Tuesday, March 20, 2007

how i just took a bite out of apple after they took a bite out of me

i brought my laptop to the apple store last week because a piece of my power cord got stuck in the input. i had an hour of juice left in it, and i didn't feel like taking tweezers to it to get it out.

apple told me that i'd need a new piece, and it would cost me $90 for it to get done (along with the $65 for the new power cord). great. $155 for repairs.

i got a call that it was ready, headed down to the apple store, turned it on and got the dreaded "?" inside the folder.

"this doesn't mean what i think it means?" i said.
"umm....oh. we need our techs to look at it." they said.

last night i got a call. seems my hard drive is kaput. something happened to my laptop during the travel from service to the store, and everything was lost. fortunately, i'd backed up everything that was important to me, and everything else could be found and replaced. no big deal. this, however, got me going.

- "sir, the cost of a new hard drive and repair is $250."
- "excuse me? you broke it. i shouldn't have to pay for it."
- "yes, sir, but you're not in warranty."
- "this isn't about warranty as it is about responsibility."
- "umm...we'll call you back."

i was talking to an intern. no problem.

today, i got a call from a higher-up. he told me that the hard drive was fried, and as a special one-time courtesy, apple would like to replace the hard drive free of charge.

- "why is it a one-time courtesy?" i asked.
- "well, you're out of warranty".
- "yes, but you broke it."
- "still, the cost of parts and labor would have been $250".
- "yes, sir, i get all that, but if you bring me your car for me to fix the battery, and while i repaired that, i busted the windshield, would you also have to pay for that?"
- "no."
- "well, why should i have to pay for my hard drive? why is it a courtesy when it's your responsibility?"
- "well, it just is, sir?'
- "hold on...are you calling from apple or microsoft?"

oh good fun.

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