Why I’ll continue to buy Macs
I’ve been a Mac user for the last 5+ years. I bought a Powerbook in order to able to learn how to work more effectively in a Unix/Linux environment. Since that time I’ve had four Macs, three iPods, a some Mac networking equipment. I almost have never had a problem. Unfortunately, while at ALA I had my first really unfortunate hardware issue. I was kicked back working on my presentation in the hotel room. I went to close to the Mac Air to go to dinner and heard this horrific cracking noise. When I examined the Air I discovered that the hinge was completely cracked. My Air is a little over a year old and I only use it when I’m on the road. So I was stunned and freaked. I wondered how I was going to get through ALA. Luckily, I transferred all my stuff to a USB drive and used my iPod to check email for the remaining ALA.
When I got home I took the Air to the local Apple Store to have them fix it. Since it was out of warranty, I figured I’d be paying the piper and having to cough up for it myself. I literally was home for less than 24 hours between ALA and my vacation. So I needed to drop it off quickly and come and get it after my vacation. When I got the Apple Store it was of course incredibly busy. Fortunately an associate came up quickly and asked me what I needed. I explained the situation and was able to “Quick Drop” my Air in under 10 mins. Less than 24 hours later the store called to break the bad news – that because of the way the hinge is designed it wasn’t a simple easy repair. Ack. The good news was that they would perform the repair for free. AWESOME. Within 72 hours of dropping the Air it was fixed and ready for me to pick up.
This isn’t the first time Apple has given me free service. When my Airport Express went on the fritz, they replaced that for free as well. Both of these experiences leave me with warm and happy feelings towards the Apple Store. This is the kind of experience that will assure that I continue to buy something new from Apple on nearly an annual basis.
I’ve gotten free repairs from Apple on out-of-warranty equipment too. It’s interesting to think about this as a customer relations strategy — they probably get BETTER feelings from customers by (sometimes, no guarantee, if you can bring it in to an apple store) fixing out of warranty equipment than they would be offering longer warranties (with legal obligations) for free!
The hinge also broke on my Air. Like you, I hadn’t exactly used it heavily and was really surprised with it just decided to break. I did research and found it’s a very common problem and apparently a design flaw. (I was concerned that the Apple repair folks would deem the broken hinge abuse or something they weren’t liable for.) Anyway, I brought the Air to the Apple store, got the nod of “I’ve seen this a lot” from the Expert Bar. I got it back, fully repaired, 2 days later at no charge.
So, given it’s a very common problem (that appears to be the result of a design flaw) I’m not surprised Apple repaired your Air out of warranty for no charge. But there are stories around (when the hinge problem first appeared) that say Apple refused to repair it under warranty. But once Apple realized it was a widespread problem they began to handle it appropriately.