Within 5 months the speakers started playing up on my machine and the Apple store told me to stick with it for a couple weeks and hope for the best which I did and it ended in me taking it down to the store in the USA over a quick Christmas visit to my parents. Came back to the UK with my MacBook after it was fully reinstalled and restored and in January of this year (2020) I was writing up and essay when the machine came up with a bunch of black and white dots through the screen about a third of the way of the screen and then switched itself off and never came back on. I called Apple support as it was out of store opening hours and they asked me to go through the commands over the phone with them and after a lengthy phone call there was no improvements so I went down to the store for a walk in appointment where I was told the logic board had most probably failed. Went in for repair and passed all its checks and I brought it home, restored my time machine backup so I could get back to my uni work and soon as I could and within 20minutes it restarted and came up with a red square around the Apple logo. Concerned about this I called Apple support and the lady on the phone told me not to worry - “your Mac either has a couple weeks before it will die again or you’ll be fine and it’s just the graphics card booting”. Obviously as a university student I wasn’t very impressed to hear that it was a gamble for the next two weeks but I carried on using it as normal. Today however, 9 days after the product was repaired, the EXACT same problem happened, only this time my essay counts towards 65% of my final grade!! I took it into Apple Southampton (where I’m studying) and I was told the logic board AGAIN needs repairing! I asked the technician looking at my laptop if there was any way I could get a replacement for the essay which is due tomorrow may I add and he and the manager at the store both told me numerous times no. I was advised the only replacement I could get was to “buy a new one and they’ll refund me the amount when I hand it back upon repair”. As a uni student how am I expected to pay £2000 for a laptop that shouldn’t be having these problems considering it’s brand new AND only just came back from repair?? This kind of service is not acceptable so I called my father who lives in America and asked him to speak to the manager about a replacement or an exchange. When we brought up the topic of an exchange however, the manager told me that I am not eligible for an exchange as the product was bought in the USA therefore consumer laws state even a simple LIKE FOR LIKE EXCHANGE is not even possible?? is this really a clause in the AppleCare plus coverage?? I’m a university student with deadlines and assignments all counting to my final grades and the Apple store clearly told me there is nothing they can do to help. The manager advised me to call Apple support as they would be able to assist with replacing the laptop in the UK even though it was bought in the USA. The store manager at Apple even explicitly told me that as this is the second stage of repairs under warranty she would or happily signed off on an exchange today in store but because it was an internationally bought product there was some sort of currency issue and hence a store level there was no authorisation however at Apple support online there would be. To top it all off the in store manager had the nerve to tell my father that AppleCare is only valid in the country it’s purchased for exchanges or replacements and told him that she has a son in America and she purchases Apple products for him over there so that his AppleCare works fully. Come to think of it however the only reason she buys her son products in Australia is because the AUD converted back to GBP is cheaper!! I must say great cover story made up on the spot...

I called Apple support as soon as I left the store and the lady over the phone kept me on hold for over 50minutes as she apparently tried to liaise with her senior team and even after all this time she still came to tell me there was nothing that could be done. I asked for a manager as this was unacceptable as it contradicted what a manager had said in store and kept me on hold for another 20 minutes as she tried to get someone senior to talk to. When speaking to the senior member of Apple support, due to the time I was already kept on hold by the previous advisor the store had shut and the staff had gone home and now the senior support member is also off work until Wednesday and now I won’t get my case acted upon until she’s back at work!? So does this mean that Apple support senior members couldn’t just leave a few notes about my case so it can be taken up by someone else?? And what am I supposed to do in the meantime - watch my university degree disappear due to being supplied faulty goods?? And at what stage will Apple finally tell me that this “internationally bought goods” clause will disappear? How many repairs before it’s officially cost the company to much and they’re willing to exchange a clearly faulty laptop??

Either way I am not impressed with the service Apple have given over this one laptop especially as I have had an iPhone exchanged before even though it was bought internationally yet are giving me a cheeky statement about international replacements and repairs etc! It’s not acceptable and for someone who comes from a very Apple supportive family I’m dissatisfied over the lack of service on my first MacBook Pro.