It's a stump. You know, the kind you get up on when you have a personal gripe.

True cost is what the market well bear. Don't like, too bad. Freedom is all about choice, choose a different display next time.

I always find it interesting when people quantify a repair cost with the size, shape or material of the part in question. So, since a processor is only a little half dollar sized piece of silicone, it should be... what? 20 bucks to replace it? This guy DROPS his display. BREAKS it himself and complains when there is a cost to fix it? And the whining to CUT in line in front of people who have been waiting patiently? Playing by the rules? Rude and self centered does not begin to describe he behavior.

For the record, that computer store that sold you the part for $60 broke every Apple Authorized repair center rule in the book. They are not authorized and are working under false and possibly illegal practices.

Dude, the repair (or any parts, service, or good) cost what the seller SAYS they cost. There is no "truly cost" if there is profit to be had.

While I agree that out of warranty repairs at the retails stores can be expensive, I have been told by Mac Genii to go elsewhere. On a few occasions I have heard them say, this place in the city can do this cheaper than we can because our repair costs are set at certain levels and standardized. So, I do not think it is fair to vilify the retail stores. The service is EXCELLENT and I do not think they are out to suck you dry.

As far as AppleCare is concerned, I do not buy extended warranties on ANYTHING, except my Mac! So, in the long run, I throw out my VCR or the crapy DVD player I bought at BestBuy, but my Laptop gets repaired!!!!!!!

Ted,
Why should Apple make their out of warranty repair costs more realistic..? That is not their core business. They sell hardware, why would they want to make it easy and cheap for you to repair old hardware..? I realise that you're unlikely to buy a new 23"HD monitor becuase the plastic leg is broken, but the corporate policy is trying to push you that way. It's just like the contractor who quotes you a price way above his competitors because he doesn't really want the job but doesn't want to tell you just to get lost.
You're right of course that AppleCare is a gamble, and like casino gambling, the house always wins. That's why Apple sells AppleCare and that's why you can get repairs for free if you've got it - most people who have it don't need to use it and so Apple still makes money. Don't forget that that is why Apple is in business - to make money, not to fix things when you broke them.
In the end, it works out well for all involved. There is a thriving market in non-Apple repair shops who are trained and certified by Apple and can repair old gear at reasonable prices and Apple can concentrate on what they do best.
From my own experience, my iBook went to a non-Apple Store, certified repair shop for one problem and ended up being sent (by them) to Apple for two others which they created while trying to fix the first. I would always try Apple directly first from now on....

the managers don't know a lot about service in the stores; the Geniuses are the guys who handle just about all of that. Apple does "flat rate" repairs on monitors and laptops, and any plastics repair on a display is in that $400 level. That said... maybe if you'd waited for a genius, who actually knows more fully how Apple's service programs work... he might very well have been able to order just that foot for just that $60.

They did for me when I broke the DC port on my iBook. They quoted me $600 or so to mail it in, but then looked up and saw that they could order the same part for $10.

Quote

Anonymous wrote:
For the record, that computer store that sold you the part for $60 broke every Apple Authorized repair center rule in the book. They are not authorized and are working under false and possibly illegal practices.

That's the real point here...WHY is that against the rules? If Apple doesn't want to do these kind of repairs, that's fine, but why don't they just sell the parts to consumers? It's clear from their pricing that they don't WANT to do the repairs themselves. So why won't Apple just sell the parts?

It would make sense to restrict other people from selling them IF Apple wanted to do the repairs themselves, but it seems clear to me that they're NOT really interested in doing that. It's kind of confusing.

I am on Ted's side. Its quite ridiculous that Apple charges a flat $400 fee for every repair, and then forces all Apple Certified Resellers to send the repairs to them, no matter how minor. $400 for a piece of simple-to-replace piece of plastic is a flat outrage.

I get the feeling that the posters who take Apple's side have never had something really simple go wrong with their computer that all it takes is a part to fix. I can see maybe a motherboard or an LCD costing this much (or more), but not a piece of plastic.

