AppleCare+ to End Informal Free Replacement Policy for Damaged iPhones

[Taz Mangus]

Let me get this straight:

If I have AppleCare+ it will cost me a total of 150$ to fix an iPhone the first time.

If I don't have AppleCare+, it'll cost me 200$ to fix an iPhone for the first time (or maybe I'll get lucky and not pay at all).

So... I'm paying 3/4 of the price in advance for something that I'll probably not need in the first place? I'd gladly pay the full amount if I broke my phone. Why pay upfront? If it was 50$, I'd do it, but paying almost the same amount for in advance makes no sense to me.

If you bought AppleCare+ at the time you bought the iPhone you will be paying $49 for each replacement due to user damage up to to 2 times. The $150 is if you don't have AppleCare+ and want to purchase AppleCare+ at the time the damage occurs. You would be getting a $50 credit because you would be buying the AppleCare+ later.

 

[Thunderhawks]

I don't think we should confuse a malfunctioning product vs a damaged product. They are two different things. My seal was coming off of my ipad and I brought it in. They replaced it on sight and I would have expected no less. However, if I drop my ipad/iphone and it starts malfunctioning, it has never crossed my mind to go con a new one at the store. That's when your "insurance" should kick in.

But this is America Let's take advantage of companies. They have the money. That's the attitude!

A deal is not a deal when people damage a product and it's clearly their fault and they may have to pay for it.

I have been in stores where customers drop things, let their kids destroy stuff,products broke, leaking all over the floor and the parent just leaves, not even telling the kids (or themselves) that that was wrong.

It's amatter of morals, which go by the wayside when money is involved.

If they then don't get their way (as in a freebie) they talk badly about the company or their experience and get upset.

In other countries (see the posts) a deal is a deal, i.e. you break it use the insurance you paid for.

 

[drummingcraig]

The 1 year warranty is still in place tho right? Like if my headphone jack stops working, I will still get a replacement under the 1 year warranty right?

AppleCare is just for extended coverage and accidental issues?

Yes.

 

[Mykbibby]

Depends on the issue. If it is a cosmetic issue like the white Mac books had. They would replace the KB free of charge if you were nice. Bring an out of warranty Mac Pro with a dead logic board in and let me know how far smiling gets you.

My 2008 Mac Pro went completely to hell. I brought it in last month, way out of warranty at that point, and asked what they could do to help. They replaced the entire machine with a to-spec 2011 Mac Pro for free. Being the richest company in the world has its perks, not the least of which being their remarkable customer service.

 

[drummingcraig]

If you bought AppleCare+ at the time you bought the iPhone you will be paying $49 for each replacement due to user damage up to to 2 times. The $150 is if you don't have AppleCare+ and want to purchase AppleCare+ at the time the damage occurs. You would be getting a $50 credit because you would be buying the AppleCare+ later.

I think you misunderstood the poster you quoted. He/She seems to be stating the same thing I did earlier.

If you buy AC+ upfront and need a replacement due to breakage, it is effectively costing you $149 ($99 + $49). If you skip AC altogether and walk in off the street for a breakage incident it would cost you $199 (just the fee for an out of warranty replacement, no AC involved).

So AC+ doesn't really become worthwhile unless you break your phone twice within 2 years, and in that case it is saving you $100. Otherwise, you're paying $99 upfront to receive a $49 discount should you happen to break your phone.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Applecare+ covers drops and spills, and it doesn't have the lowering coverage that Squaretrade does. With Squaretrade, your total repairs can't exceed the cost of the device. So your phone is worth $699, and you need a $300 repair. That leaves you with $399 worth of coverage. Once you hit $699, you no longer have any coverage.

If you think about it you are only paying $30 more then the standard AppleCare. And AppleCare+ includes standard AppleCare which SquareTrade or other third party warantees won't cover like AppleCare does such as 2 years of Apple phone support.

 

[abhimehr]

Things break without abuse. I had an iPhone 4 with an unresponsive home button that was replaced on the spot 6 months out of warranty. A phone should not break that quick but its not a problem as it was replaced with minimal hassle.

My iPhone4 is in pristine cosmetic condition, never dropped and never taken out of cover... no water damage. I have bought many Apple products from the same store over past 10 years. 73 days out of warranty, the Home Button stops for no reason and I take it to them. They can't find any reason to blame me, the hardware or the software. All the smiling, cajoling and emotional blackmail did not work and all they suggested was pay $150 for a replacement phone!!

