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it seems apple has realized that their codes have been hacked and they quietly throw out every applecare contract that has some activity and where the owner can't show a reciept or box.

it's a bit unfair because people who bought in good faith their codes get told by apple first everything is fine and then month later they are out of luck. but that is the risk in buying insanely cheap stuff on ebay. we have to accept this because it's not apples problem that we took a risk.

apple is only at fault because their code generator is shoddy and because they most of the time accept the codes first and deny service later. if apple would always ask for the serial then the fake ebay codes would be discovered immediately and we could get our money back via paypal. sucks but so is life.


There is no paypal protection when you buy something intangible--in this case, an emailed code is an intangible object and there is no buyer protection in the event that the code isn't valid for its intended purpose.
 
They may be responsible if they are notified of the nefarious activity going on - they depend on the buyers like you and I for safety issues - when there are a lot of complaints they take action accordingly. Like I said before, it's impossible to discern which seller is honest and which one is not unless there is evidence - and that evidence comes in the form of complaints or other investigations. Now if they chose to ignore these complaints/investigations, then yes, I believe they would be totally responsible.

I'm not sure how you will be protected though, as didn't you make the purchase on the US ebay site? The seller is a US ebay seller, or did you go via ebay.fr? I would think that this transaction would fall under the US.

The seller is out of the country? :confused: I see a bunch of active listings..weird.

Well its true, I was out of the country, I took my family to Cabo, but I am home now, I can scan my airplane tix if you like :).

I do keep auctions running when I am away, I have someone at home who handles my auctions for me while I am away.

I just wanted to update the forum on this, I did send LSalander an invoice today from an apple authorized reseller where the applecare was purchased, so I would think she will be all set within a day or 2 if apple works quickly.

The last time I listed boxed applecare, I sold one in a week instead of the 20 codes I typically sold a day. People will always gravitate to the cheaper item, I used to lose sales of codes over $1 to a seller that had a rating under 100 and I am well over 5000, its just human nature.

Hope this all helps
 
well

Hi,

I gave Macman a call, we had a discussion and he told me he had came out with a solution.

I waited a few hours and got the confirmation that my macbook was covered.:D

So Macman is THE man, I was scared, I thought it would never work, but he was responsive and came out with a solution.

Unless Apple comes up with another nonsense, the whole thing is now over.

Thanks Macman.
;)
 
this is over!

Dear Apple Customer,

AppleCare Registration Number:
Case ID:

Thank you for sending the additional information we requested regarding the purchase of your AppleCare Protection Plan. We are pleased to report that the registration process is complete and your product is now covered by the AppleCare Protection Plan.

We hope you enjoy the coverage provided by the plan, and we appreciate your interest in Apple products.

Sincerely,
AppleCare Agreement Administration
 
The best thing to do is buy from a seller that actually sends you the box un-opened. That is what the seller did for my Mac Mini, MBP, and iPhone.
 
well, not quite true....if you go back and read about the OP's problem you'll see that Apple required he verify that his "code" was actually a legitimate Apple product. To do that he had to either provide the serial number from the box or a receipt from an authorized reseller.

If you buy using the "code only" route, you're not going to be able to prove you have a legitimate Apple product and what you thought was your Applecare warranty protection vanishes.....just as the OP found himself without coverage after buying a "code only" deal.

Out of curiosity, why don't these ebay sellers provide both the code AND the serial!?!?!?
 
Because the codes are more likely hacked. Apple only finds out when someone buys a legitimate copy with the code that you have.

I realized this, after reading the rest of this thread. I should point out that I did buy a "code" only Applecare, and activated it on 9/23/08. It is still valid as of last check. A few months ago, I had the battery replaced because of battery health irregularities, with no questions asked about my AppleCare coverage. To my knowledge, I got this from some other dealer, not mentioned here. This thread though reinforces the risks of buying from ebay, even with getting a box.
 