That said, due to Apple's quality problems of late, I would not buy another laptop computer from them without buying the extended Apple care. I've had to send in my iBook 3 times under the extended logic board repair program and had to fight with Apple for a year and a half to get my $426 refund for a repair covered under this program. $1278 would have been how much these repairs would have cost me had I would have had to pay for them, and the iBook itself didn't cost that much!

Ted's experience is not an unusual one. For out-of-warranty service, Apple will screw you because they want you to buy the new 30" cinema display, not fix your existing screen.

I ran into that problem a while ago trying to get my iBook fixed, so I started a company selling online PowerBook / iBook Parts and Accessories. You can buy any part for any iBook or PowerBook made in the last several years from us, for much less than Apple would charge.

http://www.PBFixIt.com

We also have online disassembly instructions, available online here:
http://www.PBFixIt.com/Guide

Good luck!
-Kyle Wiens
CEO, PB FixIt

I recently went to the Apple Soho Store to get a within warranty iPod exchanged.

The genius after looking over the iPod, agreed that it needed to be replaced.

He then proceeded to tell me that since the product was over 6 months old, there would be a processing fee of $30 and if I bought an Apple Care warranty for $59, the processing fee would not be charged. Processing fee for recycling and disposing off the battery etc.

I decided that when I came to pick up the replacement I would argue a little more.

When a week later I went to pick up the replacement, no fee was charged.

In my opinion, the genius, lied to me to get me to buy an AppleCare Warranty. I might love the Mac but Apple does screw over it's customers sometimes.

Just a small comment about why apple does not sell parts to customers directly. If you open your computer to replace anything, it will void your warranty. Some of the computers require special handling to make sure the computer runs properly after the repair. Casually opening a computer and reassembing it without the proper use of thermal paste can cause further damage to heat sensitive parts, is one example.

As a former Mac Genius, I'd like to make a few comments.

Yes, the lines are long. This is due to the popularity of the Genius Bar and the fact that most of the assistance offered is FREE. If there weren't hundreds of people coming in all day long because they can't figure out how to use a product as simple as an iPod, people with legitimate issues wouldn't have to wait two hours to speak with someone. If Apple started charging for more services at the Genius Bar the lines would likely be more manageable.

You were quoted a mail in repair price. This is strange, because this type of repair could have been done in house. I did many of those repairs for broken monitor feet in house. The total cost would be around $100-$150 including parts and labor. Mail in repairs are tiered, meaning they take your issue and put it into a certain category. In your case, the repair was quoted for plastics. ANY and all broken plastics would have been replaced for the quoted price. Works out if you had broken ALL of the plastics, but obviously didn't work out in your case. This is the problem with the tiered repair pricing they offer. Sometimes you make out, sometimes you don't.

The Genius did not lie. Apple does charge a processing fee on iPods that are more than six months into the warranty. AppleCare for iPod waives that processing fee. Read the fine print on your warranty before accusing the employee of lying.

As a Mac Genius, I always waived that fee, since I felt it was absurd to charge it, despite what policy was and what the warranty stated.

I doubt the Applecare warranty would have covered this repair anyway. A "drop" makes the warranty void. And Apple NEVER covers a broken LCD panel under Applecare... but hwat would I know... I just run an AASP

I would put this article as a criticism of Apple not a rant. This has been a good discussion about Apple and customer service in general. Some of us here hate to hear criticism of our favorite computer company. But like most big companies nowadays customer service is just not like it should be.
I would think that out of warranty work is probally a very small part of Apple's income today. They are just not competely priced. I think that many companies worry (Apple being one of them) that by selling parts that they sacifice new product sales. I would have to disagree very strongly with that thought. I think they miss out on an opportunity on a strong parts and service selling business. If they priced repairs and parts more competeitly they could grow a parts and service division. Many companies have this, International Trucks has a huge parts division (Its sales probally come close to new truck sales). It could probally be profitable and would improve goodwill towards Apple if the prices are not though the roof. Remember someone who is buying parts and getting repairs IS STILL probally the next buyer of new products. He probally has a older computer (its out of warranty!!!) so if this person has a good experence getting something fixed, they will probally buy new from you in the near future. Also keep in mind that a broken machine can be frustating (in their mind the company has already failed) to someone and if it is a pain to (and expensive) the new sale will go to someone else. I think a well run (both in and out of warranty) service division is key to running a successfull business on any kind. It is harder to get new customers then to keep the ones you have. Most companies seem to forget this. And I think a profitable business to boot. Thanks for writing this article Ted.

