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Apple Watch Out-of-Warranty Service Fees Range From $229 to $2,800
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So I buy an Edition for $10,000. It fails. I send it in, they send me a replacement. I send back an empty box, they charge me $3600? I will do that all day long. Good luck proving the delivery person didn't do that AND I have a tracking number showing it was shipped...
Anybody want to buy an Edition for $5000?
P
Anybody want to buy an Edition for $5000?
P
Not quite.
When you fail to return the extra watch to them, they charge you the $10,000 replacement cost. Once you realize your mistake and send them the watch (late), they refund $6,400, keeping the $3,600 late fee.
If Apple gets an empty shipping box, you're on the hook for the replacement cost. Of course you're welcome to make a claim against the insurance you bought from the shipper. If you didn't buy insurance, oops!
I don't think many shippers will sell you $10,000 worth of insurance without making sure the box has something valuable in it when you hand it over.
Your little insurance fraud might work once. Trying it a second time might land you in jail.
Is anybody really of the opinion that if I send a watch back a day late, Apple should receive $3600? Seems ridiculous, no?
Apple is the customer of the shipping company. Apple sends you the box, the label, and they pay for it on their account. And there is - quite intentionally - no indication to the handlers which packages contain high value items and pictures of someone's kids/cats. No way for them to verify that there is anything in the package.
What they think and what they can prove are totally different things. And no, I am not suggesting that I would (or anyone else should) do this, just seems like a flawed system. No doubt, the loopholes will be closed.
P
Apple is the customer of the shipping company. Apple sends you the box, the label, and they pay for it on their account. And there is - quite intentionally - no indication to the handlers which packages contain high value items and pictures of someone's kids/cats. No way for them to verify that there is anything in the package.
What they think and what they can prove are totally different things. And no, I am not suggesting that I would (or anyone else should) do this, just seems like a flawed system. No doubt, the loopholes will be closed.
P
"Apple will also charge a late or non-return fee of $35.50 to $60.50 (Sport), $85.50 to $135.50 (Watch) or $2,600 to $3,600 (Edition) if Apple does not receive your original Apple Watch after more than 10 business days, with some exceptions.
I expect they'll give plenty of leeway once you provide evidence that you shipped the thing, with a tracking number showing the packing is making progress in Apple's direction.
They kind of fees are generally meant to get the attention of folks who are toying with the idea of fraud, or who just can't be bothered to send the old unit back in a reasonable time. Or people who intentionally game the system.
Consider... you "forgot" to send the watch back for a month or two, and maybe your friend "just happened" to notice that it "accidentally" started working again on its own, and then he wore it for a month, and then the charge for the replacement cost landed on your credit card, you got the watch back from your friend and finally shipped it to Apple. Well, maybe Apple deserves the late fee.
Alas, there ARE people who play games like this with retail stores, especially for expensive items they can't afford but like to show off.
We are all assuming the guts of all of the editions are the same. If that is the case, then you could just buy a cheap sports watch for $349 & rip out the guts to fix your gold watch to save a few grand.
Of course, if you are spending $10K+ on a watch that will be obsolete in a year, then you probably don't care.
Of course, if you are spending $10K+ on a watch that will be obsolete in a year, then you probably don't care.
I don´t think they actually do any repairs on these things, they just give a replacement and thats why the gold is more expensive than the alu-watch.
Look, LiIon batteries do not have the kind of short lifespan or memory effect that old NiMH batteries do, I have yet to own a device where the battery capacity is diminished or becomes unusable because you charge frequently or don't drain the power before charging, these are all now myths from a bygone technology era.
What about the max load cycles on the Apple support site?
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201585
Watch and ipod/iphone/ipad have different kind of battery? I really don't know, just asking.
My original 2006 MacBook Pro (with Lithium-Polymer battery,) ate through 7 batteries in the first 5 years of ownership. Each battery had dropped to less than 50% of original maximum charge by the 150th discharge.
