Guide to UK education discounts

[wesrk]

Just a quick question before I pull the trigger on a brand new macbook pro. I can pay with any credit card right? Even if the billing address is outside the UK?

I would prefer to pay with a cc but I can also pay with my regular UK debit card.

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by wesrk

Just a quick question before I pull the trigger on a brand new macbook pro. I can pay with any credit card right? Even if the billing address is outside the UK?

I would prefer to pay with a cc but I can also pay with my regular UK debit card.

Well I've just come back from the pub and messing around on the intertube, so hope this makes sense!

It won't impact discount/warranty as you have to be at a UK institution, regardless of nationality or bank account location.

Apple store will accept foreign billing addresses in most circumstances, but may ask for "additional documentation"- whatever that means!

See- http://store.apple.com/uk/help/payme...co=MTM3NDg3NDc

[wesrk]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

Well I've just come back from the pub and messing around on the intertube, so hope this makes sense!

It won't impact discount/warranty as you have to be at a UK institution, regardless of nationality or bank account location.

Apple store will accept foreign billing addresses in most circumstances, but may ask for "additional documentation"- whatever that means!

See- http://store.apple.com/uk/help/payme...co=MTM3NDg3NDc

Made perfect sense mate, thanks.

[wesrk]

Another question. I'm currently in the US. I'm thinking, what if I get a normal priced macbook pro here, and then just buy Apple Care from the UK HE online store? Surely that must save me a couple ££'s right? The savings are not huge, I think I come just like £40 ahead by doing this method, but it does provide me with a new macbook pro right now, as opposed to in late April when I go back to the UK.

Only question I have is if the Apple Care I get online in the UK will bump me to 3 years hardware and phone support or if it only does 3 years of phone support, given that all macs from the online store in the UK (HE student discount) come with 3 years hardware.

Any tips? Ideas? Reasons why not to do this?

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by wesrk

Another question. I'm currently in the US. I'm thinking, what if I get a normal priced macbook pro here, and then just buy Apple Care from the UK HE online store? Surely that must save me a couple ££'s right? The savings are not huge, I think I come just like £40 ahead by doing this method, but it does provide me with a new macbook pro right now, as opposed to in late April when I go back to the UK.

Only question I have is if the Apple Care I get online in the UK will bump me to 3 years hardware and phone support or if it only does 3 years of phone support, given that all macs from the online store in the UK (HE student discount) come with 3 years hardware.

Any tips? Ideas? Reasons why not to do this?

My first instinct is that you must get AppleCare no matter what if you buy in the US and intend to use it a lot in the UK. If you buy in the US you cannot sue Apple in the UK courts if they refuse to do an out of warranty repair. (This is a big deal- the UK has excellent consumer rights and when I cease to be a student, which is scarily soon, I doubt I'll bother with £200 AppleCare on a £1000 machine and just use the law instead).

When I brought my MB (June 09) I'm sure I remember seeing a note saying that the ~£45 HE AppleCare is only available at the time of purchase. However, I can't find it now. Having said that, a couple of university buying pages still do-

The uplift product can only be purchased at the same time as the hardware purchase via the online store. If the customer wishes to extend their service entitlement after the hardware purchase they must purchase the full AppleCare Protection Plan product (normal rules apply, e.g. must be purchased within one year of the hardware purchase).

From- http://www.arts.ac.uk/docs/apple_faq.pdf

*Please note that these special HE Agreement prices only apply if purchased at the same time as the computer hardware

From- https://pyrus.ccs.bbk.ac.uk/pipermai...hment-0001.pdf

(These may be out of date now)

When I log into the HE store and navigate to the AppleCare page it shows a price of £160 (instead of the usual £203). Plus, as you said, the £45 AppleCare is an uplift from the 3 year parts and labour, which you won't have.

Although I can't be sure, I'm confident that AppleCare would cost you £160 through the buy-in-the-US route. I were in your position I would wait a month until you are back in the UK and buy then. Sorry- I'm sure that's not what you want to hear!

[dwright1974]

Before I begin, I work for RM.

You might want to check out:

www.RM.com/apple

The educational discount gets applied at POS. I've bought from here before, as can anybody.

Also, if you are in education, or have children in school/college/FE then you can buy software cheap as well. This us at www.rm.com/basement. My daughter is at school and I got Office 2011 for £38!

As I said full disclosure I work for RM but I'm not in sales just thought it was worth sharing this information.

HTH

- D

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by dwright1974

Before I begin, I work for RM.

