Sticking it Back to Apple

[CowboyMcCoy]

So...

I'm not a fan of Apple's prices and their customer service, but I like their laptops and OS. They do everything I want them to do.

I'm also of the mind that customers have to be savvy.

By no means, men, is this a true story. What you are about to read below is fiction. But your [fictional] advice is appreciated.

So back in May of 2011 I dropped my computer. All parts were in tact other than the side and the piece that bent my logic board (aka Apple's overpriced mother board).

They quoted me over $800 for a new logic board. I reluctantly agreed.

They somehow got the wrong address and by the time they got it to my doorstep, it was a month later than when I shipped it off.

It didn't cost me anything, 'cept money from not having a computer. Theoretically, this could be an arbitrary amount of money but we'll get back to that. Yet I still had to strong-arm them into not charging me anything at all--after a month. 'Twas a month because Fed Ex kept shipping it to my neighbors address and that was absolutely not my address.

*Cough*

Of course, I'd never think about giving them the wrong address or one to my neighbors..... Yet I argued to the customer relations rep that they were in charge of how quickly it was shipped because, after all, it's their courier.

*Fast Forward to now*

I woke up and my computer wouldn't turn on. The logic board was the Apple Reps best guess down at the Apple store. "What?", I ask. Another 800 buckaroos?

*Holds Breath*

The rep says, "That'll be two-hundred and eighty dollars."

*Sigh*

But still, money is tight and I don't want to pay again to have them ship it. Plus, it's $280 bucks I could use for something else. So now, after I talked to them in circles for 2 hours before closing time, keeping them past their hours (when they all want to go home), I ramble on for hours about so many reasons why having to pay wasn't the right option for me as a customer.

This rep was good; it took him 2 hours to finally bow out and get a manager.

So now, they're offering to pay a mysterious amount of money... I'm hoping all, but the rep and I haven't discussed how much.

I'm just supposed to take it to get fixed at a mac service provider, which is fine with me.

They say if it doesn't have water damage, which it doesn't to my knowledge, then they'll agree to less than $280..I'm hoping $0, obviously.

So, to the crux of this story. What would your advice be at this point, given this fictional account of events?