Rotten AppleCare experience

“No sound effect can express my anger.”

Got back from picking up the PowerBook. You'd think I'd be happier that there was nothing wrong, but I'm not.

This is because although I am still covered by AppleCare, I was also charged extra because they didn't find any problems with the laptop. This was what I was hoping for, as it's easier to replace a faulty Firewire cable than an entire motherboard, but there was absolutely no warning that this would happen, even though I specifically stated that the issue I was experiencing might have come from an external source and was it okay to take the PowerBook in to get a general check-up under the warranty even if there was probably nothing really the matter.

I wouldn't have minded so much if I'd been given some form of indication that there would be an unwarrantied service fee if they didn't have to replace anything. Then at least I could decided not to bring it in, or at least take my custom elsewhere, but while the guy doing the intake was sure to tell me that software issues were not covered, and the guy who phoned to say that the PB had been checked and was ready for pickup at any time, neither of them bothered to mention the extra charge.

I'm going to phone up Apple and hopefully they'll reimburse me, but I can say right now that I'm never buying anything from CompuSmart again, and I'm not likely to get another Mac in the near future.