Please let me know what store did you manage to get your Home button fixed from.

Thanks.

 

[Taz Mangus]

I think you misunderstood the poster you quoted. He/She seems to be stating the same thing I did earlier.

If you buy AC+ upfront and need a replacement due to breakage, it is effectively costing you $149 ($99 + $49). If you skip AC altogether and walk in off the street for a breakage incident it would cost you $199 (just the fee for an out of warranty replacement, no AC involved).

So AC+ doesn't really become worthwhile unless you break your phone twice within 2 years, and in that case it is saving you $100. Otherwise, you're paying $99 upfront to receive a $49 discount should you happen to break your phone.

You are paying $30 more for AppleCare+ over AppleCare. So in effect it is $30+$49. You can still buy the standard AppleCare for the iPhone for $69 as I have been told by a apple rep on the phone. If you are clumsy then AppleCare+ would make sense. I know I am getting it for my wife.

 

[gugy]

Apple Care is a waste of money.

WOW,
Regarding the iPhone I cannot say much since I have never had an issue, but regarding computers I cannot tell you how many times Applecare save my a55 due huge issues I had with it.
It is a must buy and great piece of mind. Keep in mind you can get more for your computer if you have the warranty when you sell it.

 

[pacmantech]

Or you can just buy the Squaretrade warranty for the same price or less, and not deal with any of this garbage.

 

[MacManTexas56]

this is an easy way for them to rake in tons more cash. It eliminates the "free" phones everyone has been getting when theirs break. Instead, they are charging you upfront at the chance that you might break your phone. I can understand if it was just $99 and would be half price from the $199 replacement. What's gonna happen is people are going to spend the $99 thinking it's only $99 and not read the print about $49 deductible that they'll have to pay.

These are the reasons why i dislike apple sometimes. Who comes up with these shady practices? They are basically getting this fee upfront and banking that they won't have to replace your phone and rake in tons of extra money from this.

I can't believe someone at Apple would actually approve this. Makes zero sense.

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If you think about it you are only paying $30 more then the standard AppleCare. And AppleCare+ includes standard AppleCare which SquareTrade or other third party warantees won't cover like AppleCare does such as 2 years of Apple phone support.

who actually uses phone support nowadays to make it worth it? AppleCare only extends coverage for 1 year. You get the free standard warranty and they tack 1 year on top of that. Plus now you will have an additional $49 fee to pay on top of the $99.

Also, someone who may really take care of their phones doesn't want accidental damage they may just want the extended warranty. Now they are paying extra money into a service they may not want/need in the first place.

 

[CalBoy]

So Apple is going to make it more difficult for customers to buy an extended warranty?

I can't say that troubles me very much. Extended warranties are a waste of money; dollar for dollar, they are twice as expensive (or worse) than simply keeping your money in a checking account that pays virtually no interest.

 

[vitzr]

I welcome this change, it's overdue.

This is a very positive move on Apples part.

Thanks Tim

 

[ichrisg30]

.

 

[mrow]

"Under the program, customers needing to replace a damaged iPhone would be given a $50 discount on Apple's standard $199 replacement fee if they also purchase AppleCare+ for the replacement device, for a total cost of $249. That program would then cover the consumer for additional accidental damage incidents in the future."

So, it would be $99 less if you bought it up front, and had a damage claim.
I think they will allow new iPhone 4S buyers to purchase AppleCare+ after the fact.

An Apple phone sales rep that I called after I forgot to add the AppleCare+ when I ordered told me I could bring it in to the store, the could inspect that it has no water damage (or other damage) and I could get it added to my phone.

 

[sweetbrat]

These are the reasons why i dislike apple sometimes. Who comes up with these shady practices? They are basically getting this fee upfront and banking that they won't have to replace your phone and rake in tons of extra money from this.

People only see this as a "shady practice" because Apple has let people get away with so much crap for such a long time now. People EXPECT that Apple will replace their damaged phones for free. That might have been ok when there was a smaller number of devices being used, but they just sold over a million PREORDERS. That's an awful lot of free phone replacements if they keep doing things the way they have been, and that costs the company a lot of cash.

It's not like they're forcing you to purchase it. You make the decision, as with any extended warranty. The only difference is that people probably won't be able to get the Apple folks to do them as many favors by replacing out of warranty devices. I don't see that as a problem.

