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I had this model, and the graphic issues started to appear during the last summer. After having acknowledged the situation [1] (Apple doesn’t officially admit t

by bpierre 12y ago

I had this model, and the graphic issues started to appear during the last summer. After having acknowledged the situation [1] (Apple doesn’t officially admit there is a problem, and chances are that I will have to pay for a new logic board since I am out of warranty), I went to an Apple Store in the UK for a diagnostic. I was about to pay for the new logic board, and the person confirmed to me that in case of a recall happening in the future, I would be refunded by Apple. Nice surprise when he asked me where I bought it: since I ordered it on the Apple website, even if it was on the french Apple Store website, they proposed me to replace it using the UK warranty, which is 6 years (!) instead of 1 year in France [2] (I didn’t take the Apple Care). A few hours after having my computer back, the exact same graphic issues started again. I went back to the Apple Store, and they changed it again. Everything was working fine… Until two months later, when the sound chip just died: no errors in OS X, but no sound at all (from speakers, microphone or jack plug). I went back to the Apple Store, and they changed the logic board again (it wasn’t a problem because all replacements are covered by warranty). A few days later, the graphic issues started again. I went back to the Apple Store. Since they changed the logic board three times already, they proposed me to replace the MBP by a brand new one: the latest and high-end model (since they have to replace it with an equivalent), and I even received an external drive since the new models don’t have one, and despite having said that I don’t need it. I think I have been really lucky: I just wanted to repair it so I could sell it and buy a new model. I ended up with the latest model without paying anything except a few hours spent at the Apple Store. Lessons learned: - Buy your Apple computer from Apple if you can. - You have a 6 years warranty in the UK. [1] http://www.mbp2011.com/ http://www.mbp2011.com/ [2] http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ Edit: the legal warranty is 2 years in France, not 1 year.

