Apple Stew
In August 2003 I bought an iBook G3 for £799, but having installed a memory card it became apparant that the slot was faulty. It went into repair, and came back having not been looked at. It went back in, and after returning, applications kept quitting at random. Back in the UK I sent it in again, and it still wasn't fixed.
In August 2004 Apple Store replaced it with a G4 with a market value of £799.
Today I went into the Tysons Corner Apple Store, because Apple Care US, Apple Care UK, and Apple Store UK all said that my compensation claim would have to go through them. I explained that by replacing the machine Apple have admitted that it was faulty, and because it was faulty I spent a year with a dodgy computer. In total, it was in repair for a month, and spent a month without any applications installed for "troubleshooting". Also, my Airport Card and Memory card are not compatable with the replacement machine, so in order to get the same level of performance as the original, i'd need to spend £££ on Apple products.
The Manager tried to convince me that since the G4 is far superior to the G3 I was better off. I agreed that a G4 is better than a G3. But I disagreed that a G4 in 2004 is better than a G3 in 2003. She explained the increase capabilities of the G4, but slower, and slightly louder. So I asked this question:
If a consumer is better off buying the more advance model one year from now, why would anyone buy a computer. Ever?
Latest22nd Sep
US Apple Care are to send me a new Airport card.
God bless Apple and their life enhancing brilliance, but they're out to make money and in that respect are just like any other computer company. Squabbles like this are common in an industry which refuses to build a relationship with customers and instead seeks to extract the most amount of money from each individual consumer. Owning an Apple is like being part of a wonderful club with as much brand satistfaction as it's possible to have, so why don't they concentrate on recruiting new members (making as much money as possible from PC refugees who have seen the light) whilst treating loyal devotees with the respect they deserve (cheaper upgrades and acessories, no quibble repairs/replacements)? I'll tell you why - because once they have us, it's for life. Despite the faults on your iBook, it's not like you could find a better Intel laptop, is it? Damn Apple and their great products!
Posted by: Matthew Whitfield | September 22, 2004 at 12:00 PM
Too true. I still find myself recommending them.
Perfection, alas, is not for this world.
Posted by: AJE | September 22, 2004 at 02:51 PM