Battery Swell = Case Warped and Touch Pad Cracked

[posdcorb]

I hate my first post to be negative, but the battery in my MacBook Pro swelled so badly it caused the case to warp and the touchpad to crack. Apple Store and the "Geniuses" said that although the battery did swell and did cause the other damage, the customer is responsible for all of it so if i would kindly pay them $450 they would fix it. I took my useless Apple product and left. I know this issue has been reported in the past. Any ideas on any avenues I could take for Apple to actually care. I may not even fix it... the Microsoft Surface is looking fairly interesting to me and after this experience I think I'll get away from Apple.

 

[chscag]

"Getting away from Apple" is of course your choice, however, I don't understand how someone would let their machine be damaged in that manner - battery swelling or not. Surely this didn't happen overnight? How come you didn't notice it sooner and prevent the case damage from occurring? We have had other users state that their battery had swelled but they removed it or had Apple remove it before it caused damage to the case or trackpad.

And by the way, when you price out that MS Surface Pro, add memory, case, and keyboard, you're going to find out that it costs as much or more than a nicely loaded MacBook Pro. ;D

And Welcome to the Mac-Forums.

 

[johnodd4]

Honestly stay away from the microsoft surface tablet microsoft had announced at there windows 10 meeting they just had in redmond wa that they will not be updating surface RT tablets which most of the surface tablets run RT to windows 10 instead they want you to purchase a surface 3 tablet at 4x the cost.

Honestly your machine has seen better days i would honestly look at something simple and easy to use there are iPads and even other tablet options.

 

[johnodd4]

and you do notice you can just purchase a new case on ebay for that model and fix it yourself

 

[posdcorb]

Thanks

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah, I'm probably a bit jaded today based on the 180 degree difference from the last time I needed customer service at Apple. Here's how it happened...

Put MacBook Pro on my desk, went away for three weeks. Came back. Saw damage. Called Apple Support, they said don't do anything with it until I get it into the Apple Store and the Genius Bar would help and get me taken care of. They didn't...

Just don't understand how you can leave a computer on a desk untouched and it's the customers fault. Didn't Apple take care of these issues with battery swelling for other customers?

 

[johnodd4]

nope.

And they won't help you because if you read applecare it covers everything except the battery.

 

[chscag]

OK, that makes more sense. Certainly in three weeks anything could have happened when the battery swelled. I would elevate this to an Apple supervisor and explain the situation the way you did above and see what happens. Be polite and state your case. Maybe even take it to a different Apple store if there is more than one in your locale.

 

[posdcorb]

OK, that makes more sense. Certainly in three weeks anything could have happened when the battery swelled. I would elevate this to an Apple supervisor and explain the situation the way you did above and see what happens. Be polite and state your case. Maybe even take it to a different Apple store if there is more than one in your locale.

I'm going to see what I can do, by elevating it, but I'm not too certain it will go anywhere. From looking around the internet, it seems that the level of customer service at Apple has changed and is more restrictive. I also see that Apple did fix the swelling battery issues, then stopped and is now holding the customer responsible.

I just hope it's not going the route of car dealerships where the service department is where money is made.

 

[pigoo3]

I'm kind of surprised Apple wasn't more helpful. Usually they will do something when bulging/swollen batteries like this occur. Keep trying with Apple. Maybe the specific person you spoke with the first time around was just being "grumpy"…or ready to finish their shift!

- Nick

 

[posdcorb]

I'm kind of surprised Apple wasn't more helpful. Usually they will do something when bulging/swollen batteries like this occur. Keep trying with Apple. Maybe the specific person you spoke with the first time around was just being "grumpy"…or ready to finish their shift!

- Nick

I was surprised too. Talked to the technician then to the manager. Answer from both was the same... "it's your responsibility, not ours." I didn't expect that. They weren't willing to do anything for me or elevate it to anyone else at the store that could help. It was at 11:30...maybe they wanted to get to lunch

 

[johnodd4]

i would call apple support directly and see what they say and explain you where out of town you couldn't have known what would happen

 

[SunMF]

My MBP touchpad and case also swelling..

I was surprised too. Talked to the technician then to the manager. Answer from both was the same... "it's your responsibility, not ours." I didn't expect that. They weren't willing to do anything for me or elevate it to anyone else at the store that could help. It was at 11:30...maybe they wanted to get to lunch

It just happened the same to my 2009 MBP. 2 weeks ago, the touchpad warped the same as picture above. Then a few days ago, the bottom case is all warped. It was just sitting on my desk, not plugged in, as I hardly use it anymore since it's old. I have to plug in to run it as the battery doesn't seem to be working anymore.

It's super slow and there's a memory issue, so I don't use it anymore, but still has some old programs and files that I still need occasionally. It's really bizarre. I wonder how many people this happens to?

Best,
Sun

 

[S.SubZero]

We've had a few of the 2011/2012 models do the battery bulge at work. One was so bad it was like the picture; it popped out the screws underneath, bent the palmrest, broke the trackpad. The laptop was already stripped of other parts, it was just in storage in a drawer. I was kinda scared to touch it, I ended up having our Facilities people come and get it.

And no, Apple doesn't cover it. It is pretty dumb, and kind of inexcusable.

 

[MacInWin]

If the battery swells during the warranty period, Apple will probably cover it. After that, like all else, it's up to the customer to take care of the system and pay for failures. Some LiIon batteries do swell up as they age, some don't. Usage and cycles don't seem to be much involved. It's a random event. My wife's MBP had a swelling battery, pushed up on the trackpad to the point where it was useless. I got a replacement battery from OWC and disposed of the swelling battery at the local recycling center.

I know it's frustrating to have it happen, but it's not up to Apple to cover batteries forever. That is what warranties are for. And AppleCare+, for that matter.

 

[chscag]

I've read that areas of high humidity may cause battery swelling. I'm not sure if that also applies to LiIon cells or not, but like Jake says.... you need to pay attention to your equipment to make sure that it's functioning normally.

Kind of reminds me of the guy who drives around with a squealing fan belt and puts up with the noise, but then one day the belt fails and guess what? The engine overheats and he's calling a tow truck. ;D

 

[MacInWin]

I remember an episode on "Car Talk" where a guy called in and said his air conditioner compressor blew apart with no notice. The Car Talk guys said, "I bet we can tell what kind of music you listen to," and the caller said "Go ahead then." The car talk guys said it was heavy metal, listened to at good volume. The caller was surprised that they had gotten in exactly right and wanted to know how they knew that. The car talk guys said that, "The compressor was screaming for weeks before it died but the music covered it up."