As an Apple reseller myself, we are constrained by Apple policies.

Basically, they don't sell service parts to end users to avoid potential problems (like lawsuits) if the end user screws it up more.

The service center in question violated their contract with Apple when they sold a service part to an end user. If Apple finds out, they could choose to terminate their service authorization.

We frequently order and install parts for out of warranty issues, after comparing with Apple's flat rate prices.

Thanks for a very good, and much needed article. I had a very similar experience/conclusion:

The hard drive in my iBook G4 went bad after only 17 months. I had not sprung for Applecare, which I think is nothing more than a scam to get you to pay a premium price, but I did buy the computer with a Visa card that adds a year to the warranty.

The first step I took was to call my nearest Apple store to get information and pricing on an out-of-warranty repair. But they would not tell me this over the phone; I'd have to come in and talk to a "genius" about it. I was incredulous at this cavalier manipulation of a potential customer, but I did want to know what Apple, as the manufacturer of the computer, would do, so I went to the store - about a half hour's drive.

The good news was that the wait for the Genius Bar didn't happen to be bad. The bad news was that their price and policies were stunning in their arrogance.

Now, the bad drive was a 40 GB Travelstar. This was the second Apple supplied IBM/Hitachi drive I had fail early and catastrophically, (the other was the 40 gig Deskstar, aka Deathstar, from my dual 533 Power Mac), so I did not want another Hitachi drive, on general principles. I knew Apple used other manufacturers' drives in this machine, so I asked for one. Didn't care which, just not Hitachi. Can't promise that, said the Genius, because he had no control over what Apple supplies them with. (If you can imagine that!) But it's a simple HD replacement - don't you have any drives in stock, and can't we choose? I asked. He'd check his stock, he said. 10 minutes or so later - sorry, nothing in stock. Have to order it. Take a few days, and no way to choose what gets sent. But it shouldn't ad on any time, since they weren't about to do the job while I waited anyway. So leave the computer for at least a week, drive an additional hour...

Uh huh, well, what size/speed drive would I be getting for the $300? Oh, you can only get the same thing - 40 gigs, 4200rpm. But you can buy much bigger, faster drives at retail for, like, hundreds LESS than that! says I. Well, you know, if you'd purchased Applecare, it would be free, Genious shrugs.

Uh huh, well, I want the old drive back, since it has my personal info on it, and in these days of ID theft, etc.... Nope, sorry, we don't do that. Trade-in of the old drive is part of the deal.

Uh huh. Well, thank you very much, but NO thanks! Expletive deleted as I walk out of the store.

So I started to research independent Apple resellers/repair. Local stores were curiously nonplussed by this kind of repair, and varied wildly in price, so I proceeded to the online repair services.

For less than $300, MacResQ offered a 24 hr turn-around, with a 100 gig, 5400 rpm, 5 year warrantied Seagate drive! Eureka! Unfortunately, my request for an estimate for my Visa insurance proved far beyond the capabilities of their own geniouses. After two wasted days of waiting, and calling, and waiting again for an estimate that never came, I moved on.

A number of others were higher in cost, or similarly incapable of dependable business practice. Then I found an operation called Wegener Media, out of South Carolina. Very nice, flexible, helpful on the phone. Old drives returned as a matter of course. Immediately emailed me an estimate - just a little more than MacResQ. Visa said OK, so I went with them. I also told two of my friends about them, and they proceeded too.

Result: Wegener screwed up all three jobs. They did a pathetic hack job opening the cases: My iBook G4 has hash marks all along the left front rim, and it came back with some kind of glue smeared all over it; one of my friends' original iBook, which has a metallic case, was actually bent in the same area, plus they neglected to do an additional repair altogether, and it had to be sent back again. The other friend's Powerbook came back without the 1 gig memory stick he'd ordered and paid for. All three took far longer than promised, and no compensation offered for the delay. Attempted thievery, or just incompetent Bozos? Who the hell knows.

