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world wide warranty?

riel505

riel505

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 8, 2006
47
0
Dubai
ei, does anybody know if i'm gonna have a problem with macbook warranties? my friend picked up my macbook last july while she was at the US. i'm based in dubai -- now, my macbook has rsd (random shut down, if i got that correctly in another thread) and need it checked.

wonder, if i'm gonna be hassled about it? UAE is not even listed in apple's website, though we do have a macstore here. just one.
 
As of about eight months ago, all Mac warranties are good worldwide...you shouldn't have any problems.
 
WildCowboy said:
As of about eight months ago, all Mac warranties are good worldwide...you shouldn't have any problems.
Click to expand...
Nice! I knew all portables had worldwide warranties, but this I didn't know. Do you know if this is also valid for products purchased before 8 months ago?
 
iJaz said:
Nice! I knew all portables had worldwide warranties, but this I didn't know. Do you know if this is also valid for products purchased before 8 months ago?
Click to expand...

I don't know for sure, but I assume they'd cover anyone...it would be good PR to do so when they're covering others who may have purchased only slightly later.

Here is an AppleInsider article from when the worldwide warranties were extended to desktops, servers, and displays.
 
Oh, don't be so sure about "worldwide" warranty, especially when you're dealing with the Apple IMC in the middle east (IMC: Independent Marketing Company).

First off, Apple desktops are not covered by Apple's international warranty, as mentioned here in Apple's warranty policy:

If the product is portable, meaning that it can operate independently without a power cord, you may obtain warranty service worldwide. However, service will be limited to the options available in the country where service is requested. If the product is not portable, warranty service may be restricted to the country where the product is purchased.
Click to expand...
Now, the Apple IMC Middle East claims that even portables' warranty service is restricted to the country of purchase. They won't provide any service to any Apple product that wasn't bought from one of their "authorized" resellers. They would also tell you that if you bought an Apple product from them, and go to an Apple Store in the US, they will also not provide service.

Go to local Mac Store in Dubai and ask them, see if you could get anything from them.

Here's the Apple IMC Middle East website: www.appleme.ae
 
Oh, I forgot to mention something. What Middle East IMC is saying is wrong. You can take an Apple portable you bought from the Middle East and get service in any country in the world. However, they SHOULD provide support to any Apple portable eligible for warranty, regardless of the country of purchase, but apparently they don't.

I even contacted Apple's Warranty Department for this issue, and they assured that the Middle East IMC SHOULD be providing worldwide warranty.
 
Voidness said:
Oh, don't be so sure about "worldwide" warranty, especially when you're dealing with the Apple IMC in the middle east (IMC: Independent Marketing Company).

First off, Apple desktops are not covered by Apple's international warranty, as mentioned here in Apple's warranty policy:


Now, the Apple IMC Middle East claims that even portables' warranty service is restricted to the country of purchase. They won't provide any service to any Apple product that wasn't bought from one of their "authorized" resellers. They would also tell you that if you bought an Apple product from them, and go to an Apple Store in the US, they will also not provide service.

Go to local Mac Store in Dubai and ask them, see if you could get anything from them.

Here's the Apple IMC Middle East website: www.appleme.ae
Click to expand...

thanks for all that info. i sure do hope they will provide service... this rsd thing is not only worrying, it's terribly annoying! Man, gotta read the thread again to see if there is anything i can do). i'llcall up Apple IMC tom and update you on their stance.
 
Voidness said:
Oh, I forgot to mention something. What Middle East IMC is saying is wrong. You can take an Apple portable you bought from the Middle East and get service in any country in the world. However, they SHOULD provide support to any Apple portable eligible for warranty, regardless of the country of purchase, but apparently they don't.

I even contacted Apple's Warranty Department for this issue, and they assured that the Middle East IMC SHOULD be providing worldwide warranty.
Click to expand...

i randomly picked one of the 3 service centers in their website... they said they will replace the parts at no charge, but the parts might take a month to get here. :D cool. in the meantime, i can bring my mac in for a check up and take it home while we wait for the parts. they honor the warranty, they just need proof of purchase. yey!
 
riel505 said:
i randomly picked one of the 3 service centers in their website... they said they will replace the parts at no charge, but the parts might take a month to get here. :D cool. in the meantime, i can bring my mac in for a check up and take it home while we wait for the parts. they honor the warranty, they just need proof of purchase. yey!
Click to expand...
That's great! I'd appreciate if you would post updates here.
 
Voidness said:
That's great! I'd appreciate if you would post updates here.
Click to expand...

Voidness, WildCowboy and iJaz -- thanks for posting.

Here's a few updates:

Dubai is currently in Ramadan timings, that usually means shortened work hours in respect of the Muslim's Holy month. So I wasn't able to bring my macbook to the service center till my off day which was yesterday (Saturday).

During the week I started backing up my files -- I wasn't able to complete it. My macbook crashed... the screen was just a dull gray. It happened twice. So I just packed it up and waited for Saturday, when I could bring the laptop to the center.

And like they said over the phone, they need to replace the motherboard and logic board. They will communicate with Apple, with my proof of purchase, to get approval for the replacement of parts. That will take about two weeks, and another two to get the parts, so about one month total. The service guy, Desie, also told me that there was a batch produced that had the same problem.

There will be no cost for me.

Except the time lost. Which is pretty precious. I've got a lot of pending work... sigh. I should have backed up earlier.

But I hate it that I got a MacLemon. I converted to Mac because of its reputation for no crashes and its practically virus-free reputation.

In a way, I think it's ironic that now I feel relieved that the warranty was honored here. There should have been no doubt in my mind. It sucks.
 
riel505 said:
And like they said over the phone, they need to replace the motherboard and logic board. They will communicate with Apple, with my proof of purchase, to get approval for the replacement of parts. That will take about two weeks, and another two to get the parts, so about one month total. The service guy, Desie, also told me that there was a batch produced that had the same problem.

There will be no cost for me.
Click to expand...

updates: got my macbook back. it took them only a short while to replace the necessary items once they had the parts. then they called me to say it was ready for pick up. had to pay AED 160 ($44) for surcharge (?), fee of getting the parts out of the freezones (i think i kind of importing fees) which was not covered by apple.

don't know if i'm just crazy or paranoid with the replace parts, but i think my macbook is making more noise now than before (when reading or burning). - could it be?

with this experience, i just realized i must be more careful of the data in macbook. i guess they tested it over there... pictures in the thrash bin were of the service center guys, some of their pics were also left in my photo booth. keychain access was activated which i never activated before. when i saw those i suddenly realized that stuff like bank statements, cvs, and other personal data are littered on my desktop -- and my laptop automatically logs in to my account. :eek: wasn't able to secure those before turning over my laptop... don't think they did anything, i just thought i should have been more careful.
 
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