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Apple to Update AppleCare with Subscription Service and In-Store Repair Options

cmChimera said:
This doesn't sound too bad to me as long as the price is reasonable. One subscription to cover both my phone and computer, and any other product I buy? Sounds like a good idea.
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The question is this a change for all AppleCare or just for iOS devices?

And what happens to devices currently covered under AppleCare, can you convert to the new AppleCare if you want to?
 
What in the world?

When is the last time most of you were in an Apple store? They've been doing display replacements on iPhones since the 3G, and component repairs since the 4. Component repair started YEARS ago. The only newsworthy things are that they're talking about doing displays on 5s (I've already had a battery and a speaker repair, and both took less than 15 min) and that Apple Care is looking to go subscription, which seems to me to be a better idea than a one time, one device payment.

They didn't say anything about changing how Apple Care + works, and nothing new as far as repair strategy goes (again, they've been doing in for many years now).

The chorus of boos is absolutely overblown and childish.

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Bear said:
The question is this a change for all AppleCare or just for iOS devices?

And what happens to devices currently covered under AppleCare, can you convert to the new AppleCare if you want to?
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No. And you can thank your state legislatures for that. It is illegal to change terms of a warranty after a purchase. All you can do is purchase a new warranty plan.
 
Lulz at some of the whiners.

How many of you folk have traded in 2, 3 or even 5 different iPhones just because "something" wasn't right with it? I've seen the abusive posts here; people opening a box in the store and demanding a swap, etc.

The abusers of Apple's past policy are reaping what they have sown, IMO.
 
HenryDJP said:
LOL about the PB 5300. That was actually a great PB but it did have fire issues..
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I never had that issue, thankfully. I loved my 5300. Problem of course was that the RAM was so screwed up in it's design. It plugged in on one end, then the other end would bend down from typing on the keyboard....and unplug the RAM in the process.

I miss it. I'd still use it if I could. With it's PMCIA 28.8k modem. Lol.

In 2000 I chopped it up. Sold the parts on eBay. Got 50 bucks for the screen, which evidently was in much demand.
 
What the heck? This is a stupid move by Apple. I don't want those people from the store opening or touching the inside of my iPhone/iPads. The environment is full of dust and it would get inside screens. What a dumb decision. I can see why Steve Jobs is missed by many. He wouldn't have done something like this. Customers would always be first. Stupid new management.
 
GLS said:
Lulz at some of the whiners.

How many of you folk have traded in 2, 3 or even 5 different iPhones just because "something" wasn't right with it? I've seen the abusive posts here; people opening a box in the store and demanding a swap, etc.

The abusers of Apple's past policy are reaping what they have sown, IMO.
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How about this? I kinda boo it cause I liked the replacement policy better and I agree that was an advantage of having an Apple product, pretty effortless dealing with warranty exchange (only had to deal with it once with a failing button that was getting so bad I figured I better exchange it before it stopped working entirely. Now I use the virtual button in the accessability features to not put wear on the button on my new phones). That being said, I agree with you that people who kept trading it in over tiny nicks and stuff were ridiculous and abusing the system and probably are partly the reason Apple is changing their policy. So thanks a lot guys (I'm looking at the people I kept seeing posting about bitching about tiny nicks on this forum) and I hope those of you complaining weren't also people who would do this or ones who would brag that they would pretend something was wrong just when warranty was about to run out just to get a scratch free device.
 
None of the described repairs will be done quickly enough in the store to satisfy me. This could be the scissors that cut me from Apple. I pay more for a quality product. A quality product includes quality customer support.

I will NOT pay Apple prices for a phone that I have to wait around to have repaired, or even worse, leave behind.

I agree with an earlier post: Apple, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Wondering how many billions you will lose in sales because of this.
 
I'm with most on this,

1) store repair great if you have an ipad or phone or laptop that isn't sync'd with anything or backed up.

2) If I want a new device because mine is defective I want a new device whether or not apple want to repair it, this is the part apple currently does so well, please it should be always so on a premium product line.

3) Attach my plan to me and not each product! Hell yes that would get me into the plan for sure, but always remember that it is not a money saving exercise as your customer is already paying for the best service with no hassle, don't add it in to save a few bucks because you already got paid well once or twice by us.

