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Apple Splitting 'ProCare' into 'ProCare' and 'One-to-One'

Big mistake

I won't be renewing mine. I don't think ProCare has really been worth it. I can see it for the training if you need that, but a $100 for service? They are going to charge $100 so I can make an appointment for service? What exactly are you getting for your money? Well, they won't be getting mine. :(
 
Greedy. Very greedy.

And while we're on the subject, I think everyone should be able to book at least a day in advance for appointments.

AppleCare
ProCare
One to One
.Mac
iWork

That's a fair few additional items to try and sell with every computer. Hopefully iLife + iWork will be bundled with Leopard to make up.
 
i'm not saying this was a good idea... but if they were going to charge the old price (full service) for the one-to-one (partial service) shouldn't they have given you more opportunities to use it??

i agree, bad idea if this is true... just seems like they aren't really thinking about the customers on this one...
 
Just thought i'd jump in here...

If you think what it must cost to pay someone for 52 hours, including payroll
taxes, insurance, overhead etc., it's seems like a great deal to me IF
you need this type of service. It would have been super helpful when i was
starting out. I think this would be ideal for switchers, noobs.
 
puckhead193 said:
It was fine the way it is.
Click to expand...

i, for one, feel the current procare IS already a total ripoff. i got it only b/c apple refused to transfer data from my MB to the replacement unit without charging a fee (could have done it myself, but they wouldn't let me to take both MBs home). i figured if i paid $30 more, i could get procare which would give me priority at the genius bar... WRONG... 3 out of 3 times i was turned away by the genius bar at my local apple store cos they were booked the whole flippin day. i was forced to drive 40-min (one way!) to another apple store to fix recurring RSD. when i did make an appointment, i was made to wait 30 mins and then got yelled at by a store manager for no reason (i didn't even complaint about the wait!). called and wrote to apple's PR, no response or follow-up. i certainly don't see the "pro" in procare. they should pay me $200 for the crap that i had to go through.

with that said, i think if apple wants to separate procare, they should at least combine each separated service with .mac to make them look more reasonably priced.
 
nagromme said:
Both include "setup" help, which sounds like a good thing for Mac newcomers.
Click to expand...

... for Mac newcomers, this is directly who this is aimed at.
i'd say the vast majority of users and regulars here wouldn't be interested in either, but for someone just switching... the "One-on-One" is great.
 
Shintocam said:
Problem with a Dell? They call me to set up a convinient time, show up at my office with the necessary parts for repairs, fix it in front of me, and then wish me a good day. Seriously - had that happen for a screen replacement, keyboard replacement (two different machines). And usually they show up within 24 hours....

Still, I'm not going back - my next laptop will be a MBP but still there are still things Apple can learn from Dell.
Click to expand...

AGREED! My Dell Latitude D620 at work had its hard drive go bad and it was fixed the next day. Another unit had a bad optical drive and Dell overnighted a replacement drive (hot swappable) and I was in business the next day. Apple could definitely learn from this level of service for business users.
 
Bad news. It's always bad when a company turns service into a profit center. It's only a matter of time between that decision and the realization that they could make more money by building crappier products...
 
Shintocam said:
Problem with a Dell? They call me to set up a convinient time, show up at my office with the necessary parts for repairs, fix it in front of me, and then wish me a good day.
Click to expand...


Yea, I'm not going back to Dell either, and you make an excellent point here. How great would it be if Apple made house calls? I know I am going to suggest this to Apple. Maybe if they here it enough, we might see something. For Dell to do that for "home" users, is a big deal, and a certainly welcomed service for the consumer. I wonder what is holding Apple back?
 
amac4me said:
I think One-to-One will be a hit ... great for switchers.
Click to expand...

seems thats the way their selling that feature. But what about seasoned users? How in depth does this one-one training get. i mean if it's just this is how to navigate a mac and use iphoto and idvd.. eh. But if i'm getting 52 hours of training on FCS 2 and Logic 7. i'm down. Anyone know? Cos i might get this since it's being retired on Wed. And can i renew under the old terms if i do?
 
Chrispy said:
If this ends up being true Apple is just out to make another buck while they are already making good profits. So much for customers first :rolleyes:
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Yah - this is definitely a 'screw the little guy' move. it was a tough enough decision to buy it the first time. Now you have folks like me that you would have gotten $99 from, and no you get $0 from... And just because you can get 52 sessions, doesn't mean you do. Most folks may do 4-8 of those - declaring 52 sessions as a value is a bit misleading.
 
