Stolen Applecare

I purchased applecare through the store but I don't think it matters as long as you registered applecare correctly when you received it. By that I mean matching up the applecare number with your serial number. Once those two are linked that should be all you need. At least I hope so because I threw away the box once registered. If it registered correctly though I would highly doubt it was stolen (unless the person who sold it to you discontinued the apple care and de-activated it before selling it, but I'm not sure if that is even possible, just something theoretical that would cross my mind).

Did you activate your Apple care?

Everytime I go, Apple store check your mac's serial number, and it will show if it's under the care. So recipt may not necessary, if you already activated.

I have Apple Care for my Mac Pro and my MBP. I bought both from ebay. not quite half the price, but a lot cheaper then through Apple. Luckily I have not had to take either computer in. The Apple Care number for both is set up with their serial numbers. I believe you can check on line to see if the Apple care is active.

That's a rather sensationalistic thread title, by the way.

It's not very likely that the AppleCare is stolen. People buy them in bulk at a discount all the time and sell them on eBay. Because each AppleCare is serialized and linked to a specific machine, it can only be activated once.

The procedure to change ownership on an activated AppleCare is pretty tedious: it involves a letter (not an email) from the original owner asking for the transfer and it has to be approved by Apple.

I always thought the "proof of purchase" applied to the computer and not Applecare. On the subject however, I haven't heard of a case where someone took in a computer with AC and was refused service due to lack of a receipt.

This is good to know, I will be looking on ebay later for AppleCare, was going to buy it at the end of the year when it expires. I can buy it now if it is half price.

I bought and will continue to buy on ebay Paid 177.00 for my pro.....works perfect, if they sent you the leter that its been registered your fine......I use applecare from ebay monthly on my new toys.....

Moof1904 said:

That's a rather sensationalistic thread title, by the way.

Click to expand...

No kidding right?


Nikki85, what in the world makes you think it was stolen? Is it the notion that you believe paying half price for something mens it is? If this is the case then you should have never purchased it in the first place. You could also be in a fair amount of trouble if the AC were stolen. It's called buying stolen property. I'm not saying it is stolen and the chances of it being stolen are slim, but still. It sounds to me that when you bought it you thought it was half price, could be stolen, but who the heck cares you got a deal! Then once you decide to use it you're starting to second guess your decision to purchase.

My thought on the whole eBay Apple Care thing is this. I presume many people buy in bulk as stated above, however, if they were indeed stolen there should be a way for Apple to track what shipment was stolen. I would say Apple's inventory control is rather good and they'd at least have some way to give a range of numbers associated with the AC that could be disabled. I've dealt with gift card fraud with Home Depot and it works in a similar way. They can tag a range of cards based on the serial number on the card as stolen so that if they're activated they can't be used and if someone were to try and activate them they would be unable to.

Someone suggested going to the Apple website and checking your AC, I'd do that then take your computer in if that's what you need to do.

So I got this email from ebay today, which immediately made me think of this thread... But first, some background.

I bought my MBP in January knowing I had a full year to register with AppleCare. Around November I started to search around, looking at eBay and any one who could offer a discount. I was committed to buying AC with the packaging rather than the "I will email you the registration number." I want the physical box!

So I found an auction, bid and won; It wasn't the lowest I've seen AC go for, but it was obviously less than retail. Yay for me. The seller is nice, responds to emails, and in general good. After a few days, the AC box shows up, and I register it. It shows valid, and everything on my warranty is extended to 3 years after purchase (Jan of '10). I even get the terms and conditions letter from Apple a few days ago.

Out of the blue, eBay sends me mail (wasn't a scam, I'm versed in knowing the difference) saying that a seller whom I have purchased from and/or bidded on an item they listed has been removed from eBay for violating their policy. There was no mention of what violation it was, and looking at his history, many of his auctions have been scrubbed by eBay, including my winning AppleCare auction. Note that not ALL of his auctions are scrubbed, only about half of them.

So i'm not sure what's going on with selling AC on eBay, and if this seller was selling stolen goods or what, but something happened and it obviously had to do with auctions that included the one I won... It's a little concerning, especially since I'm within about 3 weeks of lapsing on support if they took away the AC I bought.