Apple Care Problem Website (new)

[IamTron]

After going through a really difficult time getting my apple care extended warranty honored, and having techtools trash my G5, and speaking to more than a few other individuals that also experienced problems, I created a website to document user problems with the extended warranty products.

The site is new, so the reporting won't be up until mid Feb.

 

[macAttack]

and after spamming this forum mr iamtrom, what do you plan on doing next?

iamtron:I'm going to Disney land!

 

[IamTron]

Spammer? Hardly.

Trying to help other users, which I beleive is the main purpose of forums.

You must be young, and...

 

[IamTron]

Why post here and try to gather user information?

I don't know another way to change company policies. An individual taking up a problem gets you no where, as many of the posts here indicate.

Do you really think apple will change its policies because one user has a problem? I don't, hence the website.

To clarify, there are two issues, the first one affects every purchase of applecare, and the second one affects anyone running 10.4.x. that bought applecare in 05.

Issue 1:

You buy your apple product and applecare 3 year warranty. In year 2 something breaks and you try to get it fixed. Guess what? If you did not "activate" your warranty during the original warranty period, apple will not honor it - doesn't matter if you paid for it or not.

The only way they will honor it is if you can provide them with the original sales receipt showing you bought the product and the warranty at the same time. If you don't have the original sales receipt you are out of luck - and the money you spent on the warranty. However, if you do have it then you still have to wait 7-10 business days for them to "review and approve" your sales receipt, which isn't too much fun when you use your Mac for biz.

This practice applies to everything from the ipod to a server.

If you bought an extended warranty and have not activated it I strongly suggest you do so now.

Issue 2:

As part of the applecare warranty instructions, it tells you to run techtools before you call apple for support. However, the techtools provided may not be the same as the operating system. In my case, I bought my G5 in July 05 and it came with 10.4, techtools was updated to only 10.3. I ran techtools and repaired the drive - which promptly destroyed the operating system. When I spoke with tech support they acknowledged the problem. The only fix was to erase the disk and do a re-install.

To me, this is simply not an acceptable practice. If apple knows that such a serious problem exists, they could have at least sent out an email or letter. They use the registration information for marketing, don't you think they could use it to warn users?

My issues are resolved. My posts and web site are not meant to help me, they are for helping everyone else that may encounter these problems in the future.

 

[traded]

I think you have a great idea (I plan on going to the site in a sec), I would have posted this under the "Anything Goes" section as its not quite a Rumor or Report. Maybe you can ask the admins to move this so as to not ruffle any more feathers.
--just a thought
-d

 

[D3v1L80Y]

It is unfortunate that you had to go through a few "hoops" to get your warranty service, but this is pretty much standard practice for any company offering some sort of extended service plan. Your post and site are somewhat misleading however.

You buy your apple product and applecare 3 year warranty. In year 2 something breaks and you try to get it fixed. Guess what? If you did not "activate" your warranty during the original warranty period, apple will not honor it - doesn't matter if you paid for it or not.

Reading that, it would imply that the warranty is absolutely worthless if you fail to register it immediately. In fact, you did receive the warranty service after you were able to show documentation and allowed Apple time to research the purchase.

The only way they will honor it is if you can provide them with the original sales receipt showing you bought the product and the warranty at the same time. If you don't have the original sales receipt you are out of luck - and the money you spent on the warranty. However, if you do have it then you still have to wait 7-10 business days for them to "review and approve" your sales receipt, which isn't too much fun when you use your Mac for biz.

This practice applies to everything from the ipod to a server.

If you bought an extended warranty and have not activated it I strongly suggest you do so now.

In your situation, the plan was not registered upon purchase, so Apple didn't have it readily availble. They did find it with your proof of purchase and receipt and after some research, they were able to honor it. This whole situation can also be avoided by anyone purchasing the APP by simply following the directions from Apple when someone receives their AppleCare paperwork (They too, advise registering your AppleCare upon purchase).

Q - When I purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan, do I need to register it?

A - Yes, you need to register your AppleCare Protection Plan. Your AppleCare Protection Plan coverage starts from your hardware purchase date. Registering your AppleCare Protection Plan at a later date does not extend your coverage. In fact, there are many benefits to registering your AppleCare Protection Plan as soon as you purchase it:
After you register, Apple will have your hardware, AppleCare Protection Plan, and personal information on file. When you contact Apple for service or support, Apple can pull your file right away and start addressing your issue rather than spending time validating your eligibility.
Registered AppleCare Protection Plan customers contact Apple to check their coverage, repair status, and remaining days.

Issue 2:

As part of the applecare warranty instructions, it tells you to run techtools before you call apple for support. However, the techtools provided may not be the same as the operating system. In my case, I bought my G5 in July 05 and it came with 10.4, techtools was updated to only 10.3. I ran techtools and repaired the drive - which promptly destroyed the operating system. When I spoke with tech support they acknowledged the problem. The only fix was to erase the disk and do a re-install.

To me, this is simply not an acceptable practice. If apple knows that such a serious problem exists, they could have at least sent out an email or letter. They use the registration information for marketing, don't you think they could use it to warn users?

If the Protection Plan was registered from the beginning, then perhaps Apple would have had a chance to forewarn a user of a potential issue with the TechTools disc. Unfortunately in your case, the plan wasn't registered upon purchase so that wouldn't have been a posibility.

 

[rman]

However, if you do have it then you still have to wait 7-10 business days for them to "review and approve" your sales receipt, which isn't too much fun when you use your Mac for biz.

I am a little confused here. If you use your system to make money, why did you not register the extended warranty on initial purchase, like most people and companies do?

 

[IamTron]

Couple of responses;

No where on the outside of the packaging does it say one needs to register it. While apple stores may be better at informing the consumer, at my apple authorized dealer they did not. The sale went like this, "here is your G5 and your apple extended warranty." For consumer products like the Ipod the chances of someone reading the documents on the inside of the box is even lesser.

The problem is furthered when you buy an Ipod, register it, receive apple care extended warranty emails from apple's marketing department, buy the warranty from apple, then when you call in for warranty they say you need your original ipod sales reciept from Best Buy. Huh? True story.

My posts, and the website are not about me. I consider myself an informed consumer and was able to resolve my problem, but I did not appreciate spending the extra hours on the phone trying to get something I had already paid for.

I don't think there would be any harm in apple printing something like "YOU MUST ACTIVATE THIS PRODUCT IMMEADIALTY ON PURCHASE" on the cover. I think it would go a long way towards helping the consumer.

This is not a small problem. Apple knows it, and that is why they have so many policies regarding it. If you had 400,000 customers complaining about an issue, wouldn't the higher ground be to resolve it before the consumer suffers?

Regarding the "if you registered it maybe they could have sent you something." That would have been ideal, but according to apple techs they do indeed know about the problem but aren't talking about it. Not exactly the higher ground. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301353

That was from 2005 - anyone get an update from apple on this? anyone? anyone? bueler?

Now, by reading and following the documentation as some reader point out every consumer should do, is exactly what caused the operating system to get wiped out.

So, I guess if I did read every paper inside of every box (we all do that - right?) I wouldn't have had the warranty issue, but I still would have had my operating system, and every application, wiped out.

My goal is twofold:

1) Have apple better explain the need to "register" what you buy on the outside of the box, or develope a more freindly way of dealing with it. (perhaps at a minimum tie it to the date the product was delivered to the retailer, which they do know by the serial number exactly which retailer recieived it and when.)

2) Have apple notify, via email at the very least, of serious problems created by the products they sell, using the information they require you to provide before you can use it.

Anyone disagree with this?

(please no spelling or gramar critics....)