Apple Offering Onsite Device Repairs in Select Cities Through Go Tech Services

[MacRumors]

Apple is now offering an onsite repair option for customers in select cities who need issues with their Apple devices addressed but aren't able to visit a repair shop or Apple Store.

The onsite repair options are available through Apple Authorized Service Provider Go Tech Services, which promises to repair your device "at your home or office."

When visiting Apple's Support site to initiate a device repair, there's now a mention of an onsite option when scheduling a repair. "Look for an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Genius Bar. In select locations, onsite service may be available."

Onsite repairs from Go Tech Services appear to be available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas. When choosing a repair option in one of these cities, Go Tech Services can be selected as one of the repair providers.

Go Tech Services is listed as the top option in cities where it is available, and selecting it warns that an onsite visit fee may be charged in addition to the provider's standard repair cost. Apple's support site does not include additional details about the fee, and clicking the "Book through this provider" option redirects users to Go Tech Services' website, where an appointment can be scheduled.

On the site, users are instructed to select a date and a time for a repair, but this part of the booking process also does not include information on fees. In San Francisco, there are no available same-day appointments, with the earliest appointment available on Monday.

Apple offers onsite repairs for its enterprise customers, but until now, there has never been a similar repair option for regular consumers. Go Tech Services is an Apple Authorized Service Provider, so the repairs aren't coming directly from Apple, but it's akin to visiting a similar AASP like Mobile Kangaroo or Best Buy.

It's not clear the extent of the problems that can be addressed by the onsite service provider. We were able to choose Go Tech Services for a cracked iPhone display, but not for a battery replacement.

Go Tech Services appears to operate exclusively through Apple, as visiting the company's website redirects to a notice that repairs must be initiated through Apple's support site.

Article Link: Apple Offering Onsite Device Repairs in Select Cities Through Go Tech Services

 

[swingerofbirch]

I had onsite repair for an eMac, in around 2005-2006 I think at my home. At the time AppleCare had an option for onsite repair. It was a third party repair person but paid for by AppleCare. I had to specifically ask for it, but they offered it.

 

[konqerror]

The nameservers for gotechmobileservices.com are squaretrade.com, so it's probably SquareTrade Go, which was named iCracked before SquareTrade bought them.

 

[SteveJUAE]

It's a bit poor the Fee's are not declared upfront and its an authorized 3rd party, so I can see issues if tech need to verify validity of free repair

My youngest used Dell onsite service for his laptop and it was excellent, next day service

I have used Samsung care for my phone and after calling just before midnight, they followed up the next morning with a call to confirm a "Runner" would be at my location between 2pm and 3pm. He arrived with a small pelican case for my phone, gave me a loan Note 9 and said they would be in touch when repaired. I received an sms by 6:30pm that it was repaired. Then same process next day a "runner" turned up with my phone.

Now if the service is going as good I am sure there will be some happy owners, subject to cost

 

[now i see it]

We were able to choose Go Tech Services for a cracked iPhone display, but not for a battery replacement

though any other iPhone repair service that comes to your home (Puls) can do it in a couple minutes

 

[MacLawyer]

We had a power Mac 6100 that had numerous issues. The on-site dude kept replacing components and it kept failing. After replacing everything else he finally replaced the case. That fixed it! He said the damn thing was haunted. My law partner and I still laugh about that one. 😂

 

[stevejobsghostsghost]

AppleCare customers pay the same price as in store...no extra fees. $29 to fix a display at my house...sign me up!

 

[apple2me]

This is so much needed especially if there is an issue with Mac Pro. Heck, I am tired of carrying my iMac Pro to store which had 4 issues in one year.
About time to bring it back.

 

[haruhiko]

Better include on site support for the $60K Mac Pro by default.

