Why does apple only give 90 days of phone support?

bhigh8 · Jan 2, 2013

I have always wondered this. unless you buy applecare. I have never needed them for anything that they themselves didnt cause. usually its an update that goes wrong or itunes account is working due to some itunes update.

I really love their support and dont have access to their support any other way than phone support since i dont have an apple store within 3 hrs of me. i just have never understood it since most of the issues are due to updates or a product haveing a problem in the first year anyways.

im sure it has something to do with they want you to buy applecare but didnt know if there was another reason.

JayLenochiniMac · Jan 2, 2013

bhigh8 said:
im sure it has something to do with they want you to buy applecare but didnt know if there was another reason.

You've figured it out.

bhigh8 · Jan 2, 2013

JayLenochiniMac said:
You've figured it out.

but if its their issue and its preventing me from buying apps and movies and music, you would think they would want that fixed. almost every single update i make, my phone has some issue and i need to do a new restore. the last one created an error and went into recovery mode. needed their help to get it out.

or the millions of itunes issues they have. i just want to buy more of their stuff, why make it so difficult.

MacDawg · Jan 2, 2013

It is actually much quicker to come here to MR and get your questions answered

For the issues you have described, most times you could get quick and accurate answers here

The user base at MR is quite knowledgeable and helpful
So before you pick up the phone and call, see if you can find an answer here

JayLenochiniMac · Jan 2, 2013

bhigh8 said:
but if its their issue and its preventing me from buying apps and movies and music, you would think they would want that fixed. almost every single update i make, my phone has some issue and i need to do a new restore. the last one created an error and went into recovery mode. needed their help to get it out.

or the millions of itunes issues they have. i just want to buy more of their stuff, why make it so difficult.

You can still email them and they'll call you if necessary. My brother in law did just that last week. No AC+ necessary.

andyx3x · Jan 2, 2013

JayLenochiniMac said:
You can still email them and they'll call you if necessary. My brother in law did just that last week. No AC+ necessary.

Or go to the Apple Store and have someone there assist you. That's if you have one within driving distance.

dukebound85 · Jan 2, 2013

MacDawg said:
It is actually much quicker to come here to MR and get your questions answered
For the issues you have described, most times you could get quick and accurate answers here

The user base at MR is quite knowledgeable and helpful
So before you pick up the phone and call, see if you can find an answer here

Yup

The community here is more helpful and in many cases more knowledgeable than the geniuses

bhigh8 · Jan 2, 2013

MacDawg said:
It is actually much quicker to come here to MR and get your questions answered
For the issues you have described, most times you could get quick and accurate answers here

The user base at MR is quite knowledgeable and helpful
So before you pick up the phone and call, see if you can find an answer here

Oh I usually do now. And I appreciate the help also. I will say I was pretty upset at the time my wife's phone got errors and even recovery would work. So I was in a little panic at the time. The guy was nice and did help but he told me I was passed my 90 days. I'm so tired of the updates causing me more issues than I had originally.

It was a good experience but think the phone support should be there. Especially if its their fault.

Mrbobb · Jan 2, 2013

People who are reading this don't need phone support. Really, you want to be on hold for whatever just to get some company's line? REBOOT EVERYTHING. Really, I call you just so you can tell me the obvious?

When you are at the Apple store, have you ever eavesdropped a conversation the Mom and her kids are having with the Genius? Lots of time, it starts with technical but then they soon turn to, I really have no idea how to work this App! into a tutorial session. The 90 days is for these people, not anybody reading this.

JayLenochiniMac · Jan 2, 2013

bhigh8 said:
It was a good experience but think the phone support should be there. Especially if its their fault.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can still get phone support if you email first and they take the liberty of calling you.

If you want to be able to call and get assistance after being put on hold, buy AC+.

If you're smart, you'd come to this forum to find the solution to your problem instead of bothering with phone support.

old-wiz · Jan 2, 2013

andyx3x said:
Or go to the Apple Store and have someone there assist you. That's if you have one within driving distance.

This is my preferred technique - you don't have to wait on the queue, but the MR people often know more than the apple store people. You can also search the forums, and often get an answer quicker than you could via phone to Apple.

bhigh8 · Jan 2, 2013

old-wiz said:
This is my preferred technique - you don't have to wait on the queue, but the MR people often know more than the apple store people. You can also search the forums, and often get an answer quicker than you could via phone to Apple.

I would go in to an apple store but its 3 hrs away so that's no option. I only called cause it was more of a panic. Most issues I just come here. Never had an error where it sent me to recovery mode and then had an error while trying to restore. So the phone was useless. Couldn't get out of recovery mode. Didnt know I could email and wait. But would come here before then anyways.

I'm glad I found this site about 6 months ago. Thanks.

bmik33 · Jan 2, 2013

What sucks for me is that I just cracked my first iphone and I don't really want to shell out the 229 for a new one but it's looking that way. I went to the Apple Store today hoping I was still covered by the 90 days but I wasn't. I may go back but I wanted more options before giving in.

maxosx · Jan 2, 2013

AppleCare is great. Therefore Apple uses the "90-day hook" to sell it.

haruhiko · Jan 2, 2013

Because you should've gone to an Apple Store to get your phone replaced if it reboots every time you install any app update.

Fin745 · Jan 3, 2013

I think 90 days is just fine. If you need support then buy Apple care . I never bought apple care and never need support(Hell I am support). The only thing I think apple needs to change is make apple care renewable and offer better replacement options if the person is not near an apple store then have to pay $30 and a deposit for the full retail price of the device to have them send you one out first.

OP How long would you make the Complimentary phone support last? The longer you make it last the less Incentive you give people who need support to buy support.

throAU · Jan 3, 2013

bhigh8 said:
I have always wondered this. unless you buy applecare. I have never needed them for anything that they themselves didnt cause. usually its an update that goes wrong or itunes account is working due to some itunes update.

3 reasons
- most people have initial "i have a wierd problem / i don't know how to use my new toy" issues within the first few weeks
- hardware failure rates are a bit of an inverse bell curve - more failures both at the start (e.g., DOA units out of the box) and end of the device's expected life
- it is cheaper than providing 3 years phone support for free.

stuaz · Jan 3, 2013

The only time I have used there service is due to a faulty CD drive on my 2008 Macbook Pro. They swifty sent out a replacement machine.

I have never had any problems upgrading any of my idevices nor with my iTunes account, but as other have suggested, simply emailing there iTunes Support will help, but more importantly the most issues can be resolved/diagnosed on forums like Mac Rumors (For free!).

Brian Y · Jan 3, 2013

bhigh8 said:
but if its their issue and its preventing me from buying apps and movies and music, you would think they would want that fixed. almost every single update i make, my phone has some issue and i need to do a new restore. the last one created an error and went into recovery mode. needed their help to get it out.

or the millions of itunes issues they have. i just want to buy more of their stuff, why make it so difficult.

You can go to an Apple store for free, and you can email them for free too. If it's a hardware problem they wont charge for support.

Plus - there is no iTunes phone support. The iTunes team is email only unless it's an escalation.

Interstella5555 · Jan 3, 2013

90 of phone plus one year of store support? Better than most warranties for electronics these days.

takeshi74 · Jan 3, 2013

90 days isn't uncommon. If you want or need more then buy it. Plenty of people update and such without any issues. You can't just assume that your preferences and experience are indicative of a larger trend. One data point never defines a trend.

No matter what time period they choose someone would gripe about it.

Why does apple only give 90 days of phone support?

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