I think Apple is scamming me.

[almightyseancore]

i've had my iphone "repaired" twice, and all they did was give me a new iphone for free and threaten to charge me an outrageous amount of money if it happens again.

and like i said, i've done this twice.

[controlthebleeding]

I have a 1st gen iPod Touch....it quit working a couple of years back, i knew it was out of warranty, but tried to get them to see if they could just get the new software update to work on it. I didn't purchase the iPod, I got it for Christmas from my parents and grandparents...I've never owned any apple products previously. I was completely unaware that you had to book an appointment to get them to even look at your product. My vehicle didn't run at the time, so I got a ride from a friend to a show and we stayed the night at a friends place so I could go get my iPod looked at the next day....i stood in the middle of their store waiting on somebody to even acknowledge my presence for 30 min....at first I was just checking out products, nobody ever came to talk to me, after 10 minutes I just stood in the center of the store starring...finally after about 20 min. of looking around standing in one spot one of their useless trolls came up and asked if I'd been helped. I told her the problem and she immediately said, "Did you make an appointment", I said "no" and explained, I was there with friends, lived almost an hour away, knew nothing about needing to book an appointment, and just needed to see if they could get the new software to load onto the iPod so I could use it again....we went back in forth, me saying "this isn't a complicated computer hardware issue, or a dropped item, it worked fine, iTunes said there was an update, i tried to update the software and it went blank and wouldn't go past the apple screen" she finally took it in the back and came out like 1 minute later and said, "They tried, there was nothing they could do, you can trade it in for 10% off of a new one". Needless to say that didn't happen, I tried to load the software on 3 or 4 different computers over the next month without any luck. I finally got another ride out there after making an appointment, met with a competent Genius and the guy got the software to load properly within 3-4 minutes. The second Genius was super nice, at least feigned sympathy for my shitty service the first time in there store and again at minimum feigned excitement when he got the software to load up on it. Told me the first gen iPod Touches sometimes have that glitch and there's nothing they can do, and that it's definitely not a hardware issue.

Now, unfortunately, in the 2-3 months that this iPod Touch was O.O.C./Not Working....somehow i magically purchased a .99 cent App for my iPod, even though it wouldn't load past the apple screen....so in the middle of this I was fighting via e-mail back and forth with Apple over the $1 charge for an app to a device that wasn't functioning as anything more than a paper-weight. My last e-mail to them (after going back and forth 6-7 emails) was heavily spotted with all sorts of terrible language, they responded to me saying "If you continue using that language we will close this case and mark it resolved", I responded "How is that any different than your current course of action? You refuse to refund me my $1 for an app I didn't purchase for a device that hasn't worked in over 3 months, and your company refuses to fix the device that doesn't work?" I got a response almost 2 weeks later, and they refunded my $1, and sent out an update to their Terms of Services agreement, and also told me this was a one-time refund and that I would be fully responsible for any further charges to my account"...so at some point in time one of those Terms of Services agreement updates was because of me guys...sorry.

so my experiences with Apple have been mixed....I have a feeling you just have fallen on the bad-luck side of a crappy Genius. I've had several friends who've taken computers in that were out of warranty (barely) and the Genius be really cool and just take care of things....I've also had a buddy specifically make his Genius appointment for the very last one of the day on a Friday or Saturday after dropping his iPhone in some water, he then took it apart and found the void sensors that turn red when contacted with water and painted them back white, knowing the Genius would give it a quick once over and not investigate much because it was the last appointment and throw a new phone at him, and it totally worked.

yeah, apple stores are just like anywhere else. you may get people who just dont give a shit, and others who are genuinely there to help you. luckily i have friends who work at the local apple store, but i've never needed anything, so i have that going for me. apparently, in most cases people who take their computers in usually are clueless and rarely able to fix their own problems, so the store is usually busy. i've been in then some lady was pissed off because she couldn't get a program to run on her computer. stupid woman downloaded a .exe file for windows and didn't realize that the OS didn't run windows programs unless it had windows installed. My buddy told me, once some guy brought in a fake ipod knockoff trying to get it fixed and was upset that they wouldn't fix it. sometimes it's funny to hear stories from people that work in retail.

