Correct. Makes sense on paper. But having seen and talked to these "geniuses", there is no way I want them inside my stuff after watching a 1 hour tutorial, probably while high. I'd rather they send my phone to china where people at least try.
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Apple to Update AppleCare with Subscription Service and In-Store Repair Options
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Correct. Makes sense on paper. But having seen and talked to these "geniuses", there is no way I want them inside my stuff after watching a 1 hour tutorial, probably while high. I'd rather they send my phone to china where people at least try.
Here's a few other things that didn't 'need fixing' until Apple decided otherwise:
Smartphones
Digital Music
Digital Movies
MP3 Players
Laptop thickness
Tablet computers
Computer Design
Mac OS 9
Repaired in the store. Once you have the right tools and a bit of practice, opening an iPhone 5 isn't very difficult at all (on iPhone 3 one side was easily removable, on iPhone 4 the other side, on iPhone 5 both sides). No reason why your phone can't be fixed in 15 minutes.
You can't blame Cook for trying to make a dent in the industry. He doesn't like the fact that he will always forever be a part of Steve Job's shadow. So he fired the people Steve hired since he doesn't like some of them and now derailing from Steve Jobs's roadmap.
Just follow the Steve Job's road map to success man! It'd make you look good and smart. The way things are going, retina without any software development and powering google with their maps and letting them run you over like a little baby is sad. Steve Jobs would of never let that happen. Stick to the Steve Job's roadmap of success thats already been outlined for you and stop firing people who are smart, just cause you don't like them.
Or soon there will be a book called Cook the person who burned Apple.
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Improving is a different story. =cP
Bring it in for repair ? how is that gonna work ? it's not like they have a store on every corner . I would have to drive a little over an hour , just one way. Im guessing that I wouldn't be the only one in the store getting repairs at any given time . sure it'll save them 1 billion but its gonna cost me hundreds or the consumer as a whole , Billions ! not to mention my precious time.
Obviously if the Apple Store does not have the current capacity to repair the item it's being shipped somewhere else for the repair. The $1bn in savings is from logistics in no longer having to ship the swapped out defective product to have it refurbished and then running it through it's supply chain again for resell.
I had the screen replaced on my old 3GS a couple of times (due to dust) under AC. I didn't have to wait any longer than 20 minutes. I can't see them fixing glued together items like the iPad, so I guess you'll still get exchanges for those. On the plus side, maybe future products will be easier to service if they're going to do more in store repairs.
Maybe the subscription model for Applecare will including different levels of service, so you can still swap the device if downtime is more important to you than cost? We have no details on the subscription model so it's probably best to reserve judgement for a little while.
I'm a bit uncertain about it though; tying Applecare to a customer sounds reasonable, but what if that customer owns 10 Mac Pros? I suppose the chances of that may be slim enough that on balance the subscription model will still draw in enough money to cover it, it seems a strange way to do things unless the fee is still based on what you actually own, otherwise some people will be underpaying and others end up indirectly paying for the most expensive customer's repairs.
Still, it wouldn't be fair to read too much into any of it until we have more details. Though if Apple are looking to do more repairs in place of straight up replacements, then I wonder if it means their devices will start becoming more repairable again? I mean, there's no reason Apple couldn't have made their current devices more repairable already, as there are usually alternatives to gluing and soldering, but then it'll depend on whether the cost of making repairs easier is worth the money saved on replacements.
This seems like a really weak argument. First these things all depreciate pretty hard. Their resale value is only exceptionally high if you sell at an inconvenient time or find a clueless buyer. Beyond that the return on investment of including Applecare for a used sale seems like it would be really poor. Wouldn't you gain more having it follow you to the next machine?
Hmmm...
A while ago I had to take advantage of Apple care for a failed video card in a Mac Pro. Because I'm in the UK I ended up having to take the computer to a selected repair agent and said good bye to it for well over a week while they ordered the card and installed it. (I could have ordered a card on a next day delivery and done it myself in a day or so for pretty much the same cost of the Apple Care. Apple UK don't offer the DIY option like they do in the States!) I wasn't impressed. I now won't get Apple care for modular type machines.
