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I have never been so dissatisfied with Applecare

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To open this up I've had some really great experiences with applecare. They replaced the logic board on my ibook twice and then when they found that it was just not doing it they sent me a free macbook pro. That's amazing service.

I have only had one mishap with my MBP that I've needed to send it in for so far. The superdrive stopped functioning and I sent my MBP in and they replaced it no issue.

Now comes the part that blows me away. Today I called apple care because my lcd has a few (3-4) broken, stuck or multicolored pixels. I assume this would not be an issue and they would replace or repair the lcd. Here's the convo...

Me: Hey I just wanted to see if I could get my screen repaired, I have 3 or 4 broken pixels...etc etc

Rep: Well sir, I'm sorry to inform you that Apple considers 5 or less broken pixels acceptable use, you are welcome to take your mbp to a repair center and have them check to see if there are more than 5 pixels stuck.

Me: I don't understand how that could be acceptable? It's a 2500$ laptop that I paid 349$ for the applecare warranty. For basically 3000$ I would expect it to be in complete working condition. The pixels are distracting.

Rep: I don't see how 4 tiny little pixels could be distracting to you...

Me: Well I find it distracting and that should be all that matters, not your opinion of how distracting it is, besides I don't see anywhere in my applecare agreement that 3-5 pixels is acceptable, nor do I see it in any other documentation I have gone over.

Rep: Sorry, policy is policy.

Me: Policy? Never mind I've just arrived at work I will call again tomorrow.

Now obviously I only paid for the 350$ warranty and basically the 1500$ it was for my ibook, but still...for the 3000$ it would have been costing me how can anything but perfect be acceptable?
 
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because there has to be a point at which acceptability is defined? I mean even the products I work with, which are multiple million dollar items.. designed to be completely redundant are still five - nines (99.999%) operational by design
 
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milessthomas
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I mean, maybe I'm making too much of it, but its annoying to me to see the white pixels in the middle of my work when I'm working on graphics for my works webpage...

It just seems odd..
 
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Apple actually has a pretty good dead pixel warranty, Sony needs 12 or more and dell need 8. Just saying.
 
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milessthomas
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Good to know. Doesn't help that they still annoy me though :(
 
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Well sorry to hear that... I had a whole column of dead pixels on my MBP, and of course they repaired it, but never heard about the 5 or less policy
 
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That seems like too many to me. I mean, Apple charges a lot more for their computers than other companies do (not to mention their warranties are more expensive!). I'd hope that 3 or more would be enough to justify a replacement.

I have a 20" LCD (not an Apple) that has one stuck pixel and I never really notice it. If it had two, it would be unfortunate but I'd live with it. Four, though, seems like it would be excessive.
 

rman


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If you search the boards, you might find a application could help in bring those pixels back to live. Also I have read, if you gently massage the around of the dead pixel, it may bring it back.
 
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Kill two more pixels and you should be set.

Or try rman's suggestion.
 
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Just find a way to kill another pixel. The policy is crap. It's not as if the guy only has 1 dead pixel, this is inflexibility at its finest.
 
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Applecare is worth every penny. I just love the peace of mind that within 3 years, my mac is covered. If you buy one, pick one up on ebay or overstock auctions. Good luck!
 
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milessthomas
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I know, I have applecare, it is applecares policy that I have to have 3-5 dead pixels to qualify for free replacement.
 
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I know, I have applecare, it is applecares policy that I have to have 3-5 dead pixels to qualify for free replacement.
That's common industry policy from a lot of manufacturers. Of course, Apple's seems worse, as the MBP is so much more expensive than say the entry level MacBook or a low-end Dell.

But put it this way: If you had an iBook before and received a 15" MacBook Pro basically for free, you've already been given a larger machine than most would expect (the iBook's sucessor is the 13" MacBook, not the 15" MacBook Pro).

So you've got a 2" larger display for free. Just tell yourself those 2 pixels are in the free area ;)
 
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Massaging on and around the dead pixel area does work, I've done it before on a laptop and the dead pixel never returned.

You could "tell" Apple over the phone that you have 6 pixels and if they only find 3 or 4 when they test it, you could argue that vibration during shipment may have gotten them to "unstick". Could happen. ;)
 
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milessthomas
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That's common industry policy from a lot of manufacturers. Of course, Apple's seems worse, as the MBP is so much more expensive than say the entry level MacBook or a low-end Dell.

But put it this way: If you had an iBook before and received a 15" MacBook Pro basically for free, you've already been given a larger machine than most would expect (the iBook's sucessor is the 13" MacBook, not the 15" MacBook Pro).

So you've got a 2" larger display for free. Just tell yourself those 2 pixels are in the free area ;)

Yea I know, I'm not really upset over it anymore, I'll just deal till more go out. But the only reason he gave me a MBP was because the macbook specs were less than my ibook at the time.
 
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i would try to escalate your call. be persistent. that's how you win. it doesn't always work but it's more likely to work if you insist it to instead of just dealing with it.. just a little something i've learned along the way. so push.
 
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what a shame for you, you should be pushy with them, take it to them, and tell them you want it fixed, if they say no, ask to talk to the manager - tell him that you are dissapointed and am going to complain to higher authority,

they will probably start to be more friendly, as they dont want the trouble
 

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