August 18, 2007
When Apple Sends You a Lemon, Make Lemonade
We had been a proud, satisfied owner of an Apple PowerBook for a little over two years (and a blue-and-white G3 for five years before that) when it all went quickly downhill last November. Our computer started making these frightening, crackling, static, grinding noises, accompanied by nonsensical beeps, and then it crashed hard. We did an "erase and reinstall," which bought us about two weeks. Then, we had to pay our first somewhat quick and painless visit to our local Genius Bar, where it was determined we needed a new hard drive. Little did we know, that initial visit was the first of about five or six such increasingly mind-numbing visits in the coming year.
Every couple of months, the same issues kept sprouting up, although the static noise wasn't as bad after they replaced the old cabling. The first couple of times, we thought we just had ridiculously bad luck and had received a defective hard drive. Twice. Then, the second two times we realized that maybe that stupid cell phone holder with the super strong magnetic clip was the problem. Oops, we thought, the second time around, while sitting at an airport bar in tears over our martini, feeling like a total airhead, after we had placed the aforementioned cell phone holder directly onto our hard drive, which actually vibrated from the force. So, we quickly chucked the cell phone holder into the trash and got yet another new hard drive.
By this point, we had become experts at backing up our information and had reinstalled our software about ten times. We had met pretty much every Genius at the Stockton Street Apple store, and a few at the Indianapolis one, after the airport incident. (Any Geniuses out there who can tell us whether you go around telling people you work as a "Genius" for a living?)
Well, the final crash ocurred last week, just nine days before our three-year extended warranty expired. Very timely, we must say. We had done nothing wrong this time around, and we were not about to step foot into that Genius Bar again. Plus, that Einstein quote kept ringing in our head, "Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Find out what happens after the jump!
So, we sucked it up and sat on hold with Apple Customer Care for an unknown amount of time. The first person we spoke to was very pleasant and understanding, which was a relief. Then we were put in touch with an "expert," who helped us through all of the steps and finally determined that we needed a brand-spanking-new, beautiful MacBook Pro, which they were going to Overnight to us via Fed Ex after they got the tracking number for our old laptop. Yes!!!
Yet, somehow we knew there would be at least one more hurdle before our computer woes had been resolved. Thank you, Fed Ex, for mistaking the number 760 Market (our s.o.'s office building -- stalkers take note) for 750 Market, which happens to be CompUSA. Luckily, we were able to track down the package and obtain it from Scott, the sales manager at CompUSA, who not-so-subtly scolded us for not buying the computer through CompUSA. (But, why would we..?) And thank you, security guards at CompUSA, for predictably demanding a receipt for our mis-Fed Exed package that was handed over to us by your Sales Manager two feet away from you. We understand that you have to do your job, but it was a weird situation and we couldn't get out of your store fast enough. (Sidenote, a similar mishap occurred three years ago, when our old Apple Protection Plan papers got dropped off on the wrong street by UPS and then stolen when it was left on our doorstep by the resident of the wrong address. Uh, oh, insane irony.)
Anyway, thanks for the lemonade, Apple! We hope the bitter days are over.
Feel free to let us know your Apple woes and triumphs in the comments.
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Horror stories can happen with any type or any brand of computer. But where Apple has many people snookered is the idea that nothing wrong every happens with Macs. They never crash, never get malware; they are just ongoing computing bliss. Well, that's nonsense!
At this point in the development of the Wintel platform (i.e. Windows OS + Intel processors), there is simply no huge difference between the Mac and PCs, and if anything, the PC has an edge when it comes to logical operations.
Try this on your Mac: put the cursor in the address field of your browse. Now press the End key. Does the cursor got to the end? No. And why is the backspace key called "delete?" Now try this: you have a folder with many files and folders inside. Can you right-click and select "Search here" from the pop-up menu? No, you have to go to the Finder and either search the entire computer or somehow find that folder.
And I'm sure some Mac guru will say, "Oh, wait... you can do that. Just press Apple | Option | Control-A and hit the X key four --" Wait a minute! I thought the Mac was supposed to be easier, not harder than the PC.
