Refurbished means dead?

N

norrina

Registered
On Tuesday, January 10, 2006, I ordered a refurbished Powerbook G4 1.5 GHz. My iBook G3 had suffered the fateful logic board malfunction several days prior, and I put off ordering a replacement until after MacWorld, then made my decision about what product I should order, and placed the order in anticipation of having a working laptop no later than Friday, January 20, 2006. This was allowing the 1-2 days to ship and 5 day shipment time, factoring in for the MLK, Jr. Day. Receipt of my new laptop by that Friday was important, as I had told my boss I would get some work done for him over the weekends, and I had already been without a working computer for one weekend and would be passing a second weekend computerless as well. I wanted to avoid a third weekend of non-productivity at all costs.

I was quite pleased then when FedEx Ground delivered my laptop to me on Monday, January 16, 2006, in good time. I unpacked the computer, booted up, and got my account set up. I then put the computer to sleep and took it across town to my MILs. My boyfriend and MIL both oohed and ahhed over it, then I took it back to play some more, only it wouldn't let me play. :( The screen was blank white, and nothing I did would bring back the display. I consulted the user's manual, rebooted the computer, removed the battery, and finally called tech support. I had been the proud owner of my Refurbished Powerbook G4 for 1 hour and 14 minutes.

I spent some time with Tech Support, trying various fixes, and was finally diagnosed with likely a faulty video card. When connected to an external monitor, I got the Blue Screen of Death. I was offered a transfer to Sales Support, and after 37 minutes with Tech Support and Sales Support, was e-mailed a return shipping label so that I might return my essentially DOA laptop for a replacement. I was pleased with the service and timeliness of the service.

Unfortunately, the shipping label I was e-mailed was for Ground shipping. By this time, the FedEx Ground shipments had already left the latest pickup station for the day, so although I repackaged my laptop and went to the station right away, the laptop won't be in transit until today. I contacted Apple Support Solutions this morning to see what the turn-around time would be on receipt of my replacement laptop. Understandably, they want this laptop back before they ship another. This laptop might not get to them until the beginning of next week though, because they chose Ground shipping. The woman I spoke with in Support Solutions did check on the status of the return package, and expects to receive it by Thursday, at which point they will send the replacement out overnight shipment. I hope FedEx does in fact get the delivery to them that quickly, but it is going from NC to CA, so I would be surprised. The computer took four days to get here in the first place.

Apple has my CC on file, I would presume. I entered the info in their system when I ordered the laptop. I would hope that if they do not have the laptop back by Thursday, they could ship me my replacement anyhow, in a good faith gesture, as the product they initially sent was defective.

I have been careful to retain a friendly demeanor with everyone I have spoken with throughout, as I realize their hands are largely tied by corporate policy. I have been more than a bit frustrated though, that the time frame to receive a working product has been so extended after initial receipt of a defective product.
 
Okay, there IS a work-around to the delay in computeredness, if one is politely persistent. :)

I called FedEx, and since the ground shipment hadn't gone out yet, they were able to pull it so that I could come by with an overnight-shipping label. I called Apple to let them know that I would like to return the laptop via overnight delivery so as to minimize the amount of time I was without a computer, and suddenly, I find that I can give them the tracking number for the return shipping and as soon as they confirm that the original laptop is in fact en route back to them, they will go ahead and have my new laptop sent out.

So, a happy resolution in the end.
 
It will be another refurb. Which is perfectly fine, that is, after all, what I paid for.

I do expect it to WORK though.
 
FedEx Ground is 2-Day Shipping to most destinations. It is 4 times less than 2nd Day FedEx Priority... needless to say, it is not UPS Ground service which is 3-5 days.

Secondly... getting bad equipment is par with the course because computers are made by humans, and considering humans are not perfect, it would be a far fetch to expect the hardware you get to be perfect at all times. The only thing damaged here is your "want it now" mentality. Which, would be effected by any of us, including myself.