 

[madcran]

Apple offers onsite repairs for its enterprise customers, but until now, there has never been a similar repair option for regular consumers

Not true, Apple has had on-site support for many, many years. As a service technician for an AASP, I have gone out to businesses and people's residences over the last 15+ years to fix Macs. The requirements being that it had to be a desktop Mac and it had to have AppleCare. Portable Macs and iOS devices did not qualify. This is what is in the AppleCare Terms and Conditions:

(ii) Onsite service. Onsite service is available for many desktop computers if the location of the Covered Equipment is within 50 miles (80 kilometers) radius of an Apple Authorized Onsite Service Provider. Certain parts serviceable under do-it-yourself parts service, as described below, are not eligible for Onsite service. If Apple determines that onsite service is available, Apple will dispatch a service technician to the location of the Covered Equipment. Service will be performed at the location, or the service technician will transport the Covered Equipment to an AASP or ARS location for repair. If the Covered Equipment is repaired at an AASP or ARS location, Apple will arrange for transportation of the Covered Equipment to your location following service. If the service technician is not granted access to the Covered Equipment at the appointed time, any further onsite visits may be subject to an additional charge.

It seems like now they are allowing for iPhones and other devices to be serviced as on-sites instead of having someone bring it to an Apple Store or AASP. My guess would be that AppleCare+ is still a requirement for this type of service.
[automerge]1580536735[/automerge]

Better include on site support for the $60K Mac Pro by default.

You would think so, but AppleCare+ is still needed to allow for on-site service. However, if you buy a $60k Mac Pro and don't add AppleCare+, you are really asking for trouble. I see it all as a tech, I make sure to buy AppleCare for everything as inexpensive as my Airpods to my much more expensive MacBook Pro. While I do believe Macs, in general, are made better than their PC counterparts, that is no reason not to ensure you don't have to pay to repair your devices for more than the first year.
[automerge]1580536981[/automerge]

This is so much needed especially if there is an issue with Mac Pro. Heck, I am tired of carrying my iMac Pro to store which had 4 issues in one year.
About time to bring it back.

Next time, when you call AppleCare about an issue, bring that up and ask for an on-site. Assuming of course that the issue you are having requires a part replacement. Apple will not cover an on-site for software troubleshooting. There is no guarantee they will authorize an on-site repair, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[seenett]

"available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas."

SO glad they rolled this out in these small markets with no Apple Store. The rest of us still have to do repairs with Apple by FedEx......

 

[TMRJIJ]

Yeah. We’ve been getting quite a few of them these past few weeks at my job. I don’t really like it. Especially when it’s nothing more than a software related issue or ‘Educational Opportunity.
We’re definitely charging for it though.

 

[adamw]

More service options are always a welcome addition to Apple's support network.

 

[MacGizmo]

If you have an Apple Business Account that you purchase through, you can add a $500 per year option for 24/7 on-site repairs. It's been available since at least October of last year that I know of.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

"available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas."

SO glad they rolled this out in these small markets with no Apple Store. The rest of us still have to do repairs with Apple by FedEx......

Hah, right? This would be fantastic in my area! We have two Apple Stores within an hour of us, but they’re the only ones within several hours of the metro area. We used to have an authorized service provider in town, but they closed several years ago. There are several unauthorized repair shops and people, but it would be awesome if they would honor AppleCare and be able to get official parts. This would be huge in the Midwest!

 

[blockheads88]

So doing an domain lookup the site was created at the end of last year..
Also the NameServer goes back to SQUARETRADE.COM ???
I am thinking this is part of them or AllState Company....
Also very interesting -- https://www.alignable.com/antioch-ca/mdr

Added by @kirstenleefarmer Instagram post It’s no flying car, but this is pretty damn convenient? Cracked my iPhone ? screen, went online to book a repair, and was offered either in-store appointment OR an appointment with tech who will come to your

Instagram post added by kirstenleefarmer It’s no flying car, but this is pretty damn convenient? Cracked my iPhone ? screen, went online to book a repair, and was offered either in-store appointment OR an appointment with tech who will come to your house or office. ? I chose latter, and...

www.picuki.com

 

[bushman4]

In NYC, Why would I want a stranger coming to my house to fix my iPhone when I can simply bring it to an APPLE store. While these are authorized dealers I would still want it fixed by an Apple associate in an Apple store !

