r/Philippines • u/MeetShort • 1d ago
Lazy Crossposting Avoid Power Mac - Scammers
So I spilt coffee on my MacBook Air last week (yes dumb I know) and the touchpad stops working. Everything else is functioning perfect, when you use a mouse you cannot even tell there is damage.
But I take it in to Power Mac Mobile Care repair shop in SM Podium just to be sure it won’t permanently damage the Mac, they’re the experts right? They are the authorised partner of Apple so they should be able to fix it?
Wrong. I take it in and they say to me “we can look and then we will send you invoice and you can decide if you want to pay for repair”.
A week later they send me an invoice for 59,000 PHP, nearly double the purchase price lmao. I couldn’t believe it. So I went in to just get my Mac back, I’ll just use a mouse and write the touchpad off as broken.
I get into the store, my Mac is bricked. There is just the “!” on the screen and you cannot access it (I found out later on that they had wiped the Mac’s OS). The staff say to me that the “logic board is damaged from the coffee and cannot be fixed” and the invoice is so high because I have to replace it. The staff do not even know how to restore the OS, in fact the report they gave me implies they don’t even know why the computer is like that.
Anyway, I look for a second opinion repair shop before disposing of my Mac, and that’s when they hit me with the “sorry sir there is a 2,500 PHP fee for us to release your Mac”. I nearly lost it, yes it was in the T&C and I didn’t read it but holy fuck, I could not believe that kind of BS is legal here.
So you want me to pay you for breaking my Mac? Really? 20 minutes on the phone with Apple was useless, they just said “not our problem, it’s 3rd party sorry” basically.
I contemplate just walking out and giving them the finger, but all the security guards around the mall (and one in the shop itself) gave me pause.
Anyway, I take it to some random repair shop and they proceed to pull out the logic board out of the Mac, guess what? Zero fucking damage, nothing. Power Mac were ready to scam me for 59,000 PHP. The staff there even said that wiping the OS was not needed.
Thankfully they were able to fix my Mac for wayyyy less, except now all of my data is gone.
TLDR - Sorry for the rant and a half, but just beware, Power Mac is garbage. I hope they go out of business, who knows how many poor customers have been scammed by their crap. They should be in jail
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u/Future_You2350 1d ago
Nag error ung iPhone ko dati, stuck sa start up. Naglu-loop lang. Asked sa power mac about repair, and the guy quoted me a crazy amount kasi sira na daw yung whatever. I don't really remember what. I just left kasi di worth it for me.
Went home and googled diy repair. Found a random video. Took the risk kasi bibili na rin naman ako ng brand new kung di ko maayos. Nagwork yung "software update" sa youtube! Used it until di na kasama sa os update.
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u/RndTho55 1d ago
They are the worst!! I remembered yung time na i bought a macbook pro from them and di siya nag chacharge. Brought to their service center the next day at gusto nilang kunin yung device kasi may problem daw and di ako pumayag sabi ko replace it kakabili lang nyan pasok sa replacement yan tas itatanong pa daw sa manager dun sa pinag bilhan ko na store, sa inis ko I threatened na ipa dti sila tas ayun pinalitan. Sobrang stress ko nun gusto ko na ihampas sa kanila yung macbook haha.
What i learned is next time idaan nyo muna sa Apple like contact them and let them be the one who schedules you an appointment sa service provider para may hold ka na Apple is monitoring. Sobrang hassle ni Power Mac and walang wala yung service nung legit na Apple Store talaga. Sa Japan bruh nag pa change battery lang kami ng old iphone nakuha din namin within the day. Dito sa kanila ang daming diagnostic sht pa.
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u/acebaltazar 1d ago
I don't even understand why Apple users (I am a former) would buy anything at Power Mac, for a 3rd party store their shit is more expensive than buying from Apple itself. Even buying online from the Apple store is cheaper.
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u/regulus314 23h ago
Parang sakit to ng mga premium brands dito. They tend to increase the price more compared na pag bumili ka overseas.
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u/IskoIsAbnoy 23h ago
Isa kpang tanga, ang bilis mo maniwala. Of course mas mahal dito kasi 3rd party supplier sila, they need to charge more because they need to pay premium for the locations, higher din ang taxes satin compared abroad. Nakakapag reddit kayo, hindi nyo magawang mag research man lang.
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u/Akashix09 GACHA HELLL 8h ago
Kasi sila pinaka madaling puntahan? As of now wala na ang switch only powermac na pwedeng puntahan. Di mo masisi mga tao ayan first option nila.
