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AppleCare - How Many Problems is Too Much?

steeviant wonders: "I live in New Zealand, and have been dealing with AppleCare Australia over issues with my PowerBook G4, which has needed three replacement power supplies, one battery, two motherboards, a top case, and a screen replaced under warranty, and it now has another hardware problem. I'm not satisfied that AppleCare Australia think it is acceptable for my PowerBook to have nine problems in two years, and want the machine replaced, but they are refusing. I have scoured the apple.com.au, and apple.com websites trying to find some way to contact anyone to try to get AppleCare to reconsider their stance on this issue. If New Zealand had an Apple branch office, I would simply take them to court, but even that is not possible as their computers are sold through a local distributor. Surely Apple don't consider this appalling number of failures to be acceptable for a computer which cost over NZD $9000. Can anyone suggest an avenue through which I can contact Apple in the U.S. for help?" Sometimes handing technical issues defect-by-defect works, however it seems to me that there are many cases where it would seem to be a waste of time...both the manufacturer's and the customer's. Should manufacturers be required to replace an entire machine after a certain number of defects in a specific time period, or might there be a better way to handle these kinds of technical issues? Update: 03/31 3AM EDT by C : steeviant wants to let everyone know that Apple has offered to replace his machine with a 'like for like' model before this article was even posted. So, "All's well that ends well." for some, how about you?

9 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Feline Poop! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Fuck you, all you motherfucking LambdaMOOers you! That's right, fuck you all!

  2. Apple doesn't care about your lemon by morelife · · Score: -1, Troll

    No, they shouldn't replace the machine.

    You made the choice to buy it under those terms. It keeps getting repaired, and that's how it works.

    That's what you get for buying Apple, it comes with the territory. The ads are purdy though, ain't they.

    1. Re:Apple doesn't care about your lemon by OmniVector · · Score: 0, Troll

      you act like ANY OTHER computer manufacturer is different. pull your head out of your ass.

      --
      - tristan
  3. Simple. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Attempt to get a refund in full for a product that has never worked correctly - and don't buy Apple ever again. When you buy a product based on the marketing, really - what did you expect?

    Apple has never been renowned for the quality of their products. In all my experiences, they absolutely suck - a fact that nobody seems to notice because they're so transfixed on "being cool".

  4. Re:OT: how it works at dell by morelife · · Score: -1, Troll

    Yes, post anonymously when telling the unvarnished truth about Apple. There's an agenda here at Slashdot... in case you hadn't noticed.

  5. Now your see the attraction of x86 by Captain+Kirk · · Score: -1, Troll

    I know Macs are things of beauty. I know they are the Lexus of personal computing and so worth paying $500-1000 more for the less RAM and processing power as the Ford of personal computing, ie the x86 architecture.

    But lets face it - once you buy a Lexus, you pay double the rate each time your car is serviced. And Apple is like that too - its bigger price and fewer suppliers but WOW! what a gorgeous product!

    Me personally - I like to buy my own motherboard, etc. and make what Ars Technica calls a GOD BOX for a week. (Then they call it a legacy product and make me lust for something newer and faster).

    Would you consider buying a something that didn't come from Apple next time? Meanwhile, I know your Mac does not work but you could still show it off by putting it on your desktop but having the actaul work doen by a PC in one of the desk drawers :-)

    (PS - show this posting to your Apple dealer and I'm sure you'll get better service - hide this part though)

  6. Sucker by Mr.+Piddle · · Score: 0, Troll


    three replacement power supplies, one battery, two motherboards, a top case, and a screen replaced under warranty, and it now has another hardware problem.

    Just like people who always have their car in the garage, the first word that comes to my mind is "Sucker." Computers--and cars--just don't break down like that, and people that end up in these situations are people who must actually *believe* what an auto/computer mechanic says. "Oh, I think your environmental defibrulater canister needs replacing, you know how these things go...that'll be $400. Thanks."

    --
    Vote in November. You won't regret it.
  7. Re:OT: how it works at dell by morelife · · Score: 0, Troll

    Hm, maybe you got misplaced among the threads or something as you're preaching to the converted... what I was saying, before the interruption from the simpering Dell boy, is that Apple's hardware support sucks. And you're living proof.

  8. Ghost in the machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    There is no such thing as a posessed, cursed or inherently bad computer. If you have multilple failures on a system and the manufacturer is as baffled about failures with their own product as you are, that should tell you that this is not a normal issue and probably not their problem. The warranty only covers manufacturing defects, it does not cover the fact that your town is built on top of an iron deposit and has a powerful magnetic field that kills the hard drive every 3 days, this would be YOUR fault. Moving would solve your computer problems replacing your computer would not. Manufacturers dont want to replace your computer because they know that in 99% of all cases they will still be fixing that machine even after they replace it, they may even have to replace it again because a problematic computer is almost alway the result of a problematic user.
    The idea that they ship products knowing they are defective is just silly, it's bad business and it doesnt work, Apple has been in business for 30 years, I think they know what they are doing. Yes Apple, like all other companies on earth, is trying to screw you out of your precious "hard earned" colored paper but they don't want to screw you out of your experience. Business is about making money, thats its purpose.