rachael85 wrote:
ok so my MBP (bought oct 2007) died on the weekend. i took it into my local apple store tonight and the "genius" told my my logic board had died. my symptoms arent exactly the same as the nvidia because mine is just completely dead (the light blinks once and thats it, no sound, no fan, no power, nothing). he told me it would cost $2154.90 to fix it!!! i am going to go back in and tell him that i know there is a known problem with my mbp model and this just isnt good enough. i didn't pay $3000 for a laptop for it to die in 3.5yrs....
Assuming your machine falls completely within the guidelines of the Nvidia program, I cannot thing of a reason why the genius would deny you repair under the repair extension unless they're either uninformed of it, or want to make you buy a computer. I would print a copy of the web page and take it with you, along with your original sales receipt (if you still have it) and speak to a manager.
"If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within four years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty."
-- Source: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
As an anecdote, I had a similar problem with the genius bar and my wife's white Macbook (2007) with cracking plastics. We were denied repair through the genius bar twice at the same store who had done the original plastics repair for cracking. The 2nd time we took it in for this, the "genius" had the audacity to accuse my wife (in front of me) of putting it in a book bag and throwing it around. She's a college mathematics professor, it goes in her laptop bag, she knows how to take care of it--he apparently got into some sort of trouble because when we left, he came out to apologize for his behavior.
Finally we contacted Apple directly, they took care of everything, and reported what happened at the genius bar. After the third time it was sent in for cracking, Apple went ahead and replaced the Macbook for us with a new unibody model--it's been a little over a year now and no issues with the machine (knock on wood), cracking or otherwise. It's been a real trooper. Apple customer service and their escalations people specifically told us in plain english that unless it was damage "we" caused to the machine, it was covered under our warranty....period. Unfortunately, retail is retail and I'm guessing the genius bars are going to be better depending on the size of store, economics of the area, etc. However, I've consistently and without fail have had better service from their genius bar whenever I've had to deal with a female genius versus a male one. Therefore, my guess is that on top of lack of information or naivete, [adolescent male] laziness also plays a part too.
Good luck!