I realized this, after reading the rest of this thread. I should point out that I did buy a "code" only Applecare, and activated it on 9/23/08. It is still valid as of last check. A few months ago, I had the battery replaced because of battery health irregularities, with no questions asked about my AppleCare coverage. To my knowledge, I got this from some other dealer, not mentioned here. This thread though reinforces the risks of buying from ebay, even with getting a box.

Same here, I'm counting my karma, and praying no one buys a box with my code in it, at least until December 2011! :/

But yeah, I ain't doing that again! Lesson learnt.
 
*prays the AppleCare will be good 'til it expires in December 2011...*

That means it's still under warranty right? If you really want to be safe, you could buy a boxed copy now and you'd have a receipt to prove it. If it all pans out and you don't need the AppleCare, you could probably sell it or use it on a future computer.

Just a thought.
 
That means it's still under warranty right? If you really want to be safe, you could buy a boxed copy now and you'd have a receipt to prove it. If it all pans out and you don't need the AppleCare, you could probably sell it or use it on a future computer.

Just a thought.

Hmm, that's a good idea, actually.

Maybe I'll do just that. Thanks for the idea!
 
That means it's still under warranty right? If you really want to be safe, you could buy a boxed copy now and you'd have a receipt to prove it. If it all pans out and you don't need the AppleCare, you could probably sell it or use it on a future computer.

Just a thought.



I think they would be a bit startled by that the date on the receipt is after the date on which he activated his AppleCare, don't you? ;)
 
Well its true, I was out of the country, I took my family to Cabo, but I am home now, I can scan my airplane tix if you like :).

....

The last time I listed boxed applecare, I sold one in a week instead of the 20 codes I typically sold a day. People will always gravitate to the cheaper item, I used to lose sales of codes over $1 to a seller that had a rating under 100 and I am well over 5000, its just human nature.

Well actually I did try to contact you twice via email (the address that was used in ebay) but unfortunately I never got an answer. I am wondering if it is better to post my request in this forum:



I did obtain apple care for my macbook some time ago and asked you to send me an invoice as apple seems to want that as a proof. Unfortuantely I never got an answer. I saw a discussion on macrumors.com today where you answered a question about an problem with a proof of purchase.

I do have a problem with my apple care as well. When I logon to https://selfsolve.apple.com/RegisterAgreement.do and click on the link to see my Proof of Coverage I get the following error-message

So I would be happy if you could send me an invoice and help me with my problem.

Thanks
Frank
 
Well actually I did try to contact you twice via email (the address that was used in ebay) but unfortunately I never got an answer. I am wondering if it is better to post my request in this forum:



I did obtain apple care for my macbook some time ago and asked you to send me an invoice as apple seems to want that as a proof. Unfortuantely I never got an answer. I saw a discussion on macrumors.com today where you answered a question about an problem with a proof of purchase.

I do have a problem with my apple care as well. When I logon to https://selfsolve.apple.com/RegisterAgreement.do and click on the link to see my Proof of Coverage I get the following error-message

So I would be happy if you could send me an invoice and help me with my problem.

Thanks
Frank


I am not sure what the issue is, the message you posted on the forum simply shows that apples servers/sight were down when you checked your coverage, thats all. If I am missing something, let me know. Is all good now? If not, just email me again or post here.

Thanks
 
I am not sure what the issue is, the message you posted on the forum simply shows that apples servers/sight were down when you checked your coverage, thats all. If I am missing something, let me know. Is all good now? If not, just email me again or post here.

Thanks

Well, if this is only a case of servers beeing down, then apple does have a major problem with its infrastructure ;-) since I have been getting this message since I bought and activated the applecare contract two months ago and I never got the certificate via email from apple. They do not seem to send it to me without the proof of purchase.

Hope you can help

regards
Frid
 
Interesting read this thread. I ended up going with a seller that actually sent out the box. It ended up costing me more than the code only sale, but still half the cost for the Mac Pro one direct from apple.

