In my opinion, Apple’s notebook designs are usually flawless — except for the plastic MacBook whose palm rest has a tendency to crack. And the cracking and breaking is caused by normal wear (i.e. having your palms on the palm rests). It happened to my first MacBook, and it happened to Elise’s MacBook as well. Of course, she’s dropped hers a couple times, so her MacBook’s palm rests had a little bit more cosmetic damage.
I recently upgraded her MacBook with 2 GB RAM and a 500 GB hard drive, which were relatively inexpensive upgrades, and easy to do after having upgraded the Mac Mini.
While I as at it, and since we were going to take Maly to the mall to see Santa Claus, I scheduled an appointment at the Apple store to inquire about getting Elise’s MacBook’s palm rest replaced. The salesperson told me it was “around $80 for the part and $30 for labor.” In unison, Elise and I sang, “no thanks.” She then said, “Hang on and let me see what I can do.” After some poking around on her iPad, she asked if the MacBook’s data was backed up and if we could leave it overnight. Elise had some photos that she needed to work on, so we couldn’t leave it. The salesperson told us we could bring the laptop back within 30 days and they’d take care of it for us.
When we got home, Elise put the photos she needed on an external hard drive and I scheduled another appointment at the Apple store first thing the next morning. I had to go back to the mall anyway because Maly had left one of her toys at the mall.
I got to the mall at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. By 9:30, Elise’s MacBook was looking good as new. And for free. It’s almost too good to be true how Apple operates their online and retail business as well as customer service. I just don’t think it’s possible to be so pleased by any other computer manufacturer.
The only time I’ve been upset with Apple is when I find myself in an over-crowded retail store. But that’s okay. I want those people to buy, too.