I have still taken up Apple Care on more portable items as up to now it's always seemed like a new for old insurance thing rather than a repair program. It's for this reason its the only extended guarantee/warranty from anyone I ever bought. (Bear in mind in the EU there are various consumer protection laws beyond just a standard 1 year guarantee anyway). If it turns into a straight repair program than it becomes much less attractive. I certainly won't be getting it in the future.
I thought they'd got rid of John Browett - this sounds like a Dixons type of plan!
A while ago I had to take advantage of Apple care for a failed video card in a Mac Pro. Because I'm in the UK I ended up having to take the computer to a selected repair agent and said good bye to it for well over a week while they ordered the card and installed it. (I could have ordered a card on a next day delivery and done it myself in a day or so for pretty much the same cost of the Apple Care. Apple UK don't offer the DIY option like they do in the States!) I wasn't impressed. I now won't get Apple care for modular type machines.
I have still taken up Apple Care on more portable items as up to now it's always seemed like a new for old insurance thing rather than a repair program. It's for this reason its the only extended guarantee/warranty from anyone I ever bought. (Bear in mind in the EU there are various consumer protection laws beyond just a standard 1 year guarantee anyway). If it turns into a straight repair program than it becomes much less attractive. I certainly won't be getting it in the future.
I thought they'd got rid of John Browett - this sounds like a Dixons type of plan!
Anyone for signing a petition telling them not to do this? I know it probably wouldn't do much good.
But at least they could see how their customers feel about it.
I live over an hour from the nearest Apple store.It would be a HUGE inconvience if I had to wait and drive back for repairs.
But at least they could see how their customers feel about it.
I live over an hour from the nearest Apple store.It would be a HUGE inconvience if I had to wait and drive back for repairs.
It will be good news if the savings are passed on to the customer for the currently exorbitant costs of iPhone home button and screen repair. Neither of those things require a replacement, and neither justify even a third of their current cost.
This makes a lot of sense. I recently went in with my scratched iPhone 5 that had a broken power button. I fully expected to have them replace the button and be out of there in 15 minutes. In no way did Apple owe me an effectively brand new phone in order to fix a simple power button.
Being concerned about wastage, it saddens me to think of all the unnecessary resources needed to ship my phone, refurbish/remanufacture it, repackage it and ship it back to some other Apple store, all because of a faulty button.
There has to be a better way, albeit one that won't satisfy the hoard of self-entitled customers I'm reading about here.
Being concerned about wastage, it saddens me to think of all the unnecessary resources needed to ship my phone, refurbish/remanufacture it, repackage it and ship it back to some other Apple store, all because of a faulty button.
There has to be a better way, albeit one that won't satisfy the hoard of self-entitled customers I'm reading about here.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Really? Really? Have you ever been in the back room of mall retail stores? I have. It's unlikely that there will be guys in head-to-toe dust-suppression suits working in vacuum-sealed white rooms handling used & broken Apple equipment with the max of TLC. We'll be lucky if the same guy that takes in the device out front puts on gloves in the back room as he tries to make the repair himself. Hopefully, he won't sneak a cig while he's back there working on your repair.
Back rooms in shopping malls are rooms with old pizza boxes, piles of "I'll get to that mess tomorrow", changes of clothes, cobwebs, exposed AC duct work, exposed construction elements (steel beams, wiring, etc), maybe a mouse or rat or three and so on. Dust, dirt, grease, etc can all be back there because those tend to be the areas where the public can never go. In the haste of doing more business and getting to the next impatient customer, the back rooms accumulate temporary (to permanent) piles of every kind of thing. I've seen it all in Mall store back rooms.
But, if you want to believe there will be special repair labs installed in mall back rooms, you believe it. It is a more pleasant dream to imagine with this rumor than what will probably be the reality. Maybe the rats can help with the repairs?
My expectations: it will be the same people as those out front doing the repairs. Some segment of the crew will be trained for simpler repairs (they'll do themselves) and other members of the crew will be trained for the deeper repairs (they'll do themselves too). I've seen some of this within Apple Stores for years now. I question whether even gloves were used to open some of my own hardware. If you pay attention to threads, you've likely seen references to taking things into Apple stores for repairs and getting it back with dust or fingerprints under the glass (and similar). I suspect there will just be more of that now (always countered by the Apple-can-do-no-wrong crowd telling such consumers they should just be happy that they are getting some special Apple-injected dust and/or they're viewing it wrong, etc).
