Apple wants $289.00 to repair Series 3 watch? They are only $409 new or $230 (new!) on Swappa!

[sofakng]

Does anybody know of someone I can contact in Apple regarding an out of warranty for an Apple Watch?

I'm a little upset that they are asking $289 to repair my Series 3 (GPS+Cellular) Alumnium watch. The watch developed a crack across the entire face of the watch and then two days later it stopped working completely. The exact same watch is only $409 new from Apple, and recently sold brand new on Swappa for $230.

Yes, it's out of warranty and no I didn't purchase AppleCare+. Shame on me I suppose? However, I expected for the price of Apple products that an out of warranty repair wouldn't be so insane. I don't use my watch very often and as an IT developer I'm sitting at my desk 90% of my day so I have no idea how this crack developed.

Furthermore, I've literally owned every iPhone since the original, almost every single iPad, and a MacBook Pro. I've been a loyal Apple customer for many, many years and never had a repair. Am I wrong in asking for a bit of a loyalty discount also considering I _never_ hit my watch against anything that could have even caused the crack in the first place?

 

[liftedpsd2010]

By just reading the first paragraph I predicted the rest of the story. Buy Apple care. No reason not to. Go buy one from swappa then for 230. Apple things aren’t over priced so they can under price their warranty work.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve bought 2 of every phone since they came out that doesn’t mean anything. Why should it?

You had to hit something and most likely it got water in it after it cracked? Just guessing. Pony up money on Apple care next time and you’ll be out 69 bucks.

 

[Chundles]

Whole Unit Replacement. Accidental damage isn’t covered by warranty. Pretty straightforward.

 

[Newtons Apple]

There have been a many threads similar to this. The Apple watch is hardly worth the repair unless you have AC+.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Furthermore, I've literally owned every iPhone since the original, almost every single iPad, and a MacBook Pro. I've been a loyal Apple customer for many, many years and never had a repair. Am I wrong in asking for a bit of a loyalty discount also considering I _never_ hit my watch against anything that could have even caused the crack in the first place?

Yes. Imagine if Apple put discounts on repairs depending on how many other Apple products you purchased. This place would go crazy

Also it is damaged, even if you're not sure how it got damaged, so that's not covered unless you have AC+.

 

[jbachandouris]

I'm more offended at their trade in policies for the watch. A series 3 SS is only worth $120 at the moment yet the thieves are charging $280+ for an out of warranty replacement? That's total BS.

 

[nburwell]

I would just find one on Swappa and be done with it. It sucks the price you have to pay, but at least you aren't forced to have Apple replace the Watch.

This post alone is why I always get AC+ on my iPhone and Apple Watch.

 

[mollyc]

Go to amazon. They have the S3 for $199/$229 right now.

 

[s15119]

Sounds like you would be better of buying a new watch. It's not apple's fault you destroyed your gadget.

 

[Shirasaki]

Brand loyalty barely means anything, especially nowadays. Don’t expect Apple will treat you nicely just because you bought a lot of products from them.
As for the watch, yes, that is a typical price range of a replacement. Nothing too crazy. If buying a new watch makes more sense, leave Apple store and buy a new watch. Simple.

 

[Freakonomics101]

Good luck! I went through a similar situation with the same watch you have, minus the LTE part. Software update caused the watch to no longer charge. Watch was out of warranty.

I was told I had to pay the $200 out of warranty replacement. The Apple Store rep felt bad and offered me to trade in my watch as in great working condition and I bought a brand new replacement with AC+.

I was not pleased as my warranty expired 3 weeks prior to that. I didn’t want the Series 4 since the Series 3 offers better battery life.

So I paid for a new one with the trade-in credit and left.

Since yours has physical damage, I don’t know what a rep would offer. I doubt they would offer you the same thing they offered me but it’s worth a shot to see what can be done and go from there.

 

[perezr10]

Sorry to hear about your watch. I am always so scared whenever I take my Apple Watch off over my marble countertop in my bathroom.

