THANKS, APPLE

Before the world went into lockdown and the Apple stores closed due to COVID-19, my MacBook Pro keyboard started to act up a bit. What began with a stubborn and tricky "h" key developed into further keyboard issues that made typing a bit of a pain. I finally managed to get my machine in for an appointment yesterday at the Apple Store in the Dubai Mall. While my MBP is out of warranty, the keyboard issues were still covered. I was told it would take 2-3 days to fix and low and behold less than 24 hours later, my Mac is fixed, with a new Keyboard, top case and battery. Excellent customer service as always, great social distancing protocols in the store and robust COVID-19 safety mechanisms in place at both the mall and again within the store.

After my great experience with Apple replacing my faulty keyboard, the following day I noticed some marks on my screen. While we are all familiar with the grease marks the keys sometimes leave on the screen, I noticed a definite set of depressions on the screen from the location the space bar would have landed on said screen when the laptop was closed. I had not noticed these marks before. So, I took my MacBook Pro back down to the Apple Store at the Dubai Mall (without an appointment) and they took a look. After a few minutes explaining the situation, the Apple employee told me that they would replace the screen at no charge and that they a replacement screen in stock and so my MBP would be ready for pick-up in a few hours. My MBP is out of warranty, but Apple replaced the keyboard and the screen at no cost. Had I had to pay for these items it would have cost me over $1200 (4,400 AED).

Customer service, attention to detail and indeed the overall product line are the reasons I have been a happy Apple customer for many, many years.

n.b. Stock image sourced from the official Apple website and used in accordance with their guidelines.