In Australia, we’re covered by a three-year Australian Consumer Law warranty which overrides Apple’s default one-year and makes AppleCare pointless.
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In the UK I buy my Macs from John Lewis which includes a two year warranty as standard.
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A few months ago I managed to get my daughter’s top spec 13" MBP from 2017 replaced after an endless series of problems. It had the logic board go at just three months that took a couple weeks to fix, then a few months later the screen went.
Apple messed me about for 2 months as I drove a couple hundred miles, going back & forth between service centres or dealing with the on the phone. It was eventually replaced under warranty when they concluded it was not economically viable for them to repair. It had issues with the CPU, microphone, display, cooling system and GPU.
The galling part is that they insist they have a right to repair the computer up to five times, before it is eligible for replacement and this is all within the first year of warranty. At no point is the convenience or best interest of the customer considered it seems.
I’m holding on to my mid 2010 Mac Pro for as long as possible, but there is no way I’ll replace it with an Apple laptop or an iMac when the time comes.
I’d buy mine from them too, if they were state-side, just based on their Christmas commercials. They are, simply, the best.
@ashleykaryl Apple told me that “had I purchased directly from them instead of an authorized distributor, they would have replaced mine.” They “repaired” just about everything, three times before corporate got involved and replaced it. But, it didn’t end there. The finally replaced it in an Apple Store- but when I got home, I found out that they took my very top-of-the-line, special order machine, and replaced it with a low end (4 GB, 256 SSD). I drove right back to the store (an hour away), but was told my machine had already shipped out. Then, they (honest-to-God) said that they thought I’d purchased a low-end machine, and that their database only shows what a particular machine MIGHT have installed…so they replaced it with a “standard model.” I was basically forced to take the machine home - but they gave me a number of someone at corporate who "might be able to help (he’s the guy I mentioned to you, @tav). This guy apologized profusely; stated the same BS about the serial number, but agreed that they’d worked on a top-end machine three times. He sent a box for my replacement laptop and then had a new machine sent to me directly from China. Thank goodness, I’ve had no further issues.
@dave We did buy directly from Apple and they suggested this was helping us!
I think part of the problem was that she had a custom configuration with the highest spec on everything, so for whatever reason they were reluctant to replace it with the equivalent 2018 model and they even suggested a refurb of the same spec 2017 model. Seriously, who would agree to accept a used computer with a proven history of unreliability?
All in all I came away with a very negative impression of the way Apple treats customers these days. At every stage I had to chase them up and it was always a week or so between every small step. I think I took time off work six times to visit service centres and the worst time was speaking with a guy from customer care in Ireland to complain about the delays. His attitude was to shrug and say tough luck.
This old Mac Pro has been a fantastic machine, but I honestly dread the day when I’ll have to replace it. I also have a theory that repaired computers are never right afterwards, at least based on my experience with the iMac and MBP. The idea that they can have a customer come back & forth for multiple repairs under warranty would also seem to breach consumer rights in the UK as well, since products need to be “fit for purpose”.
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John Lewis are very good to buy from, as @rob.beattie says. If something breaks down within the 2-3 year warranty period, you are almost guranteed of having a replacement sent to you the next day. They don’t bother with repairs - they typically just refund or send replacements. When my parents fridge freezer broke down after a few months, John Lewis had a brand new one delivered the next day AND gave them a £200 Waitrose voucher to cover the cost of the food they had to throw away. You can’t really beat that for service!
The only reason I purchased my Mac Mini direct from Apple was because I wanted to ‘up’ the specifications over the base model. You can only do that if you buy online from Apple. So far I have not bothered with the extended warranty.
A casual observation - a lot of resellers are only interested and most helpful in taking-on PAID repairs. I believe this is because it takes them a long time to submit their claims to Apple and get paid for any warranty work they do. Apple themselves have a culture of one department (like store staff) not being allowed to talk to senior technicians and vice-versa. The so called ‘geniuses’ are not trained-up the the standards they once were and often it is for the consumer to do a bulk of the fault-finding and apply pressure to get the repairs done.