So would I do it again? Hey - I got the fastest, most highly regarded, best warrantied drive in the business for NOTHING simply by buying with the right credit card, whereas, for $250, Applecare would have gotten me something virtually worthless, and treated execrably in the bargain. Obviously you have to shop very carefully for an indie shop, but YOU BET I'd do it again!

As I started to read about your troubles at the Apple store, I was thinking, this guy needs to buddy up with someone who can order repair parts direct from Apple like I do (I have a friend who is a reseller in another part of my state)...sure enough, that's exactly what you did. It sucks that the Apple store policies are the way they are, but it's a good thing there are still some independants around. I have found a few sites on line that'll sell Apple parts...Galaxy comes to mind, but I haven't ordered from them in years.

Just thought I'd chip in with the repair experience I had in Japan.

About 6 months ago, my iBook G3 (800 MHz) started to act up. I was pretty sure the hard drive had crapped out (ugly noise, hard drive doesn't mount). I found an independent near to my house and called them.

I described the symptoms, and they told me they would fix whatever was wrong (I had Apple Care). However, when they found out it was an iBook G3 800 MHz, they told me that they may not be able to repair it. It seems that Apple didn't want independents to repair iBooks with defective motherboards... mine could potentially be one. They advised me to take it to Apple Japan to be on the safe side. if anything was wrong with the motherboard, they wouldn't be able to repair it, and would have to send it back to me, wasting my time.

So I decide to call Apple, but then discovered I couldn't call Apple... at least from my home. I have a dial tone line, which couldn't connect to their help services. I walked out to the nearest pay phone and called Apple. I then ended up pestering the guy on the other side of the help line for an hour, trying to convince him that something was indeed wrong with my iBook.

Once I was able to convince the guy, it was easy. Apple replaced the hard drive and cleaned the grimy case (which was a nice touch) in three days (including the time it took to send it in and get it back). However, I would definetely go with the independent the next time. Having to bitch to a guy for an hour, although I had Apple Care, didn't impress me at all. The fact that I had to do that at a pay phone on the side of the road in the middle of winter wasn't fun, either. I'm not saying that Apple or Apple Care is utterly bad - just that I think they can improve.

You are confusing your bad experience with a retail employee with bad customer service for the entire company.

It is probably against their policy, and they will probably get chewed out by their managers, but the genius' can order just a part if they do it in store. I went to the genius bar at the Roosevelt Field (Garden City) Apple Store when my iBook wouldn't turn on. The Genius team there explained that a "DC-In Board" repalcement was needed. He also explained that the flat rate of repair for a laptop was around 400 dollars, then mentioned that this particular part was 28 dollars. I had to wait six days for the part to come in, but they did the repair for only the price of the part. Delightful experience.

People who can't wait for service are horrible. Sign up from home or walk around the mall. Do you have to wait to get your car looked at?

Ted wrote:
"Surely, there can be a distinction between justifiably critical and a rant."

Certainly. But this article came off to a lot of people as a rant. You didn't do your homework, you didn't want to wait in line, you decided that Apple should arbitrarily change their policies just for you, and then you vented about it online.

Here are a couple of things to consider:
1) According to your article, you never did actually talk to a Genius. Therefore, you never got a written quote for the repair, or discussed repair options with them at the store. The manager <i>could</i> have been mistaken. Remember the guy who was "quoted" $955, and then his repair was free? Was your $440 quote for a repair in the store, or for sending it out? It's possible that your entire column is baseless—you didn't bother to actually talk to the service people.
2) Apple has NEVER sold service parts (that is, stuff that isn't considered "user installable") to the public. That's why you can buy an iBook keyboard, but not one for an aluminum PowerBook. That doesn't mean that an Apple store couldn't perhaps waive the labor charge if the part is really that simple to install.

As a suggestion, next time try being polite, instead of coming out swinging. It makes people feel good to help out someone who's "justifiably critical," but there's very little incentive to help someone who's merely ranting.

