Question about warranties... did some searching but still have questions

[wangchunggti337]

I am wondering how it works when you buy an Apple product that you did not originally ppurchase from the Apple Store.

To my understanding if you buy an unopened Apple Product from a third party, the warranty starts from the day it was purchased by that person. To activate the warranty you only need to register the product in your name and the remaining warranty is valid. Is this correct?

What happens if the product is already opened and registered under someone else?

Also, as far as extended AppleCare registered to someone. What is involved in transferring this to the new buyer? Is it possible to transfer AppleCares to other computers if it's within the one year limit?

I just starting thinking about this and how it works when people buy used iPods on eBay and such and then realized that I have no idea how the warranties work.

Thanks for the help!

 

[gr8tfly]

It doesn't matter whether it's opened or not - the warranty is based on the purchase date, verified by your receipt. Applecare extends the basic 1 year warranty a further 2 years. You have until the end of the first year to purchase it, but it doesn't affect the starting date of coverage.

I suppose if you had Applecare and hadn't registered it (recording the s/n of the machine you're covering), it would "xfer" to a different machine anytime (as long as the machine was the same type as the Applecare package purchased). Once it's applied to a machine, it sticks to that machine. The coverage would still only cover that machine a maximum of 3 years after the purchase date.

 

[wangchunggti337]

So is it possible to recover a warranty no matter who bought it first and without the receipt? As long as it's within the first year, of course.

 

[gr8tfly]

If it was purchased through an Apple Store, it might already be in their system. You can go to apple.com (http://www.apple.com/support/) and enter the serial number - they will tell you how much warranty remains. I'd guess if it shows up there, you wouldn't need any documentation. Just a guess, though.