Care from Applecare

I had the joy of calling Applecare to resolve an issue I was having with my Macbook Pro battery. The standard Macbook Pro battery has a full charge of ~5600 mAh, and according to Apple, should retain 80% of its charge after 300 charge cycles. However, my battery has 1982 mAh after only 79 cycles, a ridiculous 35%. Since my warranty expires in about 40 days, I figured I should contact Apple to see if I could get a replacement battery. Also note, that batteries are guaranteed for only 6 months after the date of purchase. Therefore, my battery was already out of warranty. To start my journey, I went to the UCI bookstore, where I was told to call Apple HQ.

I was a bit reluctant to call Applecare since I thought I would be charged just for calling. Normally Apple charges $50 for a tech support call if you call 90 days past the date of purchase. However, I said why not give it a shot? If I would be charged, I could just hang up. So, I dialed the Applecare phone number, and did the little "push 1 for tech support". The hold time was surprisingly very short, only 3 minutes or so. I was greeted with a very friendly tech support person. I explained my situation to the rep, and he said no problem. Not only did he waive the call fee, he gave me a free replacement battery! It was a hassle free experience.

Apple += awesome;