Square Trade Warranty ipad problems

[holmstrom111]

I had squaretrade on my first ipad. I never used the warranty because i never broke my ipad. On my ipad 2 i recently broke the screen on my ipad2. I sent in my ipad to squaretrade. When i got the ipad back the screen did not feel like an ipad screen. The corners of the ipad were sanded down. I called them when i got the ipad and they said the repair cost was around 250. To exchange my broken ipad to a referb would have cost 250 from apple. If i would have known the repair quality would be considerably less than apple I would have never bought the Squaretrade warranty. They said I can still get a referb but the cost of the repair would be deducted from my warranty. this blows

[gigemzach]

Originally Posted by holmstrom111

I had squaretrade on my first ipad. I never used the warranty because i never broke my ipad. On my ipad 2 i recently broke the screen on my ipad2. I sent in my ipad to squaretrade. When i got the ipad back the screen did not feel like an ipad screen. The corners of the ipad were sanded down. I called them when i got the ipad and they said the repair cost was around 250. To exchange my broken ipad to a referb would have cost 250 from apple. If i would have known the repair quality would be considerably less than apple I would have never bought the Squaretrade warranty. They said I can still get a referb but the cost of the repair would be deducted from my warranty. this blows

Call and ask to speak to a supervisor. You shouldn't have to deal with that at all. I would demand a replacement.

[bwrairen]

sounds familiar

[TB07-NJ]

That is how their warranty works. They deduct the cost of the repair even if you do it directly from ST. Your total repair costs during the repair period is limited to the cost of the ipad. Why anyone sends it back to S.T. is beyond me as they will just butcher it when you can get a virtually new one from Apple and be reimbursed.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

That is how their warranty works. They deduct the cost of the repair even if you do it directly from ST. Your total repair costs during the repair period is limited to the cost of the ipad. Why anyone sends it back to S.T. is beyond me as they will just butcher it when you can get a virtually new one from Apple and be reimbursed.

Probably because in some cases a store is not nearby.

... and now its not beyond you.

[holmstrom111]

The screen is wigging out now. I'm going to call squaretrade and try to get this fixed right. i will post again on what happens

[eneisch]

Wow - this is the second instance of Squaretrade's repair being done totally unacceptably. Either the iPad is extremely hard to repair of it is beyond their repair shop's capabilities.

Based on what I've seen on this forum I would never opt to let ST perfrom repairs, I would only allow them to pay Apple to repair/replace it.

I am also going to seriously reconsider purchasing future ST warranties. Luckily I purchased the AppleCare+ for my newe iPad!

[TB07-NJ]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Probably because in some cases a store is not nearby.

... and now its not beyond you.

Thanks for being so observant of my comment. It makes no difference because one can ship it to Apple instead of shipping it to Square Trade .... same difference, same cost, same turnaround time (in fact Apple may even cross-ship it). So it is still beyond me. I hope that explanation meets with your satisfaction.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

Thanks for being so observant of my comment. It makes no difference because one can ship it to Apple instead of shipping it to Square Trade .... same difference, same cost, same turnaround time (in fact Apple may even cross-ship it). So it is still beyond me. I hope that explanation meets with your satisfaction.

I offered you an explanation as to why some people buy ST. I did not say is makes sense.

I agree....ST is just not a smart purchase for the ipad 3.

[sqtradevince]

Hi All,

Just a quick intro - I'm Vince Tseng, and I run the iPhone & iPad warranty program for SquareTrade.

OP - just wanted to check if you ended up getting the iPad replacement through Apple instead? If your repair wasn't satisfactory (wiggly screen? definitely not!), then your repair shouldn't count against the total value of your warranty.

Just an FYI for anyone else - you should always be given the option to use Apple's OOW repair service and get reimbursed by SquareTrade. That includes their "advanced exchange" service. If a SquareTrade rep doesn't offer it, make sure you ask. Some customers are cash-constrained and would rather not pay out of pocket, but it should be an option.