Many moons ago, I ordered a Performa Mac system that was refurb. It was DOA. Apple had somone out to replace the motherboard in a day or two and it worked perfectly after that.

Earlier in 2005, both I and a friend of mine, purchased Refurb iMac G5's within a few days of each other. Mine came and never had any issues with it. He, on the other hand was a new Mac user. His machine came with his airport card semi-bent (and it didn't work) and he had some ongoing issues with power. Turned out, his powersupply was bad as well. Then, a few months later, his right speaker wasn't working and happily, it was all replaced and fixed at no additional cost out of his pocket.

Did he come to me crying about the situation? Nope. Did Apple's image in his mind devalue? Nope... because the issues where taken care of.

While it might feel good to come online and bitch about your situation, which we are all guilty of doing, what you have shown is that Apple took care of the issue and will be spending you a different or fixed Mac system and that, to all, should be good news.

My nephew asked me last month, who was getting a 15" PB and he was concerned that some people where reporting various hardware issues. He was wondering if he should get one, based upon online rants, much like yours. I told him, if, in the rare case you get or have the same issue or different issue from those who are reporting problems... Appple will resolve the issue and fix it, as long as it fits under what is covered. He confirmed that my view was indeed correct and he ordered the system. Of course, I have yet to hear any issues from him. Of course, with the macbook pro just released, not sure if I want to hear from him. (haha)

Anyhow... that said... Im not on your case... but before you rant... preface it with "Venting" because that is all this is. :) As such, that is all my post is too.
 
Well, my thread was mostly a vent, but also a rant that initially, I was looking at a week+ turnaround time to get a working unit. I was not so much upset that the laptop arrived damaged, life happens. I was not so much upset that Apple would want the original laptop back before sending out a replacement, scams happen. I was a bit upset that Apple wanted me to return the laptop via ground shipment, which MAY arrive in as little as two days but often takes up to five days, and in fact did take four (business) days to get to me and is showing an estimated delivery of five (business) days to get back to them.

As you pointed out in your post, when you received a DOA product, Apple had you back up in running in a day or two. I was looking at a wait time of potentially over a week. Notwithstanding whether others may or may not react the same way as I did, I don't think I had so much a "want it now" mentality as a "would like it resolved in an expedient manner" mentality, which I think is a reasonable expectation when one receives a damaged product. On the one hand, the situation was addressed promptly; however, the variables that would affect the overall response time were negatively impacted in the interest of cost effectiveness.

I do understand the difference in prices; I in fact am responsible for our office shipments, and we use FedEx for those. In the instances where I have screwed up and sent a wrong document or what have you, we have to eat the cost of an overnight shipment. Depending on the client's availability, it might have to be a priority overnight shipment, to get there in the morning for them. Sometimes the problem is not really something that I could have controlled, for instance a detail might change after the first shipment has gone out, and corrected docs have to be re-mailed. Granted, papers are not as heavy and therefore do not cost as much to ship as a laptop, but the analogy still remains, sometimes there is expense associated with good customer service.

As I said in my first post, I was pleased with the customer service I received insofar as friendliness and helpfulness, and was bothered only by the potential turnaround time of having a working product in hand. As I said in my second post, with some inquiry, a happy resolution to that concern was reached. :)

The statistics speak for themselves, and Apple products are generally the most reliable. My dead iBook G3 that this Powerbook is replacing gave exemplary service for over four years.
 
WooHoodily, the replacement laptop arrived in yesterday's FedEx and is performing beautifully.

The outbound shipment returning the original laptop to California has not had the tracking updated since it hit Charlotte, NC yesterday. Most likely, this is an indication that the shipment is in the air somewhere between NC and CA. It at the very least means Apple will not be seeing the laptop today, as it is not yet "on a vehicle for delivery". So I am very happy that they agreed to send my replacement right away, especially as I have been given another run of work to do over the weekend, this batch being time sensitive.
 
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