Apple Geniuses

Malls at Christmas time are never a good place, but I had put off getting my Macbook looked at long enough.  I have a white 13.3″ Macbook and for about the last 4 or 5 weeks, the Superdrive (DVDRW/CDRW) had been ejecting discs about 5 seconds after you stick them in.  I really didn’t want to leave it with them and definitely couldn’t leave it long-term right now (due to needing it for testing at work).

So, I made an appointment over the internet with the Apple Geniuses at the Apple Store at Northpoint Mall.  I arrived, checked in, and a few minutes later, handed my Macbook to my assigned genius.  I explained the problem, he grabbed a disc, stuck it in, it spit it back out, and he asked, “You ready to leave it with us?”

Turns out, they had the part in-store, so he said they’d most likely get it done Sunday morning before the store opened.  I said, “Ok” and walked out Macbook-less.    We left the mall, drove back to our side of town, had lunch and were nearly home when the phone rang.  They were slow that day, so they had gotten the drive replaced already.

So, today, I made the hour drive back over to pick it up.  Great job, Apple.  It was painless (except for the 80 mile round-trip), free (thanks to AppleCare–a sound investment if you buy a Mac laptop), and best of all, quick!  Or maybe the “free” part was best.  One of the store employees (not a genius) claimed it would’ve been about $500 if I’d had to pay for it, but I don’t know that I believe him.  Great job, Apple.  I didn’t have to answer a million questions.  I didn’t have to waste my time and yours while you reinstalled drivers or even my whole operating system.  And, I didn’t have to fight with you over it.  Even your service “just works.”