Logic Board Replacement Hell

This is a bit long, so you might want to grab a coffee.

I purchased a MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.2 GHz machine early this year for use specifically with graphics and print media design in mind, and up until about a month ago it has been great. No scratches on the machine itself, no dead pixels, worked perfectly.

I started to get some odd graphics corruption issues when the machine was under heavy load, where parts of the interface would turn into blocks of random colors, and would also experience lock-ups around the same time that this would occur. I contacted a local Apple Authorized Service Provider (I reside in a part of Canada where we do not have an "official" Apple Store, just a handful of AASP's scattered about with one in my area) and arranged for the machine to be serviced, it needed a new logic board from what I was told. I dropped the machine off in the middle of the week, and waited patiently for it to be back in my hands.

Picked up the machine at the beginning of the next week and when I took it out of the notebook sleeve I immediately noticed that the casing was bent above the SuperDrive and that there were scratches along the sides and on the top case itself, including on the keyboard. I turned the computer on and the fans were running as hard as they could, and the keyboard and trackpad weren't functioning correctly. I called AppleCare and explained the situation and a product specialist informed me that my only option was to take it back to the same AASP to have another repair done. I didn't feel comfortable with this due to the condition of the machine when I received it from the AASP, and asked if there was another option; at which point the representative on the phone became quite rude and I was immediately told there was nothing else that could be done, point blank.

That was fine -- I didn't have any other option, so I took it back into the AASP and explained the situation. Later on in the day, I contacted them inquiring what was wrong with the machine and what repairs would need to be done, and I was accused of breaking the cable for the keyboard/trackpad and they would need to replace the top case; I asked how much longer I would be without the machine and I was told 2 to 3 weeks.

I was pretty upset at that point. I paid a premium (~$2,200 + taxes) for this notebook and took extremely good care of it, and I expected that Apple, being a company that is well-known for their exceptional customer service to take care in servicing the machine... guess I was wrong on that one.

Looked around on the Internet for people who have encountered similar issues in getting their MacBook's repaired and one of the suggestions was to e-mail Steve Jobs. I, very calmly, wrote a letter to Steve detailing what had happened thusfar and how I was rather dissapointed with the service in which the AASP and AppleCare have provided in getthing this issue resolved. And, quite honestly, I didn't think it would do anything, except I received a phone call from someone stating that they were calling in regards to an e-mail that I had sent to Steve Jobs and that they were from Executive Customer Relations for Apple.

I explained the situation to the gentleman on the phone and he contacted the AASP and inquired about the state of the MacBook Pro and to have the repair expedited, which was fine. Received a phone call on Thursday stating that the repair was complete and that I could go pick up the computer, which I did early Friday afternoon.

When I entered the AASP's building, I was confronted by the owner/technician who also had someone else there to witness that the machine was in working condition and he claimed that I said there were "deep gouges" and key-marking all over the back of the display on the computer. I opened the computer and verified that the keyboard/trackpad were indeed working (typing into a window for example and moving the mouse around/double clicking on icons) and gave the computer a look over to make sure that the damage had been corrected with the casing, which it had been.

Now, the last time I checked, if I swore at work, much less at a customer, I'd be fired on the spot, it's unacceptable and unprofessional. The owner of the AASP then proceeded to tell me that "I had better get rid of the machine, because my [censored] name, e-mail address, and serial number have been forwarded within Apple and to all Apple Service Providers in the province and nobody would be willing to help with this machine." He also went beyond this and said, in these exact words, "I don't know what kind of [censored, starts with F ends in ***G if you really want to know] scam you are trying to pull, but you're on your own now." I have never in my entire life seen anyone operating a business speak to their customers in such a way, it really threw me back; he then handed me the machine and told me "to stop the bull**** with Apple" and "get out and never come back to this business again".

When I got home I started re-loading my settings on the machine, and when I went to adjust the volume I noticed that it instead tried to trigger Dashboard. When I looked closely enough, I realized that the mapping on this keyboard was different from the one that it had been shipped with; my MacBook Pro had the keyboard with the second Enter key next to the right Apple key and the volume keys were next to the display brightness keys. A little bit of Googling confirmed that thought, the keyboard that was installed had different hot keys at the top and a command key in place of the second Enter key. I also tried to turn on and adjust the keyboard backlighting but it will not work, I've even tried putting my hands over the ambient light sensors/speaker grilles and while the machine is set to fire the backlight, the display dims but the backlight does not come on, at all. To top it off, the fans still run as fast as they can possibly go.

At that point I was livid, a total of 2 weeks without the machine and it's still not working properly. I contacted the person who called me from Apple Exec. Customer Relations, and informed them not only of the issues that were still unresolved with the machine, but also of what transpired when I picked the machine up from the AASP. They apologized for what happened at the AASP's place of business and looked into the matter further, and confirmed that the AASP installed the wrong part in the computer.

I received a call back later in the day from the gentleman at Apple stating that I will know at the beginning of this week as to what will happen with the machine; either it will be mailed in to engineering to have it repaired properly, or it will be replaced with a new unit. Not sure which of the two is going to happen, and quite honestly I don't really care at this point, I just want my computer working properly again.

 

From what I see, the AASP person has serious anger management issues. It's probably in your best interest to install iron grates on your windows and doors lest he comes blasting in with a handgun.

 

+1 for pointless post.
To the OP, I'm not excusing the AASP person, there's always a bad apple in every batch (edit: haha, just noticed the nice little pun there, totally unintended :laugh: ), but I'd like to think that with all the good things I've heard about apple's CS your situation will be resolved. A couple weeks can be a long time without a computer, and you have every reason to be angry, but if they're going to fix it good as new, then they are fulfilling their end of the agreement, and I'd say just try be patient.
Even companies like Apple with their touted awesome customer service make mistakes every now and then. The fact that they apologized, and are working to correct the issue, gives them a few positive points in my book.

 

@chyidean: Don't think he'd go that far, but after this situation I also wonder if other customers who are going to this shop are getting screwed around as well.

@talin: As with everything I have heard about Apple's customer service before purchasing this computer, I am hoping that it will be resolved to the best of their ability.

 

Just trying to cheer him up after his bad day (week?).

 

I think you should look at the bright side; Apple has been very understanding and fair in doing business with you. However, I would still call Apple and submit to them the name of the AASP technician so that they can make a decision as to what to do with him.

 

Yes, they have been, at least once I got escalated high enough, hopefully they'll set this straight and we can just wipe this slate clean and put this behind us. As for the technician, the name of his business and his name have already been brought up with the Corp. rep from Apple that contacted me, along with the names of the people from AppleCare's support line

 

wow, I am sory to hear about that. It makes no sense to me why a business would do that to you; it really serves them no benefit to treating you like that because now you've informed several other people about what a terible business they are

If worst comes to worst you could probably sell your top case and buy the right one and have it replaced by yourself or a technically inclined friend with the help of a few good screwdrivers. It's not too terribly expensive or difficult, there are a few guides on the net about it as well.

 

Why would I want to sell the top case and buy the correct one when this is something that should be covered under warranty (and never should have been swapped with the incorrect part in the first place)? The machine still has 3 months of warranty service left on it.

 

I agree since (from reading your post) the damage (scuff marks) were caused by the technicians who repaired your notebook...