I love this article!

The Genius Bar is a FREE service if you wish to wait in turn. You can book on line from home for a same day appointment and then turn up at the time you booked, simple. It does explain this on the homepage of each store at apple.com/retail. I agree with previous posters who said that a lot of the time we get people who can't be bothered to read the manual or look on-line for the freely available information that they need so we calmly answer all their questions and sometimes this takes time. If you are a regular customer or you have a few spare dollars floating around then I would consider ProCare as this allows you to book an appointment for up to seven days in advance and gives you a less than three day turnaround on your repair, parts dependent.
A lot of Genius Bars send ALL repairs away, some do them ALL in house, I can't tell you which one's though I'm sorry however, the part that Ted needed may have been available as a Service Part, I'll look when I'm next back at work and reply here. Apple NEVER allows customers to order their own service parts, it's a fact of life that this could cause way more damage than good and all of the Genius Team have all been through extensive training to do the job, so please if you need service then let us do it! It's what we do!

Cheers.

Crazy-Glue...????

Sorry Ted. I won't use the harsh language, but this really is a pathetic story. It does bring me a ton of comfort to know that the Apple Genius was probably helping some hot 22-year old blonde figure out which iPod mini case best matches her Fossil purse for an hour rather than jump to attention to fix your problem. Realistically, Apple probably will make more money helping her than you. Seriously dude, you wrote this to be "Apple just isn't very helpful" and it reads like "Ted is really clumsy and Apple knows it has better things to do". The thing you really miss here is that sometimes savvy businesses will set a price for something high enough to get you thinking about going somewhere else. It's called the "tree price", as in "make like a tree and leave". Sorry it had to happen to you.

To top it off, we're in an era where all this technology is so cheap that if you break it and you value your time at minimum wage, you're probably better off just turning the old one into a hanging picture frame and buying a new one. Key point... Pay attention... Things are this affordable because klutzes can't take the monitor they dropped off their desk into the shop and get a freindly reception and a no-questions-asked replacement!

The part is a 922-6515, Stand, Display, with Hinge. Any Genius Bar could order that for you and fit it.

I had the exact same problem. I called the store, and the employee that answered said that the genius team was busy at the bar and to come into the store. She couldn't quote any prices, but signed me up for the bar over the phone because my computer couldn't turn on. Excellent.

The mac genius I saw when my hard drive died told me to go to a third party repair center in order to get a faster and larger hard drive for a quarter of the price, since I was two years out of warrantee. He encouraged me to go elsewhere to give me the best solution to my problem.

How is that bad customer service?

I have had apple try the "blame the victim" game on many occasions. Standing by the genius bar it hurts to see a company I champion refuse customer after customer service pointing to some scratch or ding and claiming user abuse to unrelated problems. Its bad for business and it will not change unless every body does what i do when they try it raise holly hell write letters to your state attorney general and insist that they live up to apples end of the implied bargain "I pay you premium price for equipment that gives me premium service and reliability" history is full of boneheaded engineering mistakes fostered on the public remember the first time they tried to get rid of the fans the lc models we getting so hot components were unsoldering themselves tech bulletin " raise the pizza box 18 inches and drop it to reseat the resistors" i-books Ethernet port is soldered to the motherboard with no additional support the weight of the cable breaks them off apples mantra "user abuse" the same connector on a PowerBooks has a nice clamp like bezel . i have found lettered directly addressed to the vice pres in charge of customer relations have gotten favorable responses i think apple is kind of scared of me now i have had my last 4 repairs "fee waved" to shut me up (over 2000 dollars worth of over priced plastic i-book screen bezels 3 motherboards a hard drive all on the house i advise every one to get loud and use reason and remember most states have strong implied manufacturers warrantees that often exceed that of the printed ones manufacturers provide that warrantee card you sigh in the fine print may actually be a contract to less protection than you would get under your state law. (Most states expect a "good and workmanlike product" when they try to lead you to the slaughter be like a lion not a sheep and they will have to stop doing things like this as a matter of policy

