AppleCare not being automatically associated with a device when it isn't purchased from an Apple store is pretty clearly marked on both the AppleCare box, and every third party dealer I've bought from has either pointed this out or offered to register it for me on the spot. Later in the article he mentions that the Apple tech said they could resolve this issue, so it was really not a problem and just looking for more things to rant about.
As others have pointed out, the Macbook batteries are rated for 1000 cycles, and as this was only at 652 it should have been covered by the AppleCare warranty for free repair. Reading between the lines of this article, it sounds like Apple did offer to replace the battery for free in the end here, which negates the whole rant about $400 being too expensive since the repair would have been free.
This only leaves the fact that it takes 3 days, which in the scheme of things doesn't seem too unreasonable. In a perfect world, yes, they could service it while you wait. However, I once had to get an Acer laptop repaired, and it took at least 3 weeks.
Also, 652 cycles in just 1.5 years of use is insane. That's more than a full charge and discharge cycle every single day. I've had my Macbook for nearly 3 years and it's only at around 500 cycles.
I've had my current MacBook Air since February 2014 (so ~1.7yrs) and its cycle count is a mere 75. Granted, most of the time I'm using it with AC connected.
I could be wrong but I don't think "cycles" implies complete charge and discharge every time. If I alternated between desk work and meetings all day long, I think the laptop would record several cycles as I went on and off of wall power.
AppleCare not being automatically associated with a device when it isn't purchased from an Apple store is pretty clearly marked on both the AppleCare box, and every third party dealer I've bought from has either pointed this out or offered to register it for me on the spot. Later in the article he mentions that the Apple tech said they could resolve this issue, so it was really not a problem and just looking for more things to rant about.
As others have pointed out, the Macbook batteries are rated for 1000 cycles, and as this was only at 652 it should have been covered by the AppleCare warranty for free repair. Reading between the lines of this article, it sounds like Apple did offer to replace the battery for free in the end here, which negates the whole rant about $400 being too expensive since the repair would have been free.
This only leaves the fact that it takes 3 days, which in the scheme of things doesn't seem too unreasonable. In a perfect world, yes, they could service it while you wait. However, I once had to get an Acer laptop repaired, and it took at least 3 weeks.
Also, 652 cycles in just 1.5 years of use is insane. That's more than a full charge and discharge cycle every single day. I've had my Macbook for nearly 3 years and it's only at around 500 cycles.