Buying Applecare at time of purchase is not a good idea

[inscrewtable]

Better to wait 11.5 months or so.

The reason is Apple's very strange condition that Applecare can only have a one time transfer. Sounds like a bit of a con job to me designed to make people buy new machines because it reduces the availability of used machines with Applcare.

I think this is particularly relevant for laptops.

The reasoning is this, if you intended to sell you machine down the track and you bought it with Applecare, then if you sold it after say 11 months which a lot of people seem to do (who don't buy Applecare) then you could still advertise it with Apple care at the price that you would had you bought it, then if someone buys it, instead of handing over a machine with Applecare that THEY cannot tranfer if they want to sell it in a year, you instead just take the cost of Applecare off the price which gives them the chance to buy it themselves.

Same cost to them, same cost to you BUT the one time tranfer has not been used up, meaning they can sell it WITH applecare 6 months before it's up which makes it much more saleable. Which therefore make the original sale to them more attractive.

All these shenannigans are purely because Apple unfairly restricts the transfer of Applecare to one time. This makes no sense at all because Apple say the Applecare is attached to the computer.

 

[ColdCase]

I didn't know apple care was transferable... learn something new every day. Don't you have to get the machine inspected if you don't purchased applecare as part of the new machine? What real risk does that add? I've seen applecare discounted on a new machine, but rarely for later purchases.

How does coverage for accessories like a TC or APEB (if you have them), which are covered by the laptops applecare, affect your calculations?

Personally I keep laptops 5 or 6 years so I never thought about it....

 

[viggen61]

This does not make sense. AppleCare is an extension of the original warranty. The termination date of the AppleCare Protection Plan is determined not by when you purchase the plan, but by when you purchased the equipment.

Example: If you purchased a new Mac on January 1, 2013, the standard Warranty in the US would run through December 31, 2013, with telephone support only through March 31, 2013. On April 1, 2013, you no longer can call them for free, and on January 1, 2014, it is no longer covered at all.

If you purchased the AppleCare Protection Plan with the Mac on 1/1/2013, then the full term runs through December 31, 2015.

If you purchased the Apple Care Protection Plan on 12/1/2013 for the same Mac, then the full term still runs only through December 31, 2015!

As for transferring, How many times can YOU transfer the plan? Once you have transferred it, YOU no longer have it, so YOU can not transfer it! I don't know for sure, but I don't see in the terms and conditions whether the second owner of the plan can transfer it or not.

 

[ActionableMango]

As a potential buyer, any sort of shenanigans sets off my scam radar.

I can just imagine meeting a seller at Starbucks and he's trying to explain why he advertised it with applecare, but really it's the same because I can buy applecare myself, and he's going to deduct the price of the applecare, and yes for sure it's really really still eligible... I'm now walking out the door at this point.

 

[inscrewtable]

This does not make sense. AppleCare is an extension of the original warranty.

Not sure what you are referring to not making sense, me or Apple?

If you buy at time of purchase the Applecare is locked to your machine. If say you even bought it separately at time of purchase so that it was not locked to your machine even that would be better, because if you were to sell your machine after say 11.5 months then the new owner not only gets applecare but he/she can register it to the machine and then themselves sell it at anytime also with Applecare. So if they wanted to keep the machine for a further 18 months, they'd be able to sell the now 2 1/2 year old machine WITH, Applecare making it a much much more desirable item. Read for 'desirable' worth more to sell. Bottom line is that Apple's unreasonable limitation of transfer can cost the seller, and screw the 3rd time buyer if the computer were to need repair after 2 years and 11 months.

According to the terms in Apple's terms and conditions pdf, the buyer cannot sell the machine he just bought with Applecare, he can only sell the machine because the Applecare cannot be transferred a second time. And closer the machine is to it's 3 year cut off, the more the Applecare is worth to a third time buyer.

Yes this does not make sense but that's what they write in the agreement.

As a potential buyer, any sort of shenanigans sets off my scam radar.

Apple are the one doing the shenanigans.

 

[ActionableMango]

Apple are the one doing the shenanigans.

I completely understand that. My point is that what you are proposing will feel a lot like shenanigans to the buyer. But hey, maybe I'm just paranoid and other buyers will love it.

 

[inscrewtable]

I just transferred my imac applecare to the new buyer and i got an email from Apple asking for more info and confirming that its a "one time only" transfer, just in case anyone thought it was a fossil clause.