I bought a brand new MacBook Air 2020 last year. On literally the penultimate day of my warranty-coverage, my display just stopped working. I immediately approached an authorized Apple service center within my warranty and claimed for the service/repair. Mind you, only the display was non-functional; all other functions were just fine.
The service center reverts back saying there is a burn on the motherboard due to a short, and I will have to pay 35, 000INR for a new sister/motherboard component even though I'm under warranty and this burn/short is not my fault. I have no history of power surges, use only official genuine Apple adapters, no water-damage, no overheats, nothing as such that would have caused this short in the board as an "external" factor as they claim. This is 100% a manufacturing defect.
I talked to Apple Support, and was assigned a representative named Monika that would repeatedly say the same robotic "I understand your issue, but there is nothing we can do about this" for weeks, and would quote irrelevant excerpts from the most updated Apple warranty policy which I have read from top to bottom absolutely knowing my MacBook is well-within the bounds of warranty-coverage.
She had been quoting clause (b) of the "WHAT IS NOT COVERED BY THIS WARRANTY?" section that says:
"(b) cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports unless failure has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship"
The audacity and stupidity of this person, for comparing an internal short on a mother/sisterboard with cosmetic/physical damage... One call she says something else, another something else, and she takes days to revert back with absolutely useless information as if it's some favor.
Monika kept delaying me for weeks saying the same "we have POSITIVE news for you! We will re-diagnose your device!" as if it is actually some positive news and a favor to me. The same loop repeated for weeks, and then she stopped responding before I asked to speak with her senior (Himanshi).
Now, Himanshi has been lying to me the same way with new, "senior" twists. She does not respond or revert back at scheduled call times. She told me my MacBook would be sent to Bangalore to the Advanced Repairs Center and then be diagnosed by first-party Apple engineers instead of the second-party service center ones. She told me the MacBook is being sent the next day, and has since then completely stopped responding. Today, when I called the service center, after more than an entire week, I find out that the laptop is STILL with them and they have received no such instruction from Apple to send it to Bangalore.
Even the service center has been awaiting Apple's action/response/verdict to move forward. There is no transparency or structure whatsoever.
This cat-and-mouse game has been going on for over a month now, and my job relies on working from home from this "premium" laptop, so I have not been able to work for the entire past month. I am losing clients left and right. And here are Monika and HImanshi, lying to me, not responding, not escalating anything, wasting so much time, and trying to cheat me with irrelevant warranty policy clauses as if I'm illiterate.
Apple has to be the most surprising scam as of yet among all the product brands I have gone for. Even local Indian brands provide better "service" than this.
They have the same cycle: engage the victim and tell them you'll revert back to them in 2 days, then make it 3 days, then move the "resolution" to the next week since the weekend is the next day — rinse and repeat.
Is this what I paid a high premium for? Just for the Apple logo and nothing else along with it? Is this the "premium" Apple boasts? Is this the state of the "customer service" this overrated, overpriced tech-giant curates? I am literally never in my life buy Apple products or endorse them to anyone. It is a shame I opted for the "premium" Apple ecosystem and all my devices are Apple — but not anymore.
My brother-in-law is an advocate, and I will be taking this to court with the notice involving ALL relevant Apple parties.
References:
Service Case ID:[protected]
MacBook Invoice #: UHDO[protected]
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