riquito 12y ago
> instead of 1 year [of warranty] in France Didn't you mean 2 years? In the whole Europe you get at least 2 years of warranty Cit. EU directive 1999/44/EC "A two-year guarantee applies for the sale of all consumer goods everywhere in the EU. In some countries, this may be more, and some manufacturers also choose to offer a longer warranty period."
- bpierre 12y ago
  Yes sorry, the Apple warranty is 1 year, but the legal warranty is 2 years. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Flegal%2Fwarranty%2Fproducts%2Ffrance-universal-warranty.html&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev...
  - lloeki 12y ago
    A quick note: Apple has you covered for two years in France, due to european regulations: the first year is handled by the manufacturer, the second one is handled by the reseller. This is important as in terms of resellers an Apple Retail Store is not considered the same as the Apple Online Store, and even mode important if you're not buying it through Apple. That said, every time I went to an Apple Retail Store I've had the thing handled nonetheless, sometimes even when out of the 2 year warranty.
    - legulere 12y ago
      It doesn't even need to be an Apple Store. When my SSD died after the 1 year apple warranty I called Apple and was given an option of several Apple certified shops around me. They told me there that it usually takes a few days for apple to authorize the repair after the 1 year vendor warranty, but I was able to pick up my laptop again on the next day in the morning.
      - alasdairnicol 12y ago
        My Macbook died last month after 15 months, outside of the 1 year warranty. I had bought it from Apple's website. The local certified shop wanted £99 to diagnose the problem. Apple weren't particularly helpful when I asked for help to get the fee waived (their staff in the US don't know about the UK Sale of Goods act, understandable perhaps), so I had to take a 40 minute train journey to my nearest Apple store. The Apple store diagnosed the problem and immediately offered to repair it for free 'under UK consumer law'. I was pretty happy with the experience, but would have preferred if the local certified shop had been able to diagnose and repair the laptop for free instead.
lloeki 12y ago
Similar story on an entirely different model. I bought an iMac 21" some years ago from the online store, received quickly via UPS. Bootup, start doing stuff, and progressively comes a yellow tinge. I call Apple Care, which places a replacement order. To minimise downtime, they send the replacement ASAP and order a return to be completed later. This means you get the new computer before you return the broken one. Nice, especially if you didn't use Time Machine (it was all new and shiny) and wanted to do a Mac to Mac transfer via Firewire. The new one arrives, power on, and straight from the boot screen here's a yellow tinge, even worse than the first one. Round trip with Apple Care, order a new replacement, arrange pickup, go. Same tinge again, but more subdued, and it seems to be slowly going away, but how to be sure? Not willing to take risks, I call Apple Care again, which orders a new replacement and arranges a pickup. Replacement arrives and now I have three iMacs on my desktop (of which two are due for return). Seriously. And that one, too has a yellow tinge. I call Apple Care again, and this time they say to me that while we could continue with this little game endlessly, that may not be the wisest thing to play what is essentially lottery. So they offer me to get my money back, plus a coupon if I were to order a computer again. Forum searches learned me that there seems to be much less 27" affected than 21", and with that coupon I could now afford one. So after pondering the situation, I choose to go for it. The thing arrives and hurray, it's tinge free! For the record, a few years later, the thing is out of warranty and I receive an email that the hard disk is eligible for a preventive replacement, for free, even if out of warranty. Yay.
HackinOut 12y ago
Good point for Apple. But I wouldn't call having your computer fixed 4 times in ~2 months lucky... Every brand seems to be having reliability problems with their products nowadays (in software as well as hardware). More than in the past. Or maybe it's just me, unlucky as you are... I really have no idea what my next laptop will be...
bshimmin 12y ago
John Lewis are also a good option to buy Macs (or anything, really) from if you're in the UK. On, I think, all electrical goods, definitely including Macs, you get a two-year warranty (ie. double Apple's). John Lewis are also very nice to talk to on the phone, in my experience - I ordered some flowers through them recently for next day delivery, which unfortunately they were unable to fulfil: they phoned me to apologise and the guy said to me, "I really am so sorry about this, it's a dratted nuisance!" The day after, they sent a much larger bunch of flowers than I'd originally ordered.
- IanCal 12y ago
  In the UK, all goods must be "fit for purpose" and must be fixed or replaced if they break within a reasonable time frame. For things you'd expect to be of reasonable quality, this is usually 6 years (if your £5 Argos blender breaks after 5 years then it's probably not covered, if your Apple laptop breaks after 4 years then it really should be).
IanCal 12y ago
> - You have a 6 years warranty in the UK. It's worth remembering this, however it's not always 6 years. There's no fixed time, but 6 years for electrical goods is a fairly good point. This all comes down to the sales of goods act, which means good must be "fit for purpose". If an expensive laptop breaks after 4 years, then you can argue it wasn't fit for purpose and therefore must be fixed or replaced (or a full refund issued). As long as you haven't caused the problem through misuse, you're covered. > since I ordered it on the Apple website, even if it was on the french Apple Store website, they proposed me to replace it using the UK warranty If you'd ordered it through someone else, you would have to have gone through them instead (it's up to the seller to sort out, not the manufacturer). This is a very powerful piece of consumer law, and it's a shame it's not as well known as it should be. > - Buy your Apple computer from Apple if you can. Unless you'd bought it from another person rather than a business, you should have received the same treatment. This isn't Apple being nice, this is them fulfilling their legal obligations.
- pdpi 12y ago
  Some vendors are better about it than others. I've had a bad experience with O2 denying my guarantee rights under the Sales of Goods Act, for what was clearly an "unfit for purpose" phone (iPhone 5 with a faulty sleep button[0]). Apple replaced it for me of their own accord, though. [0] - https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone5-sleepwakebutton/ https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone5-sleepwakebutton/
  - cerberusss 12y ago
    I am not surprised, these big telco's have nothing to gain by being customer friendly. That's why I buy my phones straight from Apple. It feels a little pricier that way, of course.
- alasdairnicol 12y ago
  > If an expensive laptop breaks after 4 years, then you can argue it wasn't fit for purpose and therefore must be fixed or replaced (or a full refund issued). As long as you haven't caused the problem through misuse, you're covered. My understanding is that under the Sale of Goods Act you are entitled to a partial refund [1], which reflects the use that you got out of the product. For example, if a laptop broke after 4 years, and 6 years was a reasonable lifespan, that suggests a 1/3 refund. I believe that the new EU directive entitles you for a full refund for the 2 years of the warranty. In this regard, it's a stronger protection than the UK Sale of Goods act. In other regards, the Sale of Goods act is stronger (5 years to make a claim in Scotland, 6 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland). > Unless you'd bought it from another person rather than a business, you should have received the same treatment. This isn't Apple being nice, this is them fulfilling their legal obligations. Some retailers might be quicker to fulfil their obligations than others, so that's worth considering when choosing where to buy the product. My recent experience at the Apple store after buying from the Apple website was pretty positive. edit: re-reading your post, I realise that you already pointed out that your rights are against the retailer, not the manufacturer. [1] http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-goods-act#link-4 http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-go...
IanCal 12y ago
> - You have a 6 years warranty in the UK. It's worth remembering this, however it's not always 6 years. There's no fixed time, but 6 years for electrical goods is a fairly good point. This all comes down to the sales of goods act, which means good must be "fit for purpose". If an expensive laptop breaks after 4 years, then you can argue it wasn't fit for purpose and therefore must be fixed or replaced (or a full refund issued). As long as you haven't caused the problem through misuse, you're covered. > since I ordered it on the Apple website, even if it was on the french Apple Store website, they proposed me to replace it using the UK warranty If you'd ordered it through someone else, you would have to have gone through them instead (it's up to the seller to sort out, not the manufacturer). This is a very powerful piece of consumer law, and it's a shame it's not as well known as it should be. > - Buy your Apple computer from Apple if you can. Unless you'd bought it from another person rather than a business, you should have received the same treatment. This isn't Apple being nice, this is them fulfilling their legal obligations.

