How does Apple warranty work (AppleCare)/how good is it?

[Crunch]

Hi all, so I got rid of my Thinkpad W700 and raised some cash for either the W701 or the MacBook Pro 17" WUXGA, as soon as it refreshes and has an IPS screen.

Anyway, I'm used to Thinkpads (11 years, 12 Thinkpads) and even though Lenovo bought the ThinkPad division from IBM in 2005, IBM, thank goodness, still handles all the warranty, which has been unbelievably great over the years.

I'm interested in how Apple's warranty works. I already know I'll be buying the 3-year coverage, and I keep hearing excellent stuff about it. Every now and then, a horror story comes up, but whatever. I'm mostly interested in the logistics. For example, I work in IT, grew up with computers, and when I call IBM, they won't even make me jump through any hoops if I volunteer the troubleshooting information and it makes sense to them. If it's a part that is deemed to be the problem, and if it is easily replaceable by the customer (i.e. CRU=Customer Replaceable Unit), then IBM sends out a new or refurbished part, along with a pre-paid return shipping label, and the customer is asked to return the defective part to IBM within 30 days. If it is more cumbersome, or if IBM determines that the Thinkpad needs to be repaired by IBM, then it overnights a pre-paid custom-fit box for the Thinkpad, which in turn overnights the customer's unit to IBM. When it's repaired, it gets overnighted back to the customer, all part of the warranty.

IBM does not have any Apple stores, so I'm sure they're involved in a lot of cases, but what if I only need a part, or don't live close to a store, or don't like going to stores for whatever reason, how does Apple deal with a defective part, for instance?

 

[miles01110]

You take it to either an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Repair Shop. They diagnose the problem and determine if it is covered by AppleCare. If it is, they either repair it onsite or send it to another service center to have the part replaced. This can take anywhere from a day to a couple of weeks.

Accidental damage (spills, dents, etc) are not covered. If they determine that accidental damage caused other damage it won't be covered. Replacement hard drives are not covered (same with RAM- only the factory units are covered).

Oh: You can also call the phone support center and arrange for them to ship you a box to ship your machine back to them. I've never done this, so maybe someone else could elaborate.

 

[VPrime]

I am not a fan of apples warranty service (I may be the only one it seems).

Because I live in canada I can not send my product directly to apple (in this case a Aluminum macbook from 2008).
I was having some issues so I call them up (about a month before my 1yr apple care expired) and they say I have to take it to an apple store (none within 3 hours) or apple authorized shop.
I have heard horror stories from people I know about authorized shops so I as hesitant.
They assured me every thing would be ok.

After the shop having my macbook for 25 days, they never fixed the problem(they say they did replace the parts...) and by the time I got my macbook back my applecare expired (Oh and the macbook was missing a screw too!).
I call apple and they say there is nothing they can do. They give me an extra 30 days for the repairs done so I can go back (or to another repair shop) and get them to correct this issue.
I never bothered as I didn't want them to have my macbook for another month with no results... I could live with the issues instead.

So, unless you have an apple store (which seems where all the happy customers come from) you may have a terrible experience.

I know I won't be buying applecare for any thing else until apple lets me send my product to them directly, or has an apple store local.

 

[lionheartednyhc]

I am not a fan of apples warranty service (I may be the only one it seems).

Because I live in canada I can not send my product directly to apple (in this case a Aluminum macbook from 2008).
I was having some issues so I call them up (about a month before my 1yr apple care expired) and they say I have to take it to an apple store (none within 3 hours) or apple authorized shop.
I have heard horror stories from people I know about authorized shops so I as hesitant.
They assured me every thing would be ok.

After the shop having my macbook for 25 days, they never fixed the problem(they say they did replace the parts...) and by the time I got my macbook back my applecare expired (Oh and the macbook was missing a screw too!).
I call apple and they say there is nothing they can do. They give me an extra 30 days for the repairs done so I can go back (or to another repair shop) and get them to correct this issue.
I never bothered as I didn't want them to have my macbook for another month with no results... I could live with the issues instead.

So, unless you have an apple store (which seems where all the happy customers come from) you may have a terrible experience.

I know I won't be buying applecare for any thing else until apple lets me send my product to them directly, or has an apple store local.

What do you mean you couldn't send it to them?

 

[VPrime]

What do you mean you couldn't send it to them?

Apple has no depots in Canada. So the American depot won't accept shipments from Canadians.