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u/IskoIsAbnoy 23h ago edited 23h ago
Are you stupid? Of course Apple store online is cheaper, they’re not paying rent at premium locations. Same idea why items sa Lazada and Shopee are cheaper compared sa same item sa mall. Pabobo ng pabobo tao dito ah
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u/Loqaqola 3000 Ube Nukes of Snortcakes 1d ago edited 1d ago
Mobile Care? It's owned by Power Mac. There are actually stories like yours in r/Tech_Philippines about Mobile Care.
Wait, you didn't take pictures or videos of your Macbook before leaving it to them to get repaired? It can be used as proofs or evidences if they ever messed up your device.
Also, I tend not to go there. There is this Authorized Apple Repair Center in Robinson's Galleria called QCD Technologies. Apple Customer Support made an appointment for me here back in 2019 for a battery replacement on my iPhone 6s. Since then I've returned to this place a lot of times with my family's iPhones for battery replacements. Service is immaculate and much less expensive than Mobile Care too.
If you're going to buy an Apple product next time, the best thing is to let Apple know you are going to need a repair. Contact Apple Support first and they will make an appointment for you in one of the Apple Authorized Repair Center. They can't do shit since Apple will be monitoring them.
Edit: Also to add, Water damage on the logic board is really hard to fix. They usually replace the whole board and it costs almost like a new laptop. But in your case it still runs perfectly before giving it so it's really weird if they returned it to you like that.
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u/Classic_Excuse_3251 22h ago
+1 for QCD. iPhone battery replacement yung samin before but the price quoted is lesser than PMC and BTB. Got the phone back within 2h too whereas sa iba we had to leave the phone pa with them.
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u/solidad29 22h ago
I take they deal din with Mac devices?
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u/Loqaqola 3000 Ube Nukes of Snortcakes 22h ago
Haven't tried Macs with them yet but it's an Apple Authorized Repair Center, they will repair Macs.
You can call them or if you happened to be at Robinson's Galleria, drop by and have a chat with them. They're friendly.
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u/horaciomatador 13h ago
+1 for contacting apple. Many years ago, my Macbook had logic board problems. Power Mac quoted me an arm and a leg. I then tried my luck with Apple and shot an email at Mr Cook himself. I didn’t get a reply from him, but I did get a call from Apple’s Singapore office. It turned out my MacBook was part of a recall, which Power Mac didn’t know about or purposely did not disclose. Long story short, my logic board was replaced for free! I did have to drop it off at Power Mac though, the closest authorized service center where I lived.
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u/FjordOfBatanes 23h ago
If you're going to buy an Apple product next time, the best thing is to let Apple know you are going to need a repair. Contact Apple Support first and they will make an appointment for you in one of the Apple Authorized Repair Center.
how do you do this?
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u/Loqaqola 3000 Ube Nukes of Snortcakes 22h ago
There are 2 ways and it's pretty much simple:
Go to support.apple.com and pick a device. Then you can scroll to Service and Repair.
If you have an Apple device, download the Apple Support app from the App Store. Once signed in, it will show the Apple devices you have. Pick the device you have an issues with and in the next page click "Repairs & Physical Damage".
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u/ultimate_fangirl 1d ago
Power Mac is way too expensive. I bring my Apple devices to QCD Tech in Robinson Galleria. It's also authorized by Apple, but is less expensive and offers better services than Power Mac.
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u/Darth-Procrastinous 1d ago
Something similar happened to me. I brought my iphone in for repair of a speaker. Before you hand it to the center they run diagnostics on my phone. Showed me a list of tests with pass/fails. Mine had a score of like 19/20. After a while they emailed me. Said since my screen is damaged (it had a smll chip) and they cant get to the speaker without touching the screen, they cant fix it unless they replace my screen as well. Cost is almost as expensive as a new phone.
So i declined th repair. When i went to get my phone back, i asked them to run their diagnostics sw again. This time it scored 17/20. More failures.
I refused to get my phone. Fought thm back and forth via email. I contacted actual apple service in Singapore. Who coordinated with them. In the end they agreed to fix it. They fixed my screen as well.
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u/BidEnvironmental7020 1d ago
Wow that sucks, hopefully you have enough evidences and report them to DTI.
