Update on Apr 26 '10:** Over 2 years, bcoz of very high volume of data in my mail box and harddisk. the performance of my Vaio (on Vista) went significantly down. Also, since I use my laptop significantly while traveling, I've shifted back to Apple MacBook Pro (the new aluminium body version). Hope this meets my expectations.
Update on Feb 2009:
Considering my frustrating experience (& more important seeing the damage to
their own brand), Apple had finally agreed to refund my money for the MacBook.
I was relieved not knowing that the situation is only going to be worse. Apple
promised to make the payment in Nov; its inching Mar and I am yet to receive
it. Moreover, I've had to pay the penalty of 75$ bcoz the cheque sent by them
bounced. Only when I wrote a strong mail to them yesterday, they listened
(that's the only way you can make Apple hear).
Don't be surprised if you face the following issues with your Apple MacBook:
1.) Battery Stops Working: It is quite possible that battery of your new
Apple MacBook suddenly stop working
2.) HDD Crashes: Although not so common (and definitely not affordable)
as Battery malfunction, it is possible that HDD of your Apple MacBook
suddenly (you will be lucky if you get some symptoms) crashes.
3.) Physical Crack Appears: Least expected but again quite common and
possible that during normal course of working, you see a physical crack
4.) Not able to burn DVD: Don't wait to call Apple and fix the Leapord's
DVD writing issue (related with VRAM setting) before you (like me) waste 10 or
more empty DVDs.
5.) Power Adapter Becomes Too Hot:Again don't be shocked by the hotness
of your Apple MacBook's power adapter.*
6.) Keyboard Randomly Stops Working: **Again, blame Leopard (and not Apple)
for not allowing you to write using Apple MacBook's keyboard.
7.) Turning Yellow:The latest bug which has killed the only Pro (Look n
Feel) I used to mention about Apple MacBook. I found that I am not the only one
- there are thousands (and may be more).*
8.) CD/DVD won't eject*
9.) Apple Service & Support doesn't respond to you for 45 days: Last
but not the least, you may have to wait for 45 days (that too when you post
such review) before Apple Service/Support (at least in India) start listening
to you.
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I am an IIT Delhi graduate & an entrepreneur based in Delhi, India. Early
last year, I started my 2nd venture and along with my two partners, I bought an
Apple MacBook.
The main reason for which I bought Apple MacBook was its reliability (I
expected). I was very happy and excited when I started using Apple MacBook and
as expected Mac’s design fascinated everyone around me. However, within the
first few months, its battery broke suddenly. The same happened with one
of my partners.
Although we were not expecting any more failures, we were not so much worried
about any potential failure as we paid for 3 years protection plan.
Unfortunately, within next few weeks, **I lost my address book and contacts
due to a sudden data corruption** on my MacBook. It was a big loss in terms
of the time and lost contacts but somehow I survived.
But, the real horror started after that. One fine day, my partner’s Apple **MacBook’s
harddisk suddenly crashed **and he lost all the data, except the one’s he had
already backed up. The lost was irreparable and huge. Moreover, he wasted many
days getting his MacBook’s hard disk replaced due to false promises and
repeated delays on the service center’s front.
Given that we together lost the battery, I immediately took complete back up of
my data. Although not desired but consistent to my expectations, my machine
started showing symptoms of crashing; it started slowing down and hanging up in
between. Since I didn’t want to waste more of my time, I called another service
center, UC Infosys, one of Apple India’s service centers in Delhi. Having
discussed the symptoms about my Apple MacBook with them over the phone, I was
told that I send my laptop to them and they will rectify it within 2-3 days. **It
was Dec 5, 2007**. After confirming the time with them I sent my person with
the Apple laptop to them. Having reached there, my guy was told to wait for 2
hours. I called them and confirmed with them that they will diagnose the problem
after 2 hours. After two hours he was told that he should come again tomorrow,
as their technical guy was not available. The guy went to them again the next
day (Friday) and finally they diagnosed it and found that my Apple MacBook’s
harddisk is in trouble. They called me and promised to deliver the laptop by
Monday. Since I didn’t receive any call from them I called them and I was told
that the harddisk is in its way to Delhi from Bangalore and is stuck due to
flight delay. I was told that my laptop will be ready to pickup on Tue by 2 pm.
Again, in absence of any communication from them, I called them and I was told
that I will need to wait for some more time. Being frustrated, I called their
manager/founder and he told that we are expecting the MacBook’s harddisk and
you may need to wait for a day or two more. I realized that these people are
not taking the responsibility and for them their promise didn’t matter. As
expected, once again, there was no communication from UC Infosys even
after 3 days and moreover, the founder stopped picking my calls. So, I called
Apple’s US office and I was told that I need to contact Apple’s support center
in Bangalore only. I called the Bangalore center in Delhi and I spoke to a
gentleman from Apple’s support in Austria. This guy told me a different story;
he told me that 160 GB harddisk for Apple MacBook is not available with them
but they will deliver 200 GB harddisk as a compensation for the delay. I was
promised the job to be done in next 3 days and I was promised that I would not
need to make any call.
Having wasted so much of my time and energy, I was finally expecting the job to
be done. At this point, I knew that Apple’s service sucks but I didn’t expect
them to treat their customers as people on the road. Contrary to my
expectations, I didn’t receive any responsef. I again called them and escalated
the complaint to a senior manager. I wanted to talk to the head of Apple India
but I was not given any details and was told that I am already talking to the
key decision maker. She promised me to get back to me with exact status and
committed to sort the issue with my Apple MacBook immediately. But the bug
didn’t stop there… even then I didn’t receive any communication.
At that point I decided to take this route of going through the social media.
As part of my organization, I had to work on a critical, 2 weeks long
assignment. So I had to be silent for that period. **Today it is Jan 17th; 43
days have passed and no communication from Apple. **Am I wrong when I say
Apple Sucks?
