NEW MBPr keeps shutting down on sleep, Not mounting Ext HD + AWESOME Apple Store Experience. :)

Question

I've been using apple products for almost 10 years now (from iPods to iPhones and MBPs). I just got a BRAND NEW MBP Retina last December (2012), I was supposed to use it for school this January, because of it's claim for speed and graphics. I even had it customized!!! Thinking I'd get BETTER performance,I upgraded the Memory and the Processor!!! I wanted to do the HD too but it was too pricey (But of course, they dropped their prices recently. For the same amount I paid in December, I could have gotten better today. *censored curse words here*)
By the time I used the MBPr in January,THE THING KEPT SHUTTING DOWN ON ME!!! Whenever I'd put it to sleep, IT WOULDN'T COME BACK ON!!! I'dlose all the information and files I've been working on for hours! Not only would I have to do them again, the MBP would give me such a DIFFICULT time trying to switch it back on! And when it finally would, it would say something like "Your computer shut down unexpectedly. Would you like to open the programs that were on before it shut down?" Even if I'd click yes, none of my files were recovered.
In addition, 3 out of 10 times it wouldn't mount my External Hard Drive!!! And of course it has to be the times when I'm in a hurry to access important files. To me, this IS an issue. A BIG one. NOT fun, trust me. I know the problem isn't with my External HD because I still have my old MBP (late 2009) and it works fine there, I've repeatedly used it on my sister's and mom's MBP too and there's been no problem whatsoever. It's just with this supposedly "new" MBP Retina.
So I went to the Apple store on 5th Ave, and they scheduled me an appointment about an hour and a half later, which was alright, but for the first time (EVER) the lady who scheduled my appointment gave me some attitude. She set me up for an appointment at 1:45, so just to make sure, I repeated it to her "I can wait around. So that's 1:45?" And she looks at me and says "What? Did you want it LATER? Huh?" Power tripping much? First time I've encountered that kind of customer service, from an apple store, no less.
Anyway, the appointments are their form of "organized chaos", so I didn't mind waiting my turn. The place was pretty packed, as it always is, but I decided to wait it out. My appointment time came around so I checked in on the Apple Store App and again with one of those in blue shirts with an iPad, and he told me to wait for a chair to open and to grab it and someone will come check my MBP. It took a while before a seat was made available, but when one came, I took it. Fast forward, 15 minutes AFTER my appointment time, not a single Apple representative bothered to even make eye contact, ask what time my appointment was or if I needed any help at all. I tried talking to them/calling their attention, but it was as if I was invisible. Just perfect!
Someone FINALLY called my name.. Thirty minutes AFTER my appointment time. I didn't mind waiting an hour and a half for my appointment because I understand that's how the system works. But when my turn comes around, I expect them to keep their end of the bargain too. But I guess that was too much to ask. So anyway, this guy/genius checked my laptop and ran diagnostics on it, I think he used the loghog(?) and it was all there. It had the exact log of how many times the **** thing shut down on me!!!! He said they'd need to do further tests on the MBP, which seemed logical. But he went on to tell me that if they find anything wrong with the hardware, I'd have to be okay with them replacing it with REUSED parts of other laptops!!!! ***?!???? I bought that with hard earned money! Blood sweat and tears. I saved up for that for soooooo long to get something brand new, and here you are telling me, "It's out of the 14-day warranty period, so if we find something wrong with it, you'll have to be okay with us replacing it with USED PARTS!!!" (Non-verbatim, but yeah, he gave me some sugar-coated version of THAT!) I mean, WHAT THE **** IS THAT?!?? Is that what Apple has been reduced to now?!??? Like I said, I've been with them for almost 10 years, and I've influenced my family to use Apple products because PRIOR TO THIS, my experience with them has been EXCELLENT. They've always been superb. I've never had this kind of problem with them when it came to all my (our for that matter) apple merchandise. But now?! I can't believe it. Not only the quality of the laptop was unacceptable, now, even their service is too apparently!!
Way to go Apple Customer Sevice!
Have any of you had the same problems with your MBPr? How were you able to fix it? I paid hard earned money for this, and I really really would still want it to work. I called customer service and instead of apologizing for giving me a lemon, and unacceptable quality, the customer service rep, passed me on to a senior manager who told me exactly this:
Me: Ma'am, I bought this customized and BRAND NEW. I think the quality that you've given me is unacceptable, and I hope you understand that.
Senior Manager: Well, you know, it's a machine. It's like buying a car. It breaks.
Awesome, huh? In any case, my MBPr is with them and here's to hoping I at least get the MBPr life span than that I paid for, even if they do give me subpar quality and service. Has anyone had the same problems with their MBPr? Is this a common problem with them or was mine really just a lemon? Any input will help. Thank you!

Answer 1

same problem, it's been happening to me for a week or two now i'm thinking about backing up my documents and just wiping it completely, see if that works. Has anyone else tried this? I'm loosing time and have already lost a good few hours of work as it just crashes randomly. need help!!!
- saving these threads on my favourites cause i'm about to crash . . .