fine functionally for several months with a hairline crack in the screen, and I wouldn’t have even complained about that if I wasn’t essentially forced to buy a new device for a totally unrelated problem. I’m more upset that the device is apparently unrepairable by design, and if you are going to make that design choice, it damn well better be more durable than it is, or the company should be much more lenient about what can be swapped out. It seems liek they have at least addressed the durability with the 3G, the glass has a noticeable expansion gap/gasket around the circumference of the glass, and I doubt it will crack in the same manner that the 2G was prone to.
@Illiterati:
I did end up with an iPhone 3g to replace it, I loved the product itself too much to give it up, and this was the only negative experience I’ve had in 10+ years of Apple ownership, so I hope
– Apple care is similar to A warranty for a car – it covers defection only. smash it into a pole, the warranty does not cover it. Your car insurance, or in this case – homeonwner’s or renter’s insurance would.
- Damage voids the warranty, and all the parts it covers. there is no “partial Applecare” – AKA = one part it damaged, but other parts are not. it is a laptop, not the complexity and scale of a car. Dropping it can significantly hurt a lot of components.
- The plastic “chipping” was confined to the 2006 MacBooks, and is usually seen as the leading edge, 2-3mm chipping off where the display hits it. MacBooks made in 2007-2008 do not have the issue. As many have stated, apple will replace the chipping ones on the 2006 models, but not chunks taken off because of a drop
- That chip is from drop damage, and it was not a manufacturing defect.
That sucks that it was declined, but voiding the terms of the contract you agreed to is still *voiding the terms of the contract you agreed to*
You either think it’s appropriate to make a joke about Steve Jobs’s poor health, or you think it’s appropriate to bug him about something trivial while he’s on a leave of absence due to poor health.
Pathetic.
If that MacBook’s 12 months old or over, you’re not going to get a warranty repair anyway. If it’s under, try going to an AASP instead of the Apple Store. Usually they’ll let you slide.
The tech at Apple is being a dick. They aren’t required to do that.
@Brian Little: Bzzt not true, I got my battery replaced, and it was out of warranty. It refused to charge with only 80 re-charges on it. There are problems with the macbook batteries there’s actually a KB on it. I had a CS try not to replace it, I escalated to a supervisor, that looked at the battery stats and said we’ll replace it.
They’ve changed my top cover a couple a times with me even asking.
Wow. You guys are way off base on this one. I’m going to make a few points here and I want you to listen close:
1. The “cracking” on that computer… you see it? See how large an area it covers? That’s not cracking. That is damage. The issue that Apple is “aware” of with the MacBook topcases is cracking along the edge of the palm rests. The cracking is no more than 2mm in from the front edge. This is because the cracking is due to pressure put on the display housing when the lid is closed, so that the bumpers on the display bezel dig into the topcase.
2. The computer was impacted on that corner of the machine. This does not mean that if a component fails on another side of the machine that it wasn’t affected by the drop. This also does not mean that if a component fails many weeks or months later that it is unrelated. Electronics are very delicate and have many different parts that can be affected by a major impact such as the one in the picture. There is no way that any company could warrant a product against defects with the kind of damage this one exhibits.
3. The warranty states that in the event of damage or misuse, the warranty is void. Void. End of story. Suck it up, admit that you made a mistake, commit to yourself that you won’t fuck yourself like this again, and get over it.
4. Don’t drop something you paid over a grand for. What are you, nine?
5. That damage is right on the corner of the hard drive. He’d better keep a good backup of his things, otherwise he’ll be asking Apple to provide data recovery for him (which is something they aren’t responsible for, by the way).
Usually I’m a fan of Consumerist, but before posting stories from people who refuse to take personal responsibility for the misuse of their products you may want to, in the future, use some logic and research to assess potential “scoops” before posting them. This is shoddy reporting and you should be ashamed. This is why you aren’t taken seriously half the time.
@consumeritis:
Said it before, and I’ll say it again: Apple must prove that the damage was customer-induced, and given that there is no other damage on that corner, I can’t fathom how it could have been “Dropped” to *solely* cause that small piece of plastic to chip away, while not causing any damage whatsoever to the corner of the notebook.
I myself have purchased quite a few Apple branded products: 2xiMac, 1 MB, a few shuffles, 1st Gen iPod Touch and the 2nd Gen iPod Touch but after reading this, I’m sick in my stomach for supporting a company all worked up over such a frivolous matter.
