I’m mad as hell. Updates to the blog have been minimal for two weeks because my laptop graphics card suddenly died on September 27. I phoned in to Apple and, after determining that it probably wasn’t a software glitch, they had me walk it into the new Temecula Apple Store. After twenty minutes, I was told that they would replace it for free (it was a known problem with the Santa Rosa series MacBook Pro; and subject of a prior class action lawsuit) and that it would take 3 to 5 days.
It is now two weeks later. The login on the Apple site spouts the cryptic phrase, “Product return pending.” Say what?
I’m not the only one who’s had these troubles with Apple. Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow switched from Apple to IBM/Lenovo due to service problems. “When I was an Apple user, hardware failures often meant standing in line for 40 min to drop off a Powerbook at a Genius Bar, then coming back a week or two later and waiting 40 minutes again to reclaim it.” With IBM, he has an on-site, next day, world-wide, 100% replacement guarantee for $100 a year. For that price, Apple let’s us find our own cellphones on MobileMe. Advantage: IBM/Lenovo.
Last Spring, when my laptop had similar problems, I was forced to buy a second MacBook Pro to use for the three weeks Apple took mine. There was simply no other option; I have a business to run and the laptop is the center of it (with multiple redundant backups, of course). Being in Eastern Europe, it came with a 75% additional markup (which all goes to unrefundable state sales tax and backsheesh to the company that handles Apple in a tertiary market – I know whereof I speak, I used to own an Apple licensee in Russia during the 1990′s).
Anyway, I’m currently working off an image of my original, missing laptop hard drive (one of my three backups). And I’m not waiting any longer to do my posts. Here they are.