But I can’t think of how your watch could have gotten cracked unless you DID hit it against something. Just because you didn’t notice a hard bump doesn’t mean that you didn’t hit it. If you swing your arm and the watch grazes the door jamb it may seem like no big deal to you. But that’s because the watch face absorbed the blow.

Come on, be reasonable. Ford isn’t going to give you a discounted new car if you get into a car accident. Even if you totaled it while pulling out of the dealership parking lot.

But judging by the tone of your post. I hope you never need an out of warranty iPhone replacement.

 

[one1]

. Am I wrong in asking for a bit of a loyalty discount also considering I _never_ hit my watch against anything that could have even caused the crack in the first place?

Yes. Imagine if Apple put discounts on repairs depending on how many other Apple products you purchased. This place would go crazy

Lol, he isn’t special..... that’s every one on this forum. We ALL have one of everything, down to the watch. Buy applecare.

 

[Defender2010]

Does anybody know of someone I can contact in Apple regarding an out of warranty for an Apple Watch?

I'm a little upset that they are asking $289 to repair my Series 3 (GPS+Cellular) Alumnium watch. The watch developed a crack across the entire face of the watch and then two days later it stopped working completely. The exact same watch is only $409 new from Apple, and recently sold brand new on Swappa for $230.

Yes, it's out of warranty and no I didn't purchase AppleCare+. Shame on me I suppose? However, I expected for the price of Apple products that an out of warranty repair wouldn't be so insane. I don't use my watch very often and as an IT developer I'm sitting at my desk 90% of my day so I have no idea how this crack developed.

Furthermore, I've literally owned every iPhone since the original, almost every single iPad, and a MacBook Pro. I've been a loyal Apple customer for many, many years and never had a repair. Am I wrong in asking for a bit of a loyalty discount also considering I _never_ hit my watch against anything that could have even caused the crack in the first place?

Maybe try a different Apple Store for a second opinion. Sadly, the Genius Bar is as variable as people can be. The watch should not have just stopped working because of a cracked screen. Maybe something else is happening - eg. A swollen battery. Who knows, but it’s worth trying. Something similar happened to me recently and the second London store immediately said they would change it for no charge, even out of warranty. Worth a try.

 

[44267547]

Brand loyalty barely means anything, especially nowadays. Don’t expect Apple will treat you nicely just because you bought a lot of products from them.

This is very true, and I like to think that Apple has some of the best customer service in the tech industry, [at least they have been rated the highest for years], but you’re right, it doesn’t matter what you spend for a dollar amount with Apple, they need to treat everybody equally and fairly, but unfortunately, it’s not the training standards that Apple uses, it’s every individual varies with their discretion/attitude how they treat the customer. Some have better experiences than others, but I think that applies to any company you buy products from.

 

[SamwellG]

No dilemma, pay up.

 

[pdxmatts]

Walmart is matching Amazon right now on S3’s 38/42mm Aluminum GPS $199 or $229

 

[bad_robot]

apple watch S3 in aus is gps $399, gps+cellular $599 equating to us $259 and $389.
A us price of $199 for gps is very good.
Replacing the lcd scren and also a new battery (which you would do with the screen off), would be close to $199 and you get a new 12 mth warranty and ability to have extended warranty.
Buy a clear plastic cover. The touch screen works under the cover.
I dont know why apple parts are expensive, however, in aus, out of warranty repairs are rarely provided and apple dont sell parts separately. As for a trade in, dont ask.