 

[edkrane]

This topic is mostly ******** on its face. I "intimately knew" the company which supposedly had an exclusive, nationwide, onsite repair contract with Apple for about 15 years. That company provided excellent service to Apple customers and Apple, with many repairs requiring next-day, priority service. The employees of that service company I "knew well" knew the devices well, and worked with Apple support often to provide solid fixes and satisfaction. But......Apple got greedy, and began screwing the service company by repeatedly telling Apple Care customers they had to take their Imacs, Emacs, Mini-Macs and displays to an Apple service center, often located over a hundred miles away from the customer. When the service center ICare store couldn't fix it, the "aforementioned" service provider was grudgingly called to schedule service. Those techs got the parts the next day, and traveled sometimes quite a distance to do an onsite repair. The Apple customers were most often furious at Apple, now finding out they had onsite repair service all along, as guaranteed by their AppleCare contract. Apple screwed both the customer, and the service provider by withholding revenue to them, which is always necessary to continue to operate. This short-shrifting continued on for quite awhile, really pissing off customers...not to mention the shock to the customer when they were told they would have to pay a repair fee, whereas the mentioned onsite service provider charged nothing....part of the contract. Finally, when Apple came out with the newest thin IMac with no optical reader, it ended up being financially unserviceable since attempting to open up the tight, sealed display ended up with an unacceptable breakage rate, chargeable to the provider. The new IMac being very popular, yet engineered to be extremely difficult and expensive to service. I "learned" the service provider essentially said "enough is enough." Aside from the above, in comparing industry-wide computer customers, Apple customers are known to be above anal, thinking they are owed the moon. But....Apple Care contracts used to offer guaranteed, onsite service...(don't know if they still do). So an Apple customer with AppleCare has every legal right to demand onsite service, no matter what the rep on the phone tells you. Be firm with them. Greed continues to show its ugly face in Apple.

 

[cmaier]

This topic is mostly ******** on its face. I "intimately knew" the company which supposedly had an exclusive, nationwide, onsite repair contract with Apple for about 15 years. That company provided excellent service to Apple customers and Apple, with many repairs requiring next-day, priority service. The employees of that service company I "knew well" knew the devices well, and worked with Apple support often to provide solid fixes and satisfaction. But......Apple got greedy, and began screwing the service company by repeatedly telling Apple Care customers they had to take their Imacs, Emacs, Mini-Macs and displays to an Apple service center, often located over a hundred miles away from the customer. When the service center ICare store couldn't fix it, the "aforementioned" service provider was grudgingly called to schedule service. Those techs got the parts the next day, and traveled sometimes quite a distance to do an onsite repair. The Apple customers were most often furious at Apple, now finding out they had onsite repair service all along, as guaranteed by their AppleCare contract. Apple screwed both the customer, and the service provider by withholding revenue to them, which is always necessary to continue to operate. This short-shrifting continued on for quite awhile, really pissing off customers...not to mention the shock to the customer when they were told they would have to pay a repair fee, whereas the mentioned onsite service provider charged nothing....part of the contract. Finally, when Apple came out with the newest thin IMac with no optical reader, it ended up being financially unserviceable since attempting to open up the tight, sealed display ended up with an unacceptable breakage rate, chargeable to the provider. The new IMac being very popular, yet engineered to be extremely difficult and expensive to service. I "learned" the service provider essentially said "enough is enough." Aside from the above, in comparing industry-wide computer customers, Apple customers are known to be above anal, thinking they are owed the moon. But....Apple Care contracts used to offer guaranteed, onsite service...(don't know if they still do). So an Apple customer with AppleCare has every legal right to demand onsite service, no matter what the rep on the phone tells you. Be firm with them. Greed continues to show its ugly face in Apple.

No, apple care does not provide you with a right to on-site service unless you are an enterprise customer, and it never did.