SquareTrade is growing quickly and we service thousands of iPads and iPhones every month. We’re definitely not perfect and sometimes things don’t go right, but our goal is 100% satisfaction. So, if you’re ever not satisfied, please let us know.

Cheers
Vince

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by sqtradevince

Hi All,

Just a quick intro - I'm Vince Tseng, and I run the iPhone & iPad warranty program for SquareTrade.

OP - just wanted to check if you ended up getting the iPad replacement through Apple instead? If your repair wasn't satisfactory (wiggly screen? definitely not!), then your repair shouldn't count against the total value of your warranty.

Just an FYI for anyone else - you should always be given the option to use Apple's OOW repair service and get reimbursed by SquareTrade. That includes their "advanced exchange" service. If a SquareTrade rep doesn't offer it, make sure you ask. Some customers are cash-constrained and would rather not pay out of pocket, but it should be an option.

SquareTrade is growing quickly and we service thousands of iPads and iPhones every month. We’re definitely not perfect and sometimes things don’t go right, but our goal is 100% satisfaction. So, if you’re ever not satisfied, please let us know.

Cheers
Vince

Really nice, but perhaps you could address the OP's experience? How could your repairs have been so poorly executed? How did you take care of that person by dinging them the cost to repair damage you caused?

Its nice that customers can go to Apple direct, but that's not an excuse for not fixing ipads with the same level of quality as Apple.

[Geekbabe]

It's very nice that ST has checked in here to reach out & help the OP, that said I just booked a Genius Bar appointment to get Applecare + on my new ipad.

[TB07-NJ]

Originally Posted by sqtradevince

Just an FYI for anyone else - you should always be given the option to use Apple's OOW repair service and get reimbursed by SquareTrade. That includes their "advanced exchange" service. If a SquareTrade rep doesn't offer it, make sure you ask. Some customers are cash-constrained and would rather not pay out of pocket, but it should be an option.

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Its nice that customers can go to Apple direct, but that's not an excuse for not fixing ipads with the same level of quality as Apple.

That comparison really isn't realistic because Apple doesn't "fix" them, they give or send you one with at minimum a NEW case and NEW battery and then send "yours" back to China to go through the same process. There is no way any "repair" place can do that. S.T. needs to advise customers up front about this and CLEARLY give them the option of going back to Apple.

Other than the up front payment to Apple and then getting reimbursed as opposed to not paying anything to S.T. having the S.T. shop do the repair is foolish. I think most people who purchased an iPad and paid for a warranty usually have a credit card to pay for the replacement and are able to wait 4-5 days to get reimbursed. S.T. pays quickly so they would be able to cover the charge before it is even billed.

[dave420]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

Other than the up front payment to Apple and then getting reimbursed as opposed to not paying anything to S.T. having the S.T. shop do the repair is foolish.

I got my iPad (first generation) repaired recently through SquareTrade and I was very happy with the service. They replaced both the front glass and the back case, and I couldn't tell it wasn't original from Apple. While I like Apple's replacement method for devices, it is also nice to get "my" iPad back from SquareTrade (iResQ actually).

[Jackintosh]

I'm glad that ST repair worked out. But I prefer Apple complete replacement. I just don't feel comfortable with any after-manufacture tinkering, and would much rather have the original manufacturer provide new or refurbished from their process.

[Saturn007]

An accolade for Square Trade warranty and repair. I had it on my iPhone 4--and the home button stopped working well. They sent me a prepaid box for shipping the phone to them, replaced the button, and the turn around time was but a few days--all at no additional cost to me.

I was impressed.

They even offered to send me a replacement instead (so that I wouldn't be without the iPhone). That was a good offer, which others would like, but I particularly wanted to have my iPhone repaired as it had the cool-blue screen that I was used to and any replacement would likely not have that.

In any event, it sounds both like the OP got a shoddy repair and that ST is taking care of it.

Do have one question here, though, in case the ST head reads this again... can you get an ST warranty on a refurbished iPad 2 that covers accidental damage, such as screen breakage?

[UCBruins]

Great thread. Just purchased AppleCare+ because of this thread instead of Square Trade. No need to take a chance on my $900 iPad.