by bpierre 12y ago

riquito 12y ago

> instead of 1 year [of warranty] in France Didn't you mean 2 years? In the whole Europe you get at least 2 years of warranty Cit. EU directive 1999/44/EC "A two-year guarantee applies for the sale of all consumer goods everywhere in the EU. In some countries, this may be more, and some manufacturers also choose to offer a longer warranty period."

bpierre 12y ago
Yes sorry, the Apple warranty is 1 year, but the legal warranty is 2 years. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Flegal%2Fwarranty%2Fproducts%2Ffrance-universal-warranty.html&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev...
- lloeki 12y ago
  A quick note: Apple has you covered for two years in France, due to european regulations: the first year is handled by the manufacturer, the second one is handled by the reseller. This is important as in terms of resellers an Apple Retail Store is not considered the same as the Apple Online Store, and even mode important if you're not buying it through Apple. That said, every time I went to an Apple Retail Store I've had the thing handled nonetheless, sometimes even when out of the 2 year warranty.
  - legulere 12y ago
    It doesn't even need to be an Apple Store. When my SSD died after the 1 year apple warranty I called Apple and was given an option of several Apple certified shops around me. They told me there that it usually takes a few days for apple to authorize the repair after the 1 year vendor warranty, but I was able to pick up my laptop again on the next day in the morning.
    - alasdairnicol 12y ago
      My Macbook died last month after 15 months, outside of the 1 year warranty. I had bought it from Apple's website. The local certified shop wanted £99 to diagnose the problem. Apple weren't particularly helpful when I asked for help to get the fee waived (their staff in the US don't know about the UK Sale of Goods act, understandable perhaps), so I had to take a 40 minute train journey to my nearest Apple store. The Apple store diagnosed the problem and immediately offered to repair it for free 'under UK consumer law'. I was pretty happy with the experience, but would have preferred if the local certified shop had been able to diagnose and repair the laptop for free instead.

lloeki 12y ago

Similar story on an entirely different model. I bought an iMac 21" some years ago from the online store, received quickly via UPS. Bootup, start doing stuff, and progressively comes a yellow tinge. I call Apple Care, which places a replacement order. To minimise downtime, they send the replacement ASAP and order a return to be completed later. This means you get the new computer before you return the broken one. Nice, especially if you didn't use Time Machine (it was all new and shiny) and wanted to do a Mac to Mac transfer via Firewire. The new one arrives, power on, and straight from the boot screen here's a yellow tinge, even worse than the first one. Round trip with Apple Care, order a new replacement, arrange pickup, go. Same tinge again, but more subdued, and it seems to be slowly going away, but how to be sure? Not willing to take risks, I call Apple Care again, which orders a new replacement and arranges a pickup. Replacement arrives and now I have three iMacs on my desktop (of which two are due for return). Seriously. And that one, too has a yellow tinge. I call Apple Care again, and this time they say to me that while we could continue with this little game endlessly, that may not be the wisest thing to play what is essentially lottery. So they offer me to get my money back, plus a coupon if I were to order a computer again. Forum searches learned me that there seems to be much less 27" affected than 21", and with that coupon I could now afford one. So after pondering the situation, I choose to go for it. The thing arrives and hurray, it's tinge free! For the record, a few years later, the thing is out of warranty and I receive an email that the hard disk is eligible for a preventive replacement, for free, even if out of warranty. Yay.

