14 DAY TRIAL // Apple reportedly won’t look into reports of swollen MacBook batteries, if said battery hasn’t caused any damage to the computer or injured its user, according to a recently published report.
The owner of a rather old MacBook laptop claims his 1.5-year-old replacement battery was swelling.
He reportedly took it to Apple’s customer service where a representative allegedly told him that this was “normal.” "First, nobody seemed to know what to do with me or who I should talk to," MacBook Pro owner Tommy said. “Second, while they Apple Customer Representative could look up the age of my computer by the serial number, they had no way of tracking (and ‘proving the age’) of my battery by its unique serial number.”
“Third, while nearly everybody I talked to seemed to show much concern over this safety issue, the ‘Senior Customer Representative’ who finally spoke to me was quite apathetic about my battery problem.”
The Apple Support representative reportedly refused to replace the swelling battery as it was too old to be covered by Apple’s one-year limited warranty.
“According to him, this issue is normal and the result of wear-and-tear on the battery and, more importantly, this was Apple’s official position,” Tommy said.
The company has, however, made exceptions in the past.
For example, in 2006, Apple announced a 15-inch MacBook Pro Battery Exchange Program, as the units supplied to Apple did not meet the company’s high standards for battery performance.
The Apple Support staffer reportedly told Tommy that, unless the battery causes bodily injury or fire, the company can’t help him in any way.
“He did reassure me that, had the battery caused any damage to my computer or personal injury, he’d be willing to discuss that,” Tommy added.
“So, basically, I would have been better off leaving the defective battery in my computer instead of being smart and removing it,” he concluded.