Connecting Point

Most of what Nelson Peterson said is true. The Apple Macbook air 11” s/n - CO2HT72TF57H wasbrought to our establishment on October 14, 2016. We did a diagnostic and determined that the SSDhad failed. We made a quote to the user, and the user APPROVED the quote.At that point we placed an order for...

the necessary parts. As Thomas stated in his complaint he called usback about 4 hours later and attempted to cancel his order. We did not accept as an order had alreadybeen placed for his parts.This is a case of basic contract law. Thomas approved his quote, and we took actions based on hisapproval. Our receipt, attached states that we maintain a mechanic lien against his property. The userdoes not have the right under Pennsylvania law to unilaterally cancel a contract.On October 17th, the parts arrived and we repaired the computer.I did tell his mother that it is considered an act of conspiracy to tell one person that is engaged in a validcontract with a 3rd party, to break that contract for their benefit. The mother wanted us to cancel theorder with our supplier.We did attempt to email the mother a copy of our invoice, but it was rejected. Maybe we have anincorrect email. Thomas does have a copy of the agreement, as it was given to him at the time when itwas the computer was dropped off.On November 2’~ at approximately 9:00am, I had a new conversation with the mother. We agreed tosettle for Parts + diagnostic fee. No additional labor. She said Thomas would pay the $250 part + $75labor + PA Sales Tax, $ 344.50. So in the spirit of cooperation we did reduce the total price of our labor,but as off November 7th, Thomas has not picked it up. I assume this problem has been settled, unlessthe customer has changed her mind?Stephen A[redacted], PresidentConnecting Point Computers

Review: I went to Connecting Point by request from Apple because I was having issues with my Macbook Pro power adapter overheating as well as my battery not lasting a charge for more than 20 minutes. I have to drive 45 minutes to this business, I dropped my computer off, was told it would be looked at and all charges covered by Apple. I never got a call saying my computer was fixed by them to come pick it up. When I got there I was told by Apple to do a check to let the computer run after a full charge to see it it only lasts for 20 minutes and my request was ignored. They basically threw my computer at me and told me to leave. I asked them a few times if we could do this check by request of the Apple service provider. I was still ignored. I left furious and unhappy by this treatment. The young men who work there were not even assisting customers rather they were too busy huddled around this computer watching tv. This is not how customer service should run AT ALL. Not only that, I was lied to saying that my battery lasts for 5 hours, after THEY apparently checked it. Since my request was ignored, I went home and tested their hypothesis and I could only get the battery to last an hour after a full charge. They lied about repairs and I think I should have my battery replaced for free of charge since they dealt with me in such a rude manner as well as lied about repairs. I had to drive an hour to not have things handled properly and treated badly, plus ignored by the young geeks whom work there. I am never going there again. Apple also said that they made up a huge lie possibly because Apple was covering all my charges. Somehow my battery needs replaced because the issue is not fixed. Apple or Connecting Point should replace my battery for free. Very bad customer service and handling, lying about repairs.Desired Settlement: I would like my Battery in my MacBook Pro replaced for free.

Business

Response:

To start with, [redacted], is only criticizing our firm because Apple has declined to help her. I trust you would agree that the manufacturer makes the final determination of warranty status. Our relationship with Ms. [redacted] is that Apple customer relations asked us to perform a series of tests on her computer, and report back to them, which we did. Connecting Point Computers is an Authorized Apple Service Center. Therefore, we would complete warranty repairs for customers. We also complete non-warranty repairs when the customer wishes to pay for the repair. In this case Ms. [redacted] is NOT under Apple warranty, and did not want to pay for a repair. Her computer was purchased on June 26, 2009, and her extended warranty expired on June 25, 2012. She felt that her adapter and battery were not preforming to Apple standards, and that Apple should make an exception, even though she was out of warranty. She called Apple customer relations, and dealt with [redacted]). Apple asked us to conduct some tests and report back to them. When an Authorized Apple service center does diagnostics, raw data is sent directly to Apple, so they can examine and make their own conclusions. We ran two tests, Diagnostic Event 5[redacted]3348 & Diagnostic Event 5[redacted]2237. These diagnostics events test the overall condition of the unit’s components and tax the battery and adapter, both of these tests passed. We reported this to [redacted], and he thanked us. A few days later he asked us to also do a stress test, this is done by charging the unit up and running one or several programs, and timing how long it takes for the system to fail. We did as requested, and found that her battery lasted 3.5 hours, and still had some battery left. We were logged into Hulu.com streaming HD video. We like this test because video is very intensive, and tends to tax the whole system. We also reported these results back to [redacted] at Apple. [redacted] from Apple thanked us for our service, and informed us not to replace any parts. As far as Ms. [redacted]’s complaints: She is correct that we did not contact her because we were to report our information to Apple, NOT her. Apple does not want us to get into an argument with the end user. Apple contacted her, when they had made a decision. I am not sure why Ms. [redacted] thinks her computer was thrown at her, in fact the actual events that happened were: She was greeted by [redacted], who retrieved her computer and placed it on the front counter for her inspection. [redacted] informed her that neither her battery nor adapter was replaced because that passed Apple’s tests. But Apple would have already told her this. [redacted] also offered to run the tests in front of her, so she could see the computer had passed them, but she declined. I was also sitting there and spoke to her as well. I offered to have [redacted], the Technician that tested her computer talk to her, and he came up from the back and spoke to her, as well as [redacted] another employee. I recall [redacted] telling her that her battery was not as good as new, as expected, but was not bad. She tried to get him to say an exact percentage of how close to failing it was. Batteries are considered a consumable supply, meaning that overtime, and use, their life will be decreased. No one ever asked her to leave, in fact she had been asked to stay 20 minutes to check the computer’s battery, and left angrily after about 7 minutes. So she actually had the attention of 4 employees, so she was anything but ignored. We understand that she did not get what she wanted, and is unhappy, but we are just doing our job. Perhaps she does not realize that is NOT our choice, we do what we are instructed to do by Apple. Regardless of how far she had to drive she was told to come to us by Apple. Apple told her we would not charge her for our testing, and she was NOT charged. That was the only promise they made to her, she was never guaranteed that we would replace her battery or charger. Her final statement that Apple told her we made up a huge lie possibly because they were covering our charges, makes no sense at all. If Apple thought we were not being truthful then they would have offered to replace her battery, and charger. If you notice at the beginning of her complaint she states that her battery does not last 20 minutes, and later in the same letter she states it lasted one hour, clearly a contradiction. Finally, in conclusion, Apple decided not to issue an exception, not us. She was out of warranty for approximately a year and a half. Clearly, she does not realize that we only run the tests, the diagnostic software auto reports to Apple, and logs the results under her serial number. The Apple customer relations person, then does his own evaluation of that data. Sometimes they will ask us for an opinion, or to do additional tests but they make the final decision, not us. We were polite, and she was not ignored. So since she is not under warranty, and did not want to pay for a replacement, we did what Apple asked us to do, she is not due any monetary compensation. President, Connecting Point Computers

Consumer

Response:

First off, a lot of the information in this response paper is wrong. I am really upset with the response and as a customer at Connecting Point. No longer a customer, I refuse to go there again. I was greeted upon pick up but the information that Connecting Point gives me after is completely false. They did not offer to run tests in front of me, I specifically remember asking them to run a battery test to see if what they were saying was true. They told me the tests they ran would provide that my battery lasts 5 hours, I wanted them to do a battery test with me there, Apple mentioned this also, so I did not have to take it home just to find that it the tests they said they did were wrong. I asked them a few times and was ignored. The guys working there were in a huddle watching some video around a computer, so clearly not helping customers. They did just throw the computer at me and I stood there with my computer open after asking to run tests and they rudely asked me what I was doing. So I left. That clearly is bad business and customer service conduct. I should have recorded it with my phone. As far as not even contacting me to tell me my computer was done is absurd, they should report to me and not just Apple. I did not get any calls from Apple on their behalf... Apple had me go there before for testing and they clearly did not ignore customers then because I was contacted afterwards. As well, these individuals do not have to drive for computer repairs and in return get bad service and rude behavior by Connecting Point employees. Obviously bad malice in the tone of my response letter. As well as lies. I will not go there again and they should be shut down for such lousy business conduct as well as lying about how their customers were treated. I was asked to go there by Apple and I also told them how I was treated and he told me not to go there again. As well, I did bring my computer home after being ignored and found that my battery lasted 2 and a half hours not the 5 they mentioned. So they lied about that repair and diagnosis as well. I should get some type of compensation from Connecting Point or Apple Computers because this is ridiculous. Apple has worked with me in the past and has done repairs for free of charge because of bad repairs, neglect and abusive shipping methods that broke my computer, why not now? I thought they were in the business of providing excellent customer service and quality repairs?