MacbookPro 750GB HDD failure...I was spoiled.

I brought in my MBP mid-2011updated with 10.9 that was under Applecare, to the nearest Apple store. Prior, it was having spinning beachballs too often that I couldn't open a few programs (iPhoto, iTunes). I booted to Recovery and ran Disk Utility which on repair gave errors that were unrepairable. I ran Drive Genius and found bad sectors (over 8). Better backup and bring in.

I made clone and Time Machine backup, which I brought with me to the store.

The Apple store verified the issue and replaced the 750GB (hitachi) with a new one. But they wouldn't restore my time machine backup for me (but would for $100). I then realized, OK, I backed it up, I can restore it. And left.😐

At home, I was able to restore my TM back without issue. It wasn't quick...took 2hrs. But I am curious to how Apple's product failed (or Hitachi's part) and Apple would not "go the extra mile unless I paid" to put my files back to make sure my OS wasn't damaged from the HDD issue. I guess I had expectations. I realized that in the past, someone prior to the Applestore had helped me out, and was able to show me how to restore, how to run diagnostics and enough that if it wasn't a warranty issue, that I can be my own support. 🙂

So remember to have a backup. Always. And do have some responsibility to understand how your mac works, how to keep it running well, and that any support beyond your scope, may not be free (which I understand).