You might want to check out:

www.RM.com/apple

The educational discount gets applied at POS. I've bought from here before, as can anybody.

Isn't it just the same price as the Apple HE store AppleCare when you add VAT? £160 for the MB/Air/13" Pro.

Won't save wesrk any money!

[dwright1974]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

Isn't it just the same price as the Apple HE store AppleCare when you add VAT? £160 for the MB/Air/13" Pro.

Won't save wesrk any money!

Not on about AppleCare per se, any Apple hardware.

Sorry for the confusion.

- D

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by dwright1974

Not on about AppleCare per se, any Apple hardware.

Sorry for the confusion.

- D

Ok. See what you mean about software though, and some money off hardware. I'll keep that site in mind.

[wesrk]

I'm glad I read this before heading to the apple store. Good advice, great tips. I'll wait the extra 4 weeks and buy it online back in the UK, seems like reasonable thiing to do.

[EMA747]

So just to be clear when ordering do I have to tick the box that says "EMEA CC-HE contract uplift MacBook Pro [+ £60.00]" to get the 3 year parts warranty, or is this £60 deal something different?

I want to get a new MBP and my bro is a student but I'm not so I assume I can get the discount? The only issue is is it possible for my to buy it with my money/bank details and my delivery address? I mean I can easily ask him for his student number but it would make it easier for me to pay rather than transfer the money and mess around with the banks etc.

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by EMA747

So just to be clear when ordering do I have to tick the box that says "EMEA CC-HE contract uplift MacBook Pro [+ £60.00]" to get the 3 year parts warranty, or is this £60 deal something different?

I want to get a new MBP and my bro is a student but I'm not so I assume I can get the discount? The only issue is is it possible for my to buy it with my money/bank details and my delivery address? I mean I can easily ask him for his student number but it would make it easier for me to pay rather than transfer the money and mess around with the banks etc.

No, there is a 3 year warranty for free online. The £60 upgrades this to AppleCare, giving you 3 years of phone support (you get 1 year for free as a student). Hence why it is called an "uplift". You don't need to check that box to get a warranty.

You need to be on the uni network to access the education store. Under Apple's terms only a student can buy for their own personal use. You are not supposed to get a discount online by using your brother's student status. If Apple ever found out they could, in theory, sue you. I'm not here to judge or tell you what to do, only give you the facts.

If you go in store and your brother uses his discount and is clear it is for you then there is no problem. But you will need to spend the £60 (or whatever it is) to get AppleCare as there is no free warranty if you buy in store.

[jamied95]

What's the discnt fir someone with an NUS Extra card (16 year old)?

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by jamied95

What's the discnt fir someone with an NUS Extra card (16 year old)?

If you are at a Further Education college/6th form some (not many) have a special arrangement with Apple. See if Apple will let you onto the further education store from your school's network. Chances are slim though.

If your school doesn't have a special arrangement you should still be able to get a 4% discount. No free warranty.

More details in the OP.

[jamied95]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

If you are at a Further Education college/6th form some (not
many) have a special arrangement with Apple. See if Apple will let you onto the further education store from your school's network. Chances are slim though.

If your school doesn't have a special arrangement you should still be able to get a 4% discount. No free warranty.

More details in the OP.

Yeah, but on the NUS Extra site it talks about them having a special store that allows up to 15% off for card holders - my interpretation is anybody, but I could be wrong. Has anybody ever taken advantage of the NUS Extra discount? Does anybody know how it works?

[EMA747]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

No, there is a 3 year warranty for free online. The £60 upgrades this to AppleCare, giving you 3 years of phone support (you get 1 year for free as a student). Hence why it is called an "uplift". You don't need to check that box to get a warranty.

You need to be on the uni network to access the education store. Under Apple's terms only a student can buy for their own personal use. You are not supposed to get a discount online by using your brother's student status. If Apple ever found out they could, in theory, sue you. I'm not here to judge or tell you what to do, only give you the facts.

If you go in store and your brother uses his discount and is clear it is for you then there is no problem. But you will need to spend the £60 (or whatever it is) to get AppleCare as there is no free warranty if you buy in store.

Thanks for the info.

I was going on what was discussed in replies #8 and #9 of this thread. Namely this one:
"As I said above- in store yes unless told otherwise. Online/phone however, s.2.1 applies above so the intended user must be a student/academic staff. However, a student can buy a Mac for themselves intending to use it for their studies, then change their mind a sell it on to a friend (!) . Also, the quantity limits apply as quoted above. "

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by jamied95

Yeah, but on the NUS Extra site it talks about them having a special store that allows up to 15% off for card holders - my interpretation is anybody, but I could be wrong. Has anybody ever taken advantage of the NUS Extra discount? Does anybody know how it works?