[selfreliable]

Thanks everyone for the advise. I'm not expecting them to fix it for free, I know the damage is my fault but if I'm going to pay for the repair I want to A) get my old parts back and know that I'm getting a brand new display. I've never understood how companies can take the brand new product you paid for and replace it with a refurb and think that's cool. If I wanted a refurbished computer I could've bought one for a lot less than I paid for mine.

actually, after having friends work for apple and numerous other companies, you're actually a little luckier getting something that's refurbed in some cases. as if im not mistaken apple's testing policy is more stringent on refurbed stock than newer parts. out of the 6 apple items i've owned in the last 10 years, i've only owned 2 new items (1g3 ibook, and 1 ipod). the rest were refurbed and gave me no hassle whatsoever. truthfully i only have 1 ibook problem the whole time and that was due to a faulty board, but they replaced it and i had my ibook within 5 days. I can't really complain.

When it comes down to it, you had a crappy genius dude not explain how things work in detail, which sux, but there usually is some form of reasoning behind why companies do things. it just takes someone to explain things. just so they make sense and try to work with you. I always used to give scenarios when i worked at BEST BUY regarding warranties. I never once had someone argue with me after the fact and usually happy that i took my time explaining things to them.

It's really like any company. sometimes the company policies don't always make sense to the consumer. It's not just apple.

you had every right to feel the way you did though. but more so with how you were treated, like some 2nd rate person. The one time i had to go in, i got lucky because the dude was super nice and very helpful.

catalinacaper: you never bought into the apple movement? it's a computer. it hardware isn't infallible. this could have easily been made by any employee of any computer company. every place has idiot service techs.

So the majority of the people in this thread have had issues with apple products, then just replace the item with another apple product? Maybe you should switch to a different brand.

Also, to answer your question, it sounds like apple is screwing you hard Nicole. It is amazing how so many companies now pull the "we cant return the non warranty item" thing now. You really cant do anything about it.

well usually when someone has questions regarding replacements people tend to write in their own experiences. it's common. 6 people talking about their experiences doesn't necessarily mean apple's company is that like suburban home. it could have easily been a dell or any other company computer.

"you can't really return a non-warranty item" - well of course. most places would go under if they had to replace something that's out of warranty. not trying to be flippant, but are you that naive as to how things work in business?

I think you misunderstood me. When I said they couldnt return the out of warranty piece I meant that if you paid for something to be fixed that was out of warranty that you should be able to get the "broken" part back as well. You own it. Many companies say that you cant, and it is all so they can sell it as refurbished and not give you that option at all. It is a blatant way to rip off the customer.

As far as people talking about themselves, I expect that. I got no issue with that. What I meant was many people said they had issues with apple, then continued to get apple products. If I bought a Sony tv and I had issues with it and felt like I was getting screwed, I wouldnt turn around and buy another Sony tv, I would get a different brand, that is all.

[mattisr1984]

they want your parts to give to some other poor schmuck and not effect their bottom line. Ya know how expensive it is to employ thousands of underage workers in china? Oh wait...

[kriss]

I've always found Apple's service hit or miss. Over the years, they've replaced a couple of iPods no questions asked (once doing it when it was four months out of the warrantee, I had just gone in to see if I could get an update glitch worked out and nothing more). Mellie bought an iPad second hand and got AppleCare for it and there was an issue with it which they solved by replacing the iPad - the second one had issues too and they gave her a third one that works fine. So far, I've been fairly happy with the service. My iMac desktop is probably four years old or so and died on me a few months back, the Geniuses told me that it was due to third party software the prior had put in it (a terrabyte hard drive amongst other upgrades) - I got in touch with said previous owner who called bullcrap on their diagnosis and gave me the discs needed to get the computer back to new again.

Hit or miss.

