Apple Warranty - Fantastic!

[Feek]

I've been noticing for a while that the Sport Loop band that came with my Apple Watch has been getting discoloured in places. It's not fading, it's not had anything spilt on it, it's not dirty because I wash it every now and then.

On Sunday evening, I contacted Apple using the online chat to see if it's covered under warranty (I have AppleCare+). The person took the details, looked at the pictures I sent and told me they'd need to refer it to a senior. They booked me to get a phone call on Monday morning.

On Monday morning, I received the call at the pre-arranged time and after discussing it for a while, the person said she'd have to check exactly what the process is and that she'd contact me on Tuesday.

She called back on Tuesday and said that because the Apple Watch and the strap were bought as a single package, the quickest and easiest way to replace the strap was to swap the entire combination, so not just the strap but the strap and the watch. This would be done as an Express Replacement.

I received a package from Apple yesterday (Wednesday) with just a watch, no strap. I contacted support and after a while they confirmed that I would be getting the strap as well, it was just being sent from a different location.

UPS have now delivered me a replacement band.

This is a bit bonkers. They told me that they had to replace them both as a unit but in the end, they were both shipped from different places.

I'm not unhappy with this, I have a new Apple Watch Series 7 Stainless Steel and a new strap. It's actually a refurb watch, not a brand spanking new one but there's nothing wrong with Apple refurbs, they're like new. I checked and my old watch had 219 charge cycles, the replacement has just ten. Result

 

[Throrik]

Yeah, love their warranty - had a iPhone X which had a full logic board failure and they didn't have any of the same specific model in, so they just gave me one with more storage then and there in the Store. Unrivaled every time I have had to use it. I admittedly knew the guys in the store though from previously going there a lot with a business account which had thousands of Macs deployed.

 

[ChrisD.]

I think it's their 3rd party repair centres which give them the bad name.

My local Apple Store is around 35 minutes away and it's in a big shopping mall so the mrs loves going there, I tend to go in if I have any form of issue.

 

[Feek]

I think it's their 3rd party repair centres which give them the bad name.

I agree, I just don't like using them. My local store is well over an hour away, the next closest one is another five miles further than that but I'd much rather go to either of them than to the closest ASP. Plus, the same as you, the proper ones are in big shopping centres (Bluewater and Lakeside) with free parking.

 

[uvarvu]

Quite lucky here as I have the option of Southgate, Cabot or Cribbs. They're also handy for iPhone release days as I like to collect from store rather than have them delivered.

 

[dirtybeatfreak]

I think it's their 3rd party repair centres which give them the bad name.

My local Apple Store is around 35 minutes away and it's in a big shopping mall so the mrs loves going there, I tend to go in if I have any form of issue.

Aside from your local store (they may well be rubbish), I think that's a really unfair view to have overall! ASPs have the same rules, training and procedures. If anything you're going to get better service at an ASP as they are rewarded and paid for better service and risk losing their accreditation if their customer satisfaction and service scores fall below a certain threshold. They are also not restricted as much so can perform more repairs in house rather than being shipped to the main Apple repair centre. Most of official stores just want to sell you a new unit half the time, are so busy they just want to get you out the door. You wouldn't believe the amount of times we've had customers who have been told their device is beyond repair when it could be repaired easily...

 

[ChrisD.]

Aside from your local store (they may well be rubbish), I think that's a really unfair view to have overall!

I'm talking about the mail in repair 3rd parties where Apple send your devices, not shops.

My local shop (Western Computer) aren't too bad if I'm honest, I just choose to go to the official store as it's only 35 minutes away (Cribbs Causeway). There's free parking and loads of other shops around. Whereas in Cheltenham parking is a complete rip off and it can take just as long with traffic.

 

[Feek]

@dirtybeatfreak I know what you're saying and I agree, the experience should be no different to an actual Apple Store but it just doesn't seem that way. I've been in a few and with one notable exception, I've never had confidence in the staff. I appreciate this is a huge generalisation but I've never felt they're as knowledgable as staff in a real Apple store, they don't have the enthusiasm for the products and contrary to what you say, they just seem like box shifters.

 

[dirtybeatfreak]

I'm talking about the mail in repair 3rd parties where Apple send your devices, not shops.

My local shop (Western Computer) aren't too bad if I'm honest, I just choose to go to the official store as it's only 35 minutes away (Cribbs Causeway). There's free parking and loads of other shops around. Whereas in Cheltenham parking is a complete rip off and it can take just as long with traffic.

Ahh ok fair enough, yea I know of Western computers

 

[ChrisD.]

Ahh ok fair enough, yea I know of Western computers

There have been a few instances on here and other forums where people mail in their devices to be repaired and then they get told there’s water damage or something else and absolutely no leg to stand on. That’s what I was getting at to be clear.