I think the real problem is that people for some reason feel entitled to new devices, even when they're clearly at fault. There's way too many people taking advantage of the old system, so they're changing the system. I don't blame Apple at all.

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Or you can just buy the Squaretrade warranty for the same price or less, and not deal with any of this garbage.

Squaretrade is the same price, and it has it's own negative points. There's tons of threads on here about it.

 

[Vol7ron]

I don't mind so much the change in price or informal fix as much as the fact they changed the policy on buying applecare without telling us upfront. When you have the policy Apple care has had for the past X years of being able to buy it within the one year warranty and now change that without telling, that is what makes customers unhappy. I buy it in store because of my 15% business discount that I don't get online. But I will bring the email confirmation in and see about getting it added to my phone....

 

[mrow]

My 2008 Mac Pro went completely to hell. I brought it in last month, way out of warranty at that point, and asked what they could do to help. They replaced the entire machine with a to-spec 2011 Mac Pro for free. Being the richest company in the world has its perks, not the least of which being their remarkable customer service.

Had my 7 month out of warranty MacBook Pros logic board replaced for free. I was done in less than a day. They didn't even say anything about the fact I had opened it up an replaced the hard drive myself, and these were the old style MBPs that took about an hour to open up with 2 million screws.

 

[nylonsteel]

re original article

oh cmon aapl - everything was going smooth with ip4s launch

why didnt you nail this warranty thing down before ip4s launch

 

[rockyroad55]

Would AC+ be beneficial me when I upgrade my iPhone every year to the newest one? I have never had a serious drop, no cracks or dents. I buy the new one every year and sell the old one so I have never been out of the 1 year warranty.

 

[MacManTexas56]

People only see this as a "shady practice" because Apple has let people get away with so much crap for such a long time now. People EXPECT that Apple will replace their damaged phones for free. That might have been ok when there was a smaller number of devices being used, but they just sold over a million PREORDERS. That's an awful lot of free phone replacements if they keep doing things the way they have been, and that costs the company a lot of cash.

It's not like they're forcing you to purchase it. You make the decision, as with any extended warranty. The only difference is that people probably won't be able to get the Apple folks to do them as many favors by replacing out of warranty devices. I don't see that as a problem.

I think the real problem is that people for some reason feel entitled to new devices, even when they're clearly at fault. There's way too many people taking advantage of the old system, so they're changing the system. I don't blame Apple at all.

----------



Squaretrade is the same price, and it has it's own negative points. There's tons of threads on here about it.

You are right. I have owned each iphone that has come out. I have never broken mine and i would never feel entitled that apple would need to replace mine for free if it was something i did break on my own. That was their own doing in the first place to replace those free to people when they broke the items.

Now you are going to make everyone who buys this warranty pay a little extra bc apple decided to randomly replace items free for some customer's but not others?

Someone who may really take care of their phone probably just wants the comfort of an extended warranty. Now the price jumps up another $30 bc of apple's new plan to "make" things fair. They are asking that you pay 50% up front and another 25% at the time of the replacement. You are paying up front at the possibility that you "may" break your phone and only get a 25% discount? Ridiculous.

 

[mds]

This is good for Apple. It will help them from losing money on this. Hopefully it will add to the quarterly profits. I don't mind paying more as long as it helps Apple.

Is this sarcasm? Does apple need help? Weird! haha

 

[bbodine]

Now we have to come into the stores to purchase AppleCare+ if we pre-ordered without it thinking we'd have a year?

That's lame. Means we can't activate our phone on Friday and coming into the store will be a non-option with the crazy lines.

I called my local store and they said that I did not need to come in before opening or activating the phone but to make sure I did come in within the first 30 days of purchase. I plan on getting there on Saturday just to be sure but I am not going on friday.

 

[MacManTexas56]

Would AC+ be beneficial me when I upgrade my iPhone every year to the newest one? I have never had a serious drop, no cracks or dents. I buy the new one every year and sell the old one so I have never been out of the 1 year warranty.

then you are paying $99 and taking a gamble at an accident happening only within 1 year vs. 2 years.

 

[dustinizatt]

I was under the impression that we could order it later??? Here is a screen shot of my order acknowledgment showing my preorder and talking about the iphone warranty, according to the email, it says if it wasn't purchased with the product, I'm eligible to purchase it any time while my iphone is under it's original one-year warranty.