Apple macbook air hinge defect -closing lid is considered accidental damage

You're not addressing Apple here; with the exception of the Discussions Hosts who have nothing to do with Apple's warranty policies, only we your fellow users will see your post here.

All anyone here can suggest is that you attempt to contact Apple Customer Relations and discuss your problem with them. Call Apple tech support and ask to speak with Customer Relations. It may take a bit of work before you can find a way through. The official phone number for support from Vietnam is:

1-201-0288, then 800-708-5413

but whether that contact can get you to a Customer Relations representative I don't know. Other Apple phone numbers can be found here:

http://www.apple.com/support/contact/phone_contacts.html

Good luck.

The hinge had gradually gotten sloppy over the last few months (.75" of "rock back and forth" looseness when open).

One morning I OPENED my MacBook air, and CRACK! The left hinge cracks. I can't close it, for fear of making it worse. Made appointment with local apple-authorized repair place, wife drove me there with me holding Air in my lap, still open. Paid the "90 bucks to back up your data" fee, wait a couple days, and get the call: "Apple has decided that IT'S MY FAULT the hinge broke, and they offer to "fix the whole thing FOR $900".

Two weeks before, the fan had started making a very loud buzz.

Unreal. No macbook since Sunday. I bought a early rev MBP for my wife and that thing was falling apart as well. I just installed leopard onto my old PowerBook G4 1.67 - there is no way I'm paying $900 to fix what is clearly a defect.

Just wanted to corroborate your story - furiously typing this on my iPhone at 5am, so forgive any formatting errors.

Oh yeah, I left out the most hilarious part - I PAID FOR APPLECARE.

Hi guys the same issue happened on my macbook air brought it to the apple store at first they did not want to repair it but I asked to speak to a manager and explained to him that I pay the premium for apple products and that Ive been with apple since 2000 and that ive never had any trouble getting my stuff replaced or fixed and told him that I dont think I would just crack a hinge like that for fun on a 1899$ machine. He gladly changed it for free under the apple warranty and that was the end of. I figure that as long as there is no liquid damage or signs of abuse there is always a way with apple to get repaired.

Apple makes really attractive and expensive products that perform better than you could hope for - until something goes wrong due to design or programming. Apple has repeated this pattern of accusing the consumer for practically everything they've produced. You'd expect an extended service agreement to be honored more often than challenged (by a reputable company). I dropped Apple (due to the way they handled my son and his iPhone purchase) and have gone back to Dell and, aside from missing a few navigational bonuses OS X has, I'm doing quite well with Vista and looking forward to Windows 7. I can only hope my son's MBP (which was purchased just before the shiny, new all-glass screened one came out) lasts him through college!

Here's an interesting article:


http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/26/macbook-air-hinge-defect-not-covered-by-apple s-warranty/

Glor

This is bull. Apple typically will make no statement until they have fully researched the issue and resolved the problem. Most don't like this approach because it leaves them hanging on issues. I have followed and used appple computers since the early 80s and I have never heard of apple placing blame on the user unless they had good reason to. The hinge issue is the first time where I will disagree with apple on the defect. They do in this case need to fess up to the problem. It is starting to occur to regularly to be user damage.

Glor

thanks for posting that link.

At the suggestion of apple phone support, I'm getting the air back from the apple-authorized repair place and going down to the apple store tomorrow to show them. I'll post the results.

So ironic that I had just talked my wife into ordering a new mbp 15" to replace her orig mbp 1.83 this very weekend - no lie. I guess it's obvious that we're waiting to see how this comedy of Air-ors concludes. ;-\

If I can add my two cents... Mine broke just like the others on this thread, and almost like everybody else, the first genius I consulted with told me that it was accidental damage and that they won't cover it. I left the Apple Store and called Apple customer service, explained the situation, including the fact a 1800 $ computer shouldn't broke without reason, that there was multiple people on the internet with the same problem... a few days later, Apple called me to say that they will cover the display change under warranty. Still, i'm not impressed :

- The attitude of the first genius was very arrogant, telling me that I shouldn't try to "steal from Apple" by trying to cover accidental damage...

- When I got my MacBook Air back, the genius told me that they did put a new hinge design in there, which feels much more sturdy indeed. So if Apple changed the hinge design, they know there was a problem with the hinge, but they still won't change your failed hinge unless you complain : what kind of customer service is that ?

I'm feeling a class action over those first gen MacBook Air, really... 1800 $ gets you a computer that doesn't perform (kernel_task problem), with failing hardware (hinge defect).

By the way... mine have also a decoloration of the trackpad that Apple won't cover because they say it's "cosmetic". How ironic from a company who charge big preniums for design not to cover "cosmetic" issues.

Went to apple store, made case to apple genius, they agreed to fix all at no cost, before I really had a chance to bring my full dissatisfaction to bear. Well, I didn't break it, and now that they're fixing it, I'm cool.

Reconsidering my tactics, I think my problem was:
With a case of hardware damage that theoretically "could" have been from user abuse, I would have been better off going to the apple store first. Regardless of what I "should be able to do", I think Apple is less likely to rubber stamp a warranty repair if they have to rely on the assessment + digital pictures of the problem from a third party (apple-authorized repair services).

I like to support my local mac retailers now and then, but I'll probably use them for less dramatic damage. Supposed to get mba back in 4 or 5 business days. If all is well, I'm out!

ps: To some posters that were speaking badly of the overall value of apple products, I don't share your opinion - I've been using the living bejesus out of macs since 1994 because for me, they work better, faster, easier. That's why we can't have them breaking by themselves, eh?

Just to let you all know that my hinge issue was less serious, just a wobble and it was replaced free of charge. I went to the Genius Bar and there was no issue, the entire top panel and screen were replaced. I do have Applecare.

mine just broke. Heard a crack sound. Posting it here, so that apple knows that there are significant number of airs affected by this problem.

The same thing happened to me. I took it to the "genius bar" and they said it was accidental damage and it would cost me $450 to fix. I called AppleCare and got a similar response. In both cases I explained to the person I was speaking with that many others are having this problem and that it appears to be a design flaw. In both cases the customer service person expressed disbelief and maintained the party line that it was accidental damage. I am a loyal Apple fan and love my Macbook Air but this situation has made me bitter about supporting this company.

I would keep insisting, trying to move up the decision channel, by taking it to the store manager in person and asking for customer service and then a supervisor on the phone. Be nice and polite to everyone, but don't let yourself be intimidated. You paid a important amount of money for the computer, you have the right to get it to work in perfect condition.