The PC is hardly perfect. Computers are such general and complex tools that they will never be easy and simple for technophobic people. But unless you're doing specialized work like video editing, there's really no reason to get a Mac. Twenty-three years after its introduction, it still has only a single-digit marketshare. There's a reason for that, and it's not poor marketing on Apple's part.
Well, the thing with my old G3 was that I could fix everything myself and it lasted forever, until the Firewire was wiped out during a freaky power surge at my old house, not to mention OS X. Laptops seem to be so much more fragile and temporary, yet more expensive.
And I have to add Mac is great for design/photography and audio as well. I will never switch to PC. I was intuitively a Mac fan all the way back in 6th grade in the mid-80s.
The funny thing about video-editing is the fact that Adobe stopped making Premiere for Mac a while back because Apple wouldn't hand over their programming code or something. I guess they wanted to force everyone to buy Final Cut Pro.... iMovie works well enough for what I usually do anyway.
I really, really wish that Apple'd let Adobe make Premiere for Macs. I can't affort Final Cut (but already had Premiere), and don't really like the iMovie interface. (I know, blasphemy!)
So this wasn't the horror story it sounded like in the first graf.
I eagerly anticipate a long exposition of your next trip to Trader Joe's.
Every PC that has come through my house has ended up crashing horribly. We must have had 4 or 5 by now, if my count is correct. I have had my own computers, one of the original iMacs, and an eMac. The iMac is still operable, though obsolete. My eMac actually just crashed for the second or third time in the more than two years that I have had it, and it has never required more than a restart to get over it. I would not switch to PCs for love or money.
Guest 1 (fist post):
I'll be that Mac geek that tells you how to do it on a Mac. Next time you are so terribly forced to use one...
put the cursor in the address field of your browse. Now press the End key. Does the cursor got to the end? No.
Arrow keys. Up/Down move from the end to the beginning of address field. If you are in the middle of a line of text, i.e. typing this post, you can use the Command + Left/Right arrow key to go to the beginning/end. Option + Left/Right will jump words,rather than just going a character at a time.
The 'End' key is next to the page up, page down and home. So it controls the vertical scrolling of the document/website, etc...
And why is the backspace key called "delete?"
Hrmm. Maybe because it's deleting the previous character. Not just moving the cursor back one character space.
you have a folder with many files and folders inside. Can you right-click and select "Search here" from the pop-up menu? No, you have to go to the Finder and either search the entire computer or somehow find that folder.
Next time you are on your Mac, browsing through a folder. Look to the top right of the window. See the little magnifying glass. Type what you are looking for in there. Voila, searching within the finder or that folder or whatever you need!!
I warned you...
Let this be a lesson to all: for Apple laptops, *always* get the extended AppleCare warranty. It pays for itself on the first repair you need to do.
#2, I'm not sure what the precise definition is, but I believe California has a "lemon" law and if you send in a product (i.e. not just an Apple product, but any product from any manufacturer) for a warranty fix more than three times, the manufacturer is required to give you a new (same or better) product.
That sounds about right, #7. How come the "Geniuses" don't know that? I feel silly about how many times I just went through the motions. I guess my experience can serve as an example to everyone else. Calling Customer Care seemed to yield much better results.
This worked out much better than my experience with Best Buy when I bought an out-of-the-box display model of a mini-DV camera about 8 years ago. I didn't notice that the damned thing was missing a serial number and was therefore screwed, despite the extended warranty... I should've pursued it but never did. I still get angry thinking about it now.
thanks for this story.
i have always used macs. for years. i've bought several. starting to lose count. i'm been faithful to macs because i just l like the way they work way better than PCs.
but then i bought a brand new, hella fancy macbook pro last january and i've had more fricken problems with these thing than i can include here. once the genuis bar took my computer for what they said would be about 3 days. i didn't get the fucking thing back for a month. and then the problem started again almost immediately after i took it home. it nows needs to be fixed again for the fourth time since i bought it 8 months ago.
i think the folks at apple are brilliant and all, but they've got to step it back up on the quality control or they're going to start losing some of their biggest fans.