Replace his goddamn battery. I’m ready for a new laptop next year and with this kind of nonsense coming from Apple, I’ll gladly switch back to MS.
They would rather anger or upset a customer than fix a battery?
replace it yourself .
Apple people remind me of the South Park hybrid car episode.
The same thing happened to me.
You are get it fixed by Apple if you are turning it in for the top case issue and not the battery issue.
The person I talked to told me that he was really sorry about the top case and that they would swap the battery out too while they were in there working on it.
BUT the battery is not covered by Apple care nor is accidental damage.(They are usually not hard asses about this)
Back in 2006 I had my 18-month old Powerbook shutting down on me for no reason so I took it to the “Geniuses” at the local Mac store. They told me that they couldn’t fix it under warranty because of unusual wear and tear. The employee pointed at slight cosmetic scuffing on the surface of the laptop (the area where my wrists rested wore away the finish).
Aside from an iMac I received as a gift from my wife I’ve avoided buying anything from Apple. I really like their OS but I have to say that I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with their hardware (Powerbook, iPods, and older iMac).
@Syd: *cough*www.insanelymac.com*cough*osx86*cough*
I’ve had some problems with Apple, well, more with my college bookstore. I’ve taken my MacBook Pro in for various issues in the past few months. The school bookstore, which is authorized to fix Apple products, charges me ridiculous amounts for any repairs. My Superdrive hasn’t worked since last summer, and they were going to charge me $200 to fix it. I rolled my eyes, drove the 40 minutes to the nearest Apple store, and they fixed it for free in one day, despite some cosmetic damage in that corner due to a drop that had occurred months later. When a key broke off my keyboard, the university bookstore charged me $10 to replace the key. I’m sure Apple would have replaced it free of charge.
All in all, Apple has my money, and I’m a very satisfied customer. University bookstores absolutely suck. I refuse to go there again.
@redkamel: Conversely, do you think anyone who brings in a product with superficial imperfections should always be denied warranty coverage? Should Ford refuse to repair the failed engine in my hypothetical Mustang because I cracked the front bumper on a curb 6 months ago? Of course, automakers and their customers take the Mangusson-Moss Warranty Act a bit more seriously, so this isn’t as likely to happen. The fault IMO is that the iPhone was designed as such to be non-repairable (Apple simply swaps out entire phones as policy for warranty and battery service), which allows Apple to deny warranty coverage (and therefore ANY recourse for the problem) for situations that a buyer would typically expect to be repairable. I think when a manufacturer essentially creates this situation, they have an obligation to be more liberal with their replacement policy, because they do not actually attempt to determine whether external damage is related to the fault. They essentialy get around their obligation to provide warranty coverage for faults unrelated to external damage by hiding behind a policy that basically says “we don’t take the phones apart, so we assume any damage to be the cause of any fault”. This isn’t exactly fair to the consumer. Of course, by anecdotal evidence, Apple does end up replacing a lot of iphones that do have some external damage, so it’s not exactly clear what a customer can expect from them in this regard. What’s troubling in the case of the iPhone is how arbitrary and inconsistent the decision is about what to replace.
As an aside, I’m sort of surprised how much hate my comment generated. I am obviously not expecting anything from Apple at this point. I was unhappy with my experience though not enough to give up on the company. But the post asked if anyone had been denied warranty by Apple for unrelated cosmetic damage, and I had, so I posted my experience. Oh well.
A friend of mine couldn’t get their macbook’s repaired for an issue I can no longer remember. The reason was there was cosmetic damage, that obviously had nothing to do with the other problem. I didn’t see the machine personally, but a mutual techie friend did and he believes the cosmetic damage was due to a defect of the unit, not that it was dropped or anything. The owner of the machine had also purchased an extended warranty. To get the problem that apple agreed they covered, she would have had to pay something like $600 to fix the cosmetic damage that wasn’t her fault.
I repair at least 10 macbooks every day, and probably 5 or 6 (even higher if they’re the earlier models) have chipping around the top case (perimeter of the keyboard). This is normal since there is such a thin piece of plastic being used. However, what is pictured, That is not normal. Either the chipping began and the owner started playing with it, or the computer was dropped.
@discounteggroll:
That’s exactly what I think. If you rip off the piece of plastic that chipped, you’d get a similar hole, but not NEARLY as large. He probably dropped it afterwards, but the hole begins exactly where the chipping normal occurs.
I need to get mine fixed now.
