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Model A1297 Unibody: Early 2009, Mid 2009, Mid 2010, Early 2011 & Late 2011

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Sold MacBookPro - Buyer now having issues rebooting and overheating?

Hi there,

I recently sold a 17" Macbook Pro Late 2011 to a buyer overseas. After finally reaching them they've now requested a full refund due to it being defective. However, before selling I did a full Apple Hardware Test and everything was apparently fine. I also ran Geek Bench which also seemed fine. I had erased and reinstalled the OS to the latest version (High Sierra I believe) and was performing ok.

This is the problem they are having:

1. Initially did not boot, then began to get stuck in a loop booting up

2. After reloading the operating system from a USB flash drive it started but heated up to the point of being too hot to touch

3. Carried out tests to see the behavior and fans went to max and then booted off

I will note that the RAM was not the original RAM, but 16GB purchased from Crucial. Everything else was the original parts.

Can anyone recommend some advice? Anything the buyer can do to verify where this problem is coming from? Would it be repairable (I could pay for repair instead of refund)? Could something have happened in transit?

I appreciate this will likely be difficult to diagnose with limited information available but would love any advice to try and fix it before I refund them.

I really want to help the buyer and would hate to appear like a dishonest seller, as I genuinely believed the laptop was perfectly ok before selling.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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when selling anything, any test results should be printed, dated, and copied, then shipped with the device itself. this helps prevent this sort of claim.

your best option would likely agree to a refund, minus shipping fees, as long as they ship it back to you. payment on arrival. this way, youre not out any money, and they will get the majority of their money back. decline a 100% refund, as it was known tested good when it left your hands, and sellers are not responsible for issues that occur during shipping.

if they decline, be adimant in that clause, as they are likely going to downvote your seller account either way.

This was more of a buisiness answer, but i hope it helped.

AS FOR THE REPAIR

absolutely anything could have happened in shipping, so there is no way to tell for sure. for all we know, they could have had the same model, and would ship you back a different one.

i would say the overheat is likely a short, if its too hot to touch, which could be caused by moisture, or mechanical issues. the boot looping could have been a battery issue or the board getting too hot, and the device thermally timing out. there are way too many variables to help in any real fashion, so i would suggest using my meathod above.

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1 Comment:

Thank you very much for the helpful and detailed reply. I will definitely remember in future to date and print hardware tests and the like, what a great tip - thank you.

I managed to resolve the issue by simply offering the buyer a partial refund and letting them keep the laptop - I will unfortunately just have to absorb the loss.

Thanks again for your help!

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Aiden will be eternally grateful.
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