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Buying student AppleCare after purchase?

S

Shady Pioneer

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 22, 2011
84
0
Somerset, UK
How would I go about getting AppleCare for my new MacBook Pro at the discounted rate? I'm in the UK and it cost £50 or about that. I understand there is a 3 year warranty with higher education purchases (like mine) but I am worried that I won't be covered for the 3 years due to my warranty status showing February next year.

Any help?
 
I know at least in the US that you just go to the 'real' or virtual Apple Store and purchase it; making sure that you use the student store. You might check Amazon as well, because their normal price might be cheaper than the student discount.
 
Shady Pioneer said:
How would I go about getting AppleCare for my new MacBook Pro at the discounted rate? I'm in the UK and it cost £50 or about that. I understand there is a 3 year warranty with higher education purchases (like mine) but I am worried that I won't be covered for the 3 years due to my warranty status showing February next year.

Any help?
Click to expand...
Apparently this is normal behaviour. After about 90 days or so, you get an email confirming the three year warranty.

For more information, please go to this thread and ask questions there, the OP in that is a genius when it comes to UK prices and such.

link: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1103022/
 
If you got it online or over the phone through the education store as a UK HE student you do get 3 years warranty as standard. It does not matter what it says when you check your warranty online- phone Apple and correct them (but I remember it took about 10 weeks for my 3 year warranty to appear online, not sure why it takes so long). You have a contract with them that they cannot vary!

If you bought in store you do not get 3 years warranty as standard.

See- https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1103022/

I read when I bought my MacBook 18 months ago that the £50 Applecare is only available when you purchase the machine (I can't find that now, it may have changed but not sure). I would go into a store and talk very nicely to them! For Applecare for 'normal' people (;)) you can buy Applecare any time within the first year. Being friendly is the best option in these cases!


EDIT- I remember you posted before and suggested you had bought a MBP online. As as wesrk said you get an email ~90 days after purchase. Even if you don't it does not matter- you formed the contract when you bought it. They are the terms which Apple cannot retrospectively vary.
 
Last edited:
Amazon will probably have it cheaper anyways. If not right now, just continue to check every once in a while, the price goes up and down.
 
blevins321 said:
I know at least in the US that you just go to the 'real' or virtual Apple Store and purchase it; making sure that you use the student store. You might check Amazon as well, because their normal price might be cheaper than the student discount.
Click to expand...

At least in the US, student price from Apple is cheaper than Amazon by about $40. (Student price $239, Amazon $280). Or for the 13" by $27 (Apple - $183, Amazon - $210).
 
Shady Pioneer said:
How would I go about getting AppleCare for my new MacBook Pro at the discounted rate? I'm in the UK and it cost £50 or about that. I understand there is a 3 year warranty with higher education purchases (like mine) but I am worried that I won't be covered for the 3 years due to my warranty status showing February next year.

Any help?
Click to expand...

Hang on... did you buy your MBP in February? If so, was it an online purchase? I may have missed something but just wanted the clarification.
 
Although I'm in danger of hijacking the thread slightly, I think it's a pretty relevant question, so:

I bought my MBP from the refurb store, but, as a student, can I (within 12 months of original purchase, etc) blag the student applecare?
 
DoghouseMike said:
Although I'm in danger of hijacking the thread slightly, I think it's a pretty relevant question, so:

I bought my MBP from the refurb store, but, as a student, can I (within 12 months of original purchase, etc) blag the student applecare?
Click to expand...

not sure why you bought a refurb when in most cases the student discount of a brand new unit is better than a refurb. :confused:
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

DoghouseMike said:
bigjobby said:
not sure why you bought a refurb when in most cases the student discount of a brand new unit is better than a refurb. :confused:
Click to expand...

Aah, cos Uni student discount is a fair bit bigger than us lowly college students get
Click to expand...

Guess youre not in USA? I'm in uni but its still 200 off the 17" which is exactly the same as when i was in college. I'll check my uni store for AppleCare on the off chance but pretty sure edu discount is uniformed here at least
 
DoghouseMike said:
Although I'm in danger of hijacking the thread slightly, I think it's a pretty relevant question, so:

I bought my MBP from the refurb store, but, as a student, can I (within 12 months of original purchase, etc) blag the student applecare?
Click to expand...

