Is Apple service run by Dogbert?

My ExpressCard slot on my 17" MacBook Pro broke. Cards inserted into
the slot will not stay in; it just pushes them back out. So it needs
repair.

I had to make an appointment with a Mac Genius through the Concierge
on the Internet; apparently you cannot do this by phone. Good thing
the MacBook still was able to access the Internet! Only it wasn't. We
were on vacation where I had no Internet access. I had an AT&T
Wireless card, but it would not stay in the ExpressCard slot, so it
would not work. I ended up making the appointment while waiting for
our plane at the airport on the way home.

Luckily, there was one appointment for about the time of our arrival
at SeaTac. This is a big deal, because the Apple Store is more than
two hours (and a toll bridge) from my home, but it is on the way from
SeaTac to my home. I did not want to have to make another trip into
town just to drop off my laptop for repairs.

The Mac Genius told me that the computer could not be repaired in the
store. It had to be sent to a service center. So I had it sent to a
service center. This was August 23. On August 27 I got a call from the
Genius who told me that my Laptop had arrived at the service center,
but that repairs were "on hold" for some unspecified reason. Checking
the web site told me that the repairs were "on hold, waiting for
parts." Okay. I can see where they might not have extras of the little
spring thingy for the ExpressCard slot just lying around. Well, no I
can't. This seems to me an item that is likely to be about as robust
as the clicker on a ball point pen, which is to say it is likely to
break.

Oh, well. It is now Sept. 4. No change in the computer's repair
status. You cannot call them, not even the Apple Store, because they
say that they "are not taking phone calls." There is no way to reach
them by email, either. Near as I can tell, my computer has disappeared
into a black hole. It would be nice to know if the repairs will be
completed soon, perhaps even sometime this year.

This is why Apple can never be seriously considered as a business
machine. Apple thinks their customers are nuisances, not assets, and
treats them that way. Apparently the peasants are not entitled to know
what is happening with their computers. Few businesses are willing to
put up with this attitude. Apple really needs to learn a little bit
about customer communication.

In article ,
cjcampbell wrote:

> My ExpressCard slot on my 17" MacBook Pro broke. Cards inserted into
> the slot will not stay in; it just pushes them back out. So it needs
> repair.

I am sorry your experience with Apple's repair service is sour. I have
had the exact opposite treatment where I sent my laptop away for a
repair WHILE I was on vacation thousands of miles from home. By the time
I arrived home a few days after I sent it away, the laptop was literally
delivered to me about a half hour before I arrived home. It needed a new
motherboard.

What happens with you call the store where you dropped off your laptop
to ask for a status on the repair?