RutSum

The MacBook Keyboard-Trackpad and Weird Audio Output Problem Saga – Part 2

Read the first part before you move on.

(continued….)

I first talk to a call center guy and tell him the problem. I say that I want to launch an official complaint against the AASP. He forwards my call to a guy in customer relations, called David. I talk to David for about 40 minutes, trying to explain to him what the problem is. He told me that he had launched the complaint against that AASP, and gave me a case number. He asked me if I wanted to give the same AASP another chance. I said yes, but only if they were informed by Apple to put someone qualified enough on the job, and that I deal with someone over there who actually listens to the problems being faced by a customer and not just ignore them because they think the problem is foolish, absurd or too unimportant to be thought about. He agreed and promised me that he would do so.

But apparently he did not. I called the Apple CC again in the evening. I gave the call center dude my case number. He said it is invalid. I asked to talk to David. He said David is not available at the moment. He forwarded me to Elizabeth at the customer relations department.I told her the whole story again. She said that she was looking at my case, and the complaint had been forwarded indeed. I told her that I was leaving to go to U. C. Infosystems and I wanted her to call them up and inform them of the seriousness of the problem. She said she would definitely do it.

I reached U. C. Infosystems just a couple of minutes before their closing time. This time I dealt with a different guy, called Dharam (He seemed to occupy a higher post at U. C. Infosystems) and this time he sent me directly to the technician.

The technician was located in another building. He was sitting in a crappy room that looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in years. He booted up my machine and checked out the problem. The problem was obvious to him, he shut the machine down and ripped it apart.

The top case is a one piece item, and the whole thing was connected into the motherboard in a micro USB kinda port. All that the technician did was unplug the cord, and reinsert it. And the problem was gone, poof. The keyboard and trackpad were working fine. I checked, double checked. Working fine.

While the technician closes up my MacBook, I try to explain to him the problem related to the audio output and subsequent high CPU usage. This time, I have both my headphones, and a USB mouse, so I take my time and demonstrate the problem to him. It took me a while to set up the scenario for the problem to surface, and I am happy that after 15 minutes, I am successful in showing him how the problem works. He does a little testing, checking if the problem is related to a particular application. After he was satisfied of the origin of the problem, he said that the motherboard of the machine had to be changed. I was slightly taken aback by this, because that was like buying a new house if you lose the keys. Anyway, I didn’t give a damn about that if my problem was solved for free under warranty. We went back to the main building to U. C. Infosystems, where the technician talked to Mr. Dharam and told him about his opinion that the motherboard had be changed. Mr. Dharam behaved is very concerned and professional manner and said that he understood my angst and this time he would order the motherboard in advance for me, and give me a call when it arrived so that I could have the problem fixed within one visit, and I don’t have to leave the machine with them, so my work would not be impeded. I thank Mr. Dharam and leave.

I come home, open up my MacBook, start working as usual. Ten minutes later, my keyboard and trackpad are dead again. Great.

I feel extremely annoyed but am happy that I had got myself a ‘just-in-case’ USB Keyboard. Thankfully I can do my work and am not totally helpless. Because I have another option, I become lazy and continue working with a USB Keyboard and Mouse. I have lived with the audio-output problem long enough now, so I don’t really care enough about it to actually go back to U. C. Infosystems to get it fixed.

20th January, 2009 : I finally go back to U. C. Infosystems because now I am tired of all the setting up I have to do before I can use my MacBook. Mr. Dharam had previously promised me that he would pre-order the motherboard for my MacBook and call me up when it arrived. Sadly, that never happened. When I called up U. C. Infosystems and asked to speak to Mr. Dharam about the issue, I was given an excuse by Anu that he wasn’t available and that I had to bring the machine back to them and leave it with them for a few days for thorough checking. I told her that her technician had done the checking, and that they had done a thorough checking the first time I left my MacBook with them (31st December, 2008). She plainly refused and simply said that the only way I was going to get my MacBook repaired was if I left it with them for a few days.

Now these are the times when you feel totally helpless. I had tried contacting the Apple Customer Support multiple times (I have made at least 12 calls and 2 online written complaints) with no such visible effect on the people at U. C. Infosystems. Even the people I talked to at the customer relations department (David and Elizabeth) promised me numerous things but none of them ever materialised. Mr. Dharam promised me something, but he too was unable to fulfill it. I decided that I had no choice but to comply to what they asked.

I took the machine to U. C. Infosystems that evening. I asked Anu why my motherboard hadn’t arrived yet, and she quickly improvised and said that when they had ordered it from Apple, they got a call asking them what led to the diagnosis that required the change of a motherboard. She said that they told them about my problem but they were not satisfied, so Apple asked them to recall the machine and thoroughly check it again. I did not argue further, and simply asked her to keep the machine and give me a receipt. This time, though, I told her that I wanted both the motherboard and the top case to be changed (again), because I didn’t want the problem to resurface again. She wrote down both the problems on the receipt that she gave to me, and I left. I also asked her when I could collect my machine, and she said within 2 days. I asked her to keep me informed if there is any development which would delay the repair of my machine. She said that she would certainly do so.

24th January, 2009 : Despite my request, nobody called my on the 22nd or 23rd. I called them up on the 24th, and talked to Vivek Sharma, who said that everything had been completed, and I could collect my machine. He said that both the top case and motherboard had been changed, and that the machine was working fine now. I took some equipment along with me (for testing the machine) and left for U. C. Infosystems.

I spent around half an hour at U. C. Infosystems checking the machine, both the top case (keyboard and trackpad) and the audio output problem. I concluded that both the problems had been eliminated, and that I could take the machine home. I noticed that the system profiler no longer displayed my Serial Number (which was due to the change of motherboard). I asked Vivek how would I avail the warranty if my machine didn’t display the serial number. He said the warranty would be provided by looking at the sticker below the top case, which had the serial number of my machine imprinted on it. I checked the sticker to confirm. I thanked Vivek and left.

3rd February, 2009 : I am using my MacBook now, writing this post. I am having no problems, neither the audio output one, nor with the keyboard or trackpad. I just hope it stays this way.

In the end, this experience had a satisfying ending but was extremely painful and torturous. I had to pay 5 visits in total to a place that is extremely difficult for me to reach. Apart from this, I made hundreds of calls to different people trying to get help. And not to mention the immense waste of time. If Apple is reading this, please improve your customer support in India, specifically in Delhi/NCR where a lot of people are using your products. A suggestion – Before giving a particular service center the title of ‘Apple Authorised Service Provider’, at least check out what kind of personnel they have for dealing with customers.

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