Blag would be the word here. College students are not entitled to the HE warranty, I don't think refurbs come with the same warranty even if you are an HE student. Try your luck, but I really doubt it.

jamesschmidtke said:
Guess youre not in USA? I'm in uni but its still 200 off the 17" which is exactly the same as when i was in college. I'll check my uni store for AppleCare on the off chance but pretty sure edu discount is uniformed here at least
Click to expand...

There are three types of UK student discount. HE students get the best deals, college students less so. See the thread I linked above.
 
You used to be able to get Applecare cheap on eBay. But now Apple requires it be sold only by authorized apple dealers. Cheapest prices I have seen other than student are at B&H.

13" = $179.77
15 and 17" = $244.00
 
Hi it's my first post here, but I've been lurking all week. :)

I have a similar question, but on a slightly different tangent. I figured better to reply here where context-knowledgeable people have replied rather than hope you see a new thread.

I'm in HE with the Open University (UK), but am also disabled. As such, Disabled Students' Allowance paid about 50% of the cost of a new 2011 MBP for me (low end 13") and it's about to be delivered from their educational/disabled student supplier (Remtek) on Thursday. :D

However, the Apple Store tell me I can only get the HE discounted (~£47) AppleCare if I buy it at the same time as a machine in the store or online. Since the DSA supplier doesn't even sell AppleCare that leaves me rather high and dry as I am literally left with no opportunity to buy AppleCare at the time I buy the new machine.

Can anyone offer any ideas? Is there a way to get discounted AppleCare for this machine or will I have to suck it up and pay full price? It's not my fault I couldn't buy online or in store - I'm buying my machine from the uni's supplier direct. Ideas gratefully received!
 
Switcher2011 said:
Hi it's my first post here, but I've been lurking all week. :)

I have a similar question, but on a slightly different tangent. I figured better to reply here where context-knowledgeable people have replied rather than hope you see a new thread.

I'm in HE with the Open University (UK), but am also disabled. As such, Disabled Students' Allowance paid about 50% of the cost of a new 2011 MBP for me (low end 13") and it's about to be delivered from their educational/disabled student supplier (Remtek) on Thursday. :D

However, the Apple Store tell me I can only get the HE discounted (~£47) AppleCare if I buy it at the same time as a machine in the store or online. Since the DSA supplier doesn't even sell AppleCare that leaves me rather high and dry as I am literally left with no opportunity to buy AppleCare at the time I buy the new machine.

Can anyone offer any ideas? Is there a way to get discounted AppleCare for this machine or will I have to suck it up and pay full price? It's not my fault I couldn't buy online or in store - I'm buying my machine from the uni's supplier direct. Ideas gratefully received!
Click to expand...

Its probably a pain but is there anyway you can put the transaction on hold and give Remtek a call explaining the situation? Does the order include the (for phone & online UK uni purchases) complimentary 3-year Apple warranty? If not, why not? Remtek may not be aware of these warranties or be privvy to such information but as they are (what appears to be) a small independent company, they might be more open to suggestions to improve their product range and portfolio and you never know, they might pull it off for you if its not too late and if their Apple rep is all hunky dory with it. An email via their site might also be useful.

If unsuccessful, I would consider raising this inconsistency with your regional OUSA group as they might know which buttons to push at the OU or to make things happen for any other disabled students in a similar situation in the future.

Just in case you're not aware, the ~£50 is to upgrade the complimentary 3-year warranty to the full AppleCare. ie. an extra 2-year phone support.

Hope this all makes sense, its late and my head is hurting from OU studies!

Good luck with the above and with studying at the OU.
 
bigjobby said:
Does the order include the (for phone & online UK uni purchases) complimentary 3-year Apple warranty?

Just in case you're not aware, the ~£50 is to upgrade the complimentary 3-year warranty to the full AppleCare. ie. an extra 2-year phone support.
Click to expand...

The problem is, Switcher2011 has not purchases the laptop himself. It may be a separate agreement with the supplier to sell at educational prices to disabled students, but not on the same terms.

When I bought my MB 18 months ago the £45 AppleCare was only available at the time. I would not deal with Apple in store as they run a completely different system of discount to online. You want Apple to treat it as an online order (3 years warranty as standard online).