When I tried to register with apple online it wouldn't work because it's a refurb. So on the phone I got it activated. At the time I mentioned that I'd bought it from ebay, and would I be likely to have any problems down the track.

They guy asked if I got the box, which I did, to which he said 'no you will be ok, and you should not have any future issues. Some people do have issues if they buy only the codes.'

I didn't ask what kinds of problems or why, I was just glad that mine worked. And I have the box sitting here with the serial so I can relax in the knowledge that if anything happens I can just take the box into an apple store and just show them proof.
 
So I ended up buying Applecare for my MBP from Macman aswell.

And for different reasons I didn't get around to enrolling until like last week (got the code the 21th of Aug).

When I tried to registrate the serial I get a message saying that his serial has already been used. What is up with that? I wrote Macman a mail asking for help about 5 days ago, but haven't received a reply yet.

Guess I will have to dispute if I don't hear from him soon
 
Code only is going to be Fraud for sure

Fact : Apple only sells to Authorised resellers and these authorised resellers only can purchase sealed boxed Applecare. Apple never sells code only apple care.

Therefore code only Applecare is generated by a keygen. All codes can be cracked. The fact that a code is cracked and sold is NOT Apple's responsibility. These codes are stolen NOT paid for so why should Apple honour them even if earlier they seemed genuine in a computer authentication and 1.5 years later a legitimate boxed Applecare with that same code is handed in to exposed the stolen code?

100% ebay feedback is meaningless when it usually takes more that 3 moths to expose the fraud

Receiving stolen goods is illegal. If you buy from a slippery source and the price is below the wholesale price then 99.99% of the time the goods will be stolen unless an authorised channel was offering a loss leader for marketing purchases of other goods. If something appears to be to good to be true it usually is. doh!

MacMan & Co are NOT Apple authorised. Maybe they purchase the codes from another supplier and can claim they they did not know that the code was stolen but deep down they know they are slippery. They know Apple does NOT sell code only Applecare. Some say he have the boxes but they never ever actually ship them. If they have the authentic product where did they buy them from on an ongoing basis for way below the wholesale price? Beware there are also chinese counterfeit boxes and paperwork about.

I have a challenge for MacMan and Co how about you register a legitmate business, put sound legal and accounting practises in place, apply for Apple Authorisation, maybe get authorised and then find out what the real wholesale price of Apple care is and see what it is like to try to sell the genuine article against illegal online sales. You won't sell much online but maybe you might actually be assisting people in thead real world and be able to sleep better at night?

Though my gaming name here is outrageous (anyone online can appear to be anyone even an outrageous sexgod!) I have managed an Authorised Apple reseller business for 15 years. I know what I am talking about in this regard. I am easy to track down even with my outrageous name so come get me, try suing me for telling the truth.... that MAcMan & Co are criminals. Maybe yet to be convicted but criminals none the less.

Buy stolen goods and be prepared for the consequences. Some of you guys talking about legal arguments against Apple are funny. hahaha. Your best chance is a very small maybe that Apple may feel sorry for you and decide to cover you if you are 1-2 months outside the standard 12 month warranty.
 
So I ended up buying Applecare for my MBP from Macman aswell.

And for different reasons I didn't get around to enrolling until like last week (got the code the 21th of Aug).

When I tried to registrate the serial I get a message saying that his serial has already been used. What is up with that? I wrote Macman a mail asking for help about 5 days ago, but haven't received a reply yet.

Guess I will have to dispute if I don't hear from him soon

I am not sure exactly who you are, but I don't have any unanswered emails, so possibly your email has not come through. Or I may have solved your problem already, I have no way of knowing so please either post here or email me again or call me, my phone # is in every email I send.

Fact : Apple only sells to Authorised resellers and these authorised resellers only can purchase sealed boxed Applecare. Apple never sells code only apple care.

