Apple failed to repair my laptop - options?

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Apple failed to repair my laptop - options?

Hi all,

I posted a question a month or so ago and got good advice however the problem has manifested so as to present a new issue for me. Essentially the original issue is that often even the slightest of knocks to my 15" Aluminium Unibody Macbook Pro from Feb 2009 causes the laptop to shutdown instantly - the effect is the same as if you had removed the battery.

I took it to my local Apple shop (in central London) and they chose to repair the battery connector, which took a total of about 2.5 weeks. Although they may have replaced the connector, this did not solve the problem. Same thing still happens.

Not having my laptop is very problematic for me work-wise and frankly, I bought an expensive model from Apple partly on the assumption that the quality would be correspondingly high. I can't really afford for them to take it from me for further repair. Does anyone have any advice about what my options are?

Note that I've had the laptop for about 10 months now and I had to have Apple replace a faulty fan in it a couple of months after I bought the product.

Best wishes,

Tom

Macbook Pro (Unibody), Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Feb 13, 2010 7:01 AM

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Answer 1

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Feb 13, 2010 7:22 AM in response to tominlondon1

Bring it back.

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Answer 2

eww

Level 9

53,052 points

Feb 13, 2010 7:26 AM in response to tominlondon1

Hi, Tom. Take the machine back to the Apple Store and talk to the manager. Explain that they kept your MBP for 2.5 weeks to no effect, and you can't be without it again. Insist (politely but firmly) that they fix it properly, test it, and get it back to you quickly.

If you work on it yourself or have anyone other than an AASP work on it, you will jeopardize what remains of your warranty (and your AppleCare plan, if you have one on it).

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Answer 3

Feb 13, 2010 7:40 AM in response to eww

Keep your options open. The notebook should be free from defects, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. Repairs are perfectly acceptable so long as the same does not cause "significant inconvenience". You are protected under consumer law. Force your issue to the store manager and advise that you have already had two previous repairs causing "significant inconvenience" one of which did not fix a fault which was diagnosed by Apple as the battery connector. You may well be entitled to a replacement but you should speak to the store first. If they refuse to solve your issues contact trading standards. Hope this helps.

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Answer 4

Feb 13, 2010 9:31 AM in response to tominlondon1

Tom - It doesn't seem like it should take that long to have a repair done under warranty. I am not sure what system Apple has set up in the UK. Here in the US - I had a repair done by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE. Fist they had a service tech call me back to try a few things to resolve the issue. It was determined it was a hardware issue. They shipped me a box FEDEX for me to send my MBP to their repair center (in Memphis Tennessee here in the states) The box was picked up and over nighted to the repair center (at no cost to me). The repair was done in 1 day and then it was overnighted back to me. 3 business days total that it was out of my hands. They say it can take from 5 to 7 business days, but they often do better than this. Again 2 1/2 weeks does not seem reasonable amount of time for a repair. Maybe you should try the 1-800/send it in route instead of taking it to the Apple Service provider in London.

If you are able to send it in like I did - make sure you back up all of your data before sending the unit in. When got mine back all of the data was intact, but it's a good precaution.

Best,

M.

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