I found Further Education information here on the NUS site. I'm a bit sceptical of it to be honest.

Apple has a special arrangements with some FE institutions for discounts. If you go to the Apple Education Store online the middle button is for FE colleges. This only allows access if you are on the network of a college Apple has an agreement with. I'd try it next time you are there, if it lets you through then you are very fortunate.

The Apple store T&Cs for FE individuals make no reference to a 3 year warranty. See here. Remember, Apple doesn't give free warranties to HE students because it wants to, but because it has to! Furthermore the NUS HE discount site states it is an "exclusive" discount. Which is utter rubbish, there is no need to be an NUS member or have an NUS card, only that you are enrolled at a UK HE institution.

Overall, try going online, you may be at one of the places Apple has a special deal with. If not I'd go in to a physical store and just see what they say they can give you. As you are in education you can get some sort of discount and having an NUS Extra card may help you, and often being friendly helps get more!

Originally Posted by EMA747

Thanks for the info.

I was going on what was discussed in replies #8 and #9 of this thread.

A student who buys online must intend to use it for his own use. One way Apple checks student status is by only allowing purchases to be made over the university networks. It logically follows it should be addressed to a student when it is delivered. However, if a student subsequently decides he no longer wants the machine he can sell it on to whoever he pleases.

As I said in the OP, another person can pay for the computer (parents may often do this) but it should be addressed to the student who will be using it.

[jamied95]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

I found Further Education information here on the NUS site. I'm a bit sceptical of it to be honest.

So you don't think it is actually 15%? By 'exclusive' maybe they mean it's the only way for FE students to get the added discount?

Does anybody have an NUS Extra card and know?

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by jamied95

So you don't think it is actually 15%?

What I am confident of is that having an NUS Extra Card will make no difference at all to buying online. If your FE college has an arrangement then you get whatever that says, but if not having an NUS Card doesn't magic a discount out of nowhere (above the standard 4% that anyone in education can get).

However, Apple's in store education discounts are quite separate to their online ones. I would go in store and see what they say (you could phone them). Pretty confident you won't get a free warranty, but you may get more than the usual 4%. As I said being friendly can help as they will be more willing to help you out.

Hopefully someone with an NUS card will come along to give you more information.

[a9205]

i think over the phone it works out to be 14% not 15%, if you work it out from the ad on the online store, it comes to 14% (very small difference tbh)

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by a9205

i think over the phone it works out to be 14% not 15%, if you work it out from the ad on the online store, it comes to 14% (very small difference tbh)

The prices on the phone should be the same as online, but the exact percentage varies slightly between Macs and also slightly between some universities. So I usually round to 15% as people can do that in their heads!

[psxguru]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

The prices on the phone should be the same as online, but the exact percentage varies slightly between Macs and also slightly between some universities. So I usually round to 15% as people can do that in their heads!

Indeed, the discounts range from 9.93% (Mac mini server) to 14.99% (17" MBP)

[mrklaw]

what proof is needed for basic education discount, and is that available instore? I have two kids - 7 and 10 - and I'm looking to buy a MBP or MBA in the next couple of weeks. They'll use it for homework and I'll also occasionally use it :P

how do I go about getting the discount? And is quidco (3%) still available when using these discounts?

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by mrklaw

what proof is needed for basic education discount, and is that available instore? I have two kids - 7 and 10 - and I'm looking to buy a MBP or MBA in the next couple of weeks. They'll use it for homework and I'll also occasionally use it :P

how do I go about getting the discount? And is quidco (3%) still available when using these discounts?

I don't know much about quidco.

The standard discount is available in store, but I'm not sure what proof is needed with school pupils as they won't have any ID cards etc. Maybe a letter? I'd phone and ask the specific store as I expect they will have had this before.

People I know have had different experiences dealing with Apple face to face as the educational discount system has so many options here staff often get confused! A few people have said only school teachers, not pupils, get the discount. However, if you look online at the T&Cs it doesn't say staff only, mentioning students and those accepted at "education establishments", and the link says "school".

Ordering online requires no evidence- I'd consider that as you can also customise your order. Apple do check a small percentage of orders before shipping, but if they do they can tell you what evidence to submit.

(Note the MB Air is expected to be updated very soon)

[Onimusha370]

When buying my MacBook using HE discount, the guy in store gave me 16% off, and mentioned I have 3 years of warranty standard. Thank you apple...