 

[dirtybeatfreak]

@dirtybeatfreak I know what you're saying and I agree, the experience should be no different to an actual Apple Store but it just doesn't seem that way. I've been in a few and with one notable exception, I've never had confidence in the staff. I appreciate this is a huge generalisation but I've never felt they're as knowledgable as staff in a real Apple store, they don't have the enthusiasm for the products and contrary to what you say, they just seem like box shifters.

You know I been sitting here for AGES writing a reply to you, trying not to sound like an defensive idiot lol, when it occurred to me that your experience might be referring to the larger 'chain' ASPs such as the above mentioned Western computers or places like Stormfront. These guys are resellers too I think, so it is probably likely they are box shifters like you describe lol.

My whole defence was based on my own experience in working in a smaller one shop ASP which only repairs stuff and doesn't sell devices. Our whole mindset is getting the best reviews we can from our customers so Apple pay us more lol. This is how the relationship with Apple and their ASPs work; get good performance scores/customer satisfaction, earn more money from them). We're scored (very strictly) and earn on things like how many parts we use per repair (less is better ofc), how long it takes to turn it around, etc etc. We certainly aren't focused on selling machines as we don't! I would presume that the reseller/larger type ASPs are scored the same but maybe the fact they sell products too changes it slightly?

I will point out my thoughts regarding the knowledgeable thing though as I (hopefully respectfully) disagree with you on that

In honesty, I have a bit of a generalization of my own here and I say it with reluctance as I know there is an Apple guy here on the forums who clearly does know his ****. However, being that I work in the Apple channel, I obviously come across a lot of Apple geniuses who are clearly just younger people who have joined Apple straight away with no previous repair experience, who are quite often younger people joining a retail environment. I think and have experienced that you're far more likely to come across more knowledgeable people in the ASPs as most of the people in those are your old school techs who nearly always have other experience in other types of PC repairs such as desktops, Windows machines etc etc. They are likely to be much more experienced in actual repairs rather than just swapping parts out that is the Apple way so will have a lot more experience in diagnosing and knowing their way around faults. While sometimes the Apple way can be beneficial as replacing whole parts ensures a quicker result, it often leads to more expense which isn't needed (or a suggestion for that new shiny M2 they want you to buy ). I know every tech where I work was/is qualified in other stuff far before we became Apple ACMTs and still do qualifications in other areas too.

I'm really sorry if that comes across as me trying to diminish what you have clearly experienced first hand, but it certainly shouldn't be the norm purely by the way their relationship with Apple works (or should work). Knowing the above hopefully will give you or anyone reading this confidence that Authorized repair centres (the small non-reseller ones at least) have it in their interest to repair best they can rather than sell you parts or a whole machine. We're not all con artists! I'm also not intending on knocking Apple or their techs too they are great at what they do (aside from the phone support team, they are awful lol). Apple obviously is doing something right having fantastic products and being the largest tech company in the world now.

 

[RobTi]

i can only comment on my own experience with 2 different iPhones that were replaced by a genius appointment then just swapped over after a test but this was in the main apple store in glasgow and i didnt know you could take it or send it elsewhere

 

[Feek]

I'm really sorry if that comes across as me trying to diminish what you have clearly experienced first hand, but it certainly shouldn't be the norm purely by the way their relationship with Apple works (or should work).

It doesn’t, not at all. I fully understand where you’re coming from and I do appreciate your reply.

it occurred to me that your experience might be referring to the larger 'chain' ASPs such as

Exactly that, the ones I’ve dealt with are box shifters.

The two large Apple stores I’ve been to regularly have certain members of staff who are very recognisable and who have been there for years. Perhaps I’m lucky in that whenever I go there, I end up being dealt with staff I recognise and who really do seem to care about the customer and getting their issues sorted as quickly and painlessly as possible.

/edit - more than once I’ve been in a situation where they’ve said “this is what we should do” which would have involved me leaving kit there for a repair but when I’ve explained how far away I live, they’ve found a work around. Last time that happened, it was for a phone that had lost a high percentage of battery very quickly. Their workaround was to give me a full refund for the phone, despite it being nine months old and for me to buy a replacement. I got a brand new phone, not a refurb. What they were originally proposing was to replace the battery but because it was towards the end of the day, there was no way it’d be done before closing time so I’d have had to go back the next day to collect it.

I’m not sure a third party box shifter would have been able to do that as it took store manager authorisation plus what seemed like a lot of paperwork to process. Would an ASP have been prepared to do it? I don’t know but it just seemed like a step above normal service. Having experienced that level of customer care multiple times when dealing direct with Apple, you can see why I’m not keen on the third parties who (whenever I’ve been in one of their shops) don’t fill me with confidence.