ok here is a more clear verson of the last post
sorry… tao
I have had apple try the "blame the victim" game on many occasions. Standing by the genius bar it hurts to see a company I champion refuse customer after customer service pointing to some scratch or ding and claiming user abuse to unrelated problems.(actual quote of a statement to me from an apple genius “ Even though your motherboard is listed as an extended warrantee part due to problems in the batch ,since your keyboard looks so beat up and dirty the service center will probably not fix it even though it is still under warrantee However if you purchase extended apple care now they will be more inclined to fix it “free”)
My reply was why would I want to buy 3 more years of bad protection when you are not even honoring the bad protection that I already have ? (the veiled extortion of the extended warrantee service putting me “up a class” also makes me boil

Its bad for business and it will not change unless every body does what I do when they try it… raise holly hell… write letters to your state attorney general and insist that they live up to apples end of the implied bargain "I pay you premium price for equipment that gives me premium service and reliability" Apple history is full of boneheaded engineering mistakes fostered on the public.
remember the first time they tried to get rid of the fans the lc models! They were getting so hot components were unsoldering themselves. The apple tech bulletin said " raise the pizza box 18 inches and drop it to reseat the resistors" i-books Ethernet port (for instance) is soldered to the motherboard with no additional support. (it wiggles ) the weight of the cable breaks them off… apples mantra "user abuse" the same connector on a PowerBooks has a nice clamp like bezel ( which engineer was right). I have found letters directly addressed to the “vice pres in charge of customer relations” have gotten favorable responses I think apple is kind of scared of me now I have had my last 4 repairs "fee waved" to shut me up (over 2000 dollars worth of over priced plastic i-book screen bezels 3 motherboards, a hard drive all on the house! I advise every one to get loud but use reason and hold apples feet to the fire to do the “right thing” and remember most states have strong implied manufacturers warrantees that often exceed that of the printed ones that manufacturers provide. That warrantee card you sign in the fine print may actually be a contract to less protection than you would get under your state law. (Most states expect a "good and workmanlike product" and require manufacturers to take the lemons back… when they try to lead you to the slaughter be like a lion not a sheep and they will have to stop doing things like this as a matter of policy .

Why ? did you steal all my punctuation? I was looking for all those periods under my ellipsis!!

You voted for Bush!

Am I Right?

Go take the car you ran into a tree back to the dealership.

no bush

i do all my own service on my Macs and as much as can on my car, If i screw the pooch and break something i fix it. (at my expense) If i hit a tree i go to the junkyard and fix what’s broke but if my steering wheel falls off the column and i hit that same tree Detroit has a problem. I don't want you guys to think i am some yuppie who believes I’m entitled to protection from anything bad that can possibly happen to me. I’m just a blue-collar craftsman (diamond setter) who makes things with his hands and expects value for his hard earned buck, (no stock options or golden parachutes at my job i have to deliver perfection every day to keep it) I love my Mac and use it all day everyday. Some one told me that half the people you meet in life will be below average … I know that some folks are just deaf to nuance due to natural limitations. I guess that’s where you got the idea that what I was saying in my post would have me try to bring a car I smashed to the dealer.
I will bet that what caused Ted landaus monitor to fall was him trying to plug a usb device into the back ports by tipping it. This design choice has caused my new studio monitor to come crashing down on my wacom pen holder and I have to live to this daywith a few crushed cells (In a perfect circle) I did not ask apple to fix that but I cursed them for not putting non slip feet on a 2000 dollar monitor . This whole thing was about Apples attempt to with hold access to parts and place him in a position to gouge him for a simple repair. This sort of stuff is Bad and I was just trying to share how I deal with apple in these situations (with out telling tou all about the repairs apple made for me that required me to sign a non disclosure statement… but that’s another story) I expect when your i-pod gets a loose wire in the headphone jack you will be happy to buy a new pod for 400 bucks instead of soldering the wire for 2 cents because the genius told you to but hey I'm stupid maybe I voted for bush

Why are we bringing politics into this?