HackinOut 12y ago

Good point for Apple. But I wouldn't call having your computer fixed 4 times in ~2 months lucky... Every brand seems to be having reliability problems with their products nowadays (in software as well as hardware). More than in the past. Or maybe it's just me, unlucky as you are... I really have no idea what my next laptop will be...

bshimmin 12y ago

John Lewis are also a good option to buy Macs (or anything, really) from if you're in the UK. On, I think, all electrical goods, definitely including Macs, you get a two-year warranty (ie. double Apple's). John Lewis are also very nice to talk to on the phone, in my experience - I ordered some flowers through them recently for next day delivery, which unfortunately they were unable to fulfil: they phoned me to apologise and the guy said to me, "I really am so sorry about this, it's a dratted nuisance!" The day after, they sent a much larger bunch of flowers than I'd originally ordered.

IanCal 12y ago
In the UK, all goods must be "fit for purpose" and must be fixed or replaced if they break within a reasonable time frame. For things you'd expect to be of reasonable quality, this is usually 6 years (if your £5 Argos blender breaks after 5 years then it's probably not covered, if your Apple laptop breaks after 4 years then it really should be).

IanCal 12y ago

> - You have a 6 years warranty in the UK. It's worth remembering this, however it's not always 6 years. There's no fixed time, but 6 years for electrical goods is a fairly good point. This all comes down to the sales of goods act, which means good must be "fit for purpose". If an expensive laptop breaks after 4 years, then you can argue it wasn't fit for purpose and therefore must be fixed or replaced (or a full refund issued). As long as you haven't caused the problem through misuse, you're covered. > since I ordered it on the Apple website, even if it was on the french Apple Store website, they proposed me to replace it using the UK warranty If you'd ordered it through someone else, you would have to have gone through them instead (it's up to the seller to sort out, not the manufacturer). This is a very powerful piece of consumer law, and it's a shame it's not as well known as it should be. > - Buy your Apple computer from Apple if you can. Unless you'd bought it from another person rather than a business, you should have received the same treatment. This isn't Apple being nice, this is them fulfilling their legal obligations.

pdpi 12y ago
Some vendors are better about it than others. I've had a bad experience with O2 denying my guarantee rights under the Sales of Goods Act, for what was clearly an "unfit for purpose" phone (iPhone 5 with a faulty sleep button[0]). Apple replaced it for me of their own accord, though. [0] - https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone5-sleepwakebutton/ https://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone5-sleepwakebutton/
- cerberusss 12y ago
  I am not surprised, these big telco's have nothing to gain by being customer friendly. That's why I buy my phones straight from Apple. It feels a little pricier that way, of course.
alasdairnicol 12y ago
> If an expensive laptop breaks after 4 years, then you can argue it wasn't fit for purpose and therefore must be fixed or replaced (or a full refund issued). As long as you haven't caused the problem through misuse, you're covered. My understanding is that under the Sale of Goods Act you are entitled to a partial refund [1], which reflects the use that you got out of the product. For example, if a laptop broke after 4 years, and 6 years was a reasonable lifespan, that suggests a 1/3 refund. I believe that the new EU directive entitles you for a full refund for the 2 years of the warranty. In this regard, it's a stronger protection than the UK Sale of Goods act. In other regards, the Sale of Goods act is stronger (5 years to make a claim in Scotland, 6 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland). > Unless you'd bought it from another person rather than a business, you should have received the same treatment. This isn't Apple being nice, this is them fulfilling their legal obligations. Some retailers might be quicker to fulfil their obligations than others, so that's worth considering when choosing where to buy the product. My recent experience at the Apple store after buying from the Apple website was pretty positive. edit: re-reading your post, I realise that you already pointed out that your rights are against the retailer, not the manufacturer. [1] http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-goods-act#link-4 http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-go...

IanCal 12y ago