On June 2nd 2019 I purchased a 2015 Macbook Pro A1398 from ebay as a new present to myself as my first large purchase after getting a new job for a few months $835 was my winning bid and I thought it was a good price. My previous macbook was a A1502 2013 2.4Ghz dual core macbook pro 13″ with 16gb. It was a good computer still but not enough processing power for my needs so I got a new computer and my dad got a new (used) computer as well 🙂
After a few weeks of owning the laptop it found it in my backpack with the fans on high and black screen, I quickly shut it down and it started up again fine. I brushed it off as a weird bug. A couple of weeks later went by and it happened again, this is when I reinstalled the operating system and hoped it was just a faulty OS install.
It happened again a couple of weeks after that. I would have returned it but it was past the ebay 30 day return days. I decided to take it to a certified apple repair store to see if it was a simple to fix .
Diagnostics without repair are $105 which I had to pay. They diagnosed a bad logic board, something to do with the hard drive. They purposely didn’t give me specifics on errors or codes found. They suggested flat fee tier 2 repair of $650 dollars ($$@#*&) I was not happy about this.
I contacted ebay to try to get a return and explaining to them the intermittent nature of this problem, but because of the 30 day return policy it was denied. They suggested going through Paypal who (supposedly) had a 60 day return policy I contacted them and started a case.
Below is the timeline of what happened.
I really thought I had a good chance since by taking it to the apple store they had found that the laptop, originally listed as used, had a different serial number on the outside than the internal hardware, signifying that it had previously been opened and fasely listed as Used when it was really Refurbished. In addition, the diagnostics had come from a reputable certified apple repair store, I did not attempt to open the macbook myself or diagnose it.
In the end, they closed it the first time stating that
We understand the item associated with this case has been altered while in your possession. Because of this, we are unable to determine whether the item is significantly different than originally described, and we are unable to grant your claim.
Calling them and explaining to them that no repairs were done re-opened the case, I was able to send them the original receipts from the apple certified store stating that no repairs were done. The case was closed the next day stating that
This decision was made because the merchant sent the item that was ordered.
What is the point of having a 60 day warranty if even after providing proof that the item was defective by a third party certified apple store, they were still siding with the seller….
At this point after a month of fighting this case. closed both times and seeing it was going nowhere I knew paypal was not going to be of any help.
I took it back to the apple repair store and was ready to pay the $650 to have a working computer, not much else I could do. For this type of repair they have to send it to apple and they do the repairs.
A few days later I got a call from them stating that apple had escalated the type of repair and it was now considered tier 4, a cost of $1500 dollars. (@#%*)!$%) I straight up told them, I’m not paying for that, that’s basically a new computer. I picked up the laptop the next day and thought about what I would do with it.
While looking for possibly a new logic board on ebay, something I did not want to risk be defective and me mess up installation, I came across a service for diagnostics and repair for macbook pro logic board. It was listed for $145 +$10 tax. I sent a message and the seller quickly replied stating that if they can’t fix it I get my money back. Cosidering the $650 I was ready to pay for and the ridiculous $1500 estimate from apple I decided to give it a try.
The seller I first contacted and was very responsive was J&M Industries It took them about 10-14 days from the time I sent it to them to get my laptop back. I got it back Monday, Sep 30, 2019 and so far the problem hasn’t resurfaced. They told me that the sleep sensor on the logic board had corrosion, so they cleaned it and replaced it. They offer a 90 day warranty with their service which I thought was awesome 🙂
I will provide an update if I experience any problems with the laptop
- June 2nd 2019 – Purchased Laptop
- June 6th – Laptop arrived and started using it
- August 1st 2019 – Requested a return through ebay. Seller declined the next day
- August 6th – Took in to an apple certified repair store for diagnostics
- August 9th – Reported to paypal
- August 20th – Claim closed in sellers favor
- August 29th – Messaged paypal with documents from apple certified store that no repairs were done, the case was re-opened.
- August 31st — Claim closed again in sellers favor