Forgive the lack of prose in this post - I’m very busy, under a mountain of work, but I just wanted to give you all an update on my Macbook saga.

It is the hard drive. For the second time in ‘07, it has crashed and burned, taking everything with it. Not even a byte of info to be recovered. That’s okay though, as I have my most important files archived onto an external hard drive. Beyond the immediate hard drive issue, the problem was that I had a lemon. Yes, had. Hold your horses.

Apple’s official policy is that they will not replace a computer until it has had three major failures under-warranty. A borked keyboard, though it rendered my computer unusable, is not considered major, and so I therefore only had two majors. Furthermore, all work on the the Mac had been done in Costa Rica, where the computers apparently don’t sync records with the U.S. You may see where I’m going with this.

I called Apple U.S., sure that I would get further with them than with Apple Costa Rica. I had bought my Macbook in the U.S., the warranty was U.S. (worldwide usage), and the U.S. is more focused on customer service. It’s a cultural thing. Anyway, I fired up Skype, which threatened to bring the P3 Dell I’m using to its knees, and called the Apple 800-number (haha!). After sitting on hold for 20 minutes, unable to work for fear of crashing my writings, my phone call, and the computer in general, I began to chat with a nice man named Landus. I explained the problem to him, told him why I wanted a replacement computer instead of a replacement hard drive, and he said “no problem,” off in search of Someone In Charge who could order me the new computer. After another 10 minutes of holding, which brought the call to a full 1 hour, 10 minutes, the line went dead. Breathe, Erin, breathe.

I called back, waited on hold for another 20 minutes, and began a chat with Webster, who wasn’t quite as cheerful as Landus. Or helpful. He told me “no, sorry.” I said, “Put me through to your supervisor.” Supervisor Chris came on the line and for 25 minutes, treated me as only an asshole can, explaining that he didn’t care that I was out-of-country, used my computer for my job, and was being subjected to torture because of an assembly-line failure that smelled distinctly of rotten, lemony Macbook. Furthermore, he didn’t have any repair records from Icon (Apple Costa Rica), and even if he had, they’d be in Spanish, which he doesn’t speak. So sorry, he absolutely wasn’t going to help me. I tried staying cool as a cucumber, even tried pouring some honey on, but he didn’t care. I told him I wanted to speak with his supervisor. He said he was it.

By this time, I had been on the phone for about 2.5 hours, and was nearing tears of frustration. I just wanted a Macbook that worked. That’s Apple’s reputation, after all. So I told dear Christopher to transfer me to someone with a heart. That’s when Marlene at Customer Care came onto the line. In the first accented English I’d heard all day, Marlene asked me to detail the situation. I did, again. She explained, also again, that Apple won’t replace a product that’s only had two major failures. I asked for her sympathy — nay, I begged for it — and told her that in Costa Rica, parts and installation take about 6 weeks. That’s 6 weeks without my Macbook. 6 weeks on a PC. She caved.

Marlene called me “honey,” she identified with what it’s like living in a new country where things don’t work the way you’re used to, and she understood that a Macbook just shouldn’t work like this. After another hour on the phone, Marlene had ordered me a new computer, sent a shipping label to my email, and was clearing up the situation. Since I’m going back to the States for Thanksgiving, a brand new Macbook will be waiting, equipped with a faster processor than the one I already have and supplemented by all the original upgrades I ordered. The computer will come equipped with Leopard, iLife ‘08, and all the new goodies that Macbooks come with these days. It has a brand new warranty on it, which is quite convenient, given that my previous warranty was set to run out in a few weeks. Furthermore, Apple is sending me that Macbook before they even receive the old one… when I get to the States, my new Macbook already awaiting me, all I need do is affix their prepaid shipping label to a box, call the courier, and have them pick up the lemon at my doorstep.

Lemons happen, I don’t fault Apple for it. What matters is how customer support issues are dealt with after a problem has been identified. On the exterior, my 3.5+ hour story of woe may seem painful, but let’s face it: no computer manufacturer wants to replace a $1800 piece of equipment. But with a bit of patience and a lot of perseverance, Apple did it. Try getting that from a PC manufacturer.

12 Comments

• On November 14, 2007 at 12:54 pm, Helene wrote:

  Dear Gringuitica,

  I hear you loud and clear regarding computer problems!!!! I have tales to tell myself, but they don't call me darling, honey, etc. You must have very well developed patience and charming phone manners! By the way, how is the weather now? Has it cleared up to lighten your spiritn that category?

  Take care,

  Helene

  PS I will be in San Jose, Arenal, and Monteverde from Dec 13-20. I'd love to meet you in person over a great cup of Costa Rican coffee!

• On November 14, 2007 at 1:04 pm, Fabi wrote:

  Of course Mac is not perfect but definetly is better than PC System.... I passed a lot of predicamentes with the "powerfull PCs" and the most of the times, i have to fix the problems by my self (hardware and sofware problems, i mean)

  You have really good luck with this situation!!! estoy feliz que te vayan a dar una Macbook nueva...... Really, you had a "Lemon" Macbook!

  como dije, las Mac tendran sus problemas, nada es perfecto..... pero mucho mas estables que las Pcs parece que si lo son.... hasta ahora me gustaria la idea de tenrer una Mac algun dia.. maybe someday ;)

  Fabi!

• On November 14, 2007 at 3:59 pm, Mario wrote:

  I`ve been using Mac the last 14 years and the situation you describe sounds unbelieveble to me. In 14 years I had just 3 problems with my hard disk!! (and I work on graphic design)

  I would like to recomend you a place called Reprocolor (236 6070). They help a lot and are very "user friendly"

  Of course that will help you only if you live in or near San José.

