After my last service at A.Lab for a bloated battery, something still wasn’t quite right with my Retina MacBook Pro. I planned another visit to an Apple service provider. Having experienced A.Lab a few times previously, I thought I’ll try the other company, QCD-Technology, this time around. They are located at TradeHub 21 and Wheelock Place; I went to the latter.
On an ordinary weekday, with no public holiday before or after, and a short while before the end of a typical work day, I was surprised to see there were already quite a number of people at QCD. I wouldn’t have been surprised had this been at A.Lab’s Plaza Singapura branch, since that would have been far more convenient. QCD at Wheelock Place, although no doubt still easily accessible, would seem like a lesser preferred place to go.
Fortunately, though, QCD’s counters were almost fully staffed. Like A.Lab, they had different queues for different product groups. There was only another Mac in line for the Mac queue. Even though I was next in line, I still waited at least 10 minutes.
Unlike A.Lab, QCD has some tricks to keep customers occupied. It didn’t really work for me. Instead of just sitting around counting away the minutes, QCD has merchandise for sale. It’s mostly Apple related accessories like phone cases.
At another corner, they have higher-value items on display. These are accessories like docks and speakers. None of these products are sale items, so don’t expect to pick up any bargains.
If you have kids in tow, you could deposit them at the little kids’ corner. They have iPads in there too, so those little ones hooked on tablets will have something to play with. There are books to read too, if they love reading.
This QCD branch is quite large, when plenty of seating available. So if you nether fancy shopping nor have any use of the kids’ corner, you can just sit around and not feel so packed in.
I was quite frustrated with the service staff that served me when I sent in my Retina MacBook Pro the last time at A.Lab. Fortunately, at QCD, it was much better. Although the QCD staff could have smiled more and be more engaging, he certainly did his job well.
I had honestly expected a harder time convincing QCD there was a problem. You see, the problem I was having with my Retina MacBook Pro was that it seemed to run hotter than normal. This sounds very subjective right? Of course, I had done my checks, and honestly believed there was something not right with the hardware. I just couldn’t be sure, but it seemed very likely so. To complain that the notebook seems hotter than expected, well, seems something easy for any customer service staff to brush off as a non-issue.
The QCD staff, nevertheless, took the notebook in.
Three business days later, the repaired notebook was ready to collect. Back at Wheelock place again, collected my spanking new (sort of) Retina MacBook Pro, and I was out within 15 minutes or thereabouts.
Why did I refer to my sort of spanking new Retina MacBook Pro? Well, they apparently changed my main logic board, fans, and reapplied thermal glue for the heatsink. I had previously changed my battery, which also entailed swapping a new keyboard and trackpad. Prior to that, due to some dead pixels, I also got a new screen.
See, I practically have an all-new notebook.
Despite a new main logic board, interestingly, the serial number is unchanged. It seems Apple programs the old serial number back into the new main logic board.
If you ever doubted the value of the AppleCare Protection Plan, it is really very worthwhile.