Therefore code only Applecare is generated by a keygen. All codes can be cracked. The fact that a code is cracked and sold is NOT Apple's responsibility. These codes are stolen NOT paid for so why should Apple honour them even if earlier they seemed genuine in a computer authentication and 1.5 years later a legitimate boxed Applecare with that same code is handed in to exposed the stolen code?

100% ebay feedback is meaningless when it usually takes more that 3 moths to expose the fraud

Receiving stolen goods is illegal. If you buy from a slippery source and the price is below the wholesale price then 99.99% of the time the goods will be stolen unless an authorised channel was offering a loss leader for marketing purchases of other goods. If something appears to be to good to be true it usually is. doh!

MacMan & Co are NOT Apple authorised. Maybe they purchase the codes from another supplier and can claim they they did not know that the code was stolen but deep down they know they are slippery. They know Apple does NOT sell code only Applecare. Some say he have the boxes but they never ever actually ship them. If they have the authentic product where did they buy them from on an ongoing basis for way below the wholesale price? Beware there are also chinese counterfeit boxes and paperwork about.

I have a challenge for MacMan and Co how about you register a legitmate business, put sound legal and accounting practises in place, apply for Apple Authorisation, maybe get authorised and then find out what the real wholesale price of Apple care is and see what it is like to try to sell the genuine article against illegal online sales. You won't sell much online but maybe you might actually be assisting people in thead real world and be able to sleep better at night?

Though my gaming name here is outrageous (anyone online can appear to be anyone even an outrageous sexgod!) I have managed an Authorised Apple reseller business for 15 years. I know what I am talking about in this regard. I am easy to track down even with my outrageous name so come get me, try suing me for telling the truth.... that MAcMan & Co are criminals. Maybe yet to be convicted but criminals none the less.

Buy stolen goods and be prepared for the consequences. Some of you guys talking about legal arguments against Apple are funny. hahaha. Your best chance is a very small maybe that Apple may feel sorry for you and decide to cover you if you are 1-2 months outside the standard 12 month warranty.

WOW!!! Pretty bold statements. The fact is, I buy these codes and sell them, I have been doing so for almost 5 years now and only in the last few months, since apple started randomly checking applecares, have I had anyone need back up info, which by the way I have provided and resolved any issues.
This being said, I have given a few refunds to people who just felt more comfortable going through apple after reading everyones bashing and opinions of the codes.

As far as coming after you, why would I do that, you are the one coming after me, you are entitled to your opinion, no matter how wrong you are, and your post is probably about 90% wrong. I am sure there are some bad people out there using a key gen to do a million illegal things, maybe even applecare codes, but I am not one of them. I am offened by this, by at this point, I have learned that everyone has a different agenda, some get burned by someone and then take it out on everyone else who is in the same business, and then some, as yourself, I think have sour grapes because they are not selling as many applecares due to the low prices on ebay. Thats just business, and to be quite honest, this bashing and slander is bad business.

As far as me being an authorized apple reseller, I choose not to be, I can be authorized easily if I so chose, but I have no reason to be, I couldn't sell computers at the prices I do if I was. Are you suggesting I steal the computers as well?

I buy computers and applecares from authorized apple resellers everday as well as other sources, so I have knowledge of what apples prices are, that is another reason I choose to not be an authorized reseller.

I probably sell 10 times the computers you do in a year and I have been in the apple business 10 years so I have some experience as well.
 
WOW!!! Pretty bold statements. The fact is, I buy these codes and sell them, I have been doing so for almost 5 years.

The codes are keygenerated and YOU KNOW IT..... No Apple Authorised reseller can obtain legal code only Applecares to sell to you as you claim.
Your claim must therefore be a lie.
These codes are illegal but get OK'd by computer authentication often for a period of time maybe up to the 2 years if you are lucky.

This is fact not just a bold statement.
 
Fact : Apple only sells to Authorised resellers and these authorised resellers only can purchase sealed boxed Applecare. Apple never sells code only apple care.

