For those of you still waiting to get a replacement battery for your Powerbook G4s and iBooks out there, I feel your pain. My girlfriend submitted her recall request on Sept. 15, and it was Friday – almost six weeks later – that the battery finally arrived.
I documented the replacement process last night, and, as usual, Apple did a great job on the experience design end of things. They could have been faster, though.
I don't have much to add, other than to note that Apple is sending these replacements out in totally unmarked boxes. Nothing about the outside says Apple, though there is a sharp warning not to break the seal unless you really mean it. We turned the box over and over before opening it: "I haven't ordered anything," Kimra said. "Will this explode if I open it?" How little we knew then.
The new battery is packed in egg foam, and return postage is provided for the defunct device. But Apple is still afraid of the bad batch of explosive batteries – a detailed sheet provides instructions for draining the old battery before packing it up (the DVD player works really well, apparently). After a good hour of discharge (and no burns), into the box it went.
It's in the mail tomorrow morning. How have your experiences with the recall been?
