Battery Recall

September 8, 2006 10:54 AM

Is anyone else having trouble with Apple's most recent G4 powerbook battery recall program?

My G4 powerbook's battery has the exact serial number and model number as the batteries they claim to be recalling (due to reports of them bursting into flames), however the website claims my battery is not elligible for the recall program. When I call them (a few times now), I wait and I wait - was on hold for 45 minutes once before giving up.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue?

posted by delladlux to computers & internet (9 comments total)

You're saying that your battery's serial number is listed on Apple's recall page but not when you entered it in the form, it wasn't recognized as eligible? If so, I guess, I'd stick it out and wait for an operator.

On the first day of the recall, my serial number was in the list that the CPSC put out. But was invalid according to Apple's page. Later the CPSC list was updated to correspond to Apple's list.
posted by jaimev at 11:06 AM on September 8, 2006

I had the same problem when the recall was announced. I tried the website again a few days later and my battery serial number was accepted. It's possible I mistyped it the first few times, but I doubt it; I think that either they've updated their validation routine, or perhaps that they've got glitches during periods of heavy activity.
posted by magicbus at 11:39 AM on September 8, 2006

Since the website lists ranges of serial numbers and not specific serial numbers, you may have a good battery in a bad range. [i.e. of the 50,000 serials in a range, 80% of them were good but they weren't alltogether so they print the range and have the form do a DB lookup on the exact name. When you enter the exact serial number it looks it up in the database to confirm. So your battery might not be impacted. But only calling Apple and sitting through their phone queues will answer that definitively. [Maybe not, I'd imagine they are accessing the same database list, but they could force a new battery better than the apple.com webpage that won't.] I'd imagine the call volumes will decline over time, but try non-popular hours to try and get through.

Apple is being overcautious with the recall and since Dell broke the ice, and Sony is paying for it why not max out hte returns program.

I bought a spare battery for my older G4 AlBook and it was in Apple's database and form took it. I may get a replacement someday -- 4 weeks? I[I'm sure Apple didn't have 1.7million batteries laying around in spare parts for a product that has EOL'd so they'll need to make a bunch] If it didn't pass the test, I wasn't worried about the powerbook going up in smoke. Notebooks of all makes and models can start a fire and the probability of it happening due to a reason unconnected to the battery is equally high.
posted by birdherder at 11:43 AM on September 8, 2006

Double check the serial of the computer is right that you're typing in. I just put a bogus computer serial in when I first tried for a replacement (didn't have the value with me), and it claimed the battery serial was invalid.
posted by devbrain at 11:50 AM on September 8, 2006

You're saying that your battery's serial number is listed on Apple's recall page but not when you entered it in the form, it wasn't recognized as eligible?

fwiw, that's exactly what happened to me. I had to wait in the phone queue to have the guy say "yeah that's an eligible battery" and then he had to fill out the form FOR me with some dummy information. Battery on the way. I know other people who called on the first day got theirs this week.
posted by jessamyn at 11:50 AM on September 8, 2006

It took me two days of entering my serial numbers. First it didn't recognise both, then it didn't recognise the battery serial, then it accepted both and processed the order. So keep trying, or phone them.

(It was actually a battery that I'd retired since the charge had gone down over two years of use, so I'm sort of glad I didn't recycle it straight away.)
posted by holgate at 3:21 PM on September 8, 2006

Ditto to jaimev and magicbus. The day the web form opened up, it took my G4 iBook s/n as valid but it wouldn't accept my in-range battery s/n as qualifying. I was resigned to sitting through the phone queue, but tried the web form again the next morning and it worked that time -- and I know there was no mistyping because it autofilled the same numbers.

Of course, then it told me "four to six weeks" to get the new one. I guess it's too much to expect they have 1.8 million batteries just lying around waiting to be shipped out...
posted by Andrhia at 3:30 PM on September 8, 2006

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

I callled and waited long enough to talk to a real person. She insisted that my battery was ok, despite my serial number matching the affected batteries, and that "Mac just didn't do a good job with the communication" and explained no more than that.
posted by delladlux at 3:57 PM on September 8, 2006

I already have my replacement, so those of you waiting may not have to wait much longer. I filled out the form on the day of (or was it day after?) the recall was announced.
posted by statolith at 4:41 PM on September 8, 2006