Apple to Update AppleCare with Subscription Service and In-Store Repair Options

Mackan · May 11, 2013

iLog.Genius said:
You're thinking like a consumer, which is perfectly fine because you want the most value for your money but I guarantee if you were an Apple shareholder, hearing Apple is saving $1B is music to your ears.

I can't believe people are actually arguing that because Apple has billions of dollars in cash and cash equivalents, they should not find ways to save or make more money.

I want companies that put customers first. Not shareholders. I want companies with the rare talent that Apple has to set new standards for the future and themselves, and not suddenly stumble and get caught into what their shareholders want. That path is nothing new. We all know what the shareholders wants... and where speculation with money leads. Disaster, because greed has no limits.

Apple will continue to produce great products for some years to come, but there's no doubt changes are happening now. Fast changes. A simple shift from Steve to Tim is all what was needed, to set it in motion. Apple is becoming a less exciting company for every day.

No one is calling up Jony Ive anymore, saying "Here's a dopey idea." You know what I mean.

blueroom · May 11, 2013

sulpfiction said:
Expect for the fact that if you dropped ur phone, and the screen shatters and apple replaces only the screen, the big dent/nick & chips in the body ;that occured when the phone hit the cement will still be there.

TC is making lot of large "business typical" changes at apple lately and I think its gonna hurt them. Apple was anything but typical under SJ. Ands that's what made them what they are today...or actually yesterday.

If you drop your phone and the damage is more than the glass, Apple will likely do an OoW replacement.

gatearray · May 11, 2013

rdlink said:
None of the described repairs will be done quickly enough in the store to satisfy me. This could be the scissors that cut me from Apple. I pay more for a quality product. A quality product includes quality customer support.

I will NOT pay Apple prices for a phone that I have to wait around to have repaired, or even worse, leave behind.

I keep seeing this idea posted over and over again in this thread. A couple of observations...

1. What exactly are "Apple prices"? It's 2013, the days of the mythical "Apple tax" are largely over, being as the price of the iPhone is on par with competitors products, right?

2. Where are you gonna find better "quality customer support", from HTC or Samsung at the Verizon Store? Of course not, so even if Apple begins replacing faulty components on the spot instead of swapping out the entire unit for a "pre-repaired" one, it's still much better than any of the alternatives, is it not?

So I'm confused, what are you and the others comparing this new policy against, does somebody somewhere offer something better?

FrozenDarkness · May 11, 2013

Mackan said:
I want companies that put customers first. Not shareholders. I want companies with the rare talent that Apple has to set new standards for the future and themselves, and not suddenly stumble and get caught into what their shareholders want. That path is nothing new. We all know what the shareholders wants... and where speculation with money leads. Disaster, because greed has no limits.

Apple will continue to produce great products for some years to come, but there's no doubt changes are happening now. Fast changes. A simple shift from Steve to Tim is all what was needed, to set it in motion. Apple is becoming a less exciting company for every day.

No one is calling up Jony Ive anymore, saying "Here's a dopey idea." You know what I mean.

this is flat out ignorant. i hate it when people act like they "know" steve jobs, like if steve jobs was still alive this wouldn't happen. you don't know steve jobs, you don't know tim cook, in fact, you don't know business at all.

For example, during Steve Jobs' watch, Apple became a company with the highest margins in the business. I don't know about you, high margins is NOT consumer first, it's the very definition of leading with money. If he put consumers first, he wouldn't have made a company that amasses billions of dollars, only to say he'd use every penny to kill android.

ITCentralPoint · May 12, 2013

Apple Care+ in Switzerland

Its a pity that AppleCare+ is not available in Switzerland.

I will check with the insurance of my house what type of support I get from them.

SlCKB0Y · May 12, 2013

Toltepeceno said:
Part of my ear was removed because of cancer and it will "never be the same", does that mean my ear had a hymen?

Yes, but with a phone repair you are not adding or removing anything. The implication of the post I was responding to was that the mere act of opening an electronic device (violating it) does some sort of irreparable damage.

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FrozenDarkness said:
For example, during Steve Jobs' watch, Apple became a company with the highest margins in the business. I don't know about you, high margins is NOT consumer first, it's the very definition of leading with money.

Yes, but the two are not mutually exclusive. A company can have record profits AND have a very high level of after sales support. A company can even have record sales BECAUSE they have a very high level of after sales support.

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gatearray said:
It's 2013, the days of the mythical "Apple tax" are largely over, being as the price of the iPhone is on par with competitors products, right?