With all new policies it'll see it's fair share of bad executions but I would hope it's done with the best of intentions like how they sell or more like how they don't force a sale on you in store that is so enlightening. Lets hope they are going for the same with returns
 
This does have an upside - anybody who requires an out of warranty repair to their iPhone may find it significantly cheaper. When I was an Apple Genius, I used to constantly wish that I could repair out of warranty iPhones instead of only being able to offer a £100+ replacement. Replacement speakers, vibration motors etc. cost the customer a fraction of a remanufactured device.
 
i don't think you guys realize what a crazy sense of entitlement the genius bar has given apple customers (as evident in this thread...)

you wouldn't believe the number of perfectly fine devices with absolutely nothing wrong with them that get swapped out because customers raise hell. this is a direct result of that.

if they only swapped the truly defective devices at the bar then they'd be able to afford to keep it going. but customers have abused the hell out of this policy and this is what happens.

and to those whining about the modular repairs, none of the repairs takes any more than 15 minutes. the most time consuming part of getting it repaired will most likely be you complaining to your tech that you want a new one.
 
I wonder how much the care plan will be if it does go subscription based. I could handle $9.99 a month to take care of my iPhone and MacBook Pro forever.
 
tigress666 said:
How about this? I kinda boo it cause I liked the replacement policy better and I agree that was an advantage of having an Apple product, pretty effortless dealing with warranty exchange (only had to deal with it once with a failing button that was getting so bad I figured I better exchange it before it stopped working entirely. Now I use the virtual button in the accessability features to not put wear on the button on my new phones). That being said, I agree with you that people who kept trading it in over tiny nicks and stuff were ridiculous and abusing the system and probably are partly the reason Apple is changing their policy. So thanks a lot guys (I'm looking at the people I kept seeing posting about bitching about tiny nicks on this forum) and I hope those of you complaining weren't also people who would do this or ones who would brag that they would pretend something was wrong just when warranty was about to run out just to get a scratch free device.
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Sorry, I call BS. While I agree that there are people who abuse the warranty, I feel like if I pay $100 for an extended warranty that provides me two replacements in the two year for damage at $50 each, Apple should honor that. And I can tell you this: If they try to repair my damaged device and want to keep it more than about 10 minutes I will sue them for breach of contract. And it'll be a class action. They can then pay part of that $1b to their lawyers.
 
Probably has something to do with China claiming they get repair service while the rest of the world gets swap service. That or folks who swap the glass on counterfeit devices and get them exchanged for genuine.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
How often does Apple innovations and "cheaper" for consumers go together? I suspect this is a great service at a great (high margin) price... typical of all things Apple.
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Actually prices have come down or stayed the same in most areas of apple. Just look at the MBA for an example.
 
rdlink said:
Sorry, I call BS. While I agree that there are people who abuse the warranty, I feel like if I pay $100 for an extended warranty that provides me two replacements in the two year for damage at $50 each, Apple should honor that. And I can tell you this: If they try to repair my damaged device and want to keep it more than about 10 minutes I will sue them for breach of contract. And it'll be a class action. They can then pay part of that $1b to their lawyers.
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Current AppleCare+ terms and conditions stipulate that they can either repair or replace the device. Since the multi-day mail-in process is also a given service option, I would be surprised if keeping your iPhone for an afternoon to repair it would be considered breach of contract.

http://images.apple.com/legal/sales-support/applecare/docs/applecareplus.pdf
 
I'm surprised this hasn't happened all this time. Replacing devices for a small fixable problem is such a waste. Also, with the iPhone 5 interlacing screen issues and manufacturing dents, the replacements were such a luck of the draw.
 
People will amazingly now not see that speck of dust if held under a microscope on the second Tuesday after the first full moon. You get what you deserve.
 
Yeah... This is definitely a direct result of self-entitled pricks abusing the system. Went into a store to replace a phone I dropped once, saw this guy raise a stink and curse at the poor guy behind the Genius Bar and said he would "beat the *****" out of them if they didn't replace his phone and the manager did it!! I thought that was ridiculous

These guys obviously realized that they were a little TOO customer catering and created this world of people who think they have the license to treat other humans like dirt because their computer doesn't work.

