The Apple recall

So there's tons of news about Apple's battery recall, which involves Apple replacing either 1.1 million or 1.8 million Sony batteries. Obviously the source for all this news is Apple itself. But there's nothing on the apple homepage, nothing on the news page, nothing on the press release page – nothing at all anywhere, as far as I can see, explaining exactly which batteries are affected or what owners of Apple laptops should do. One would think that Apple could coordinate things so that the details of the recall would be up on the website as soon as the press release went out – or, at the very least, would be able to put the press release up on the website.

In fact, how did all the news organisations get this information? Was it by email?

UPDATE: It seems the news came from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. There also may or may not be a recall page at http://support.apple.com/batteryprogram, but I just get an error message when I try to go there.

UPDATE 2: Guess what? My PowerBook battery has been recalled! I get a brand-new battery (value: $130)!

UPDATE 3: I found the link on apple.com! You click on the "support" page, and it's buried in the right-hand column. Thing is, if you try to click on it, it doesn't work... that page is down. So I phoned the number on the CPSC page, and the friendly Apple person told me that:

No, he couldn't organise a new battery for me, since that's done through the webpage, and the webpage is down.
No, I can't just take my battery in to the Apple Store and get a new one there: it has to be done through the mail.
I should just try that webpage again "in a couple of hours" and hope it's up at that time.

In other words, chaos. Not the kind of user experience one expects from Apple. In any case, after the jump, a screenshot of where that link is buried.

UPDATE 4: The webpage is up! But when I input my battery's serial number, I'm told that this "serial number didn't validate". Back to the phone... at which point, after almost an hour on hold, I'm told that this is a known issue and that they (on the phone) can get around it. My new battery is on its way! But the whole process was much, much harder than it should have been.

Posted by Felix at 14:29 EST

Comments

"Not the kind of user experience one expects from Apple."…

well, actually, exactly what I'd expect from Apple in the customer support arena. I love Apple products, and have had numerous macs and will almost certainly buy many more, BUT, I've found repeatedly that the biggest failings at Apple are tech support, fixing problems and dealing with getting information out when there *is* an issue.

Sadly, while Apple is great at trying to convert new customers or create new markets for new products, they really seem not to care at all about their existing user base. In pretty much every other area of my life, I'd find a new vendor when faced with that attitude. I keep buying Macs anyway, because I like the user experience when the machine is not broken.

Posted by: john t unger at 18:57 EST, August 27, 2006

I too found a problem with the Apple web page where one registeres for a new battery, that's of course after I spend 5 minutes puzzling out its location. The problem was the inability to complete the registration because I didn't include the meaningless letters "RTA" after the nameof my county -- KING.

But the tech rep I spoke with was very helpful and completed the registration, though she too was confused about the reason for the RTA letters.

So my experience with Apple support has been largely positive. While I've had some snits, most of the tech reps have been very helpful. One even called back a week later to clarify some obscure point about which he too had been unsure, (though it was not essential to solving the immediate problem.)

Posted by: David Sucher at 23:00 EST, August 28, 2006

i must add that i wish my hp laser printer was supported with apple drivers. i passed on the free printer thinking my own printer would function just fine. surprise.

Posted by: voip requirements list man at 2:56 EST, August 25, 2007

Most other sites are out of stock and even when they are in stock they have the black battery door which looks like crap. http://www.batteryfast.com.au

Posted by: APPLE BATTERY at 20:23 EST, April 24, 2008