Ughh, no Apple are still significantly more expensive than their competitors devices, pretty much across every product line they offer.

vmistery · May 12, 2013

What an upsetting article. I had to go into a apple store because my iphone had issues with connecting to 3G, I was about to ditch it and buy another phone but because they did the instant swap and helped me get back on my feet on a refurb I decided not too and was happy to stay in the system. Now it sounds like the same process as any other manufacturer. Although it might not affect sales for a while once people start seeing the same attitude as everywhere else repeat customers who get issues (like me) will not necessarily continue. There are a few things they will have to think about if they are going to pull it off

1: My main issue is sending my device off with all my data
2: how long am I without? Do I get a spare while I wait?
3: are they going to start accusing people of causing damage and try to charge for repai
4: how will they manage customer expectation in store? Are they going to be able to do any limited repairs in store?

xmichaelp · May 12, 2013

canucksfan88 said:
terrible...
once something (laptop, phone, iPad, tablet, etc) is opened up, its never the same.

Go on..

FrozenDarkness · May 12, 2013

SlCKB0Y said:
[/COLOR]

Yes, but the two are not mutually exclusive. A company can have record profits AND have a very high level of after sales support. A company can even have record sales BECAUSE they have a very high level of after sales support.

You're right, they're not mutually exclusive. He really should have made little money and have a high level of after sales support. Consumer first methodology doesn't just have to apply halfway. You're picking bones here by justifying half of the behavior.

He could also have made a more open platform, more open ecosystem, listened to consumer complaints about antenna-gate, etc.

None of this makes steve jobs', my original point, more consumer focused than tim cook is now. And, again, none of you guys KNOW Steve Jobs wouldn't have done the exact same thing. acting like you know steve jobs and thinking he's some champion of consumers and didn't care about making or saving billions is ignorant.

Neodym · May 12, 2013

This sounds all too familiar...

When Siemens was still successful in the mobile phone business, they had a good reputation for high-quality phones (like the S3com, S4, S10). They also had a "no questions asked" policy in place. If you had a problem with your phone, you got a replacement phone by mail with the postman simply swapping it for your defective device.

Then someone decided that this system would be too expensive (being abused too much, offering savings potential etc.) and it was nixed. Around the same time someone (perhaps the same person or board) decided that a comfortable 3rd place in the market is not enough and so a low-cost phone was developed (which later on resulted in a couple of only slightly different low-cost phones clogging the portfolio).

Unfortunately some companies simply can't do low-cost products - especially if you are used to a premium market, where the rules are completely different. Same here - eventually Siemens completely moved out of the mobile phone market.

With Apple's decision to abandon the swap policy and the rumors of them developing a low-cost iPhone this might become another case of history repeating...

HenryDJP said:
They have a great system in place to YOU. How do you know the current system is not creating problems within the company in terms of available stock? Providing parts for everything in the computer, iPod and iPhone would help to resolve this,

Providing individual parts instead of assembled replacement devices means a massive increase in logistics (inventory management, transport, storage space etc.). The new policy will also require to provide higher skilled workers and machinery at every single Apple store instead of at a few central hubs.

Those costs would have to be considered when doing a proper savings calculation.

I would really love to take a look at the business case that was the basis for this decision - I'm pretty sure it is severely lacking in some parts.

ZipZap · May 12, 2013

I am sorry but in store repairs by unskilled labor...A BIG MISTAKE!

I presume that this is for new sales?

I bought my Applecare under the presumption that I would get a swap. I will demand that for the term of my warranty.

nonns · May 12, 2013

Save them $1 billion - will it? One of the reasons I buy Apple is that when something goes wrong the premium nature of the device doesn't seem so bad when I can just go into store and get it replaced. I had a recent issue with an iPhone 5. Two store visits two days apart did the trick. The first thing they tried did't fix the problem. The second day they simply replaced the phone. When a Samsung Android phone went wrong, I ended up waiting for 4 weeks to get it repaired.

If Apple loses this differentiator then I'm afraid its back to whichever phone provides the absolute best hardware for me.

If this causes Apple to lose customers it may not actually save them $1 billion after all.

sulpfiction · May 12, 2013

blueroom said:
If you drop your phone and the damage is more than the glass, Apple will likely do an OoW replacement.

Under this new policy, no they won't.

Toltepeceno · May 12, 2013

SlCKB0Y said:
Yes, but with a phone repair you are not adding or removing anything. The implication of the post I was responding to was that the mere act of opening an electronic device (violating it) does some sort of irreparable damage.

I did have part of my ear removed, but I was joking about the comparison.

3282868 · May 12, 2013

nonns said:
Save them $1 billion - will it? One of the reasons I buy Apple is that when something goes wrong the premium nature of the device doesn't seem so bad when I can just go into store and get it replaced. I had a recent issue with an iPhone 5. Two store visits two days apart did the trick. The first thing they tried did't fix the problem. The second day they simply replaced the phone. When a Samsung Android phone went wrong, I ended up waiting for 4 weeks to get it repaired.

