Flickering Screen and Warranty

Question

Level 1

10 points

Flickering Screen and Warranty

Hello,

I've had my macbook for about one year and half now , just long enough for my limited warranty to wear off. After about 8 month of macbook ecstasy and bashing windows , i realised my screen was beginning to flicker at numerous occasions ( restart , booting , awaking , etc. ) . So i sent my machine to a local apple store but only to learn that my warranty does not cover my screen that is blackening and flickering on random occasions , which basicaly means i can't send my macbook to repair something that is not damaged but is going to be some day. Thus being said , my macbook is now one year and half old and this problem of flickering is getting worse every month ... is there anything i can do or this is some kind of deceiving apple warranty service that makes you want to switch back to windows but eventually makes you buy an other macbook because you're addicted to this trendy machine ?

macbook white , 2ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Sep 20, 2008 5:14 PM

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Answer 1

Soft Reset

Level 4

1,790 points

Sep 22, 2008 12:00 AM in response to virgile12

Virgile...

For clarification, you brought your machine into a local Apple Retail store or a 3rd party provider that is authorized to work on Apple products? They declined a repair on your machine as "No Trouble Found" or that identified an issue?

From what you've described... it sounds like the inverter on your display could be failing. Which can easily be repaired (if that's what it is).

I'd strongly encourage you to pursue contacting Apple directly to arrange an out-of-warranty repair on your machine, or visit a local Apple Retail Store / Genius Bar if that's convenient.

As far as the apple warranty is concerned, your machine came with a one-year warranty with the option during the first 365 days of you owning the machine to purchase AppleCare and extend it for two more years (three years total from date of CPU purchase). So if the issue was identified during the in-warranty period you might have a leg to stand on, especially if it was documented somewhere.

Again, though, that's up for Apple to decide as the machine is now out-of-warranty. Calling them, or visiting a Genius Bar would be the next best plan of action.

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Answer 2

Sep 20, 2008 8:25 PM in response to virgile12

I had the exact same problem about two months ago. Luckily I had purchased AppleCare, who took care of it and had it back to me within 36 hours; I'm assuming that purchasing AppleCare is no longer an option for you.Unfortunately, it is not a simple do-it-yourself repair. If this was happening prior to your year-long warranty being expired, I would call Apple and complain that it was valid for a repair at one point in time, but that you were told it's not. Put up a fight with them - they seem to be very helpful. Good luck!

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