Whatever happened to "It just works"?
Mar. 19th, 2008 10:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseLast night, my MacBook was having wireless connection issues. Not a huge deal in and of itself (it's a known issue with 13" MacBooks and Leopard, so I assume it'll be fixed in some future service pack), so I decide to restart the thing and see if I can get a better connection. I proceed to do so, using an entirely normal means (close open programs, select "Shut down" from the menu, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on). The gray boot-up screen with the Apple logo comes up and it acts like it's starting up just fine for about twenty seconds.
Then - it didn't make a "Bzzzarp" noise, but it should've - it turns off.
After retrying it with the same result, I figure it might be overheated. I let it sit for a while to cool off, then turn it on again. Same thing. Brian tries a couple of the standard Apple troubleshooting steps (reset power manager, reset PRAM, etc.) No dice.
I bring it into work today so I can call up Apple's legendary tech support. Unfortunately, the person on the phone says, my tech support seems to have expired, and would I like to purchase the three-year AppleCare Protection Plan for $249? No, say I, for this appears to be a hardware malfunction and should be covered under the one-year warranty. Well, says she, then you should go either to the support website or to an Apple Store or authorized service retailer to have the hardware looked at, since your 90-day phone support period has expired and am I sure I don't want to purchase the three-year plan? No thank you. *click* I guess one has to be covered under AppleCare to receive the first-rate phone support that Apple is famous for.
Just for kicks, I went to look up how old the computer was, since I had thought I was still within the 90-day window (albeit just barely). The amusing part? Yesterday was the 91st day since purchasing it. Sigh.
So now I'm going to head home at lunch and grab the OS reinstall discs and see if they work. If so, I'll just reset it to factory default (it was a newish computer so I didn't have anything super-important on it) and call it good. I might even hold off on reinstalling Leopard (which is on a separate install disc) for a while and see if the wireless works better.
And if it doesn't work, I'll call them up again and raise holy hell until they connect me with someone who can fix the hardware issue. And if they don't, I can always use the equally large boa approach. =D
Then - it didn't make a "Bzzzarp" noise, but it should've - it turns off.
After retrying it with the same result, I figure it might be overheated. I let it sit for a while to cool off, then turn it on again. Same thing. Brian tries a couple of the standard Apple troubleshooting steps (reset power manager, reset PRAM, etc.) No dice.
I bring it into work today so I can call up Apple's legendary tech support. Unfortunately, the person on the phone says, my tech support seems to have expired, and would I like to purchase the three-year AppleCare Protection Plan for $249? No, say I, for this appears to be a hardware malfunction and should be covered under the one-year warranty. Well, says she, then you should go either to the support website or to an Apple Store or authorized service retailer to have the hardware looked at, since your 90-day phone support period has expired and am I sure I don't want to purchase the three-year plan? No thank you. *click* I guess one has to be covered under AppleCare to receive the first-rate phone support that Apple is famous for.
Just for kicks, I went to look up how old the computer was, since I had thought I was still within the 90-day window (albeit just barely). The amusing part? Yesterday was the 91st day since purchasing it. Sigh.
So now I'm going to head home at lunch and grab the OS reinstall discs and see if they work. If so, I'll just reset it to factory default (it was a newish computer so I didn't have anything super-important on it) and call it good. I might even hold off on reinstalling Leopard (which is on a separate install disc) for a while and see if the wireless works better.
And if it doesn't work, I'll call them up again and raise holy hell until they connect me with someone who can fix the hardware issue. And if they don't, I can always use the equally large boa approach. =D
