i phoned apple support . . .

hi all, i started to get an issue on my 8 month old MBP,l i phoned apple support, of course my free phone support had expiredand they wanted at least £35 to help me on a warranty matter !

i was preety sure it was a hardware problem and couldnt be fixed over the phone anyway, so in effect i could have given him £35 and it would have been a complete waste of money.

because he fixed me up with a free appointment at my local Genius bar anyway. which i could have done for myself anyway whether it was a hardware OR a software problem.

i didnt fully understand the need for the £35 when i could get it sorted for free at the apple store.

however i might be tempted to go for the extended warranty adding another 2 years !

tim

Yep. Apple's phone support is 90 days. Anything after that is pay-to-play, or covered under Apple Care.

Apple tech support can run diagnostics via the phone to check and see what the exact problem is, thus eliminating any wasted time when taking it in for repairs to figure out what the problem is. You jut drop it off and give them the claim/referral number. I tested this out when I had a weird speaker issue on my MBP. It's more of a convenience feature for people who don't want to drive the long distance since not everyone has an Apple store a mile away. I wouldn't pay for it if it ran out though.

iggibar said:

Apple tech support can run diagnostics via the phone to check and see what the exact problem is, thus eliminating any wasted time when taking it in for repairs to figure out what the problem is. You jut drop it off and give them the claim/referral number. I tested this out when I had a weird speaker issue on my MBP. It's more of a convenience feature for people who don't want to drive the long distance since not everyone has an Apple store a mile away. I wouldn't pay for it if it ran out though.

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Fair comment buddy, how do they do that over the phone ? That sounds like magic .
I am in the happy position of being only 10 miles away from my apple store which is quite easy to get to, so I suppose i am a border line case, but even so I reckon I will splash out on the extra two years warranty which of course includes the free phone support, thanks

Tim

timmy_toad said:

Fair comment buddy, how do they do that over the phone ? That sounds like magic .
Tim

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Ever heard of this thing called a "computer"? Apple isn't the only one who does this, other computer companies do it too. HP does it, Microsoft does it, even my ISP provider has the ability to do it.

extended warrentys are always good to have.

I got it for my pro and it has saved me over 400 dollars on things such as new hard drive cables, hard drives and charger cords. some of the simple things started having issues and it makes me happy to know that all of these things are covered for another year and half.

My estimate - if I had bought extended warranties on all the stuff I've bought during my life thus far - I would be in the hole somewhere between $25,000-$40,000. And so will most everyone else be in the hole. I'll fix my own stuff if it breaks after warranty, tyvm.

bobtomay said:

My estimate - if I had bought extended warranties on all the stuff I've bought during my life thus far - I would be in the hole somewhere between $25,000-$40,000. And so will most everyone else be in the hole. I'll fix my own stuff if it breaks after warranty, tyvm.

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+10

Nothing makes more money for retailers that 'extended warranties'. Heck they want to sell you one for a 30 buck coffee maker....

Over the last 40 years I way ahead money wise even with some expensive repairs along the way.

I've always done well with Applecare.

I bought it for my 3GS. After 18 months, the back of the case got a hairline fracture in it. Applecare replaced it with a new unit. I left the new 3GS in the plastic and sold it on ebay for $375. Not a bad sale after using a phone for 18 months.

My current iPhone 4 is 12 months old and has an iffy home button. Occasionally it sticks. At some point, I'll get it replaced under Applecare, leave the plastic on it and sell the new replacement for $375ish.

I had 2008ish white MB. The model that the palm rests cracked on. After 18 months of use, Applecare replaced the entire top case and keyboard (the fix for the palm rest cracks). It looked brand new. The next week I put it on Craigslist and sold it to a guy I met in Dunkin Donuts for $800. Then I bought a refurb 13" unibody MPB from Apple for $1100. Went from an 18 month old white two piece MB to a new unibody MBP for $300.

I typically never buy extended warranties for the exact reason bobtomay mentions, but selling my old Applecare refurbished hardware more than pays for the money invested in the coverage.

i usually dont buy extended warranties on electronics but always do for my vehicles, almost didnt for the one i have now but im sure glad i did it is getting its 3rd engine now inder warranty. so in some cases its good to have but it is a personal choice

G4 ibookboy said:

i usually dont buy extended warranties on electronics but always do for my vehicles, almost didnt for the one i have now but im sure glad i did it is getting its 3rd engine now inder warranty. so in some cases its good to have but it is a personal choice

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Ha, ha! I'm just the opposite! Well, almost. I usually get extended warranties on electronics, but never on cars.

Ever read Consumer Reports? They don't recommend it on cars, not sure what they say about electronics.