I too work at an Apple Retail Store and agree with everything you just posted. People complain about the "long" wait at the Genius bar but don't realize that they are receiving a FREE diagnoses. Try this at CompUSA and you will have to PAY BEFORE anyone will even look at your computer. YOU dropped your LCD. YOU tripped over your power cord. YOU stepped on your ipod....deal with it

I would like to respond to some of the comments posted here. Here is a sampling of the relevant comments:

• “True cost is what the market well bear. Don't like, too bad. Freedom is all about choice, choose a different display next time.“

• “Dude, the repair (or any parts, service, or good) cost what the seller SAYS they cost. There is no "truly cost" if there is profit to be had.“

• “Why should Apple make their out of warranty repair costs more realistic..? That is not their core business.”

• “This guy DROPS his display. BREAKS it himself and complains when there is a cost to fix it? And the whining to CUT in line in front of people who have been waiting patiently? Playing by the rules? Rude and self centered does not begin to describe his behavior.“

First, as I hope would would be evident to anyone who actually read the article, I was not complaining that there was a cost to fixing it. I was commenting about the amount of the cost.

And yes, of course, Apple is free to charge whatever it wants. But to use that argument as a rationale for why I (or anyone) should not complain about such pricing is like the person who shouts: “America: Love it or leave it.” Just because a company <can> do something does not mean that they <should> do it or are immune from criticism for doing so.

As to the comments about my “arrogance” or “cutting in line” or whatever, many people apparently read much more into the situation than what I actually wrote. I did not cut in line; I was not the least demanding. All I did was ask, in a polite way, if it was necessary that I wait for a Genius for what I wanted done. I was told that I did not have to wait just to drop off a repair (which is all I wanted to do).

My point here is that I did not believe that what I wanted required a Genius’ time or attention. If Genius’ are set up to provide free support, taking an hour or more for one person if they need it, I say that’s great. But that was not what I needed. I knew what was wrong and Apple had already told me what needed to be done. All I needed was to drop the monitor off and leave it to be repaired (assuming I agreed to the price). Imagine that you went to a store like Target, to return something you bought yesterday. You get there and find that there is no one else waiting to return something. Yet you are told that you have to wait 4 hours before someone can help you (or come back tomorrow) - because the only two Target people in the Returns department are busy teaching a half dozen people how to use their newly purchased DVD players. And the Target employees spend about an hour or two with each such person. Would you find that a reasonable policy? I hope not. You would probably expect that there should be a separate line just for returns. That was all I was expecting. Even so, if the Apple Store had insisted that I wait, I would have done so.

As to comments as to whether the manager was the right person to speak to etc etc., I can only say that I followed what Apple told me to do, from my initial phone call onward. If the manager was not competent to give me an adequate answer, that is not my fault. In any case, the manager seemed more than competent to deal with the matter. And I wound up eventually speaking to at least three different Apple employees about the pricing policy; they all agreed with each other. So this was not one person making an error.

As to Apple’s general rules and policies, I will only say that one does not have to go very far to find companies with much better policies.

For example, I recently moved. As a result, I needed to have my Weber natural gas barbecue modified to work with propane tanks. I called Weber for help. Now, such conversions are not their “core” business. They would probably prefer that I buy a new barbecue. Still, they were extremely helpful. They indeed had all the parts needed to make the conversion and they shipped it all to me at a very reasonable cost. Apparently there were no concerns about providing customers with such parts, or what “law suits” might result from doing so. Further, when the parts arrived, I had some questions about exactly what to do. Weber provided free over-the-phone support (on a Sunday no less!), walking me through the steps that were confusing me. If Apple had been even half as helpful as Weber, it would have been refreshing.

On the other hand, I readily admit that Apple’s service can be spectacular at times. When I have had in-warranty repairs, for example, they have always been great: friendly with a fast turn-around. And I have commented on this in other publications. Apple is neither black nor white when it comes to service.

Finally, for what it’s worth, ignoring of the specific details of my behavior, I was a bit surprised with the number of people who felt that charging $440 for this piece of plastic was a reasonable thing to do. Period. I would have thought that this was not a point of contention. Live and learn.

