>(Ralph, Something I hope you will put in your news section. This is
>a real problem for those of us who count on having our clock and
>timezone saved correctly. In other news, MCE says they will be
>getting more of the 320MHz Interware upgrades, for $799!)
>
>After trying all the obvious places (MCE, DT&T, ...) I finally called
>Apple about a PRAM battery after my local Apple Specialist said they
>couldn't get 'em and that Apple wants $35 for the battery and $120
>for installation. I tried for over an hour on the phone to persuade
>the Apple customer "service" person what an absurd policy this was
>(would you send your car in to the factory for a new battery?) but
>had absolutely no luck.
>
>It was a theatre of the absurd, dealing with this chirpy salesdrone
>who had not a clue about how things like computer logic boards work,
>and tried (among other things) to send me to Radio Shack for a
>battery that looks the same. Bluish-green, that's the kind of
>battery I need, yes indeed. She also looked up the "information" on
>Apple's Web site and told me it was a 29Watt-hour LiIon battery.
>Yeah, right.
>
>She said the reason for this policy was that the PB 2400 was
>"complicated" and that they didn't trust authorized service providers
>to be able to take it apart and put it back together. Of course I
>was just boggled by all of this, especially since so many of us
>(including me) have taken our machines apart several times and the
>hardest part is keeping track of the screws! (which is really not as
>hard as it seems, actually.)
>
>So, assuming that when I pull the battery next week, it doesn't have
>any useful information on the outside, I'm looking for a dead PRAM
>battery, to take apart in the hope of being able to build them.
>Alternately, if you're in Japan and can ship some back, that would
>work, too, if anyone in Japan knows what kind of batteries they are!
>
>A lot of us are going to be needing replacement PRAM batteries
>eventually, and they seem to be simply unavailable in the States.
>
>~ Kiran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>--
> <http://www.io.com/contradance/> 1628 5th St NW Wash DC 20001 (202)
>483-3373
Hey Kiran,
After following this battery stuff for a while, may I offer some insight?
My company does the PRAM replacement, so I'm not a "cherpy little
salesdrone". It is a little over an hour of tech time for someone who
knows what they are doing, and disassembly/reassembly is a non-trivial
matter. I've personnally done two in the last month (we manufacture our
own batteries now, in which the parts cost us a little over $15 and we
sell for $25 -- so we aren't going to get rich selling PRAM batteries).
That "salesdrone" is on the learning curve - so we might want to cut her
a bit of slack here. I respectfully submit that you are also on the same
curve, so maybe she doesn't deserve the slam you offered. I also know
how frustrating it is to get non-useful information -- so I can see why
you are upset and taking it out here on the list. Let's move on to why I
disagree with you about Apple's policy. I'll use a comparison of two
recent clients:
One client is a person we had done work for previously. He and I had
emailed back and forth regarding his Mac and both of us had come to the
conclusion from phone diagnostics that his battery was toast. Well,
after the battery replacement, we found the new one was drained of all
power within 24 hours of installation (along with the green light of
death). Reason: an apparently blown G3 upgrade, for which we had to go
into that poor beastie more than once. We don't have the sophisticated
test rig for Newer products so I can't say 100% that the card was toast,
but other issues with the 2400 lead me to believe this was the case --
and fortunately, the client was (1) exceptionally smart in keeping his
old CPU and (2) patient with us as we played phone tag and required him
to ship us the 603e which delayed getting him his workhorse two weeks.
It wasn't pretty and I'm not proud about how long the repair took, but
the client was generous and has a fully functional 2400.
The other client thought he was gods gift to electronics and decided to
take apart his 'book. Frankly, I should have billed more (you know who
you are), as the 'book came to me in about 35 pieces. I see folks assume
they are technically competent every day. I hear the same folks complain
that it will co$t them several hours of my time to fix THEIR mi$take$ --
assuming they haven't zapped a board in the process -- which I would also
have to determine -- which would probably take me or my assistant far
more than the 2 or 3 bench hours we would likely bill. No company should
have to put up with a customer who breaks things, then is rude and
indignant that he should be billed for 2 hours when it took over 3 and he
knew my rates to begin with (and, he got a working computer back). There
may soon be a surcharge for complainers :) I'll take client #1 any
day of the week -- he was a godsend. Client 2, I'm sorry, but I just
don't think I can offer the services you require, nor the education you
demanded, based on your attitude. I hope you can find someone more
appropriate for your needs. OOOOOoooh, that felt good. O.K., let me
calm down.
Now then, why did I go off in such a snit? Kiran, you are obviously a
smart person. I respect that. But I've been in Apple's shoes too many
times to agree with your position. It is fully within Apples rights (and
ours) to sell these batteries to the general consumer only as part of a
reinstallation. Too many things can go wrong with this model during
breakdown or reassembly -- and getting the battery out requires the
COMPLETE DISASSEMBLY OF THE 2400. This is not a pop-in item. I don't
blame Apple one bit.
Here's the deal (and I think my friends who also do these repairs on this
list will likely concur): If a customer can ship me a 2400 that is not
in pieces that has a failed PRAM battery, I'll replace it. I'll bill the
customer 1 hr of bench time plus parts. The customer agrees to pay
shipping both ways and the initial bench time upfront ($85 +
$25=$110USD). If the customer needs more work done (archiving of the
data to CD, rebuild of partially-disassembled computer, replacement of
failed parts, recovery of data/directories/system), that may incur extra
charges, but not done without prior approval by the client. If that
seems like a fair policy, then I am happy to work for you. If I'm
unreasonable in my policy, then I'm not the appropriate service place to
contact. I think this is what Apple is also saying -- but maybe not in
the same way.
Hope this doesn't come across as too snooty -- it's simple a repair
facility's view of this discussion.
Cheers,
Paul Vail
Owner, After Hours
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