How Apple’s “Geniuses” believe you’ll pay anyway— no questions asked

Last week, my Mac stopped charging. Power supply OK, charger OK, you get the story: Mac broken. So I went to an Apple Store to have it repaired.

A local genius runs the usual tests and comes to the conclusion that the MagSafe Board needs to be replaced. That is a small component between the Mac’s power plug and the motherboard, according to the guy, it can be damaged by odd things happening in the building’s power supply. They propose to replace it for free, that’s nice! I leave my good ol’ fellow Mac in the hands of Apple’s Geniuses and hope for a prompt fix.

One week later, coming back to retrieve my Mac.

Genius—”We’ve fixed it! Actually that MagSafe Board was okay, but your motherboard was wrong, we replaced it.”

Me—”Oh great!”

Genius—”Have you been told about the cost?”

Me—”Yup, the authorization I gave was for a free repair.”

Genius—”Actually it will be €500 worth. See, we had reached out by phone so that you confirm.”

Problem is, nobody ever called me. So I’m “forced” to accept a €500 worth repair which was made without my consent.

Did they seriously think the regular Apple customer would say “oh anyway, it’s fixed, let’s pay”?

Fun fact: as a proof of goodwill they did propose to put the old sick motherboard back in, and to give back the machine FOR FREE. Thanks anyway.

EDIT : Apple recognized their mistake and offered me a full discount on the repair.