Yes, I may have gotten fluke batteries, but LiIon and LiPo batteries *DO* degrade over time. They're not magic.
Even the best LiPo batteries manage about 1000 charge/discharge cycles before losing a significant portion of their maximum capacity. At a full cycle a day, that's 3 years. Even assuming you don't do a full cycle every day, there's no way the Apple Watch battery is going to last even 5 years of "full day daily use" before the battery no longer holds a full day's life. (And I'm going with Apple's definition of "full day" meaning 18 hours.)
People who can afford an edition watch can also afford the lawyers to keep you in court for years if you tried a stunt like that.
my guess is that mechanical watches may need just some cleaning and drying for the parts, whereis a liquid spilled on an Apple Watch may completely fry the electronics..
I still find these prices crazy expensive..
Not at all. It's called a deterrent. This watch is a straight ghetto magnet for thieves and scammers.
Not entirely. It does involve cleaning parts, but they have to take the movement apart to wash and re-lube parts and then replace any damaged parts. They also replace the hands of the watch since they usually get slightly bent when it's taken apart.
Here's a video (albeit probably dramatized somewhat) of a full service, which ranges $500-$1000
https://youtu.be/iWyhhTM87uk?t=13s
edit: also the internals of the watch are the same regardless of which version you're buying. No way internals cost $2,800 for the edition version as the cost of repair/service.
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The service fees are high, but I think there are some plausible reasons for that. There's a healthy profit margin in there. Especially for the edition watch. However, the prices have to be higher for the more expensive versions for a couple reasons. Remember apple repair personel aren't perfect. My mom took a watch to Kohls or JCPenneys to have the battery replaced and when they gave it back the crystal was cracked. They took it back and fixed it at their cost but it goes to show people can't be perfect and there's a chance an apple employee could damage the watch internals or scratch the outside and have to replace it.
The replacement fees might be tied to the fact that Apple has to transport the devices securely and arranging that when the watch is submitted after the scheduled transport could mess things up and cause a new transport to be scheduled. Contracts with transport companies could be involved as well. It also might be that the late fee includes the missed sale of a watch (future refurbished?) made from salvaged parts. Then there's the profit margin for the service that has to be considered because it will effect financial statements.
Probably the biggest reason for a profit margin being built into repair costs is the opportunity cost of fixing a watch. If Apple has to replace a watch body or an internal circuitboard or display, then that's one component taken away from their production supplies and eventually adds up to a watch that can't be made and sold for a profit with their notoriously low supply.
These costs will come down in the future, assuming Apple's production capabilities catch up with demand. BUT there's a point at which it won't be worth keeping production high. Due to the fact that repair supplies are connected with their retail inventory through the economics just described, as they lower the repair cost, they eventually erode their gross profit margin on financial statements which is not good for the company. They need to maintain that profit margin on financial statements to prove their products are still selling at a premium value to customers.
The replacement fees might be tied to the fact that Apple has to transport the devices securely and arranging that when the watch is submitted after the scheduled transport could mess things up and cause a new transport to be scheduled. Contracts with transport companies could be involved as well. It also might be that the late fee includes the missed sale of a watch (future refurbished?) made from salvaged parts. Then there's the profit margin for the service that has to be considered because it will effect financial statements.
Probably the biggest reason for a profit margin being built into repair costs is the opportunity cost of fixing a watch. If Apple has to replace a watch body or an internal circuitboard or display, then that's one component taken away from their production supplies and eventually adds up to a watch that can't be made and sold for a profit with their notoriously low supply.
These costs will come down in the future, assuming Apple's production capabilities catch up with demand. BUT there's a point at which it won't be worth keeping production high. Due to the fact that repair supplies are connected with their retail inventory through the economics just described, as they lower the repair cost, they eventually erode their gross profit margin on financial statements which is not good for the company. They need to maintain that profit margin on financial statements to prove their products are still selling at a premium value to customers.
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