I'd phone Applecare themselves and explain. I'm sure they will understand that you are being screwed by all the different rules, they may make an exception for you.

Remember AppleCare isn't the be-all-and-end all in the UK. I won't bother with AppleCare when I'm not a student as UK consumer rights are very powerful.
 
iStudentUK said:
The problem is, Switcher2011 has not purchases the laptop himself. It may be a separate agreement with the supplier to sell at educational prices to disabled students, but not on the same terms.

When I bought my MB 18 months ago the £45 AppleCare was only available at the time. I would not deal with Apple in store as they run a completely different system of discount to online. You want Apple to treat it as an online order (3 years warranty as standard online).

I'd phone Applecare themselves and explain. I'm sure they will understand that you are being screwed by all the different rules, they may make an exception for you.

Remember AppleCare isn't the be-all-and-end all in the UK. I won't bother with AppleCare when I'm not a student as UK consumer rights are very powerful.
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying with regards to the AC situation but at least the OP can try and iron out any inconsistencies to benefit both future disabled HE students and also for Remtek to improve their offerings. The best T&Cs that are available to ordinary HE students should also be available to disabled ones too if a company is to provide a full service to those disabled students. I know that the discount + retail AC is still a better deal than the ordinary HE phone/online deal but that's not my line of argument.

If something doesn't look fair or doesn't look quite right, sometimes it can be easier than we think to change the status quo. Just my thoughts.

UK consumer law and rights does look great on paper but its certainly not clear cut as it appears. Wouldn't like to go into it here as there are plenty of other sites more specialised to cover this topic. What I can say is that we're kinda fortunate that the Apple stores are like the reception desks of the manufacturer. Greater issues may be encountered if buying from someone else though.

Shady Pioneer said:
It was online, I bought it end of February and received it Friday just gone, it was a BTO MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about the full AC too much. It just depends on how likely you are going to use the phone support and in my case its never, so the complimentary warranty would be suffice.
 
Thanks for the advice. I spoke with another member too and have decided to leave it. Just have to hope that the warranty kicks in a couple months down the line. :)
 
bigjobby said:
I hear what you're saying with regards to the AC situation but at least the OP can try and iron out any inconsistencies to benefit both future disabled HE students and also for Remtek to improve their offerings. The best T&Cs that are available to ordinary HE students should also be available to disabled ones too if a company is to provide a full service to those disabled students. I know that the discount + retail AC is still a better deal than the ordinary HE phone/online deal but that's not my line of argument.
Click to expand...

Of course, I completely agree that this should be ironed out. Seems silly that Apple haven't addressed it and I hope they note it.

bigjobby said:
UK consumer law and rights does look great on paper but its certainly not clear cut as it appears. Wouldn't like to go into it here as there are plenty of other sites more specialised to cover this topic. What I can say is that we're kinda fortunate that the Apple stores are like the reception desks of the manufacturer. Greater issues may be encountered if buying from someone else though.
Click to expand...

Yes, unfortunately there is a lot of rubbish advice about consumer rights going around. Fortunately for me I'm studying law and off to do lawyering stuff soon which helps me filter the rubbish out! :D Everyone should spend an afternoon doing reliable reading on the subject, I've had a lot of success with repairs/returns. You're right though- here isn't the place for that.
 
From what I am gathering, the UK student discount includes AppleCare when you buy the machines? If so, that is a sweet deal.

If you are wondering how to go about getting a student discount on AppleCare after purchasing your computer, you can always go into the store and show your student ID. That is what I did when I purchased AC on my MBP a few years ago.

Also B&H has AppleCare for $244 w/no tax. $5 more than the student discount.
 
HBOC said:
From what I am gathering, the UK student discount includes AppleCare when you buy the machines? If so, that is a sweet deal.

If you are wondering how to go about getting a student discount on AppleCare after purchasing your computer, you can always go into the store and show your student ID. That is what I did when I purchased AC on my MBP a few years ago.

Also B&H has AppleCare for $244 w/no tax. $5 more than the student discount.
Click to expand...

We do get something similar to AppleCare as UK students (online/phone only), but not quite the same. Going back to the store later may not be enough to get the £50 deal in the UK. There is some debate on whether you must purchase the £50 "uplift" at the same time or not- I can't find anything in black and white either way.
 
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