[nicole]

This is the second time I've been treated shitty at an apple store since I got this damn computer. I bought it in mid July at future shop and in early August when I went to burn a disc for the first time I realized that the SuperDrive didn't work. I booked an appointment and took it in (different location than with the display) and they happened to be super busy that day. Without even asking what was wrong with my computer I was told I'd have to quick drop it (leave it there for a week) and they would fix whatever was wrong. Without knowing what's wrong. My ass. When I refused they said that since they were so busy and the computer was so new they would just give me an entirely new computer since that would be faster than trying to fix mine. I was fine with that but when they realized I got it from future shop instead of directly from them they said they couldn't exchange it. That makes no friggin sense. It's still their product!!! Grrr. Anyways they wound up just replacing the SuperDrive under warranty which is what I wanted anyways but it took 2 weeks and 3 trips there to get it done. Ridiculous.

if you bought it from a retailer, then they wouldn't have been able to replace it. it's like buying any product, if it doesn't work and it's fairly new, you can take it for replacement from where you bought it from. not the actual company outlet. it's not hard to understand. as far as waiting 2 weeks.. it sounds about right. depending on the actual product, sometimes things have to be sent out. that goes for all retail outlets. i don't see the problem. if you're that impatient about things, dont buy a name brand computer or buy a desktop that you make yourself so you can fix it at home if it breaks down.

if i bought it from a retailer, they should still back up there products. its not like buying something at walmart and expecting target to solve your problems. they are the manufacturer. i bought it from one of their authorized retailers. if you buy a sony tv from best buy and it shits the bed, the sony store should stand behind it.

more importantly though was the fact that it took me 3 trips (about 40 mins away) to deal with it because despite having an appointment, they were too busy to help me the first time. they also tried to have me leave the macbook there for 4 days so they could install the drive. i refused. 10 mins later the repair was done. what exactly was suppose to take 4 days?

[smailtronic]

This is why you don't buy computing hardware from a company that exists solely to take advantage of people that don't know anything about computers.

[mattisr1984]

This is why you don't buy computing hardware from a company that exists solely to take advantage of people that don't know anything about computers.

the whole topic reminds me of auto shops, really. Kind of scary that people have to put up with this shit for an electronic. Anyway, I think the general rule of thumb is that these types of warranties / services are set up so that the house always wins. extended warranties, buy back programs, etc. - all complete wastes of money.

[AlexH.]

I have only ever had amazing service from Apple with my computer and mobile devices. I've had several iPods completely replaced months out of warranty, and I got a whole new logic board fo free for my Macbook Pro about 4 years after buying it because my model had a faulty graphics card. Everyone I know with a Mac has had great experiences with helpful Geniuses who were really lenient about warranty coverage. My roommate got a new fan for his 3 year old Macbook for $11 because they did the labor for free. I kind of thought this sort of thing was the norm for Apple customer service, weird to see so many bad stories here.

[papermonsters]

I had money in hand to buy a Macbook Pro one day. A couple of employees told me they'd be with me shortly... 30 minutes later I finally had someone come up to me and was like "Alright, what can I help you with?" I was like yeah dude, I already know everything I want and I'm ready to buy it now. Dude got a sweet commission of not doing anything.

Also, had a superdrive go out on my old mac book. I called ahead and made an appointment, came in, gave it to them and they had it back to me the next day and they replaced a couple of cosmetic things on it for free and cleaned it.

It ruled.

[faith]

Yeah I've never had a problem with the Genius bar.

I bought a brand new iPod Video 80GB in 2007 on eBay and when it got to me, the sound jack was defective. Brought it to the Mall of America Apple Store and they replaced it for me free of charge

When the iOS 4 debacle rendered my iPhone 3G unable to use WIFI, they replaced it for a new one of the exact same free of charge, even though I had purchased it refurbished with AT&T more than a year earlier.

Also, when my iPhone 4 started acting wacky (people could not hear me at all, just static), again they just replaced it no question asked, free of charge!

[controlthebleeding]

actually, after having friends work for apple and numerous other companies, you're actually a little luckier getting something that's refurbed in some cases. as if im not mistaken apple's testing policy is more stringent on refurbed stock than newer parts. out of the 6 apple items i've owned in the last 10 years, i've only owned 2 new items (1g3 ibook, and 1 ipod). the rest were refurbed and gave me no hassle whatsoever. truthfully i only have 1 ibook problem the whole time and that was due to a faulty board, but they replaced it and i had my ibook within 5 days. I can't really complain.

When it comes down to it, you had a crappy genius dude not explain how things work in detail, which sux, but there usually is some form of reasoning behind why companies do things. it just takes someone to explain things. just so they make sense and try to work with you. I always used to give scenarios when i worked at BEST BUY regarding warranties. I never once had someone argue with me after the fact and usually happy that i took my time explaining things to them.