Eraserhead said:
Maybe they'll make ProCare acceptably good for Business customers.
Click to expand...

amac4me said:
I think One-to-One will be a hit ... great for switchers.
Click to expand...
I think those two quotes sum it up.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Apple Stores started marketing ProCare to its local business customers (did the old ProCare allow you to get Genius Bar service on three systems?), while marketing One-to-One to consumers, especially switchers or first-time computer buyers.

I think the old-ProCare was an insane value to the seemingly few (from reading this thread) people who actually used it to get access to both the Genius and Creative Bars. :eek:

The MacRumors article didn't mention this, but AppleInsider mentions (going back to ProCare being targeted towards businesses/professionals):
The first $99 package will retain the "ProCare" brand and continue to offer Genius Bar reservations up to 14 days in advance, "Fast Track" priority same-day repairs, and general Genius Bar expedited service for up to 3 computers.
Click to expand...
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...rvice_revamp_to_offer_less_bang_for_buck.html
 
BiTurboMunkie said:
i, for one, feel the current procare IS already a total ripoff. i got it only b/c apple refused to transfer data from my MB to the replacement unit without charging a fee (could have done it myself, but they wouldn't let me to take both MBs home). i figured if i paid $30 more, i could get procare which would give me priority at the genius bar... WRONG... 3 out of 3 times i was turned away by the genius bar at my local apple store cos they were booked the whole flippin day.
Click to expand...

You may have foudn the real reason. If to many people buy the 'cut to the head of the line card', then everyone is back to the same place they used to be, and it becomes harded to sell the service.

That's how they got me the first time. "We can fix your mac in a week, or if you buy this plan, it will be ready tomorrow morning..."
 
color guy said:
If you think what it must cost to pay someone for 52 hours, including payroll taxes, insurance, overhead etc., it's seems like a great deal to me IF you need this type of service.
Click to expand...

Well, to continue down this path. By your logic, I'd want a professional or expert. Often the 1-1 is the guy who happens to be in the store who knows the most about application X. I often stump them. I often get a 'kid' who wants to show me something cool I can do rather than answer my questions.

If you're going to double the price for this, I want a real person.
 
mashinhead said:
seems thats the way their selling that feature. But what about seasoned users? How in depth does this one-one training get. i mean if it's just this is how to navigate a mac and use iphoto and idvd.. eh. But if i'm getting 52 hours of training on FCS 2 and Logic 7. i'm down. Anyone know? Cos i might get this since it's being retired on Wed. And can i renew under the old terms if i do?
Click to expand...

Well . . . kinda.

They have "classes" you can attend where they go over the basics of the program (for each of many programs). After you sit through a 45 minute monologue you can ask questions.

But wait. You can do that at a Genius Bar. Or a usenet newsgroup, or a website chat or forum.

This is targeted to new users, and users of recently purchased programs. There are mostly 101 level classes, but there are a "few" 202.

I needed a "Genius" and had to drive about 100 miles to access this magic. Could I schedule in advance? Nope. I had to drive down, schedule an appointment for the next day, which I did, stay overnight, come back the next morning and have them deal with my issue. They did "to a degree" but not to the degree my actual problem was solved (back up an iTunes library to any media at all besides the HD). I am not a moron either.

One of several things the Genius discovered is the iBook G4 which had only recently come back from Applecare (free!!!) had installed in it 128mb of memory (of the 256 it originally came with in the box and of the 640mb it was upgraded to by MacMall at time of purchase). Hmmm.

So I had an "independent" re-upgrade the memory at my expense. I still have an entire iTunes library stranded on what is probably a corrupt or partially corrupt HD since downloading via Firewire disc mode, or ethernet file sharing or emailing the file to myself, does not work.

Bottom line is not the drama of the computer (my first Apple Lemon ever, plenty more to this story), but WHY COULDN'T I RESERVE MY APPOINTMENT WITH THE GENIUS FROM 100 MILES AWAY AND SAVE AN OVERNIGHT?!?

Rocketman, likes Apple, but NOT an apologist.
 
This is basic economics, people.

