Dorian_C
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Nvidia 8800M GT & Logic Board failure not covered

Hi all,

 

I cannot stress enough how angry I am right now at apple. My MBP Penryn 4.1 early 2008, 3 years old, wont start anymore so I took it to a retail store.

I am sure it is the graphic card that blew, a well known problem at apple with that series (8800M GT by nvidia). They are supposed to cover the repairs for 4 years after the date of purchase so i'm eligible for that repair.

 

Anyway they are trying to charge me 700$ to replace the logic board, which is very sketchy. I think it is the Nvidia Geforce 8800M GT that blew and they are giving me a quote for the logic board just to avoid covering the repairs.


My computer is in exceptional state, as new, no scratches, never dropped it, always clean. The guy's first reaction was "wow, it's in amazing shape". I take care of it like no other because i paid almost 3000 dollars for it.

And paying that much money for a computer to last 3 years only is outrageous.

 

I want them to cover the repairs but I just dont konw what to do. I called apple today and they gave me an appointment at another store, but i know it's a waste of time and they're going to tell me the same thing...

 

The number of topics online for this exact same problem online is AMAZING and apple isnt doing anything to help these unhappy customers, they try to get away with everything and that is downright unacceptable.

 

I was going to buy a brand new Macbook pro at the end of the month as soon i get my paycheck, but with that kind of service they can suck it!!

That problem arose at the perfect time... if they dont fix this problem for free, I'm buying a regular PC for 1/4th of a mac's price, I'll be better off and it'll have good components in it that wont break down after 3 years. That problem actually happened at the right time to make up my mind about apple and their sucky services, they rip off their customers by overpricing everything, and on top of that there is NO SUPPORT WHEN YOU NEED HELP.

 

Do you guys have any advice on what i should/could do here?

 

Thanks

Posted on Jan 18, 2012 5:07 PM

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Dorian_C

Q: Nvidia 8800M GT & Logic Board failure not covered

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  • by shldr2thewheel,

    shldr2thewheel shldr2thewheel Jan 18, 2012 5:14 PM in response to Dorian_C
    Level 7 (25,881 points)
    Jan 18, 2012 5:14 PM in response to Dorian_C

    what makes you think it is the graphics card as opposed to the logic board?  Have you done any diagnostic tests yourself, or are you just making an assumption, and if so, what is it based on?  When you go to Apple tomorrow, ask them to explain to your satisfaction why it can't be the graphics card that is causing the problem.  No one in here can override any decision Apple may make.

     

    "I'll be better off and it'll have good components in it that wont break down after 3 years"  no one can make those predictions, any product can have a component that can fail at any time, PC or Mac.

  • by Dorian_C,

    Dorian_C Dorian_C Jan 18, 2012 5:23 PM in response to shldr2thewheel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 18, 2012 5:23 PM in response to shldr2thewheel

    It's fairly simple... all the symptoms I read about online are the same, the exact same.

    I had black bars on my screen on several occasions, only a restart would fix that. heating problems. stuff like that... you know what it looks like. All the symptoms were there.

    I even went to an apple store 2 eyars ago to get my graphic card tested, so it's not for lack of worrying about it ahead of time.

     

    And anyway on top of that, that was the apple store guy's first diagnostic, he said "oh yeah, looks like the graphic card so we'll see if apple covers that".

    Then after a minute, he was like "oh that's too bad, you have the 2.5Ghz and only the 2.2 and the 2.4 are covered.

    I said "don't go there with me sir, my MBP is an early 2008, it clearly states on the official website that early 2008's are covered": http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

    I shoved the link in his face to prove it to him.

     

    ---> That was my first clue as to the fact that they're trying to get away without repairing it for me.

     

    Now, the other thing is that when the graphic card is blown, they have to change the whole motherboard I guess because they're stupid enough to actually integrate it to the motherboard.

    So it's easy to find the pretext that it's a problem on the motherboard itself instead of the graphic card to get away with it, but I'm not going to let that slide, believe you me!

  • by shldr2thewheel,

    shldr2thewheel shldr2thewheel Jan 18, 2012 5:27 PM in response to Dorian_C
    Level 7 (25,881 points)
    Jan 18, 2012 5:27 PM in response to Dorian_C

    When you go tomorrow, I would ask to speak to a store manager and have a senior genius present also if you get the same answer.  Don't make threats about not buying another mac.  Be polite.  Good luck.

  • by Dorian_C,

    Dorian_C Dorian_C Jan 18, 2012 5:33 PM in response to shldr2thewheel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 18, 2012 5:33 PM in response to shldr2thewheel

    OH rest assured I'm always polite, it's not always these poor guys' fault.

    But I make myself heard nonetheless, I need them to know how unhappy I am. And yes, I think they should know that I was going to byu another mac, I won't use that as a threat per se, but that would let them know that if they dont fix my problem for me, then they've downright lost a customer forever. And I'm gonna give apple the worst publicity ever. I made about 50 of my friends buy a mac,boasting the quality of the system, the robustness of the hardware and everything... and never got a commission on that after all!

     

    Thanks for the advice, I'll ask to speak to a senior manager and try to contain myself and not act angry!