 

[Watchout]

The issue here is that you pay a lot of money for something which is not durable. You should not need to buy extra insurance, but for Apple products, it seems you do. My apple watch 2 cracked the face weeks after I got it. No memory of a hard impact. Got it replaced free under warranty and bought plastic covers. Recently the replacement watch just died and wouldn't restart. Being 700km from an Apple store, I mailed it for repair, but had to place $368.95A on my card before I could print out the mailing order for Australia Post to send it off. I was assured that they would contact me before they started repairs with cost and options. They didn't and just mailed me a replacement and took my $368.95 I spent a month trying to get a refund talking to 3 different "Senior consultants" one of whom agreed I was due a refund under the circumstances and forwarded my case to "refunds" who were going to contact me. They never did. Consultant No. 3 told me that my case had been denied by one of his seniors. I've sent my case to ACCC. We all buy multiple devices and Apple should acknowledge this. I could have bought another product, given the option, but no. So, back to Samsung in future. My Note10.1 still works perfectly after 6 years...

 

[dmillar74]

Apple has announced it is repairing some gen 2 and 3 aluminum models due to cracking.

https://9to5mac.com/2019/08/30/apple-watch-crack-free-repair/

 

[44267547]

Apple has announced it is repairing some gen 2 and 3 aluminum models due to cracking.

https://9to5mac.com/2019/08/30/apple-watch-crack-free-repair/

Anyone reading this article needs to read closely. The crack has to be _very_ specific for them to replace the display. What ends up happening, if someone has a crack on their Series 2/Series 3, they’ll likely go ahead and assume Apple may replace the display due to the crack, but again, the crack has to be specific as the article indicated. It’s only ‘free’ if meets the criteria.

 

[bigdaddyps50]

The repair prices for cracked glass are beyond absurd. No friggen way it costs Apple anywhere that much to replace it. NONE!
My Nike Series 3 fell 3 feet off my night table on to a laminate wood floor that is not that hard and cracked badly. I’ve dropped 25 dollar Timex watches similarly, and no damage. NOTHING!
It also was accumulating a lot of scratches before it cracked. I mean all over.
Still pissed off to no end.
Something stinks about the durability of this watch. Stinks epically!!

 

[reggavegga]

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ple-watch-models.2195787/page-5#post-27688781

 

[Freakonomics101]

The repair prices for cracked glass are beyond absurd. No friggen way it costs Apple anywhere that much to replace it. NONE!
My Nike Series 3 fell 3 feet off my night table on to a laminate wood floor that is not that hard and cracked badly. I’ve dropped 25 dollar Timex watches similarly, and no damage. NOTHING!
It also was accumulating a lot of scratches before it cracked. I mean all over.
Still pissed off to no end.
Something stinks about the durability of this watch. Stinks epically!!

Repairs for them are easy money grabbers. You also never know if they’re being completely honest with other hardware defects either. Saying this or that is wrong when it isn’t and can be a much cheaper repair to fix what is actually wrong. I have watched several YouTube videos about that issue with Apple.

If they’re not selling enough iPads or iPhones, no worries for them. They’ll charge you $500 to repair an iPhone.

 

[44267547]

The repair prices for cracked glass are beyond absurd. No friggen way it costs Apple anywhere that much to replace it. NONE!
My Nike Series 3 fell 3 feet off my night table on to a laminate wood floor that is not that hard and cracked badly. I’ve dropped 25 dollar Timex watches similarly, and no damage. NOTHING!
It also was accumulating a lot of scratches before it cracked. I mean all over.
Still pissed off to no end.
Something stinks about the durability of this watch. Stinks epically!!

Yeah, I’m going to be ‘that guy’ that you’re not gonna like, but you can’t compare your ‘Timex’ watch to an Apple Watch, you’re talking a difference of weight, how the watch landed, different materials/construction, ect, just because your Apple Watch broke by your own doing, doesn’t mean that every Apple Watch has the same outcome from everyone elses experience. There are thousands of posts on this Apple Watch forum where other sport Apple watches have survived without any cracks against surfaces/scratches, drops, because every situation has a different outcome. It’s always easier to blame the product when it’s your own fault for something that happened, but others might completely have the opposite experience of yours.

Now, I agree that the Apple Watch display with the Ion-X Glass scratches easily (Which is why I upgraded to the stainless model with the sapphire display) , but the overall durability I was impressed with in terms of how it survives against daily encounters.