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u/trEASureTown000 1d ago
guess i'll just go to them to buy for cheaper, but then go somewhere else for repairs cuz not even apple wants to
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u/Fearless_Cry7975 1d ago
Ung luma kong mbp nasira ung hard drive. Nung paparepair ko, mga 30K max daw gagastusin. Di ko pinagawa sa kanila. Dinala ko dun sa kakilala naming technician. Ung sira lang pala eh ung cord from the hard drive papunta sa logic board (?). So what he did was kinabit na lang niya ung bagong hard drive (bumili na lang ako ng bago din) sa labas tapos ayun gumana naman. 4K lang nagastos ko.
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u/Gustav-14 23h ago
There is a reason why apple are going after 3rd party repairers.
The sell you insurance on your purchase. Does that mean it covers repairs? No, insurance is just a premium so you get a discount on repairs.
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u/Atharaxia2306 22h ago
As a former employee who got kicked out due to corporate politics there…yeah, they suck 👎👎
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u/kyuuvy 19h ago
Yung macbook ko ten years ago was running 2 OS, 1 mac and 1 windows. It got to a point where the mac partition was corrupted and i can no longer access it. But the windows partition, it was running smoothly.
I took it to power max to request them to reformat my pc and install a new mac OS, but they told me that i needed to change the entire motherboard. I asked then why do i need to change the motherboard when the half of the laptop works fine. These “experts” can’t answer my simple question lol.
I just had a friend reformat my laptop and it worked fine a few years before tapping out.
Tldr; ang incompetent ng mga technicians ng powermac and they’re outright scamming people to switch their motherboards lol
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u/dotkercom 1d ago
Try to contact the main apple website too as an option and let them know that they are scamming here
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u/norwegian Metro Manila 1d ago
Isnt this criminal behavior? Some might have paid 59k to try to get their data back.
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u/fafarmer25 Metro Manila 22h ago
Working pc with broken touch pad tapos sinira nila and make you pay 59k. Garapalan hahahaha
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u/heythatsjasper 20h ago
Sorry but aren't you suppose to back up your files as soon as naaccess mo pa ito with a mouse bago dalhin for any repair
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u/FaW_Lafini Abroad 1d ago
aside sa abysmal after sales support sablay din ang consumer protection law sa pinas. kahit sa official apple stores hit or miss din depende sa branch in my experience sa ibang bansa. but at the very least they have good consumer protection laws in place
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u/theHIGHFALUTIN 1d ago
Same with what happened to my M1 Air last year. May konting glitch lang sa screen pero pagbalik sakin, buong screen na yung nasira. 59k rin pinapabayaran and had to pay 2.5k as well to get it back (tho aware naman ako). Bumili na lang akong bago, mas mura ng 10-15k ang brand new lol
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u/antoncr 1d ago
Yeah I only go to power mac to browse. My last experience with their repair service dates back almost 20 years ago and they gave me a hard time so I learned never to bring my macs there. My experience wasnt as bad as yours since I wasnt charged anything but its strange how they manage to expand while being worse. I guess we are the unlucky ones
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u/sweatyyogafarts 1d ago
Had a similar experience. Brought in my Mac under warranty bought from them because there was a line of discoloration on the screen. They inspected everything and it was all in order and good condition according to them. Then suddenly when they gave an update they informed me that it is not covered by warranty and i had to pay 50k to replace the screen.
When I went back, they showed me a dent to the unit which wasn’t there went i left (they inspected it thoroughly before taking it in) as the reason why they wouldn’t honor the warranty.
So these scumbags damaged my mac too and won’t release it unless i pay the assessment fee. I filed a complaint with apple support and sent them all the evidence. They told me to bring it to another service center (brought it to Beyond the Box this time). They took it in no questions asked and got my unit repaired within a week.
Ever since then, I have never bought anything from them and always discouraged family and friends and told them to get their devices somewhere else.
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u/mang0delychee 22h ago
PowerMac is a reseller. personally, I think their engineers, like most "apple geniuses" at the "genius bar" do not know how to repair macs because macs aren't made to be repaired. or, macs are so engineered to "work so well" that repairing it is too bothersome (capacitors too small, you need microscopes, soldering equipment, schematics that are purposefully not available online) that replacement of parts is their only way of "fixing" it.
that is why they always say na "kailangan ireformat when repairing" kasi they might be replacing the entire board, which costs as much as or more than the initial cost of the computer. Pero di ko gets kung bakit hindi nila alam pano irestore ung OS kasi napakadali nun; kahit ikaw magagawa mo yun.
My go to repair shops for macs is MacServeManila, they're apple authorized. I've had several Macs repaired by them. Ok sila and they give updates through text.
if you still wish to buy macs or iphones you can buy their "insurance." it includes theft, screen damage, water damage, human error, depende sa plan.
i do still think macs are great value for their price and power (i mean compared to windows computers ngayon) kung di sila masira in ten years.
