Kensington Blues

I went to the Apple Store in Cherry Hill yesterday morning to get my Macbook topcase repaired for the third time. I went to the Genius Bar and told the guy that my keyboard cracked while they replaced my fried hard drive. I figured they’d hear me out, understand that there was something fundamentally wrong with my computer and replace the unit altogether. What was there to lose, right? It’s pretty much a blank slate since I haven’t uploaded but a handful of photos to it.

Fat chance.

I was told the stock topcase was faulty, but that the subsequent replacements were reinforced. Then why have I been back twice since, I asked. Must’ve been something I did wrong, although the Apple rep was careful not to blame me outright. Silly me. What could I know about a product that’s been nothing but an annoyance since I bought it. The customer is never right, huh?

The fun didn’t end there. When I asked if he could show me how to sync my iPhone to my repaired Macbook, he almost laughed. Not only did he tell me that my iPhone looked pretty beaten and battered — I guess that’s what all Apple employees are trained to say about products that are a whopping two years old — he told me that I wouldn’t be able to sync my phone to the new computer without restoring it to factory settings. Sweet! You mean I can lose all of my apps? Great!

Needless to say, it’s a mess, and I’m not sure what recourse I have. I guess this is what I get for jumping aboard the Apple bandwagon just as the company was rocketing into the stratosphere. Funnier still, this never happened to me with all the PCs I’ve owned since 1996.

Tomorrow I’m headed back to the Apple Store at the Cherry Hill Mall to fix a problem that began late last year when my hard drive cooked right inside my Macbook. I went and got the disk replaced in April, but I haven’t really recovered from the experience. Sure, my computer works and has a brand spankin’ new OS, but you know what, that’s not good enough.

I went in there and got great service, no question, but it didn’t go above and beyond. While my computer was being repaired, the keyboard cracked for the third time. The third time! I know this is a design flaw that was fixed when they rolled out the new Macbook. You’d think if they’re replacing the hard drive anyway, they’d notice the crack in the keyboard and just toss the whole thing. There’s nothing to save, right?

That’s my aim when I go in tomorrow. I’m going to be upfront with them and let them know that the issues I’ve had with this computer were never problems with the PCs I’ve owned, even the cooked hard drive. It’s frustrating to pay a premium for a superior machine, love it, and have so many issues. Wish me luck!

I recently had a stroke of bad luck with my otherwise marvelous Macbook. It was acting funny, so I tried to restart. It stalled out and I tried doing a hard reboot.

Oops.

I found myself staring at a grey screen, the fan whirring out of control. Fun!

Now I’m trying to figure out whether I should take it to an Apple store, or just visit a repair service now that my Applecare term has ended.

Feel free to offer your two cents in the comments!