#1: put the cursor in the address field of your browse. Now press the End key. Does the cursor got to the end? No.
jacobe: Arrow keys. Up/Down move from the end to the beginning of address field. If you are in the middle of a line of text, i.e. typing this post, you can use the Command + Left/Right arrow key to go to the beginning/end. Option + Left/Right will jump words,rather than just going a character at a time.
The 'End' key is next to the page up, page down and home. So it controls the vertical scrolling of the document/website, etc...
Wait, that's supposed to be easy and intuitive? Down going to the end of a field makes more sense than "end?" And command+left is obvious? Next you'll tell me that command+shift+3 is way easier than "print screen."
I think his point was that Macs aren't as easy as they are made out to be, not that the actions aren't possible.
-Austin
Hi Leanne, Apple store "Geniuses" have a little less leeway than people in Apple's Customer Relations department (which is where the Applecare phone agents escalated your case to).
I had frustrating issues with my Powerbook G4 and, after sending it back 3 or 4 times (including a time where it took them a month to finish the repair), Apple ended up sending a new MacBook Pro out to me. I just wanted a machine that worked properly, so the outcome was extremely unexpected and made me very happy (and certainly helps me to continue to be loyal).
That said, customers should be reasonable: Laptop computers are fragile things (with logic boards, thousands of integrated circuits and connections, etc.) and are susceptible to acting flaky if you tend to beat up (i.e. heavily use) them, like I do. Apple is probably no worse than any other laptop computer manufacturer. If you want something sturdy and rugged, buy a laptop that's designed to be abused (e.g. a "Toughbook"?). If you don't want a Toughbook, buy an extended warranty.
California's Lemon Law applies only to automobiles. http://www.dca.ca.gov/acp/pdf_files/englemn.pdf
The Rosai store on Mariposa & ? IS THE BEST!
Screw those Genius types, they are kinda awful.
At Rosai they are licensed to fix your laptop and noone told them they had to be mean while they do it.
Rosai is kinda the joke of the town, even most apple repairs cost less. If you are out of warranty and need a repair done take it to The Powerbook Guy, he is like one block from the stockton st apple store.
Rosai group has dropped the ball on my company too many times and I have discontinued business with them.
#1 said (though he smells more like #2) "They...never get malware"
That's the truth....they *don't*. Unlike Windblows....
Why are people so surprised that Macs break?
Just like everything else we buy, aren't they made in China by slave labor and companies trying to save pennies in construction costs by cheating?
God knows what toxic waste may be getting used as part of the manufacturing process.
Is the keyboard plastic made of baked radioactive PVC sludge?
Very good point, marcinsoy. I would gladly pay more for a computer as awesome as a Mac that was manufactured in a more humane and environmentally-friendly way. Hopefully that can be a reality one day. Hear us, Apple (and the majority of other big corporations)?!!
And in regards to Macs breaking down. I've had minimal problems with the desktop Macs I've encountered in the past 10 years -- although the G3s were much worse than G4s.. Laptops are another story, and it's of course because they get jostled and bumped around whereas desktops don't. Maybe more consumers need to be aware of that before dropping so much cash on them though... They are convenient but not practical, and many laptop-buyers will be subject to frustratingly long visits to the Genius Bar.
That said, I've had my MacBook Pro for three days now, and it's rad! So fast. I look forward to another three worry-free (but not necessarily hastle-free) years thanks to the Pro Care Plan.
In a text control:
Cmd+Left/Right move to the far left or far right of the line.
Option+Left/Right moves left/right one word.
the first day i had my i phone i dropped it from a bar-height table onto a tile floor. aside from the resulting scuff mark, i think i may have dislodged the lcd screen. (there was a weird strip of light on my first iphone near the earpiece that i don't see on my replacement.)
i took it in after a week when the screen would constantly flicker for no apparent reason. the genius reset my firmware and i was on my way. a week later the problem came back and i headed back to the apple store. she went in back, tinkered, and then showed up with a completely new iphone.
granted it was my fault, but they replaced it...no questions asked.