If Apple loses this differentiator then I'm afraid its back to whichever phone provides the absolute best hardware for me.

If this causes Apple to lose customers it may not actually save them $1 billion after all.

Very good points. Long term this may deter current customers who are aware of the specifics in changes to Apple's "AppleCare" policy.

The only counterpoint I can validate Apple's reason for these changes would be preying upon the general consumer not fully investigating AppleCare policy. Unless asked, or fully informed without asking, consumers may assume the policy has not changed. Apple may train their retail staff to inform customers of these changes, and eventually the policy itself to new customers in the future, however as a former retail employee/genius years ago, many floor specialists have to meet numbers - UPT's, etc. In many cases, customers aren't fully informed as they want to make the sale (AppleCare is a big selling point for retail) or they don't know the full policy details, which leaves the Genius bar and management dealing with the fallout of dissatisfied customers. Either way, people will still buy with the fallout from the consequences of policy changes further down the road.

What is the projected profit versus loss in future markets? I'm very curious as to the statistical information Apple utilized to come to this conclusion. If Apple breaks into China, that's a huge market that will more than cover any losses brought on by these new policies. However, the stigma may last a long while, especially if the price remains the same while the customer care drops. Short term and long term business models must have shown this decision was better monetarily, I just cannot see how.

I wonder how much of this relates to lawsuits from E.U. countries regarding AppleCare contracts clashing with their national consumer protection laws. Personally, cursory examination of these changes to AppleCare policy do not sit well with me. As a former genius, repairing iMac's and notebooks was difficult enough given the small parts and design. Working on a multitude of iPhone's and iPad's with such small parts in a tight and complicated form factor on a daily basis will surely increase crowds and wait times. This won't look good to the average consumer shopping the store or waiting for an appointment.

Jimbo47 · May 12, 2013

These repairs can't take more than 15-30 minutes tops. There's no way it will take more than a day. I live 2 hours away from an Apple store. Are they going to expect me to travel for 8 hours just to have my phone fixed?

AngryGerbil · May 12, 2013

MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]

Image
Apple has some changes in store for its service and support program AppleCare, according to a report from AppleInsider.

The site claims Apple held a town hall session yesterday that outlined a number of changes to AppleCare that will soon be rolling out across the U.S. first, and then internationally at a later date.
By replacing parts on defective iPhones instead of replacing the units entirely, Apple reportedly hopes to save $1 billion per year.

The site also says Apple will be changing its AppleCare service -- which currently attaches to individual devices, requiring customers to buy a new AppleCare plan for each computer and iOS device they purchase -- into a subscription service that will attach to a particular customer instead of a product. Apple's One to One program works in a similar manner.

The new subscription service could include "exclusive" 24/7 support, though AppleInsider notes that the feature set is not finalized yet and could still change. The complimentary support structure could be changing as well. Currently, Apple includes free phone support for 90 days with every product. The new AppleCare could extend that support to a year or more, and possibly include new live support options such as chat via iMessage.

No information on pricing was available, though the changes are supposed to be rolled out in the U.S. this fall.

The last big change to AppleCare was the introduction of AppleCare+ for iPhones and iPads.

Article Link: Apple to Update AppleCare with Subscription Service and In-Store Repair Options

So much for people following the NDA. They made it very clear to everyone at the town hall that we needed to keep a lid on whatever we heard. A lot of the stuff was public knowledge but the changes in AppleCare were obviously for internal use only.

HowEver · May 12, 2013

You mean ear-reparable damage...

SlCKB0Y said:
Yes, but with a phone repair you are not adding or removing anything. The implication of the post I was responding to was that the mere act of opening an electronic device (violating it) does some sort of irreparable damage.

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gnasher729 · May 12, 2013

sulpfiction said:
Under this new policy, no they won't.

Of course they will. "Oow replacement" = out of warranty replacement. In other words, the customer always had the choice to fix problems that are not covered by warranty by _paying_ for a refurbished replacement iPhone. More expensive than for example replacing a screen. The point is that when Apple fixes a problem _for free_ they will choose a cheaper method than supplying a replacement phone. When _you_ pay there is no reason why you shouldn't have a choice between a cheaper and a more expensive method.

bedifferent said:
I wonder how much of this relates to lawsuits from E.U. countries regarding AppleCare contracts clashing with their national consumer protection laws.