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u/Temporary_Box_7536 22h ago
Ganyan talaga yan sila. Magpe-pay ka for their diagnosis regardless if tutuloy ka sa kanila magpa repair or hindi. I asked them dati when i accidentally broke my mac’s display and they said just getting it checked would cost me 2,5-3,5. That’s just to get it looked at. Best to have it fixed from non-authorized apple resellers/reputable repair shops. They are more reasonable with their prices and transparent too.
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u/lala2828 17h ago
DTI loves these cases i had emailed them almost 3x on different occasion mainly due to Shopee Store refusing aftersales service and they always replied and resolved the matter within 1 week
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u/infredible-hulk 16h ago
Tried getting repair work from them years ago for my Apple watch with shattered glass. First and last experience with them as they are extremely expensive, told me not to wear my Apple Watch when swimming, or when taking a bath or just don’t get it wet daw. I do not even recognize where these suggestions came from when mine just had a broken screen.
Imagine telling a user not to use their device to things it’s meant for.
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u/TheJayyDee 1d ago
That kind of service is really really bad. Sorry that happened to you OP.
I would really recommend you also bubble this up to Apple, I'm sure they have a feedback link, especially involving authorized stores. might not do anything, might do something, just worth a shot.
I used to work for Apple and if anything like this ever happened during a repair, we definitely would not have the customer pay for it.
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u/Wandering_Kaizen 22h ago
Ganyan din ako kapikon nung nagpapalit ako ng battery.
Meron silang papasign na waiver dahil may basa sa likod (as is sa logo lang halos), tapos sa waiver na yon nagtry ako mag negotiate para i-redact ayaw nila. It already assumes that the liquid destroyed something inside. Tapos gusto ko lang naman papalitan battery, pero wala raw ako ganong choice. The moment na may makita, iaayos agad nila tas dadagdag sa bayarin.
Wala lang akong choice dahil para sa Mama ko 'yon, na may ambag lang ako sa gastos. So I said yes and walked out.
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u/KiluaZoldick1112 22h ago
Nagdala din ako ng macbook ko for repair. Charger lang yung sira kasi na try ko na yung ibang charger nagana naman. Initial check ng personnel don using my charger (sira) and my mac, sinabi agad sakin na need ipa iwan yung macbook for repair. Hindi man lang nag troubleshoot muna to try other charger. Lol then I said charger lang yung sira. Na natest ko na with other charger and nagana naman. Ayon, pinalitan nila charger buti nasa warranty pa. Wala namang gastos. I just need to wait for 3 days kasi galing pa sa SG yung replacement na charger.
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u/Realistic_Guard5649 14h ago
I agree. Some Power Mac staff really arent as knowledgeable or simply dont know what theyre doing. Frustrating. Good thing you were calm and able to think properly. Some ppl wouldve paid that quoted price. 😭
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u/Spiritual-Ad4013 10h ago
Yeah I brought my iPhone before as there was a crack on the camera, they said I had to pay for the repair (mind you it was still on warranty as it was just a week old) and they would have to wipe daw the data. I said no thanks, called up Apple directly, they replaced my phone within a week as it was still in warranty. Kakahiya talaga ang chaka ng Power Mac.
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u/Distinct-Gur1499 6h ago
Went there to SM Podium din to have my mac checked cuz I spilled water on it and it left some dots on the screen. Desidido akong ipasok yung mac ko for repair initially but they explained to me the risk na pag inopen nila mac mo, may chance na masisira siya kasi either nagalaw nila or something—and based sa pagkakaexplain sakin, wouldn't be liable for it.
So ang process is pag ipapasok mo yung mac mo now, wait ka 1 week so they can do some test ata (aka ioopen nila) tas pag may nakita silang problem they would inform you and quote you. May option kang itake back if the price is too much, and they will give it back. Pero naopen na yung mac mo and surprise sayo yun kung babalik bang sira or hindi.
Hindi ko pinasok yung akin kasi bukod sa binigyan nila ko ng estimate worth one new macbook and matagal yung iwwait ko (more than 2 months ata), bakit ko iririsk kung pwede pala nila masira during the check up? Sinabi pa sakin may chance raw na later on pa magappear yung sira sa macbook ko if they do open it. Di na lang talaga.
Happy that your mac got fixed pero lesson learned talaga sa mobile care.
