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Steve Jobs Almost Burned My House Down
Moss
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
On Friday, the power cord to my 15" Powerbook G4 caught fire. It was sparking and smoking and flaming. Luckily I managed to pull the cord out of the wall and stamp it out before the fire spread to anything else.
Today I went in to the apple store to request a replacement, but they insisted that since the product was a couple of months over warranty, that I had to spend £55 ($100) on a new cable. I brought up the health and safety issues of selling exploding peripherals at which point they became quite rude and basically told me to get lost.
I plan to phone customer services tomorrow and complain, but before I do I'd like to get a better understanding of where I stand on this. Don't get me wrong, if the cord had simply stopped working I would understand their position, but the fact that it posed immediate danger to me and the people I live with suggests that they ought to at least replace the goddamn thing.
Are they obliged to replace it, or do I have to pay the money? Has anyone dealt with apple over something like this before? What's the best way to go about it?
Today I went in to the apple store to request a replacement, but they insisted that since the product was a couple of months over warranty, that I had to spend £55 ($100) on a new cable. I brought up the health and safety issues of selling exploding peripherals at which point they became quite rude and basically told me to get lost.
I plan to phone customer services tomorrow and complain, but before I do I'd like to get a better understanding of where I stand on this. Don't get me wrong, if the cord had simply stopped working I would understand their position, but the fact that it posed immediate danger to me and the people I live with suggests that they ought to at least replace the goddamn thing.
Are they obliged to replace it, or do I have to pay the money? Has anyone dealt with apple over something like this before? What's the best way to go about it?
Moss on
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Note: Non-lawyer's comments.
This is a known defect in a lot of Powerbooks. When you talk to customer service, don't be rude, but if the lower-level people claim to be unable to help you, ask for a supervisor.
1) Call Apple Corporate: 408-996-1010)
2) Ask the operator for Gene (like denim) Teluse, VP of Customer Care. She is Apple's highest ranking customer service agent, and she reports directly to Steve Jobs.
3) Leave a nice message, include any Apple Case/Repair numbers you might have, or your machine's serial number, and a callback number.
4) Wait ~24 business hours for one of Ms. Teluse's minions to call.
5) Calmly explain your story, and what you want Apple to do.
Tipster Thirdgen adds that in general, Apple will not replace a machine unless it has been unsuccessfully fixed 3 or more times for the same issue, or several major repairs (i.e. a logic board, a screen, a top case as separate repairs).
DO NOT abuse that. It (supposedly) actually does get you to talk to all the right people, but if people start abusing it and everyone starts doing that then they'll change the number. I'm surprised they haven't already, in fact.