  I wish you good luck!!

• On November 14, 2007 at 7:31 pm, elle. wrote:

  hey lady!

  I'm so happy for you. i will email you soon about my seo woes. just google plantatree wine if you want to get a taste of my predicament. stupid flash!

  lisa

• On November 14, 2007 at 7:34 pm, Edrei wrote:

  I had that with my laptop and it's a Toshiba and a friend of mine had the same experience with their Dell laptop. We got ours replaced without problems at all. In fact, I got mine with an extra power plug to it as well and a free bag which was great.

  Seriously, to say Apple has the best customer service and is better than its non-mac counterparts sounds like you're caught in the fangirl-ism hype. I say we do work on what we work on best. I've had horrible problems working with Macs and I spurn them with a vengeance. Doesn't mean that other people can't use them the same way I use Windows and Linux platforms. I have everything at the palm of my hand and even more so when I custom build my rig myself.

  If it works with us, use it. But it doesn't mean that other things are bad.

• On November 14, 2007 at 11:49 pm, Ben wrote:

  The whole world should have a Mac because you got to muck around on the phone for 2 1/2 hours trying to get a lemon replaced and finally you managed to beg someone into doing their job??

  No offence but I think I'll stick with my HPs. ;)

• On November 15, 2007 at 6:57 am, Saratica wrote:

  congratulations! I was a Mac-Head until I became a real estate broker - all the MLS software was only available on a PC. I cried!!!! Now we all have PCs, I have an old ibook that I fire up every once in a while for nostalgia... to see my happy smiley face! How fun to get a whole new book! I'm toying with going back to mac once my sony vaio pos (piece of shit) breaks down totally... shouldn't be long now... have fun over thanksgiving.

• On November 15, 2007 at 1:39 pm, Erin wrote:

  Maybe I haven't had much luck with my PCs, but I've had a Dell, HP, & one off-brand (thank you, Sam's Club) laptop break down on me. With the off-brand, they simply refused, flat out, to honor the warranty, no matter what I did. After spending $300 on trying to prove it needed a repair (don't ask) and with no luck, I gave up and bought an HP.

  The HP worked well for quite awhile, until the hard drive failed. I called, talked to customer service for who-knows-how-long before finally being transferred to someone who "wanted" to help. After getting my promised part "mailed," it never showed up. Back to the drawing board.

  After the HP, I went with a Dell. It had a horrible, high-pitched ring to it every time it turned on, and I had to spend at least 5-6 hours on the phone, trying to explain the problem to people who clearly didn't speak English well enough. Regardless, I spent all that time on the phone only to have them misdiagnose the problem and send me a part that didn't fix the problem. Finally, after God knows how much longer on the phone, they agreed to send me a new laptop (keep in mind, it was less than a month old) and when it arrived, the specs were wrong. (Wrong amount of RAM, smaller hard drive than the original.)

  Maybe it sounds like Apple fangirl-ism, Edrei, but for me, this is the best service I've ever had with a computer problem. What further impresses me is the manner in which they're fixing the problem, which is to attend to my individual needs (only going to be in the States for 6 days) and not the corporate mantra. And Ben, their job is to tell me that my Macbook is under warranty and they will replace the bad part, not to forgo typical procedure and give me what I want. Furthermore, and I find this very impressive, they've given me $208 in software upgrades, including the new OS, and they've given me a brand new warranty. I am hard-pressed to believe that Dell or HP or anyone else would replace a 49-week old XP laptop with a new one, armed with Vista (not to say you'd want it) and new software plus restart the warranty back to day 1.

• On November 19, 2007 at 12:07 pm, Francisco Duran wrote:

  lo siento mucho... esta historia me dio mucho pesar cuando la lei! seguro fue muy angustiante en el momento... pero bien dicen que "cosas buenas vienen para los que saben esperar"!

  y es cierto, de las pcs no se puede esperar mucho, son mas del tipo desechables, pero en mi caso que soy del area de it, nunca he tenido muchos problemas con las pcs y en todo caso y como ultimo recurso yo mismo compro los repuestos y las arreglo ahi en mi casa. si tuviera una mac, creo que no podría hacer ese tipo de "despelotes"... por eso y como dicen: "cada loco con su tema". :o)

• On November 27, 2007 at 10:39 pm, Sean wrote:

  Hey Erin. After reading your post all I could think was "wow!". It's good to know that Apple stood by its product and warranty. I hope you enjoy your new machine.

  It's also good to know you do regular backups. Even new hardware can fail, so you might even want to consider backing up your external drive to CD's or DVD's once in a while too for extra protection.

  Side note, all computers are PC's. Personal Computer. Back in the day, yes I can say that as I'm 35 :) you had a choice of an IBM compatible (DOS, Windows or Linux based Operating Systems) or an Apple computer using Apple's Operating System.

  I know that I'm probably opening a can of worms here but now that Apple computers are mostly Intel based processors (which run Windows too) I think it's safe to say the choices are either a Windows based, Apple based or Linux based computer :)

  For the record, I use both Apple and Windows based machines along with a few flavors of Linux. Yay multiple booting OS computers.

• On December 10, 2007 at 7:52 am, elle. wrote:

  I LOVE YOU.

• On December 11, 2007 at 10:17 am, Teri wrote:

  and here I thought I was all alone in computer hell with my computer woes.

  Thanks for sharing. Teri