MacBook ram upgrade bad experience

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
Not sure if here is a good place to post. But I think all Mac users got to be careful when doing ram upgrade.

This morning was using my MacBook and noticed it is time for me to add some more ram.
Charged my MacBook and decided to head to SLS for a walk. Went round to check for price and finally end up in level 4 shop which ok to take in my old ram. Happily took out my Mac and passed to the person as he say will help to test rams and free installation before completing the sales. Reason is Mac do not recognize certain rams and need to trial and error.

Problem starts now.. He tried the first pair and Mac hung, so he force shutdown and tried second pair and still hang. Again, he tried the third pair but after that took over by his colleague when his customer came back for laptop collection.

The other colleague then tried to put a single ram onto my Mac and suddenly my Mac cannot be turned on using the battery itself! I was shocked and saw him plug out the pin which connects the battery and I noticed 2 pins was forced together. He immediately took out a pincer and separate them, saying it is ok..

Then he continue to try and same thing, now my Mac cannot be turned on at all. He quickly bring to his work desk and use a charger and it worked! But still Mac hung coz ram not recognize . So I told him to test the battery as I am more worried about my battery now.

I waited in the shop for 3 hours and still battery issue not solved! Now I was thinking, not even my ram did not get upgraded and I got back a faulty MacBook now. I asked the guy how and he keep saying my hdd spoil as he managed to boot into the os after he done some troubleshooting BUT it took more than 5 mins to completely boot up and usually it took just 1 mins or slightly more.

I was like WTH.. It was working completely fine before I bring here.. And suddenly he said my battery also not In good condition already! Now I got battery and hdd issue as told by the guy and still ram was not upgraded! Waited till shop wanna close as I want to have at least some suggestion from them and they refuse to help and just insisted my Mac is faulty before I bring to them.

Then the boss came back, he saw me and said I was asking him earlier on the price but still came to his other shop. I quickly asked him for solution and he just raised his voice saying I should check my Mac before making ram upgrade and not bringing a faulty Mac to them. Then I told him it was working fine before I bring here. He refused to help and keep saying they did nothing. But the Mac was handed over to them since the point we agreed to deal with free installation as trial and error was needed as told by the guy earlier till all these problems came.

No point to argue as they insisted my Mac was faulty before ram upgrade. I quickly went to another shop and asked to check. The shop told me they could have spoiled the motherboard which caused the Mac not to detect the battery after a long boot up with charger plugged in.

Now instead of upgrading my ram, I end up paying $150 to repair my MacBook which I think it was being mishandled by the other shop. I took back my Mac and hold the repair to find cheaper source for repairing.
 
Last edited:

punggolkid

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2008
Messages
1,778
Reaction score
6
And that's why I rather DIY than visit SLS. RAM isn't difficult to change. There are Mac-compatible brands out there like Crucial and OWC.

Sorry to hear about the bad experience though. I hope you've learnt not to trust SLS vendors so much. Should at least get a recommendation on here first on reputable shops.
 

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
Like you said.. ram installation is easy.. so I thought they can just help.. and since I'm not familiar with Mac compatible rams.. as well let them do simple test But not mishandle my Mac and end up having a faulty one back..
 

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
Actually I feel very cheated as they want to earn the money and say free installation and test on ram incase not recognize. But when problem come after they mishandled my Mac, they push all the blame back on me which I find it ridiculous..
 

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
The shop I went to upgrade my ram refuse to help after getting my Mac into half working condition n keep saying my Mac is faulty before I went there. Which is totally ridiculous as I was working on my Mac at home and it was running smoothly.

I went to another shop to check so that I can know what happened to my Mac. So the other shop checked n say most probably it they accidentally spoil the motherboard and offer to repair at $150.
 

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
Now my Mac cannot even boot up on itself with battery which was working totally fine before that. I do not think it has anything to do with my setting as it was working totally fine before they did the trial n error of the new rams.
 

PetPet

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
95,217
Reaction score
312
I think they probably damaged the connector between the logic board and battery or they didn't sit it correctly. (But most likely damaged)

As for the Rams, you could have purchased Mac certified rams or search around the forums. Some members have posted what brand/model of rams work...

I would recommend you to go to Apple for help instead of going around in SLS again.
 
Last edited:

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
Yes,I just feel cheated as the shop not only did not help me change ram But end up spoiled my Mac. Yet pushing all the blame on me. I was so fed up as I spend my whole day at the shop waiting for fix n solution But end up I went home sadly with a faulty Mac!
 

docomospur

Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Messages
306
Reaction score
15
That's SLS for you. The pricing and package may be attractive, but enter that rat-infested premise at your own risk.
 

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
I just want to say it is located at the back alley beside a shop selling all the hp n tablet cases and screen protectors. And yes, they do have another 2 shops link one. And shop is open by prc. So if u happen to go to the other shops, just be careful. As they might mishandle your devices and say u bring in a faulty device in the first place. I am really shocked that just a simple ram upgrade can make my MacBook faulty and some more those people just push back to me without fixing it. It is just like u lend them ur Mac to play with then spoiled already is none of their business.. They want to make the deal and yet they mishandle my Mac and just give me back the faulty Mac without even fixing it.
 
Last edited:

Winston7222

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
708
Reaction score
0
I just want to say it is located at the back alley beside a shop selling all the hp n tablet cases and screen protectors. And yes, they do have another 2 shops link one. And shop is open by prc. So if u happen to go to the other shops, just be careful. As they might mishandle your devices and say u bring in a faulty device in the first place. I am really shocked that just a simple ram upgrade can make my MacBook faulty and some more those people just push back to me without fixing it. It is just like u lend them ur Mac to play with then spoiled already is none of their business.. They want to make the deal and yet they mishandle my Mac and just give me back the faulty Mac without even fixing it.

Long shot, might wanna lodge a complain to CASE, but the wait is like :s22::s22::s22:

Had never trusted SLS much on handling Macs.

Might wanna let someone who has experience have a look or send back Apple, which will cost you much more.

Frankly, not much faith on the $150 "repair" which might end with more nightmares.

Btw, which model/yr you using??
 
Last edited:

Borinz

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
360
Reaction score
0
Any recommendations for MacBook repair? I'm using MacBook pro 13 inch mid 2010 ..wanna up my ram to 2x 4gb actually..
 

ysl060704

Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2006
Messages
399
Reaction score
6
Just unlucky I guess...
I research the type of ram that is compatible with Macs,
check online for the shop whether they carry such ram and the price list.
Went there buy, on the packaging (Kingston RAM) got say compatible with RAM.
Happy bring home install.
No Problem.

I guess important is to do research first and choose a reputable company.
 

WeDoIt

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2012
Messages
1,616
Reaction score
0
aiyo just expose the shop to prevent such stuff from happen to other users ....
 

sky37

Senior Member
Joined
May 20, 2003
Messages
875
Reaction score
37
Try SGL Marketing at level 2. I think they also repair Macs.
Changed my RAM (Kingston) there before and works fine.
Can also order from OWC and ship it here. Crucial works fine too.
 

trento

Great Supremacy Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
64,404
Reaction score
2,730
macsales.com

Can get your rams from there.

youtube got many videos on diy ram

need screwdriver buy from challenger.

something thats so easy try not to let others earn your money
 
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ Forums. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts. Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards and Terms and Conditions for more information.
Top