Ted

I used to fix powerbooks. sort of part-time thing, made a good buck actually.
Needed a part one day, called Apple and was told I couldnt get it, had to take the machine in to a dealer etc.
Went to a local Apple dealer, was cheerful and friendly and polite, asked the service guy could he order me parts as I was fixing powerbooks at home, blah blah.
Yes, he says, no problem. Every time I wanted something, they ordered it from Apple, marked it up 25%, and that was that.
They were selling parts, I was buying parts. Eventually they sold me all their broken machines for parts.
I even bought them beer one afternoon!

Be nice to the local guy and they will get Apple parts for you.

Apple has rules because they are too big to be dealing one to one - thats OK, they make great computers.

Ted did the right thing - he squeaked and the squeaky wheel gets the grease - thats life.
If you complain and you are polite about it, it all works.
I guess Ted was polite, which brought his eventual $60 part success story.
Ted made a relationship with someone and they helped him.
Oh, btw, thats the issue with the unhappy and aggressive retail worker earlier - he's having relationship problems.

Quote

tedlandau wrote:
I was a bit surprised with the number of people who felt that charging $440 for this piece of plastic was a reasonable thing to do. Period. I would have thought that this was not a point of contention. Live and learn.

Ted

People are stupid.

If you are still looking for a replacement cinema display leg, see below for a $40 replacement...

http://applepalace.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=2799

Very helpful, the hook for the latch on my iBook has broken and I know where I should go to get it replaced. Thanks.

First of all, you can purchase AppleCare for any of the items that you can purchase it for within the first year of ownership. Your statement about that is completely wrong.

"Alas, it was not under warranty. Why? Because Apple does not offer AppleCare for displays unless the display is purchased at the same time you get a CPU. I had purchased my display separately, so it was not eligible. Period. No exceptions again."

Wrong wrong wrong. I usually purchase my AppleCares (if I deem them necessary) at about 11 months into ownership. I have done this for years on computers and Cinema Displays. Just did this a week ago on my 30" that is 10 months old. You can either purchase it online or pick up a Cinema Display AppleCare box at one of their stores and register it. As long as it's within the first year (which is the normal warranty coverage), you can do this. Always have been able to.

"Actually, extended warranties are generally a waste of money in my view. So I rarely get them."

Bingo.

Secondly, Apple does not sell parts for replacement for good reason. All repairs are covered under a 90 warranty. If they just let anyone "fix" their equipment, they could no longer offer this warranty. They simply do not want you to mess it up. Secondly, the leg breaking was due to external damage (not covered under warranty ANYway). You broke it, you pay for it if you want it fixed, and it then under warranty for 90 days. The cost might seem outrageous, and I might agree with that, but it is what it is.

Good luck.

Need a repair ? Maybe Apple isn't as user friendly as they advertise. The broken monitor leg problem that Ted had, is the exact problem that lead me to this site. I build and repair movie props for a living. fortunately, for me I have access to tools to make my own part. After reading about Ted's experience, that is what I will do...
For everyone else out there, Apple wants you to buy their new and improved monitor design ,not repair "last years model".
Don't defend Apple, or any other large corporation. They have teams of lawyers and executives to set their policies. they don't lose money by selling a part for a monitor leg. That is just good public relations and goes along with the user friendly motto. Apple knows that if you like their products, eventually you will buy their lastest creation, because technology isn't slowing down. In the time it took to write this , my first generation G5, with plastic leg 23" widescreen HD monitor has become obsolete.
Bottom line is Apple wants your money like every other corporation and being the consumers we are, we will continue to "eat from the tree of knowledge and pay the price". That is the Apple corporate logo.

When my daughter's US Special Edition video iPod's motherboard was fried by a Solio solar recharger, I asked Apple to fix it. They don't fix iPods. They would replace it with a working model for $225 but without any guarantee that it would be the same Special Edition model. No thanks.

I found a repairer who took the job via mail order placement and returned it to me for a charge of $165.

I don't understand Apple's policies when it comes to repair. It appears they want to make it as hard, and perhaps as expensive, as possible to diascourage its customers from seeking repairs.

I think that if Apple could develop a better, customer-focussed, efficient and friendly repair service, it would pick up market share and its loyal customers would be even greater boosters than they already are.