<p>My d's macbook pro quit working. She has the 3 year Applecare plan. Apple determined it had a problem w/ the graphics card BUT would not cover it under the Applecare plan, because it appeared the notebook was dropped. It was dropped several months ago, had a few minor dings, but continued to work fine after the drop. Is Apple simply finding an excuse not to repair the faulty graphics card? I've read that is a known problem for this particular model, and that it is covered for 2 years. Now she's stuck w/ a $1300 repair bill.</p>
<p>Worth getting repaired? OR time to get a replacement (OUCH)? We're concerned that even after it is repaired, something new might show up, and they will again blame it on the prior drop. What use is the Applecare plan, if they can so easily find an excuse not to fix something?</p>
<p>Ask them for the evidence that the problem is caused by being dropped. If the board is cracked, then that could be. If it is a faulty chip, then that is more likely a defect. Lots of other things could be in the gray area. I would guess the graphics card is fairly well protected. However, the dropping could have dislodged a cooling fan that caused the graphics card to overheat.</p>
<p>You can argue with them, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Usually they automatically associate the problem with the drop - that is, if there is any evidence the laptop was dropped, then they will claim the drop negates the warranty - even if the problem is completely unrelated to the drop.</p>
<p>If arguing with them doesn’t help, you might still have options. If you bought the computer with a credit card, you may have additional coverage. Credit cards - especially “higher end” cards like american express - often give extra warranties outside the ones apple gives you. Possibly the credit card company will help with part of the bill, if you contact them.</p>
<p>Our daughter’s graphics card (it’s really a chip) failed and I brought it in. It was out of warranty so they said that they would charge me about $350 or $400 for a motherboard replacement. I called up AppleCare and got them to cover it. This was before they extended the warranty to two years.</p>
<p>The $1,330 repair bill quoted seems a little high to me - is this with a fast turnaround time? I used the depot repair for the lower rate. I think that expedited service was a lot more.</p>
<p>There are some diagnostic things that you can do to determine whether or not it is the faulty graphics card problem that is widespread. Our kids both have the model that your daughter likely has. They need their systems for their schoolwork and can’t really afford downtime so I would give them mine if theirs failed.</p>
<p>I would try again with AppleCare. Their reps are people and sometimes you’ll get someone on the phone that’s a little more sympathetic to your case.</p>
<p>argued my way 888…
worked! (after a number of steps that took approx. 1.5 months!)</p>
<p>I actually called Applecare, and they gave me the same excuse (sorry…nothing we can do…) BUT, they were surprised at the quoted cost as well.</p>
<p>Brought it to another certified Apple repair drop-off center, who said they couldn’t do any better, because ultimately they would send it to the same company for repair. They said they had other repair people who could fix it for about $500 but it would void the warranty. BUT, they said the card/chip should be covered anyway, agreed w/ my assessment, and advised I bring it to an Apple store and try in person. </p>
<p>So…I brought it to an Apple store “genius bar”. They gave me the same story (sorry…nothing we can do) UNTIL I politely griped to the sales person, while at the same time asknowledging I knew it wasn’t his fault. I pointed out that it sure looked like a convenient excuse to avoid their warranty. He could see that the drop (dent) was so extremely insignificant. So…he got his manager, who agreed they would at least test to see if it were the graphics card problem, and if so, would replace it. If not, it would be my problem. That’s all I wanted and totally agreed!</p>
<p>It was the graphics card/ chip problem exactly as surmised. They replaced it. Works like a charm (so far). No cost.</p>
<p>GEEEES. Why does it take so much work to get them to do what they supposedly take pride in?</p>
<p>Those NVidia chips have been a big problem. On PC’s as well as Mac’s. They run hot and games screw’em up going thru hot and cooler heat cycles. I’d avoid games with those video chips.</p>