Demand far outnumbers supply, which pushes the price up, and now Apple has found the new equilibrium. Now they will set the price so that the number of demanders and the amount of supply have reached an equilibrium.
 
johnmcboston said:
Well, to continue down this path. By your logic, I'd want a professional or expert. Often the 1-1 is the guy who happens to be in the store who knows the most about application X. I often stump them. I often get a 'kid' who wants to show me something cool I can do rather than answer my questions.

If you're going to double the price for this, I want a real person.
Click to expand...
If you signed up online for your Creative Bar appointment, you would have been assigned an Apple-trained Creative that knows the app that you picked when you signed up. The slots that are open for you to pick from coincide with the schedules of the Creatives and what they know. i.e. if only one of the four Creatives knows Final Cut Pro, you're not going to be able to pick an appointment when s/he's not working.

If that particular Creative wasn't able to be at your appointment (i.e. s/he was sick that day) and they pulled a Specialist off of the floor to fill his spot, they'd call you in advance, but if they couldn't get ahold of you, you wouldn't be "charged" one of your 52 hours.
 
I have a problem with Apple's support as well. And I understand Apple is a smaller company than say Dell. But on the college campus I went to Dell had a set up with the IT department where you could just bring your Dell in and they had Dell certified people working in our computer department to fix the computer right there and they could order parts right from Dell.

As I've described at length in another post, when I needed help with my eMac, and could not drive to an Apple store, Apple did sound out a tech. However, he was not apple certified. He told me he had never worked on a Mac before, and long story short, he basically broke the eMac trying to fix the screen. He was part of a military contractor firm, and Apple doesn't know why he was sent out.

I again have a problem with the iMac they replaced it with and I have to use it in its constantly crashing state until my parents are finished with work for the summer so they can drive me the hour plus to get to an Apple store to get the iMac looked at. So i've been using for months now a computer on the fritz because their plan doesn't have real on site support, even though apple care is supposed to include on site support (if you call into apple care they basically say do on site repair at your own risk since they don't know who they are sending which is pretty bad imo). I think the fact that I bought apple care should at least give me the opportunity to make an appt for the specific time I know I will be able to bring the computer in. Not everyone has a car or knows how to drive, and even more people don't live particularly close to an Apple store.

Since they don't have the infrastructure to send out qualified on site reps, I think they should have a mail in program for iMacs. An iMac is not huge. And I know they CAN do it because when my eMac was broken they sent me a brand new CRT which is much heavier than an iMac and then wanted the old CRT sent back (even though I knew the problem was with the logic board..but that's a different story).

And if you want to speak in environmental terms, I think it is better for the environment to send computers to a centralized repair depot than for lots of individuals to drive back and forth to stores which can be hours away (and then drive back and forth again when the computer is repaired).
 
Ripoff? Compmared to what?

Where in the world can you get 52 hours (one a week for a year) of one-on-one personal training for $1.90 an hour???

elppa said:
Greedy. Very greedy.

And while we're on the subject, I think everyone should be able to book at least a day in advance for appointments.
Click to expand...

You can - go try it right now. You can make an appointment up to three days in advance.
 
So, for the extra price of $198/year will Apple actually fix my computer? :rolleyes:


I can't wait for next week's headline:

Only pay for the .Mac features you want!
  • .Mac email - 250 MB storage - $99/year
  • 1 GB iDisk Storage - $99/year
  • iWeb webpage - $99/year
  • Syncing - $50/year
  • .Mac iChat screen name - $25/year
  • Exclusive .Mac Member widgets - $10/each (hey, at least we get 'em)


...And the week after that Apple will start charging an entrance fee at all Apple Retail locations:
  • $5 basic fee ($15 for fifth Avenue - elevator ride not included)
 
mashinhead said:
But if i'm getting 52 hours of training on FCS 2 and Logic 7. i'm down.
Click to expand...
The Creatives are expected to train on Apples Pro apps. Part of their training involves flying out and spending 2-weeks in Cupertino training on all of Apples apps.

Apple's Creatives are typically artists. At the store near me, one of the Creatives is a composer, the other is a photographer, and the other draws/paints. They can all cover the basics of the Pro apps, but for example, if you schedule an Aperture session, you're going to wind up with the photographer.

Your best bet is to call your local store and see what their Creatives excel in. They should be able to tell you right out if anyone there really knows Logic or Final Cut, or if they'd just be able to go over the basics with you.
 
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