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Apple ProCare

Previously posted by oingoboingo:
"When I see posts like this, I wonder if the 'Pro' in 'Apple ProCare' is actually short for 'PROctologist'. Some people are obviously just arseholes, and need a bit of extra attention from Apple."

Uh, so pay Apple the $99 if you think you need the extra attention. Arsehole. 🙄
 
mjtomlin said:
SNIP

Uh, so pay Apple the $99 if you think you need the extra attention. Arsehole. 🙄
Click to expand...

I think you'll find that this offer only applies to Americans at the moment...read what you will into that 😱 😛
There really is no need for vulgarity...except during another keynote that has no decent hardware - especially G5 PowerBooks!!! 😉 😀
 
Competition

I guess working at CompUSA gives me a different take on this whole thing. It seems more like another way to drive out the retail competition. Apple may only have a small market share, but if any of you thinks they don't have MS monopolistic tendencies, then you're crazy. This is a slap in the face to the resellers, at Comp we already do free installs on hardware and software and basic setup and if you read the terms and conditions carefully( http://www.apple.com/retail/procare/terms.html ), it is only good at brick and mortar Apple Stores. I dont mind the price so much as I mind the offer. The price doesnt bother me becuase it is no different than the reason someone would buy on of our Platinum Service plans versus the carry-in only plan...needs of the customer.

The fact that it is offered and the fact that they are once again changing their reseller contracts stating that it is entirely fair to not have a level playing field, meaning the Apple store half a mile away at Cherry Creek Mall (Denver, CO) has every PB, G5, IB, Emac and Imac in stock and we are down to open box units. I wouldnt be surprised if the Compusa store in Chicago, where there is an Apple Store a couple blocks away, has similar issues. I dont know whether CompUSA or MicroCenter sells more Macs but I wouldnt be surprised if they were feeling the same crunch that we are, and I cant imagine what the mom and pops are feeling in terms of inventory and new contracts.
All we ask is that Apple have a level playing field, because there are many an individual who look to the sales people for direction as first time users or returning computer users, and if Apple continues to slap us down, there may come a time where we stop telling people why they should spend and extra $6-700 on an imac vs the $599 HP computer/monitor bundle that has twice as much ram, hard drive space, better graphics card, and user replaceable parts.
I still cant believe that no one brought up the fact that if you ever move out of state or city, your ProCare is null and void unless you want to drive/fly to the store where you bought the ProCare. At least Apple Care and our Service Plans are good at all of our stores and are transferrable. Oh well...
 
I'm definitely plan on visiting my local Apple Store tomorrow. Want to find out all the details on this program. I have one question in mind. 🙂
 
What you are all forgetting is.....

That Apple is working on growing market share. They are offering a product that new users may need- you arent forced to buy it- For those of you who think that they should "for free" offer free file transfer, software configuration, etc, you have obviously never spent 3 or 4 hours of your time working "for free" for someone who has never touched a mac before--- YES they are easy ( as easy as it gets to use), but LOTS of folks that have never touched a mac have apprehensions about using them. For those of you that think this scuzzy of Apple, dont buy it. If it doesnt sell, they will discontinue or modify the program. BTW- I am an Apple specialist reseller- I have the same problems with getting product allocation that you hear about everywhere else, but y'know what? I have no problem with these new contracts- People who complain about a non-level playing field obviously have never played king of the mountain, and would rather whine than compete- I love seeing Apple offer this pro care- It will give me more sales ( why? We do some of the exact same stuff for free, and do it faster and more efficiently with consulatant level professional, friendly service)
As always- my 2 cents
 
ITR 81 said:
How about common sense.
How would Apple look if it was missing..iTunes, iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, and now Garageband.
I doubt Apple will ship it without a newer ver. of iLife.
So far for me iLife has been updated twice with the newest ver of OSX.
Click to expand...

Panther didn't have the then current complete iLife package, why should we expect 10.4 to? Prior to the January announcement, you still had to buy the box to get everything -- if your machine came with iDVD 2, no amount of Software Update would morph it into iDVD 3. Whether or not you find iDVD useful (for the life of me, I couldn't tell you if I've ever even launched it), its still part of iLife and hasn't been available for download.
 
trueice said:
I still cant believe that no one brought up the fact that if you ever move out of state or city, your ProCare is null and void unless you want to drive/fly to the store where you bought the ProCare.
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Interesting. I didn't realize that - a definite minus for those who don't know if they'll be in a given area for the whole 12 months.
 
