My 2nd Great applecare experience!!

[paintballswimgu]

Last year i got my 15 in 2007 mbp replaced with an i5 15 in antiglare for free under applecare.

This year... My fiancée got her 2008 macbook replaced under applecare with the new 2011 15 inch macbook pro.

Basically, the top of her macbook has been continually cracking and she has had it replaced 4 times, after the third they said they would replace it if it happened again. But the fourth time, they told her it was cosmetic and would not replace the white macbook for that reason. Anyways, today, we opened the box for the repaired macbook and went to do a time capsule backup on it, but they had put osx 10.5 on instead of 10.6, so it said we needed to upgrade the operating system. When i went to put the snow leopard disk in the superdrive, it was unable to fit (it was empty i checked). Apple had "fixed" her computer and now it was unable to fit a cdrom in the drive.

So we called apple, after an hour they agreed to a replacement. They asked if she used firewire, we said yes (for an external hd). So they said they would replace it with the new 13 in pro. She then asked if it would have two digital audio in and out ports like her 08 white macbook had, because she uses them to record music from her guitar. (the 13 in. has one, while the 15 inch has two). They said the 13 inch didn't, but the 15 inch did, so they agreed to replace it with the 15 inch i7 macbook pro. She then paid 100 bucks for hi res.

For everyone who questions if applecare is worth it or not, it totally is, if your willing to call them and deal with them. This is the second computer i have had replaced, and each time I have ended up with a significantly better machine for little to no cost.

 

[snakemajestic]

thats awesome.

stories like this helped me make the switch from pc to apple.

 

[iPhone1]

People forget to factor in customer service when they talk about the Apple tax. Great story and a welcome departure from the usual "I scammed Apple and I'm awesome" threads.

Congrats!

Now pics or it didn't happen.

 

[t0rr3s]

I can confirm the veracity of the OP's account.
I am the hi res screen.

 

[namtaB]

For everyone who questions if applecare is worth it or not, it totally is, if your willing to call them and deal with them. This is the second computer i have had replaced, and each time I have ended up with a significantly better machine for little to no cost.

Its worth it IF you have a bad machine and IF it requires numerous fixes and IF you deal with Apple and IF they decide to replace it for a better model at no cost. There's a lot of IFs there which most people will not qualify for. So for them, they are shelling out the $249 and getting no return on it. But that's how these extended warranties work anyway, the vast majority of the users are paying into it and will never see the benefit. Instead, that money goes to subsidize the repairs/refurb/new machines for the customers who have valid warranty claims that Apple chooses to honor. Personally, I'd rather save the $249 and take my chances as I am very careful with my laptops and replace them in 2 years anyway. But I'm glad you were able to get a new machine.

 

[Resist]

I'd rather save the $249 and take my chances as I am very careful with my laptops and replace them in 2 years anyway

I totally agree with you unless, you can get Applecare at a much lower price. And this can be done through other online retailers like Amazon or B&H Photo.

In general though an extended warranty is a huge money maker for companies. It's only "cheap insurance" for a very few, the majority will never have to use this warranty. One thing to note, Apple routinely covers issues outside of the warranty. You may have to talk to more than one person, even more than one Apple store, but it's doable.

 

[namtaB]

I totally agree with you unless, you can get Applecare at a much lower price. And this can be done through other online retailers like Amazon or B&H Photo.

In general though an extended warranty is a huge money maker for companies. It's only "cheap insurance" for a very few, the majority will never have to use this warranty. One thing to note, Apple routinely covers issues outside of the warranty. You may have to talk to more than one person, even more than one Apple store, but it's doable.

Yeah, if you can get it at a discount it may be worthwhile. I wouldn't pay over $125 for an extended laptop warranty but that's me and my requirements are unique.

But, when I was a student and used my Thinkpad T42 from college through grad school I did have an extended warranty that I paid a fortune to extend even further totaling 5 years bc I couldn't afford a new laptop. I think I spent close to $600 for the 5 years of warranty coverage. The last year of that warranty the screen died, was replaced, died again, and then replaced one last time before the warranty was up. So I did recoup my extended warranty cost in year 5 of ownership.

I think part of it is luck on getting a good machine. But for the time period that Apple covers, only 2 years beyond the standard 1st year, $249 just isn't worth it IMHO.