Apple says I need to pay more for my repair but won’t tell me why

You will never be charged for a repair that isn’t completed if you do your repair through Apple. They will even ignore any shipping costs if you decline the additional cost and have the device returned. AASP may have their own charges that cannot be refunded.

That being said, you can totally call back in to AppleCare (1-800-my-Apple). Warranty/AppleCare+ don’t matter because you are currently a “paying customer” for the repair service. I think they also got a lot more relaxed about the phone support time limits in the last few years. Ask to speak with a senior advisor if the first person you get doesn’t seem to know what’s going on. I’m not sure the first level technical advisors get well trained on repair issues, but a senior advisor should know more about the reason for the extra cost.

Side note: Since Apple issues a new 90-day warranty on their repairs, they require all issues with the device be repaired before sending the device back “repaired.”

If Apple or an AASP sent the laptop to an Apple repair depot and a repair is declined, then you are usually responsible for the labor fee ($100 US) and the shipping fees (about $20 US I believe). AFAIK, you shouldn't have had to pay anything up front if the repair was to be covered by a free repair program. It sounds like they sent the laptop to the Apple repair depot for a standard out-of-warranty battery replacement which costs about $129 US IIRC. I honestly don't know what costs are refunded if a repair is declined under these circumstances.

No matter whether the laptop is being repaired at the store/shop or whether they sent the laptop to an Apple repair depot, they should be providing you with the additional details and information. An AASP can certainly ask the repair depot for more details and even request pictures if necessary. Insist on them providing you more information. If the Apple Store or AASP doesn't know the details or don't know how much you will owe for the declined repair, then they can certainly ask their technical support contacts at Apple.

You may want to contact Apple directly as well.

https://www.apple.com/contact/

philsmy wrote:

Anyway, it took a lot of back and forth and inter-lingual confusion but the issue was resolved. Not totally happy about paying so much to repair a 5 year old machine that has a clear 'factory' defect (a normal battery does not swell and it is not because of anything I did), but that's life.

When a battery swells, it's often for some random reason. There isn't a single production device with a lithium rechargeable battery that doesn't have some reports of swollen batteries. It's just something that happens. I've had it happen once, but that was in a polycarbonate MacBook where it just pressed a plate out of the external battery well and didn't damage anything.

Apple orders high quality batteries from large suppliers, and they don't have access to any kind of special type of battery that won't occasionally swell. It's just a reality with the technology.

However, when sealed batteries swell, they tend to push out and damage things.

Be cautious about "they cannot charge you more" and "they must refund" coming from us. We are users, not the AASPs or the depot or Apple Inc. That does not mean you should be charged only for fully authorized repairs, but we cannot guarantee.

philsmy wrote:

Anyway, it took a lot of back and forth and inter-lingual confusion but the issue was resolved. Not totally happy about paying so much to repair a 5 year old machine that has a clear 'factory' defect (a normal battery does not swell and it is not because of anything I did), but that's life.

While Apple does have unacknowledged free repair programs, the programs usually only covers systems less than three (sometimes four) years old. As @y_p_w mentions any Lithium-ion battery can swell and it does not indicate an actual widespread manufacturing defect. Things fail especially after five years of use.

I'm glad you were finally able to get some more information even if the outcome wasn't quite what you hoped.