Day: September 25, 2012

I have owned my Macbook for six years now which is well past the warranty period.

The battery decided to do something weird the other day.  It swelled up on me to the point where there was so much pressure on the lock mechanism on the Macbook that I thought it was going to break.  Luckily it did not.  As soon as I turned the unlock switch, the thing popped right out because it had expanded in size!

I did a little research on some forums to see if it was a common occurrence.  I found some mention of a replacement program back in 2009 for A1185 batteries but that time had since passed.

I have had amazing service from the Apple Store at Rideau Center in the past (free replacement earbuds a few times when they just weren’t working any longer) so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see what they could do for me.  A new battery from the Apple Store costs $160 whereas on Ebay it looked like I could one cheaper for $60.

I arrived at the Genius Bar appointment and it was a packed house at 12:20 in the afternoon.  One gentleman was helping another Macbook client but was running some scans so I propped the Macbook on the table and showed him the battery and asked him what my options were.

He proceeded to get a new battery and tell me that this shouldn’t happen at all and gave me the new battery, no questions asked.

I have often wondered if Apple has a customer satisfaction policy which basically states “Don’t bother asking them about the warranty on the product, don’t bother asking for some money…just get the problem fixed so the customer can exit the store being happy.”

Happy I am.  Extremely satisfied with the service I always get at the Apple Store.  How many times have you seen something of yours break and the first thing you think about is “Oh my Lord, is it still covered by warranty?”  Imagine if we lived in a world where it just didn’t matter?

That world is the Apple Store.

Thanks.

At the Sound of Lions concert the other night, I saw the most curious thing…a sign on the merchandise table that read “Pay what you want for the merchandise.”

Huh.

My immediate thoughts at looking at the CD and the t-shirt available was immediately “Man, if I wanted these two items, I would easily drop $40 for them both.”

I wonder if that’s the general consensus on these types of things and in the end, they actually make MORE money by leaving it up to buyer’s choice?

Granted, this was their existing CD and a t-shirt.  They are currently testing out new songs so maybe they are clearing out some old stock before they order new stock?

Either way, it’s a really fascinating concept and I would love to pick their brain to find out the thinking behind this as well as if they are at least breaking even.

On a related note, I wonder if had anything to do with passing her a twenty the previous time I bought their album and I told them to keep the change to support the band?