My Warranty has Expired

[Milfin]

Hello everyone,

We don't have an apple store in our city but we do have a authorized dealer.
My wife's macbook (MB062LL/B) apparently has a logic board problem.

The problem is that her warranty ended Feb 9, 2009.

Anyway what advise could you give me? The dealer said he could get on a chat session with Apple to see if they would be flexible... but he said it's always better if the customer talks to someone at the Apple Store.


A little background about how serious I am about Mac Products...
Some of the other products that I have purchased since the macbook.
Macbook Pro
Apple Tv
Airport Extreme Base Station
Airport Express
Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard
Ipod Touch
Ipod Nano
2 Iphones.

Crap load of Software.... and I try to convert PC users.

Do you think I should let them know how loyal of a customer that I have been?


Thanks for your advice.

 

[Jack Flash]

Sure, just don't feel entitled to an out of warranty repair. Also, you might offer buying AppleCare as some leverage.

 

[Abstract]

Reason: oh yeah... I should have bought apple care.. but it was either the hardware or warranty.

You didn't even need to choose between hardware or warranty. You had 12 months to buy AppleCare after you purchased your laptop.


Anyway, I want to tell you that there's no chance that Apple will repair your laptop now, or let you purchase AppleCare after your laptop broke. Doesn't matter whether you have purchased Apple hardware before or not.

You could get very very lucky, I guess. It depends on the customer service rep you get, but I still highly doubt you'll be eligible for AppleCare. They're even strict towards people who miss the deadline by a few days, let alone 2 weeks.

 

[Milfin]

Thanks for the quick replies. This is really a last ditch effort.

Irritates me that the computer is broken... but what's worst is that I know I will replace her laptop with an IMAC.... now I have to wait for the upgrade.

 

[GGJstudios]

Sure, just don't feel entitled to an out of warranty repair. Also, you might offer buying AppleCare as some leverage.

You can't buy AppleCare after the warranty has expired. It must be purchased within the warranty period.

 

[michael.lauden]

it's always worth a shot. but if you think of it from a different perspective.

you aren't going to make or break apple.

sure you are THEIR customer, but unless you talk to the right person - and have some luck... i don't think they have any reason to go out of the way for you.


i would call someone from apple and see what your available options. i would save the BUT IVE BOUGHT ALL YOUR STUFF argument for later. but that's just my 2 cents

 

[EB66]

it really depends on the person you get because i am sure they can stretch the rules in some ways

 

[jofus]

I've heard of them making exceptions, though it usually comes for someone that has had problems throughout the warranty period. Is this the first problem with the computer?

 

[Jack Flash]

You can't buy AppleCare after the warranty has expired. It must be purchased within the warranty period.

By the rules I know you can't. But if you're begging for an out of warranty repair they might be more likely to offer it if you're offering $349 for AppleCare.

 

[GGJstudios]

By the rules I know you can't. But if you're begging for an out of warranty repair they might be more likely to offer it if you're offering $349 for AppleCare.

You can offer to buy it all day long, but they can't sell it to you if the Mac is already out of warranty, so it's not an enticement.

 

[Milfin]

I've heard of them making exceptions, though it usually comes for someone that has had problems throughout the warranty period. Is this the first problem with the computer?

yes, it's the first real major problem.
I had software issues but I just used Time Machine to resolve the problems.

 

[macaco74]

I wish you the best of luck - when I suspected my macbook pro may be failing (it was not thankfully) I immediately bought applecare (was at the 10 month of ownership mark).

At least now I have peice of mind for another 2 years.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Hopefully you'll have some luck getting them to work with you. I honestly doubt they would let you purchase Applecare after the fact, because there is so much red tape at apple its ludicrous. I tried to get them to change my iPhone purchase date which was grossly incorrect and appeared to be out of warranty. I had to speak to at-least five different individuals and fax documents and written letters from myself and ATT...such a hassle.

I would take it to an Apple store and try to get in some face time. Be nice as possible.

 

[esaleris]

I don't know if you can do this, but can you buy the proper part from Apple? I've opened up a Macbook and it's really easy to take apart and put back together. You could save on labor at the very least.

 

[Milfin]

I don't know if you can do this, but can you buy the proper part from Apple? I've opened up a Macbook and it's really easy to take apart and put back together. You could save on labor at the very least.

Yeah the logic board is around $500.

 

[piimaPAKK]

Would be kinda stupid of Apple to let you buy AppleCare after your warranty period ended and your MacBook broke. You would get $500+ repair for $350 plus possible repairs in the future, also other customers would expect to be treated like that too.

 

[velocityg4]

Yeah the logic board is around $500.

If you can get the board for $500 that is just about the best deal you can get. With the model number you gave earlier it looks like you have the 2.2Ghz Santa Rosa board and the cheapest a saw in my search was $649 at ifixit.com. Ebay might be cheaper but none of those boards are currently on auction.

 

[PowerFullMac]

My iPod shuffle broke after warrenty, it had run out a few months before it broke. I took it to Apple and they swapped it out in store for free.

Some people who work at the stores are nice and some arn't, like others have said, you have to just hope your lucky.

 

[jörmungandr]

My iPod shuffle broke after warrenty, it had run out a few months before it broke. I took it to Apple and they swapped it out in store for free.

In terms of going out of their way for customer satisfaction, it's a lot easier to justify the cost of replacing a $49 iPod Shuffle than $1000 in lost parts/labor revenue for a dead MBPro. That's a ridiculous and irresponsible comparison to make. If I have a bad experience in a restaurant, I would reasonably expect that they would offer some sort of dessert or other small token to keep my business. I would not expect that they feed me 3 meals/day for a month.

Some people who work at the stores are nice and some arn't, like others have said, you have to just hope your lucky.

This has nothing to do with whether or not people at the stores are or are not "nice". To replace an item of that cost - when the customer is CLEARLY at fault - is a terrible customer service move. It's essentially setting the expectation that Apple will pay for the things that you don't feel like paying for.

 

[gkarris]

This has nothing to do with whether or not people at the stores are or are not "nice". To replace an item of that cost - when the customer is CLEARLY at fault - is a terrible customer service move. It's essentially setting the expectation that Apple will pay for the things that you don't feel like paying for.

Exactly. It wouldn't be fair to us folk that purchase AppleCare for our computers and end up not using it or just getting a measly power adapter replaced...

You had a whole year to get it...