I like my Mac Mini because the modular setup affords me the flexibility to use my own non-Apple peripherals and screen. If Apple goes really bad, I have the option to quickly swap-out the Mini for a Linux box and go 100% geek.
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What!!! Does this mean you will stop developing stacks?
I would also highly recommendJohn Lewis for computers. They all have a 2 year warranty and this is often extended to 3 years as a promotional offer. My local John Lewis store is literally next door to the Apple store and if you have an Apple problem, the JL staff will literally direct you next door and I have heard tales about being seen on the spot as a valued customer.
Can’t beat Ebay for macs.
Wait till Apple roll out a new model in a slightly different shade of silver or with a 0.03 faster processor or somesuch other bollox, then watch the fanboys dump their two-year-old machines for florins in the rush to spunk another couple of grand on the latest greatest money printer.
Other than MBA last year which was bought out of necessity, I haven’t bought a new mac since 2010.
I’m presently scouting for a new 27in iMac, 2013 - 2015 vintage, going rate of £5-700 quid.
I hate the current culture of not owning anything. Apple glueing everything in etc. I’ve had a heated debate on a Facebook Judge Dredd forum about the cost of comics. £5.99 for the current 2000AD issue, soft and hard copy. I argue that the soft copy should be much less. You don’t own it. Why? You can’t sell it, you can’t share it, you can’t let your children inherit it, basically it’s a one or two read. Yet it’s the same cost. I got a lot of flak over this, mostly from the creators whose argument is that if you don’t pay it they will suffer.
That’s my only complaint about our Kindle’s (we have five spread out among Father-in-law, my wife, our kids and myself). We each “own” the books we’ve purchased - but in many (MOST) cases, I can’t even loan books I’ve bought to family members (the publishers have them locked down). There may or may not be software that breaks the encryption and I may or may not have used it on occasion - but (from what I hear), what a hassle.
PS - I LOVE reading on my Kindle, though!
Hey, Adrian,
Sorry for not being totally focused on the point you presented above, but your point helped me to traverse to some bigger problem I see.
As our culture increasingly depends on ever-growing consumerism, there is more and more people who try to make a quick buck selling anything they can (they would sell their mother, too, if somebody would like to buy her). They also become more and more shameless in devising ways to sell their products repeatedly to the same customer. It all started with music and film industry, who came up with the idea of re-releasing existing recordings on newer types of media.
My approach is to ignore those merchants—never buy anything from them. This will probably not make them go away, but my sanity and my wallet are feeling better. I have learned to live on my retiree benefits alone and to buy only necessities.
In general, we have to realize, that the more we buy, the more demand we create. That causes increased production of everything—things that are of high value as well as some useless junk (even in the RapidWeaver circle). So, in the end, the more we buy, the more we are the ones who are responsible for stripping the Earth of resources, causing rising of prices and polluting our planet. Not to mention widening the gap between poor and super-rich.
Now, I am ready to receive flak, too…
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@dave If you can’t give it away you don’t own it, you rent it.
@fapkogi I think films, books, comics, music and other consumables are one thing, software is another. With a film you watch it then, if it’s any good, you may watch it again. You don’t expect it to be upgraded to meet new standards of useability (unless you’re George Lucas and can’t help yourself ruining great movies with terrible CGI improvements)
I see value in software being improved and don’t mind paying for it, as long as there’s obvious value in it.
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I gave music and film industry as an example only (but I do listen to my favored music all the time)—that’s not the point I wanted to make. Software is, indeed, in another category and it improves constantly—that’s not my point, either.
My point is, we are feeding this rampant consumerism without any criticism toward ourselves—blaming industries, governments, capitalism and politics in general for dwindling resources, prices hiking up and overwhelming pollution—while we as individuals can fix this by ourselves. Just stop buying STUFF. Live on modest needs and the humanity will be OK.
Sorry again, for a departure from your point focused on comic books and consumers owning vs renting rights. I agree that this ridiculous scheme needs fixing…
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Anyone want to buy my mother? I can do a good deal if you sign up before close of business today.
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Is she in good shape?
No but I can heavily discount
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