Apple Care?

J

jnick

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So, I just purchased the iPod Touch last night and purposely declined BB protection plan in order to purchase Apple Care. However, now that I think about it, I have two questions:

1. If I purchase Apple Care, will I get the full coverage even though I didn't buy the iPod Touch through the Apple Store?

2. Through your experience...am I better off with Apple Care? Or should I get the protection plan from BB?

Both are the same price, so either way, I'm going to get one or the other. I just want to make sure I get the pick the right one, support service and coverage wise.

Thank you!
 
jnick said:
So, I just purchased the iPod Touch last night and purposely declined BB protection plan in order to purchase Apple Care. However, now that I think about it, I have two questions:

1. If I purchase Apple Care, will I get the full coverage even though I didn't buy the iPod Touch through the Apple Store?

2. Through your experience...am I better off with Apple Care? Or should I get the protection plan from BB?

Both are the same price, so either way, I'm going to get one or the other. I just want to make sure I get the pick the right one, support service and coverage wise.

Thank you!
Click to expand...
1. Yes.

2. That depends. The nice thing about the Best Buy warranty is the exchange policy. If anything goes wrong, you can go to your nearest Best Buy and exchange the touch for the next best product on the shelf, so if it breaks two years from now, you can get whatever that's being sold then and you won't be stuck with the same model.
 
Thats not quite correct. Having worked for best buy for the last 3 years and recently parting ways with them, I can say that it is not an EXCHANGE policy. On any item more than $199 dollars the plan is a SERVICE PLAN, not a REPLACEMENT PLAN. (They abbreviate them PSP instead of PRP). If something goes wrong, it will have to be serviced (meaning sent of for repair). If it cannot be repaired or is not cost effective, then they will offer to replace it with a comparable model. This means you will get the same model, even if it has dropped in price.
 
JJU357 said:
Thats not quite correct. Having worked for best buy for the last 3 years and recently parting ways with them, I can say that it is not an EXCHANGE policy. On any item more than $199 dollars the plan is a SERVICE PLAN, not a REPLACEMENT PLAN. (They abbreviate them PSP instead of PRP). If something goes wrong, it will have to be serviced (meaning sent of for repair). If it cannot be repaired or is not cost effective, then they will offer to replace it with a comparable model. This means you will get the same model, even if it has dropped in price.
Click to expand...
That's not confusing at all.

Go with Apple care. ;)
 
Unfortunately, that's not correct.

the iPod warranty at Best Buy is not a replacement wararnty. It's a service warranty.

They first send it out for repair (guess where) and if it can't be repaired, THEN you get a replacement.

Who knows how long it takes Best Buy to do all this.

I checked into this very carefully when I bought my Classic 160, and turned down the BB for this reason.

If I gotta mail it in anyway, it may as well be the mothership directly, with no parties in-between to slow things down.

B. W. said:
1. Yes.

2. That depends. The nice thing about the Best Buy warranty is the exchange policy. If anything goes wrong, you can go to your nearest Best Buy and exchange the touch for the next best product on the shelf, so if it breaks two years from now, you can get whatever that's being sold then and you won't be stuck with the same model.
Click to expand...
 
Hmm...So before I purchase AppleCare...does anyone with the iPod Touch have AppleCare for it? The reason I ask is because I'm not sure which one I should get. I would think it would be the iPod AppleCare, and attempted to verify this with an Apple Expert. At first, he wasn't sure and said that their AppleCare Documentation hasn't been updated for the Touch yet.

Then he said he checked with the Apple Care group and they said yes, the regular iPod AppleCare package covers the Touch. However, before I purchase this, I was wondering if anyone else did, and if they did...which one did they buy?

Thanks!
 
Typically flash based players can not be repaired and are replaced immediately...

i-pods with hard drives go to repair - or you have an option to rapid exchange i.e. take a refurbished i-pod home after 4-5 days, comming directly from Apple

i-pods with flash drives typically get replaced on the spot..

Apple care has similar plan, most hard drive i-pods replaced are refurbished / repaired
Flash based players are replaced...

Ask the BB sales person what type of plan you are purchasing when you buy it, honestly there are few differences in the plans avalable.
Not all service plans are = like this... Most PC manufacturers offer lousy service even with extended plans.

I've witnessed BB service plan > HP service plan etc...

also
... Quite a few years ago there was a disagreement between Apple and Bestbuy about replacing hard drive based players on the spot, Apple did not want thier HD based i-pods being replaced without being inspected by Apple repair centers.
 
If you go to the AppleCare page for iPods, there are only two choices.

