Apple repair service, big difference between Taiwan and USA?

I have bought my iBook and Powerbook about an year ago while I was living in the states where once I had problem with my powerbook power adaptor. I just made a phone call and I got new power adaptor with in three days.

Few months after I moved back to Taiwan, my iBook’s screen went blank for no reason. I went to the local Apple autherized repair center and it took them a month to fix it. But at least it was for free under AppleCare.
What started to get me pissed off was that my powerbook adaptor broke again but Apple Taiwan is not going to give me a new one because it was 45 Watt (got it from Apple USA when it was broke) instead of original one 65 Watt. They told me it has to be original 65 Watt even though I told them that was what I got from the last repair. I do not get it…They could just give me 45 Watt instead of nothing. They told me that I have to contact Apple USA. Btw, it took the local Apple center a week to tell me this bad news.

So in the meantime, my powerbook hingles broke. The local Apple center told me that it will cost me NT 18,000 dollars to fix it even I have AppleCare.

Due to these two problems, I decided to call up AppleCare USA. The representative told me that I am going to get both for free. The only problem is that I have to ship it to the states.

Does any of you have similar problems with Apple repair service in Taiwan?

It’s not just Apple. Service in Taiwan, well, just sucks. Whether it’s some teenage server slapping down plates in a restaurant or the service department of a multi-billion dollar corporation quoting fine print rules, the concept of service is virtually non-existent.

[quote=“chialintsai”]I have bought my iBook and Powerbook about an year ago while I was living in the states where once I had problem with my powerbook power adaptor. I just made a phone call and I got new power adaptor with in three days.

Few months after I moved back to Taiwan, my iBook’s screen went blank for no reason. I went to the local Apple autherized repair center and it took them a month to fix it. But at least it was for free under AppleCare.
What started to get me pissed off was that my powerbook adaptor broke again but Apple Taiwan is not going to give me a new one because it was 45 Watt (got it from Apple USA when it was broke) instead of original one 65 Watt. They told me it has to be original 65 Watt even though I told them that was what I got from the last repair. I do not get it…They could just give me 45 Watt instead of nothing. They told me that I have to contact Apple USA. Btw, it took the local Apple center a week to tell me this bad news.

So in the meantime, my powerbook hingles broke. The local Apple center told me that it will cost me NT 18,000 dollars to fix it even I have AppleCare.

Due to these two problems, I decided to call up AppleCare USA. The representative told me that I am going to get both for free. The only problem is that I have to ship it to the states.

Does any of you have similar problems with Apple repair service in Taiwan?[/quote]

Ahhh…Sorry, posted reply to wrong message. My reply should go here…

I had a really negative experience with Apple in Taiwan about 4 or 5 years ago. I bought a Mac (my first and only one), and wanted the optional “Intel card” (or whatever it was called) that allowed you to run both DOS and MacOS on the same machine. The card was an Apple-branded part, not a third-party add-on. Anyway, the card was defective from day 1, and I sent it back three times, and each time it came back from the Apple Repair Center with a comment that there was “nothing wrong with it.” Well, there was something wrong with it - with the card installed, the monitor would flicker, the screen would change colors, etc. I installed it in another Mac just to be sure it was not my machine causing the problem - same result. Apple pretty much told me to piss off, and no, they would not refund my money. The card cost NT$10,000.

OK, I know your question was about laptops, not desktops with an Intel card. But anyway, I was not impressed by Apple-Taiwan’s service.

I’m currently using an IBM laptop, which I purchased 3 years ago. Very reliable machine, if nothing else - I can’t comment on their service, because this machine has never needed service. I bought it locally, and the price was right. The only complaint I had was that it came with Windows, and I hate Windows, and you have to pay for Windows even if you erase from the hard drive immediately (it’s not free - it’s included in the price). So if you want a laptop, you pay the mandatory Microsoft tax, which is around NT$3000 these days. This is true with all the big brands - the only way I know of to avoid the Microsoft tax is to buy a “white box” (no brand name).

I’m running Knoppix Linux as my OS of choice. Very nice. Hot tip of the day: visit Tianlong Bookstore, 107 Chongqing S Rd, Sec 1, Taibei - best place (I know of) to pick up Linux CDs, English computer books, etc.


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