AppleCare contracts are in no way at all clashing with any consumer protection laws. What Apple was accused of (and as usual, companies like Dell behaving much worse were completely ignored) was that when selling AppleCare, Apple supposedly didn't inform customer enough about their legal rights, so they would overestimate the value of AppleCare. And Apple doesn't usually have to inform users about their legal rights; that would be the task of governments, consumer organisations and so on. It is _only_ when selling other consumer protection that Apple has to inform you about your rights, because the better you are protected by consumer protection laws, the less value you get by buying AppleCare, and the worse you are protected by consumer protection laws, the more value you get from AppleCare.

the future · May 12, 2013

The sense of entitlement displayed in this thread for something that was a) never an explicitly promised part of Apple Care and that has b) been ruthlessly exploited and taken advantage of is quite breathtaking. And utterly disgusting. Sign of the times, I guess.

teamjacob · May 12, 2013

For all you worrying about wait times, the quoted wait time to the customer is currently 30 minutes or less and it will stay that way. Apple currently has Genii scheduled all day to do iPhone repairs so that is the only thing they do during that time period. I can't speak for exactly how long replacing a logic board will take but once a Genius has done the repair multiple times, the repair generally takes less than 15 minutes. The reason they quote 30 minutes is so they can have a buffer in case a queue of repairs builds up.

Overall this actually saves time for the Genius Bar because the technicians can spend more time with other customers while the phone is being repaired, and the customer doesn't have to spend time backing up/restoring their phone which usually takes an hour or more anyway.

Obviously not everyone can be happy but from my experience as a genius, most people are satisfied with this solution. Generally the only time people aren't satisfied is when their device is new (within a month or two of purchase).

This repair strategy makes it easier for people that are out of warranty as well. Instead of paying $229 to get their iPhone 5 replaced for a home button issue, they can pay $29 for the home button to be replaced. Even if they extend the warranty, the only reason for that would be to cover the cheaper repair strategy.

Daremo · May 12, 2013

Well, this will certainly eliminate people trying to replace their phones for cosmetic issues. These boards have been filled with people who damage (scratch, dent, crack, etc.) their phones, and try to scam Apple for a new one. I'm willing to bet 99% of the time, the outer shell is never refurbished, so that alone will save Apple huge money.

Cavepainter · May 12, 2013

HenryDJP said:
They have a great system in place to YOU. How do you know the current system is not creating problems within the company in terms of available stock? Providing parts for everything in the computer, iPod and iPhone would help to resolve this, or are you one of those that was counting on getting a replacement machine each time the fan got too noisy?

Oh please. Great customer service is one of the things that made Apple what they are today.

A company with tens of billions of profit every year and you're worried about them. Well, don't lose sleep over it- Apple is doing just fine. Comments like this are priceless. You don't sound like an Apple customer. You sound like an Apple executive.

HenryDJP · May 12, 2013

Neodym said:
Providing individual parts instead of assembled replacement devices means a massive increase in logistics (inventory management, transport, storage space etc.). The new policy will also require to provide higher skilled workers and machinery at every single Apple store instead of at a few central hubs.

Those costs would have to be considered when doing a proper savings calculation.

I would really love to take a look at the business case that was the basis for this decision - I'm pretty sure it is severely lacking in some parts.

Ya know while what you're saying sounds right theoretically, it's hard to take it seriously seeing as though this company has rebuilt themselves from virtually nothing to being the most valuable company not too long ago and currently having over $150 billion of available cash in the bank. Not to put you down but I'm 10000000% certain that Apple knows what they are doing will work a whole lot more than you do.

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Cavepainter said:
Oh please. Great customer service is one of the things that made Apple what they are today.

A company with tens of billions of profit every year and you're worried about them. Well, don't lose sleep over it- Apple is doing just fine. Comments like this are priceless. You don't sound like an Apple customer. You sound like an Apple executive.

You didn't read my post carefully did you? Where did I say even remotely that I was worried about them??

. I'm saying is the company is making this change for SOME reason, it could be that the constant over-the-counter replacements may be causing a lack of stock or whatever reason. Talk about good customer service, even with this supposed change in place you still can't get customer service onsite this good and direct from any other tech company. I couldn't careless if the company is losing money and is making this change for that reason alone. Apple doesn't pay my bills, I pay theirs.

Toltepeceno · May 12, 2013

Jimbo47 said:
These repairs can't take more than 15-30 minutes tops. There's no way it will take more than a day. I live 2 hours away from an Apple store. Are they going to expect me to travel for 8 hours just to have my phone fixed?

You are assuming they will not be backed up, I'm willing to bet in a few months they will be. I doubt walking in and having it fixed on the spot will last long, it will be leave it and we will call you.

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teamjacob said:
For all you worrying about wait times, the quoted wait time to the customer is currently 30 minutes or less and it will stay that way.

Going from swapping out an iphone to repairing one on the spot won't add time to the wait period? This I have to see. Maybe they will change their titles from genius to magician.

Apple to Update AppleCare with Subscription Service and In-Store Repair Options

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