And one of them definitely ain't it :)

jnick said:
Hmm...So before I purchase AppleCare...does anyone with the iPod Touch have AppleCare for it? The reason I ask is because I'm not sure which one I should get. I would think it would be the iPod AppleCare, and attempted to verify this with an Apple Expert. At first, he wasn't sure and said that their AppleCare Documentation hasn't been updated for the Touch yet.

Then he said he checked with the Apple Care group and they said yes, the regular iPod AppleCare package covers the Touch. However, before I purchase this, I was wondering if anyone else did, and if they did...which one did they buy?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
No Best Buy PSPs PRPs or anything else. Stick with Applecare ESPECIALLY if you have an Apple store close. I have had countless iPods replaced by Apple just because I had AppleCare. Battery fails during warranty, unit replaced. LED fails during warranty, unit replaced...etc All BestBuy will do is give you the runaround.
 
not to threadjack here.... but if you already own an apple product (mbp) and didnt get applecare in store is it as simple as buying it online?
 
usualpulp said:
not to threadjack here.... but if you already own an apple product (mbp) and didnt get applecare in store is it as simple as buying it online?
Click to expand...

Yes there are plenty of reputable sellers on Ebay that sell Applecare for about half off Apple's pricing. You just have to activate it online using the instruction in the Applecare box.
 
??? said:
Yes there are plenty of reputable sellers on Ebay that sell Applecare for about half off Apple's pricing. You just have to activate it online using the instruction in the Applecare box.
Click to expand...

QFT - saved a bunch of money by Applecare for my last MBP on eBay.
 
I got mine from a seller by the name of CConverter(s). Not sure if there is an s on the end of the name or not. Fast and smooth transaction. From what I remember, there are several high ranked sellers but not all offer the price around half off. YMMV!
 
When I was selling AppleCare years ago, it had a 100% markup. I usually sold at a discount.

That was a very long time ago though.

??? said:
Yes there are plenty of reputable sellers on Ebay that sell Applecare for about half off Apple's pricing. You just have to activate it online using the instruction in the Applecare box.
Click to expand...
 
If the numbers are the same as 10 years ago, half-off would be selling at cost.

Not sure I understand the business model there :)


??? said:
I got mine from a seller by the name of CConverter(s). Not sure if there is an s on the end of the name or not. Fast and smooth transaction. From what I remember, there are several high ranked sellers but not all offer the price around half off. YMMV!
Click to expand...
 
TechLarry said:
If the numbers are the same as 10 years ago, half-off would be selling at cost.

Not sure I understand the business model there :)
Click to expand...

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...c_accessories/applecare_dotmac&nplm=MA515LL/A

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250161624106

Looks like half to me! Don't know if you were saying that I was not telling the truth about the price I paid or just could not believe deals like that really do exist. Either way you can plainly see that the Ebay link is where I bought my Applecare. I have received the papers from Apple as well so I know it was completely legit.

As far as cost goes, I am not sure what cost is and I really don't care cause I got a great deal on Applecare for my Macbook Pro that is 2.4GHz Core2Duo, 17" Matte Hi Res Screen, 160GB 7200RPM, 2GB memory, 256MB 8600GT, and the rest. From buying my Macbook Pro and Applecare on Ebay, both brand new sealed boxes, I saved over $800 from what I would have spent on Apple's site after tax and shipping. Tax is charged when purchased from the Apple but not on Ebay. Another way to save money!! Just trying to help people out and save them some cash.
 
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Not at all :) I was just saying what it USED to be like. Not sure if it is or not as I've been out of the loop for 10 years.

An example. Say a PowerBook AppleCare policy retailed for $300. Dealer cost was $150. I would typicall sell at a 25% discount, or $225.


??? said:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...c_accessories/applecare_dotmac&nplm=MA515LL/A

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250161624106

Looks like half to me! Don't know if you were saying that I was not telling the truth about the price I paid or just could not believe deals like that really do exist. Either way you can plainly see that the Ebay link is where I bought my Applecare. I have received the papers from Apple as well so I know it was completely legit.

As far as cost goes, I am not sure what cost is and I really don't care cause I got a great deal on Applecare for my Macbook Pro that is 2.4GHz Core2Duo, 17" Matte Hi Res Screen, 160GB 7200RPM, 2GB memory, 256MB 8600GT, and the rest. From buying my Macbook Pro and Applecare on Ebay, both brand new sealed boxes, I saved over $800 from what I would have spent on Apple's site after tax and shipping. Tax is charged when purchased from the Apple but not on Ebay. Another way to save money!! Just trying to help people out and save them some cash.
Click to expand...
 
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