Apple’s Beyond 1-year warranty for Whites/Discrimination?
I got my Mac Pro on February 2007. Early September 2007 I open the computer but it would just not work/start. Only a gray background and a blinking folder with a question mark appeared on the screen. I spoke on the phone with customer support, they suggested take the computer to a retail store and have a Mac Genius check it. After an hour’s wait, and several unsuccessful attempts to reboot the computer with an external hd, the Mac Genius decidedly told me (while rubbing a dent on the computer with his fingers), that there was nothing else they could do for the computer had an accident damage which is not covered by the 1 year warranty policy. I was outraged when the Mac Genius took a righteous defense on Apple’s warranty policy, suggesting the dent had just occurred and it was cause of the damage on the hard drive and potentially on the logic board. They sent me home with a death computer. Actually, the dent on the computer happened on March 2007, a month after the purchase, but it actually continued functioning perfectly fine until that morning of September. The Mac Genius gave me the analogy that it’s like a broken window that with time the problem gets bigger. I told them a car’s engine doesn’t necessarily stops functioning because it has a dent on the body. They said a computer is more fragile than a car. I said there is a probability that Apple doesn’t create perfect technologies with cero margin of error. I have a very good woman friend who, by the way, is Anglo-American, and who got her computer fixed even after the 1-year warranty. I am not sexy like she is neither. I am a dark-skinned Native/Indian man with long hair. She is willing to testify on my behalf. Am I being dismissed too easily by Apple? I am puzzled by Apple’s poor customer service and support. I request advice from critical thinkers.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Apple does have some warranty extension programs that cover certain issues beyond the first year of warranty:
http://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/
Also, the warranty states that it only covers repairs that are caused by a defect in manufacturing:
http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/
So…I don’t believe you argument carries much water.
September 11th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Comment 1 sounds like a Mac “Believer” – Follow the Loop
Executive Briefing: Apple’s Approach to Customer Relations http://conversationstarter.hbsp.com/2007/09/executive_briefing_apples_appr.html
September 18th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Do you seriously think race is an issue?
wow
September 20th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Not every denial of warranty service (when there are visible signs of abuse) is an issue of race just because you are a minority. I don’t have a problem with minorities, but I do have a problem when they claim themselves victims of racism when it isn’t the case.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:09 am
I am now slightly concered after reading all of this, I am looking into buying a macbook for the very first time, I have never used Apple before, and am sick of microsoft, I live in France, and will be buying it online from their store, does the defect happen on all models? I hope it is not serious because i dont want to end up back on damn microsoft virus highway.
October 5th, 2007 at 3:00 am
It’s easy to dismiss race when you are not a minority.
December 9th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Race does play a role in our interactions with people. So does sexism. It might have been that your friend has breasts and you don’t. Either way, it’s bullshit and I would definitely continue what is rightfully yours. A computer that works for the money you paid.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Whilst racism is always a possibility, there are some other considerations to be made:
1.) Was your friend in exactly the same situation as yourself (external damage to a Mac Pro, with no way of proving when the damage took place)? It may well be that Apple seized on the unfortunate cosmetic damage to your machine as an excuse not to fulfil their repair obligations under warranty. If your friend’s computer had no visible outward damage, they would have found it hard to wriggle out of giving her the service, as it would clearly be a system fault.
2.) Your friend might have received “special treatment” because of her gender, as you suggest. This is a particularly insidious manifestation of sexism which is often overlooked because it does not oppress women, who are de facto assumed to be the victims of a patriarchal system. Apple might well have similarly bent the rules for an attractive AmerIndian woman.
3.) The line about “broken windows” sounds like a standard spiel used to get Apple out of warranty obligations where physical damage to the machine is visible (see point 1). It doesn’t make any sense anyway – unless you have a detached hard-drive needle (?) that is slowly scratching more and more of the hard-drive, or a slightly-knocked connection that wiggles looser as you move the machine, there’s no way physical concussion to a computer can get worse over time. However, faulty components CAN get worse over time (for example, heat sinks can slowly crack as they expand and contract, etc.).
February 5th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Car Accident Compensation…
Legal Claim UK is a national network of specialist personal injury solicitors operating nationwide throughout the United Kingdom who offer free car accident compensation advice. If you have been injured in an accident within the last three years that w…
October 14th, 2008 at 10:27 am
ipod warranty extension…
I’m going to look into this and let you know what I find….