OP, hopefully they made it right.

[noteple]

Removing the glass was a lot easier on the iPad 1

Third party repair shops would have their hands full trying to work on the iPad 2 &3's

Either way with AppleCare you are going to get a cosmetically perfect Replacement.

Any scratches or dings you picked up along the way will be gone.

If you take extreme care of your iPad and only something like a switch fails you might not like this option.

However if you have a road weary iPad the one that's returned from Apple will be like starting new.

[Kritter217]

Stumbled upon this thread as I am trying to decide what to do about my damaged iPad first generation. To make a long story short, the top right quadrant got run over. I have Square Trade warranty on it. My questions are: 1. will Square Trade cover that type of damage? 2. Seeing as how it is first generation, do I have any kind of replacement option (I mean, are there are first generation iPads to replace it with?). Thanks for any help.

[scaredpoet]

Originally Posted by Kritter217

Stumbled upon this thread as I am trying to decide what to do about my damaged iPad first generation. To make a long story short, the top right quadrant got run over. I have Square Trade warranty on it. My questions are: 1. will Square Trade cover that type of damage?

If you got the Accidental Damage Waiver, yes. Best thing to do is log into your square trade account and look at your coverage.

2. Seeing as how it is first generation, do I have any kind of replacement option (I mean, are there are first generation iPads to replace it with?). Thanks for any help.

Apple should still have some refurb iPad 1s somewhere. If not, you'll get reimbursed the balance of your warranty coverage to go buy a new one.

[Mdifilm]

Originally Posted by sqtradevince

Hi All,

Just a quick intro - I'm Vince Tseng, and I run the iPhone & iPad warranty program for SquareTrade.

OP - just wanted to check if you ended up getting the iPad replacement through Apple instead? If your repair wasn't satisfactory (wiggly screen? definitely not!), then your repair shouldn't count against the total value of your warranty.

Just an FYI for anyone else - you should always be given the option to use Apple's OOW repair service and get reimbursed by SquareTrade. That includes their "advanced exchange" service. If a SquareTrade rep doesn't offer it, make sure you ask. Some customers are cash-constrained and would rather not pay out of pocket, but it should be an option.

SquareTrade is growing quickly and we service thousands of iPads and iPhones every month. We’re definitely not perfect and sometimes things don’t go right, but our goal is 100% satisfaction. So, if you’re ever not satisfied, please let us know.

Cheers
Vince

That was never a choice for me when I called about my iPad 2. The person just tell me to send the iPad to them and they even almost lost my package. It took them three weeks to get my iPad back, worst, the repaired quality is subpar. The screen felt different like there is a grain surface. I emailed ST and was told to make plan to ship it back... No thanks. I've since then canceled all my ST warranties.

[Saturn007]

That's really bad! Perhaps they'v grown too much and are now hiring less-experience technicians or gone cheap on replacement parts.

Hope that it's an exception. As noted above, we had great service on an iPhone repair--fast and excellent--and the unit is still working great! (And, no, I have no connection with the ST folks!)

[mobutt]

Really happy with mine, I broke my iPad really early on and they repaired the screen doing a fairly decent job. The second time it broke (kids) I decided to take it to the apple store and they Paypal'd me the money within 3 days

[cmiller24]

Same thing with my ST warranty on my iPad 2. I have loved their service up to this point. But their repair company (a camera repair place in IL) have a cheap screen that feels like plastic and I had the same issue with the bottom corner of my screen as your picture. Not what I expected at all! All I got from customer service at the repair facility ("sorry - call square trade") and ST itself was not "what can we do to make this right". It was - "well, sorry we don't have the same parts that Apple has." I'm calling on Monday to talk to ST leadership to see what's up. I'd rather send it to Apple and have ST reimburse me but that was never an option given to me...

[Rodster]

I always avoid 3rd party warranties like the plague. Anytime someone wants to sell me one my first question is. Will you swap it out for a NEW one if it fails? When they answer, no you have to send it in for repair I always decline.