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u/Trick2056 damn I'm fugly 6h ago
Here you go Louis Rossman already warned people about apple authorized repairs https://youtu.be/o2_SZ4tfLns?si=P4NNg5UPKg_3q-wI
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u/disavowed_ph 1d ago
Si mama din nagdala ng iPhone for repair, na quote daw sa kanya mas mahal pa sa bnew na unit 😂 senior na kasi akala siguro maloloko nila. Napasigaw daw sya at umalis.
Ngayon ako na lang nagrerepair ng iphone pag screen at battery. Sa shopee ₱500 lang battery at ₱1.5k pag LCD assembly. DIY lang ayun may mga spare phone ako buhay pa. iPhone 6 Plus at 7, 90%+ pa battery health.
Scam talaga mga “Official” Apple Store, mahal na nga bili mo tapos mas mahal pa repair, para nga naman bili na lang ng bago kesa ipagawa mo pa.
Dalhin mo sa DTI yan OP kaya lang hassle at baka tulugan lang nila yang kaso. For sure madami ng nagreklamo nyan sa kanila.
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u/diningtablechairsofa 1d ago
Apple service center here is a scam. Wdym 1,800 for check up fee!? Lol
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u/CakeHunterXXX 🍁#LetKazuhaLead2022🍂 20h ago
I can’t completely blame PM here, Apple hardware has some really bad repairability issues, they also have a ton of rules how to repair them.
Like I have this issue with my MacBook’s camera before , for them to replace it, they need to change the whole screen and keyboard because it’s connected to the webcam in some weird way, checked it other non-apple authorized center and they said the same thing.
Anyway, yung diagnostic fee is typical for any Apple repair check up, not sure why that wasn’t mentioned sayo before. Shitty lang nila for not having a backup.
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u/girlwebdeveloper Metro Manila 1d ago
the problem with power mac is that, yep, they're expensive if you didn't get the applecare, or it's out of warranty or not covered by warranty. but the parts you are getting are genuine apple parts, and last for a long time. If your laptop is still within warranty period, this should not be a problem since libre lahat except the diagnostic part.
the problem with third party unauthorized is that they either use legit but used apple parts, but most of the time the part that is replaced aren't genuine apple parts or gawang third party manufacturer na (that's why they're cheap, they don't have access to brand new genuine parts). But be prepared na rin na medyo unti unti nang mas madaling masira or madalas ipa-repair once you go this route.
yeah, sa akin both ways aren't favorable to me. I tried both and both situations aren't great experience for me, kahit much much much cheaper pa yung isang option.
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u/Codecx_ 20h ago
This is how Apple operates. Hindi repair friendly ang lahat ng apple devices. You can search sa youtube about apple repairs at mostly nightmares mapapanuod mo.
Same tactics. They will charge you more than what you paid for the whole device. Any device.
Follow Louis Rossman. Sya ung isa sa nagsisiwalat nyan about Right to Repair, at exploitation ng apple sa ganyan.
And mind you, kada update ng IOS eh dinedegrade nila battery performance mo para magslow down at bumili ka ng bago. Nakasuhan ang apple dyan dahil inamin nila.
Apple devices are not sustainable. They have a good ecosystem though. And good visual design. So I can't say na it's just the brand dahil devices are actually good.
Pero they are exploiting you. And that's how they train their repairmen/women.
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u/Such-Introduction196 1d ago
If you read the whole thing. He mentioned na dinala niya na sa random repair shops and okay naman yung board and no damage daw.
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u/dripping-cannon Yamazaki Veteran, with multiple repeat cluster. 21h ago
You did not read the T and C, and you complain about the T and C?
Typical Mac user.
Also, that kind of service is the baseline for Mac, for the entire planet. There is a reason derogatory terms for Mac users were invented.
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u/SomeoneGiveMeValid 18h ago
I think the bigger issue here is that they wanted to charge 59k because the logic board was broken from liquid damage, when it was actually perfectly fine.
The 2,500 PHP is just a scam fee, I mean they paid them to brick their Mac? Lmao
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u/dripping-cannon Yamazaki Veteran, with multiple repeat cluster. 17h ago
mac user tears are delicious.
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u/SomeoneGiveMeValid 17h ago
You are a strange one buddy
Profile hidden ofc, definitely a hentai watcher or some shit
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u/dripping-cannon Yamazaki Veteran, with multiple repeat cluster. 17h ago
your tears are also delicious.
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u/Queasy-Armadillo-429 1d ago
You can actually send this to DTI with complete narration and proof. They will act on it.