Someone has likely crunched the numbers and determined that this method makes Apple more more money than the old way. For those situations where this method results in having to replace a whole Apple product, the projections show that there will be X number of other in-store repairs that will be acceptable for Apple customers... so the net result is more savings for Apple... and/or probably more revenue overall from the Apple service line business. It's probably just a classic move to turn a negative (cost) line into a positive (profit) line on the ledger. If customers are net happier with the new Apple care, great. If they are neutral or a little less happy, no big deal- we just added a billion+ dollars to our coffers.
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This sounds almost too good to be true for customers with multiple Apple devices. If it's true it must be tiered in some sort of way.
Posted before: On an iPhone 5, front and back are easily removed with the right tools. iPhone 3 and 4 are less good, only one side is removed easily and the other side is a pain. A lot of the time that _you_ spend opening a phone is for carefully putting all the screws aside so you don't lose any and remember which one goes where, and being careful so you don't damage a screw while you remove it; someone in an Apple store wouldn't have to worry about that because they would have as many spares as they need.
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You make an appointment with the genius bar, as always.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Wait until they show you the terms & pricing. Too good to be true almost always comes with a hook.
I'm not going to lie, I have taken advantage of their generosity in the past. Mysteriously faulty vibrate motors, bad camera....easy stuff to sabotage. I'm just concerned about price and wait time.
Calling AAPL overvalued at $400 is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. With about six years of current profits, Apple will have $400 per share in the bank.
Hmmm...
A while ago I had to take advantage of Apple care for a failed video card in a Mac Pro. Because I'm in the UK I ended up having to take the computer to a selected repair agent and said good bye to it for well over a week while they ordered the card and installed it. (I could have ordered a card on a next day delivery and done it myself in a day or so for pretty much the same cost of the Apple Care. Apple UK don't offer the DIY option like they do in the States!) I wasn't impressed. I now won't get Apple care for modular type machines.
I have still taken up Apple Care on more portable items as up to now it's always seemed like a new for old insurance thing rather than a repair program. It's for this reason its the only extended guarantee/warranty from anyone I ever bought. (Bear in mind in the EU there are various consumer protection laws beyond just a standard 1 year guarantee anyway). If it turns into a straight repair program than it becomes much less attractive. I certainly won't be getting it in the future.
I thought they'd got rid of John Browett - this sounds like a Dixons type of plan!
This!
The current issues with Apple Care is the double standard when it comes to the US vs. the rest of the world. Here in Germany I had my iPhone 4S in repair 2 times (first time because the 2G antenna was broken and second time because the standby button got loose). Both times I received a refurbished phone, but still had to wait a week before I got my new phone. Same with my Laptops. My 2012 MB Air had a faulty flash drive. Had to wait almost 2 weeks for the replacement part and repair. Though the worst thing was with my 13" rMBP. Waited two weeks for the repair of the mainboard and since the new part was also faulty (issue with the soldered on RAM) has to wait another 2 weeks so one month without a laptop I needed for university.
I don't purchase Apple Care anyway. Here in Germany they don't offer the same service as they do in the US anyway, so I just picked up a insurance for my phone for accidental damage and chances are that if anything is wrong with your laptop when you purchase it, it will show up within the two years of mandatory warranty (or whatever you would call that) here in Germany/EU, so no need to fork out another 300 for Apple care on the Laptop.
I hope that the new changes will actually increase turnaround times for repairs, as more parts will be in stock at your local store. One may hope.
It was their policy of swapping out a unserviceable one for a refurbished device that set them apart from all of their competition. IMHO, nothing in the article convinces me that this is a better system for the customer, maybe for the company, but not the consumer.
I have used the service once with a faulty iPad connector, it was swapped with no quibble, with a conservative estimate, 2 or 3 people bought Apple products after I told them about my experience with Apple customer support.
I have used the service once with a faulty iPad connector, it was swapped with no quibble, with a conservative estimate, 2 or 3 people bought Apple products after I told them about my experience with Apple customer support.