I just visited my Apple Store at Chestnut Hill. We purchased the Apple ProCare Card #5 for my wife's 15" PowerBook. It is tied to the computer not the person. Being able to setup a private one hour workshop will be a nice feature. They said that my wife & I can both attend. 😎
 
wdlove said:
I just visited my Apple Store at Chestnut Hill. We purchased the Apple ProCare Card #5 for my wife's 15" PowerBook. It is tied to the computer not the person. Being able to setup a private one hour workshop will be a nice feature. They said that my wife & I can both attend. 😎
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What kind of workshops do they offer? Just basic newbie stuff, or Final Cut Express/Pro, etc? Is there a limit as to how many times you can set up a workshop?
 
joshuawaire said:
What kind of workshops do they offer? Just basic newbie stuff, or Final Cut Express/Pro, etc? Is there a limit as to how many times you can set up a workshop?
Click to expand...

The Apple staffer didn't mention about any limit. It talks about "Custom Workshops, Book free, one hour workshops to learn about applications or business solutions." My wife ask about photoshop an he said yes. They do list Final Cut Express. iLife, GarageBand, and Keynote among many others.
 
eSnow said:
Another of those offers that (like .Mac) are absolutely no use for a seasoned Mac-User like me *sigh*. OK, I know, I don't need to use it, but I feel Apple is investing more and more resources in stuff that will never be useful for me.

Set up my Mac? Yeah right, I desperately need someone who enters my username...
Click to expand...

I finally "switched" a friend of mine over to the Mac. He's been on PC's for years, and has had all sorts of problems with his Gateway, which finally gave up the ghost two night ago when the power supply went out. (Some issues he's had were PC related, but, admittedly, some issues are his - he's not the brightest bulb in the drawer when it comes to computers, and is somewhat phobic about the whole computer experience.)

Now, for me, ProCare would be absurd. I'm a power user, have resources available to me outside of Apple to take care of any serious issues, and I don't need my "hand held." But for my friend, this was a Godsend. Although I expect many happy carefree years for him in the future with his new 17" iMac, I can breathe easier for him knowing that he purchased ProCare, which I suggested to him. For the timid, and the ones who are not sure of themselves when it comes to all the ins and outs of the computer experience, help, advice, superior service and support are just a phone call away for him, and that will not only relieve me of the need to perform a lot of baby-sitting for him, but gives him great peace of mind. He jumped at the chance to purchase it, and was grateful that such a service was even offered.

And now he has a "cool" black card with ProCare written on it and an account number. He looked at it as he turned it in his hands as if he just recieved an American Express Platinum Card. For him, this service came at the right time.
 
voicegy said:
And now he has a "cool" black card with ProCare written on it and an account number. He looked at it as he turned it in his hands as if he just received an American Express Platinum Card. For him, this service came at the right time.
Click to expand...

My wife and I feel the same way voiceguy. One on one help is very comforting. I realize that here on the forum and on the phone it is very frustrating for the expert.
 
ProCare - Thumbs Up

Ok, so I was skeptical about it. But I figured, I spent a bundle on my PowerBook, this may be added insurance.

So far, it's come in very handy. The San Francisco store is a VERY busy store, but whenever I tell them at the Genius Bar that I have ProCare, they bump me to the front of the line. Since I bought it a week ago, its come in handy 3 times when I had a question about something my PowerBook was doing. I hope I never have to use the repair service, but I definitely get treated differently at the store.
 
ProCare does not do much

I brought my seven month old g5 in to an Apple store because it was having a kernel panic and tech support could not fix the problem. They said the computer should be ready in a few days. I called three days later and they said it would be ready in a week. I went in the store and bought ProCare because they said it could be applied to the existing service ticket.

It has been three additional business days and my computer is still not ready.

So much for:
Rapid Repairs. Get priority, next-day turnaround on in-store repairs.
 
Fourbin said:
I'll tell you I for one would never invest in this BS. Especially how screwed I'm getting for the $350 AppleCare I paid for (this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=1162792)
Click to expand...

You're not getting screwed because AppleCare is a service contract, not an insurance policy.

Next time get your computer added to your homeowner's policy or a separate policy with a company such as safeware.com.

I bought a policy from safeware.com and although I haven't yet had to file a claim, I have more peace of mind with safeware than AppleCare would give me because I'm still within the first 12 months of hardware coverage. If I end up keeping my PowerBook longer than a year I might just buy the AppleCare extended warranty. For now I'm set.

______________________

In ProCare news, they no longer list "Test Drive" as one of ProCare's features and benefits. Perhaps they figured out the stupidity of listing that item.

http://www.apple.com/retail/procare/

The predecessor to ProCare, which was exclusive to Power Mac G5s, allowed you to return the G5s without penalty in the first two weeks. I just read the entire ProCare Terms & Conditions and this privilege is not offered with ProCare. Maybe people were abusing this?
 
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