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iBook Refund On Its Way
bennomatic writes "Apple is finally making good on those iBook repairs we've heard so much about over the past several months. I just got my letter in the mail the other day which I had to sign and swear that I had indeed paid for the logic board repair in question. The letter stated that the refund would be made within 4-6 weeks following their receipt of my letter. It's funny that, with all of the fuss over the fact that they were not fixing the problem, there's been barely a whisper on the Mac web about the fact that it's all being taken care of."
What about a refund on the 'mandatory' purchase of MacOS X on my G4? I prefer plain Darwin, since it's just used as a server, and Darwin I can download for free? So where's my refund on the copy of MacOS I was forced to purchase with my G4?
(is Raymond gonna appear at the demo dressed as R2D2 this time?)
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Apple recently acknowledged that it was indeed a design flaw, and responded by extending the warranty on the motherboard only (not the whole system) for an additional two years, as well as offering to pay back those who replaced mobos out of their own pocket.
If you've purchased an iBook in recent weeks, it is probably not one of the models with this problem, and so does it have the extended coverage. You can just go on with your life (Although, at $300, the extended 3-Year AppleCare warrantee makes a lot of sense. Laptops can take a lot of abuse over a three-year period.)
All caught up now?
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
It's funny that, with all of the fuss over the fact that they were not fixing the problem, there's been barely a whisper on the Mac web about the fact that it's all being taken care of.
It's always more fun to bitch. I'd expect to see more along the lines of, "Well, they're FINALLY taking care of it!"
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
I'm in Japan, so I just took my 14" (which had lain unused for quite a few months) into the Apple Store in Ginza, up to the Genius Bar, and they promptly acknowledged that it was, well, fucked. Less than a week later and I had it back.
:)
Better still, they rang me the day before I collected it to say that the LCD cable (another iBook weakness) needed fixing and that it would cost 21,000 (about $200, I think) - a little steep, but I said OK. When I went to pick it up, there were a couple of rather dirty fingerprints on the screen and keyboard plastic surrounds. The man cleaned them off, but not satisfied that he had sufficiently allayed my concerns, reduced my repair bill from 21,000 to zero!
More importantly, viz the topic, the iBook is fine - the only troubling issue is that my 12" model appears to be going the same way - perhaps I shall be calling on their services again in the not too distant future.
iqu
My 800mhz iBook was manufactured in June 2003 and thus not covered by their replacement program (since it's still under warranty), yet its logic board failed last week. I wonder when the later iBook models go out of warranty if this program will be extended to cover them as well. Since I have a PowerMac I've literally used my iBook 3-4 times every month since owning it, so it's not like it was used much; hell, it still smells brand new . . .
Also, I wish I could hear some clear reports of WHAT or if there's anything different with the new logic boards that will ensure they don't keep failing again. Some reports from those who've had their iBooks repaired since this program started would be nice. Frankly I'm thinking of selling my iBook as soon as it comes back and springing for either a 12" PB or G4 iBook. Though i don't use the machine often, when I need it, I need it to work. It's sad I have to consider buying a more expensive model even though I don't need/want its features, but am afraid of the one I already own failing.
For which computers is the iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program available?
The program is available for iBooks with serial numbers in the following range(s):
UV220XXXXXX to UV318XXXXXX
iBooks with the serial numbers listed above may be referred to as:
* iBook (16 VRAM)
* iBook (14.1 LCD 16 VRAM)
* iBook (Opaque 16 VRAM)
* iBook (32 VRAM)
* iBook (14.1 LCD 32 VRAM)
Unfortunately mine is a few thousand from the end of UV318XXXXXX which means I've got one of the POS boards. Oh well, I bought it for my wife and she never uses it, so according to those that had the failure it will be a while before it breaks.
I bought my iBook (12" 800mhz) in January '02. I was more than happy with it until August '02 when the screen died on me right in the middle of a Bioinformatics conference. Luckily I was in Palo Alto, so I just went down to the Apple store and the guy at the genius bar sent it out for repairs. Apple repaired it and shipped it back to my home within 5 days.
Cut to November '02. Same thing happens, screen goes nuts, trouble with video on booting. I take it down to the closest Apple store and the genius bar once again sends it back for repairs, and it comes back within 7 days.
Basically after November I was freaking out, because I didn't have the extra cash to buy an extended warranty, and I just about know that my motherboard will go out again at some point. But then Apple came through and started the Logic Board replacement program exactly 1 year from the day I bought my computer.
I can say that if Apple didn't cover this and I was forced to extend my warranty, I would probably have never bought another Apple again. But as it is, they came through with their customer support and my next computer will probably be a G5 laptop when they finally come out.