Well, I am sad to report that a month went by and I heard nothing on my case.So, I called apple care and was told there didn't seem to be anything in the case ticket to indicate that anyone had made a decision.
First, they told me that it was with engineering. But apparently, that was not true. I asked to speak to a senior advisor and he confirmed that no one had written anything in the ticket on this problem.
He went on to tell me that they were at the same 'level' as the Store technician and didn't have the authority to override that decision.
I asked why I was told that an appeal would be made and I would be notified within a few days of the results. I asked if the store person had lied to me. He responded that was possible.
I told him that there was plenty of information out there about 3M stating that the detection strips could be triggered by humidity and did not necessarily indicate liquid damage.
He was able to find a reference to that on the Ineternet. Then he said no one there had ever heard of that.
Then he went off to confirm. He came back and said he did have someone tell him that they had heard of that. He told me that since this involved the apple store in Germany, I would have to call to call Apple support in Germany about the problem. (even though they have case notes from the same exact ticket)
I complained that my German was not good enough and that is why I called the American Apple Care. He said I would be able to find someone who speaks English.
While that was true, it was very difficult for me to get through the phone prompts in Germany and I had the automated system hang up on me while trying (I presume I chose the wrong options) .
On the second or third try I got through to someone. This person told me that the case had been reviewed and they did not want to refund me.
He said that I could appeal to the Corporate office in Munich. I called that number the next day. I explained the situation and the person told me they would transfer me to tech support. I had no idea until I had been transferred that she was sending back to the same apple care support line!
I tried to call the corporate office a total of 7 times after that. Each time I received an automated message (during normal business hours) that no one was available.
I finally called back Apple Germany\s tech support. I said that I had been told to call the corporate office and all they did was send me back to Apple Germany's support line.
I asked her to put some notes in the case that I attempted to do as asked and that the corporate office simply sent me back to them.
She offered to put her supervisor on. This person was a bit more sympathetic and helpful than the previous people.
He asked me to send some documents with the invoice and receipt in. I had to go to the local copy shop and get them scanned into .pdf format so that I could send them.
I sent them. I copied the first guy I spoke to there.
I received a call back that they were trying to help me, but it will be another day before they get an answer.
That's my update to the present moment.
I'll try to keep you posted on what happens next. I think that if you spend $350 on Apple care protection, you should not have to hear someone say they won't honor this protection plan.
* interesting story at the copy shop. The copy shop guy told me that he is not surprised to hear this about Apple. One of his friends tried to get a refund from the app store because the program he purchased would not work on his older Mac OS. They actually told him "NO" AND THAT HE SHOULD UPGRADE HIS SYSTEM. After three weeks this guy still did not get his refund.
The copy store worker said he thinks apple 'builds many walls' to prevent people from getting refunds.
I hope that is not true. I hope the information and experiences I have shared here will help someone.
Check back to see what happens next.
Sincerely,
David Snape
No comments :
Post a Comment