Last summer, I bought a mid-2015 MacBook Pro Retina that I absolutely love.  The machine doubles as my travel laptop and my primary desktop (in clamshell mode).  I backup using Time Machine to my ZFS backed storage and I keep my Mac fairly pristine.  Recently though, I began experiencing kernel panics that were file system related.  After much head banging, I discovered this was due to a corrupt “sparsebundle” that Time Machine uses.  Unfortunately, my Mac already had its logic board replaced before I made this discovery.

My first trip to the Apple Genius Bar with this Mac was unremarkable.  The service was relatively prompt and the shipping/receiving estimates were on par.  I was able to pickup my laptop and get back on the road fairly quick.  Unfortunately, the refurbished logic board used by Apple’s repair depot had a faulty GPU.  I had moved and swapped several monitors and cables before making this frustrating discovery.  This is honestly why I hate refurbished equipment.  The testing never feels sufficiently rigorous and my luck often leaves me revisiting failed repairs all too often.  The worst was probably going through four iPod Touch units before the store admitted that their refurbs weren’t up to spec and gave me a new-in-the-box iPod.

I return to the store, hoping I can just get a new machine or at least have my existing one repaired in the store.  The Genius exams my videos and stills of the display completely freaking out and doesn’t waste much time.  The machine has to return to the repair center in Texas.  *Sigh.*  Now the trouble begins.  The Genius won’t treat this as a failed repair.  To them, this is like a first attempt.  No need to empathize/sympathize with me.  The Genius writes the machine’s status up in their ticket.  We quickly squabble over two points.  The Genius put that they couldn’t replicate the issue (they didn’t try) and that the machine has scratches and scuffs (it didn’t and was listed as “no damage” on the last repair ticket).  We battle over something that should be relatively simple and the machine is eventually taken back, pending shipment to the repair depot.

For the first time in a long while, I’m leaving Apple negative feedback.  If you botch a repair, you need to make good on it.  You don’t just give standard service and expect the customer to appreciate that you did the bare minimums.  I’m not expecting Apple to listen, but if they do, maybe this will be another point in favor of changing some support policies at the Genius Bar.  If you tried once and failed, you need to help me keep faith in Apple.  I’m not asking for the whole cow, but I am asking for something to prove that my time is at least somewhat valued by the store staff.