It's really like any company. sometimes the company policies don't always make sense to the consumer. It's not just apple.

you had every right to feel the way you did though. but more so with how you were treated, like some 2nd rate person. The one time i had to go in, i got lucky because the dude was super nice and very helpful.

catalinacaper: you never bought into the apple movement? it's a computer. it hardware isn't infallible. this could have easily been made by any employee of any computer company. every place has idiot service techs.

well usually when someone has questions regarding replacements people tend to write in their own experiences. it's common. 6 people talking about their experiences doesn't necessarily mean apple's company is that like suburban home. it could have easily been a dell or any other company computer.

"you can't really return a non-warranty item" - well of course. most places would go under if they had to replace something that's out of warranty. not trying to be flippant, but are you that naive as to how things work in business?

I think you misunderstood me. When I said they couldnt return the out of warranty piece I meant that if you paid for something to be fixed that was out of warranty that you should be able to get the "broken" part back as well. You own it. Many companies say that you cant, and it is all so they can sell it as refurbished and not give you that option at all. It is a blatant way to rip off the customer.

As far as people talking about themselves, I expect that. I got no issue with that. What I meant was many people said they had issues with apple, then continued to get apple products. If I bought a Sony tv and I had issues with it and felt like I was getting screwed, I wouldnt turn around and buy another Sony tv, I would get a different brand, that is all.

i'd have to say i'd agree with you.

nicole, have you called to see if you can speak to a manager in regards to getting the broken pieces back, maybe you just had a really new person/or lazy person working that wasn't aware of the situation and just made reference to the usual fix scenario.

and i'm sure you already know that the rear panel casings aren't sold separately for your model due to the bonded rear casing to the glass bezel. so he wasn't really scamming you. also the display casing cost they quoted you is actually cheaper than going through a 3rd party distributer so you're better off just paying what they ask and not getting the lcd back (though i'm sure you could with a little finessing) or just keep the dent. it's really up to you.

[controlthebleeding]

if you bought it from a retailer, then they wouldn't have been able to replace it. it's like buying any product, if it doesn't work and it's fairly new, you can take it for replacement from where you bought it from. not the actual company outlet. it's not hard to understand. as far as waiting 2 weeks.. it sounds about right. depending on the actual product, sometimes things have to be sent out. that goes for all retail outlets. i don't see the problem. if you're that impatient about things, dont buy a name brand computer or buy a desktop that you make yourself so you can fix it at home if it breaks down.

if i bought it from a retailer, they should still back up there products. its not like buying something at walmart and expecting target to solve your problems. they are the manufacturer. i bought it from one of their authorized retailers. if you buy a sony tv from best buy and it shits the bed, the sony store should stand behind it.

more importantly though was the fact that it took me 3 trips (about 40 mins away) to deal with it because despite having an appointment, they were too busy to help me the first time. they also tried to have me leave the macbook there for 4 days so they could install the drive. i refused. 10 mins later the repair was done. what exactly was suppose to take 4 days?

again, you do not know how retail works and i don't feel the need to explain.

if you had a appointment, i don't see how you had to wait 2 weeks. something doesn't sound right, unless maybe you were impatient and didn't feel the need to wait a while till you were helped. i'm just saying. i don't think i've ever heard anyone say they've waited 2 weeks and made 3 trips after making a appointment to just take something in for repair. but then again you might be the exception to the rule, and thats why they repaired your drive in a short time. also, just because something can be done in 10 minutes doesn't necessarily mean they have time to do it at that moment. are you that naive to how repair shops work in a general sense. they could have been wrong, but giving a turnaround day isn't all that uncommon for anything.

[smailtronic]

This is why you don't buy computing hardware from a company that exists solely to take advantage of people that don't know anything about computers.

the whole topic reminds me of auto shops, really.

Auto dealerships, absolutely. The whole mantra is "When something goes wrong, just bring it to us". Non-removable batteries et. al. You're totally dependent on them. I'm also amazed that they give out refurb units as warranty replacements. Why are people ok with that?

[controlthebleeding]

the whole topic reminds me of auto shops, really.