Therefore code only Applecare is generated by a keygen. All codes can be cracked. The fact that a code is cracked and sold is NOT Apple's responsibility. These codes are stolen NOT paid for so why should Apple honour them even if earlier they seemed genuine in a computer authentication and 1.5 years later a legitimate boxed Applecare with that same code is handed in to exposed the stolen code?

The codes are keygenerated and YOU KNOW IT..... No Apple Authorised reseller can obtain legal code only Applecares to sell to you as you claim.
Your claim must therefore be a lie.
These codes are illegal but get OK'd by computer authentication often for a period of time maybe up to the 2 years if you are lucky.

This is fact not just a bold statement.

So how do you know a reseller isn't buying boxed AppleCare in huge bulk, opening them up, gathering all the codes, and selling the codes in bulk (destroying the original boxes) to simplify things? Those wouldn't be stolen or generated with a key code.

Can you prove that's not happening? If not, then your 'fact' is nothing more than assumption. And you may be calling an honest reseller a liar.
 
So how do you know a reseller isn't buying boxed AppleCare in huge bulk, opening them up, gathering all the codes, and selling the codes in bulk (destroying the original boxes) to simplify things? Those wouldn't be stolen or generated with a key code.

Can you prove that's not happening? If not, then your 'fact' is nothing more than assumption. And you may be calling an honest reseller a liar.

Because of the pricing. Read the posts, the pricing for these 'codes only' products are much much lower than the boxed pricing. I'm talking about the pricing that resellers get from distributors. For e.g. if an applecare being sold for $250 at Apple is sourced for $150 using a reseller account - straight from their distributors. If then a 'code only' product pops up for $75.. come on.. you can't deny that, that is shady as heck.

Just like the stores that sell grey market cameras and expensive watches - they're a good 20-30% off of the lowest pricing, but you don't get a warranty with that. It's obviously up to the customer to decide whether he wants to take a risk of buying a product with no warranty (pray that the product doesn't fail for 1-2 years) or pay up and get peace of mind.

With these codes, it's more like - lose all the money you pay and get nothing in return (if the codes are found to be not valid)
 
Bottom line, do not buy an Applecare code from Ebay unless the vendor is an authorised reseller willing to give you a receipt. I've just had my fingers burnt on an iPhone applecare which Apple are refusing to transfer to the new owner until I send them a receipt (obviously is not possible since I got it from Ebay).
 
Can you prove that's not happening? If not, then your 'fact' is nothing more than assumption. And you may be calling an honest reseller a liar.

I can prove it in a court of law by asking MacMan and his suppliers to show receipts from Apple and the priginal boxes and serial numbers. He and they can't produce them because there is NO WAY in the world that they can be purchased wholesale from Apple for the price they sell them for or below.

Hence I will continue my revelation and truth against this person. If it was a few Applecare's here and there being sold below cost ( old liquidated stock etc ) then it would be possible but it is not ... it is hundreds sold behind false names and details (ebay is perfect for cons)... codes that sometimes have to be replaced NOT because of a glitch in Apple's authentication but because sometimes a real printed Apple number is sold and registered as the same one as the one they generated and sold you.

Again is something appears to be too good to be true it probably is.
In this case is is way more than probable ...it is 100% fraud.

Buy stolen goods if you wish ... they may work and maybe they wont break and you wont need to actually get warranty service and maybe you have no conscience like MacMan & Co.
 
I can prove it in a court of law by asking MacMan and his suppliers to show receipts from Apple and the priginal boxes and serial numbers. He and they can't produce them because there is NO WAY in the world that they can be purchased wholesale from Apple for the price they sell them for or below.

You do realize that Macman was able to provide Apple with sufficient proof (from his supplier) when one of his buyers had his code come into question from Apple and the situation was resolved to Apple's satisfaction. Try reading back a number of pages before calling someone a liar.
 
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