Apple's too big and integrated with technological culture right now, they now have the option to tell rude customers to go ahead and buy another product if they're dissatisfied. I doubt this will lead to their demise (a weak WWDC product launch probably will though)

But everyone complaining are obviously the ones who brought this upon themselves. Apple's reaction is "good riddance" to customers who abuse their customer service-centric attitude. Gotta stick up for themselves especially considering everyone wants a piece of the pie just because they've gotten big enough.

Like logic serves: if you don't like it, don't effing buy it. Apple will be juuuust fine without you.
 
I don't mind....I'd rather have my device fixed rather than get some refurb with who knows nasty kooties all over it.
 
First off we don't have apple stores here so it won't affect us except when making a trip north.

But. How many "repair" people will they have in each store? Right now you probably do not see many people in line for repairs as they give out refurb's, but if they are fixing them the wait could get long. Will they be able to keep qualified repair people? It's odd they keep shifting to making things harder to work on before deciding to work on them in store.

I wondering if sending the 5 million phones (or whatever it was) back to china has anything to do with this decision?

If they can't keep qualified people repairing the phones or get it done in a reasonable amount of time I could see it hurting their image. Paying a premium should get premium service, if it does not there will be unhappy people.

I guess we will find out and I really hope service does not suffer..
 
rdlink said:
Sorry, I call BS. While I agree that there are people who abuse the warranty, I feel like if I pay $100 for an extended warranty that provides me two replacements in the two year for damage at $50 each, Apple should honor that. And I can tell you this: If they try to repair my damaged device and want to keep it more than about 10 minutes I will sue them for breach of contract. And it'll be a class action. They can then pay part of that $1b to their lawyers.
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That's fine, but do you return it for some tiny little nick that is barely noticeable (I remember seeing one time some one bitching about some little nick about his trackpad on his macbook that there were some people encouraging him to return it and helping him justify in returning it. Even in his up close photo of the trackpad many people had to have it pointed out where the nick was to even see it. It was ridiculous and if I were Apple I would be refusing people like that. You're not buying a 50,000 piece of art, you're buying a thousand or so dollar computer that that doesn't even affect its use and honestly I think it's reasonable at some point for a company to say that most people wouldn't even notice that, it's not a defect).

Do you go, "Oh, warranty is about to be up. There are scratches on this device that I made, I'll make up some problem to get Apple to replace it?"

These are the things I'm talking about that I've seen people at least claim they did on this forum. ANd I'm not saying it doesn't suck they are changing their policy but I'm betting abuses like that are some of the reasons why they are changing it so you can thank those people that Apple is changing their policy (and I agree with you it's not as good a policy and I'm disappointed in the change).

And actually, come to think of it, I'm thinking more just honoring the regular warranty that comes with the device (and you are more thinking of the paid extended warranties). I do wonder if they will try to change the extended warranties and if they will insist on changing existing extended warranties or if it will apply to new ones (if they try to change existing warranties I would call BS on them entirely for that as that is not what people paid for. I'd think if they tried that, depending on how they worded the small writing, they could easily get sued).
 
Apple Corps said:
Thumbs down on in store repair. The cost of spiffing up their repair bench and hiring really skilled staff will surely offset savings. The current refurb approach appears to work well. Under the rumored system I can envision lines of people complaining about new scratches / dents on their repaired device - sounds like a bag of hurt to me.
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I wonder if that rounded figure was an estimate of net savings. Right now the old ones are probably refurbished, which also costs money. What really surprises me is that four pages into the thread, no one made a joke about this being the real reason Apple hired Kevin Lynch:D.


rdlink said:
Sorry, I call BS. While I agree that there are people who abuse the warranty, I feel like if I pay $100 for an extended warranty that provides me two replacements in the two year for damage at $50 each, Apple should honor that. And I can tell you this: If they try to repair my damaged device and want to keep it more than about 10 minutes I will sue them for breach of contract. And it'll be a class action. They can then pay part of that $1b to their lawyers.
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Those contracts are often written to give them some amount of leverage. Does anything written in it conflict with such a change in policy? It's a rumor right now anyway, so I would at least wait to see if this is confirmed before you get too angry.
 
Apple would be stupid not to do this if they'll save $1 billion. Too many people abused the system and Apple knew it had to be changed. A "premium" product and/or service doesn't give you the right to be a premium pain in the a**.
 
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