I actually work for AppleCare, and I can tell you in any situation that anything is damaged to the point of something not working it is no longer covered under the warranty. That being said I always try to get something done for the customer, however it is not unheard of for this to happen.
@bigmil87: In this case, the case being broken and the battery failing to take a charge have nothing to do with one another.
It needs to be passed up the line with your employer that trying to make a few extra bucks by forcing people to fix unrelated cosmetic damage to obtain warranty service is garnering them very bad PR.
@barty: As much as I agree with you, I don’t think Apple has much to worry about with bad PR. Now, with that being said damage is damage, regardless of cause or intent. It constitutes accidental damage and regardless if the battery is contained or not it is not covered under the limited warranty.
@barty: Ok Apple Care agent who actually processes battery and all other manner of expensive requests here. If I saw that as the picture and had to make a judgment call on this issue I would have to know if the computer worked with a new battery or not. If it worked with the battery I would replace it (if all requirements match). If the test batter did not function I would declare it a logic board issue and the result of accidnetal damage, no free repair. Just because the batttery is on the other side of the computer does not mean the issues are unrelated.
I say this not to create a firestorm. but, to ask that people look at both sides of the situation here.
Apple is the highest rated computer manufacturer in all of the world. (This is the truth and several consumer studies have been done)
Their number one goal is to make sure they make the best products and stand behind them. Like any company or retail chain you can always have a “less-then-great” employee/manager setting that doesn’t represent the company in the light they should.
I had a unique experience myself with the Newer style Unibody MacBook Pro.
I purchased one the 1st day they come out. the devices battery would not charge and it was clearly a problem with the MagSafe Charger. I took it back and they instead of replacing the charger, the manager wanted to give me a whole new system. He just didn’t want to take any chances with it, and me ending up with anything less then a perfect system. (this is how all of my apple customer service experience has been)
1 of 2 things is going on with this persons macbook situation.
1 there is some kind of risk in operating the device with the hole thats in the case or 2 its a less then stellar customer service rep at his local apple store.
I would go back and ask for a clear explanation as to why they cannot replace it?
and if you don’t end up with a good answer (or good enough) go to another apple store or email Stevie-Jay himself and tell him about the problem.
I am sure apple being the customer focused company they are will be more then happy to assist you.
Best of luck!
Umm, that’s not minor cosmetic damage. My money is on that laptop taking a digger at some point.
It does suck that Apple doesn’t offer a warranty with accidental damage protection, but that’s not normal wear and tear.
Being in IT for over 10 years, you get to see the difference between normal wear and tear and stuff that’s been dropped and slammed.
I had the exact same battery problem with my MacBook — and cracks like that on both sides of the battery case. I took the MacBook to the geniuses at the Apple Store in Marlton, NJ, and they not only fixed the battery, but they replaced the case and the keys (which were starting to wear in spots) for free.
That was a year ago.
Two weeks ago, I noticed a similar crack along the side of the MacBook and took the laptop in to be repaired again. This time, Marlton didn’t have any appointments, but Cherry Hill, NJ did. COMPLETELY different story — now, such damage isn’t covered by my Apple Care, even though it was a year ago.
It all depends on your store and your genius, I suppose. However, since I’ve moved to Princeton in the ensuing year, it’s not really worth it for me to go back down to Marlton and try my luck there, so my MacBook will just have to be cracked until I buy a new one sometime next year.
Guys…
Don’t you know? Apple only repairs that which is beautiful.
My old Black MacBook had a crack in the same area. It’s a flaw caused by the magnetic latch. I had an old iPod mini that had a very minor flaw and they refused to fix it, saying “it couldn’t be repaired due to a scatch.” I had it fixed for $25, and spent 3 years not buying Apple products. I’m a good customer too, who doesn’t complain much. Idiots.
I’m guessing Apple doesn’t want to deal with the “You replaced my battery but broke my laptop case” problem that surely some a**hole would pull and try to get a new case as well even though it was broken in the first place.
I just had a battery die prematurely on my MacBook Pro (only 150 cycles on it). Called AppleCare. They agreed to replace it no fuss what-so-ever. They FedEx’ed me a new battery overnight and paid the shipping for the return of the defective battery. I had a new battery in my laptop about 15 hrs after I called them.
I don’t know how their service could be any better than that.
My macbook had the same thing happen. The apple store says its a known defect on the macbooks, and can be replaced in-store for free even out of warranty.