Auto dealerships, absolutely. The whole mantra is "When something goes wrong, just bring it to us". Non-removable batteries et. al. You're totally dependent on them. I'm also amazed that they give out refurb units as warranty replacements. Why are people ok with that?

refurb units are just as good, if not better, than new units. like most people, you assume when you get a refurb from apple, you're getting some used computer someone else used and now it's just sitting in the back of the warehouse collecting dust. which is far from the case. i buy strickly refurb from apple now. it's cheaper and have yet to have any problems with any refurbs. my compute rnow is 5 years old with no problems whatsoever besides being dirty.

i think most people just assume a refurb is like buying something from a pawn shop. which is far from what you are really buying. truthfully if my computer went down and they offered me a refurb, i'd be pretty happy about it.

[Snaggle Von Swift]

Yeah, I can vouch for Apple's refurb products too, have purchased a MacBook and iPod Classic over the years from them refurbished, both looked and worked as brand new.

[zac]

Over the summer I took a 24" iMac to be repaired for work a couple of times because it was over heating and skipping a ton (we use a program called ProPresenter to play videos and stuff). I took it to the closest Apple store, which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away. They take it and run tests for a couple of days and say it was not having any problems at all. So I drive back again and pick it up and get it back at my work and it still is doing the same thing. I take it back up again and they say there is a graphic card problem and it needs to be replaced, so we do that. I call up and check on it a couple of days later and they tell me it's ready so I drive the 1 hour+ again and get there and they say it's not ready and don't know why someone told me that and the graphic card isn't even in the store yet. It takes almost 2 weeks and they call me this time and and say its done. So I drive up again to pick it up, when I get there he runs another diagnostics test and it fails. They try some other things and it still isn't working. They all knew me by this point and knew I had been driving a ton on their mess ups so they end up telling me that for some reason they can't fix it and this has never happened and they want me to leave with a working computer since I've been driving a ton. They ended up just giving me a brand new 27" iMac with Lion on it for free, and didn't even make me pay for the repairs to or the graphics card or anything.

tl;dr

I had a screwed up 24" iMac from a few years ago and because they couldn't fix it and screwed up a couple of times they gave me a brand new 27" iMac for free and I just let them keep the 24". It was worth it for me.

[Snaggle Von Swift]

Dude got a sweet commission of not doing anything.

they don't make commission.

[mcm1610]

Re: refurb- those products actually go through more stringent testing than new products, so I'm more than happy to get one.

[nicole]

While I don't have any experience with apples refurbs I have bought other refurbished products in the past and had nothing but trouble. IMO, not worth the risk on a $1200+ product.

[jonnystorm777]

I hate apple.

[lonesomexloveus]

i shall advise you in the same manner in which you advised me in the thread i made about my problem:

go back in time and don't be a putz and drop your computer on the pavement. problem solved.

[kirbypuckett]

Are you joking? I don't think you know what "scam" means so it's hard to tell if you're trolling or not.

You're not buying a new screen, you're paying a subsidized price to have Apple replace it. You can buy a new display on your own and replace it, maybe you'll find it cheaper, but I highly doubt it.

Apple isn't perfect, neither is the Genius Bar, but if you had a better attitude you'd have a better experience than most other places.

I used to work for CompUSA, so I know first hand what it's like. Imagine if you purchased a random PC laptop and took it to Best Buy or something to get repaired. You'd be laughed at and forced to pay the Geek Squad. Or you send it back to the manufacture and maybe they fix it or maybe they tell you that accidental damage isn't covered and you're forced to pay the same.

I'm sure a lot of people have great experiences with Best Buy, other big box stores and the millions of PC vendors, however, there are a ton of negatives as well. Same goes with Apple, no retailer or product is perfect. It usually depends who you get to help you to and if you're acting rude (which based on your rant, you may have been).

Don't drop your stuff. Don't whine like a child.

[One Hundred Fifty-Two]

Didn't read any responses and only about half the OP, but here is my take. It is company policy. They aren't scamming you. Most retail stores instruct their front line employees to be very stringent. If a customer puts up a fuss then the manager comes out. This person is given more discretion and can choose to bend company policy. Apple knows what they are doing. The customer is always right as long as they are loud enough.

[000000]

i got applecare on my macbook so when the logic board fried a year or two ago it was still under warranty and got fixed no charge. i haven't really had any negative experiences with their customer service personally between getting my laptop looked at a few times, and the occasional ipod troubles.