You mean it comes standart without adding the applecare to the list? 😕
I'm pretty sure it is only UK students, they have a special arrangement.
UK university students get a free warranty online, and a much reduced AppleCare price if they want. I don't think it includes the rest of the EU.
Thanks Ubuntu, I am distance studying an MSc so have been able to get the HE discount ... But only over the phone as I don't access the Uni network.
I'm afraid you did waste the money, sorry! UK HE students (well 99% of them) get a 3 year warranty + 1 year phone support for free when they buy online/phone. NOT in store. The "HE Uplift" just gives you 3 years phone support. See the link below for more details, Apple can be very good at
not telling students about the free warranty.
However, am I reading it right that it hasn't been delivered yet? Your post says Jun 2011. Under UK law you have a 7 day "cooling off" period from when the service starts, so you should be able to get a refund from Apple if you like. It's covered by the Distance Selling Regulations.
Applecare is not the same as the 3 year HE warranty.
With an Applecare warranty repair, Apple will collect and return and their own cost. This is not the case with the 3 year warranty. I read somewhere that Apple telephone support won't even deal with you after the first 12 months, you need to make an appointment in a store (don't know how true this is).
If you buy from an actual Apple Store, you don't get the 3 year warranty included, even though you can get the HE prices.
You are half right. The UK HE warranty isn't quite the same as AppleCare, but when my gf used hers they picked up and dropped it back for free. They made no comment that it was a student warranty, they only looked at the expiry date. They will deal with you on the phone to deal with hardware problems (ie arrange collection) but won't give you software support.
The free 3 year warranty is only online/phone as you said. See
here for a discussion detailing the different UK education discounts.