I think you're right to distinguish the "software" support from the
hardware warranty.
I have found the software support to be virtually worthless. I
purchased a Mac Pro after asking two Apple employees (at MacWorld and
at the local Apple Store) whether it would run an older release than
the then-current release of the operating system and was assured by
both that it would (one suggested I wasn't very smart to ask).
AppleCare subsequently refused to speak with me ("this conversation
is over") about software support because I wasn't running the OS
current at the time I made the purchase (or an upgrade to that). I
did manage to open a case on that system (I don't recall the issue),
didn't hear back, called them in a week, they said "That can take
weeks for someone to get back to you", I gave up.
Similar experience with MacBook Pro. I run the server OS product. I
made the guy at the Apple Store show me the public web page where it
said that the server product ran on that hardware before I made the
purchase. I also attended a large Apple OS X Server seminar in which
the whole three-hour event was run on a bunch of MacBook Pro's. Sure
enough, when I called AppleCare they said OS X Server was not a
supported product on the laptops (and I think they found me a page
where it said that).
To AppleCare's benefit, they did once manage to treat a networking
problem as a MacBook Pro problem (I think) because the coverage
period for the Airport had, they said, expired but I had recently
purchased a MacBook Pro. I.e., they bent the rules in my behalf to
help with the problem I had.
Wrt to hardware support, my most recent experience was replacement of
a DVD drive in my Mac Pro (pretty minor item as I see it). The guy on
the AppleCare support line said user replacement (in the Mac Pro) was
not supported, even though they'd sent me one for a similar previous
system. The guy at the Apple Store said it certainly was supported
and offered to get on the phone with me to AppleCare to discuss what
the problem was on their end. What we ended up doing, fbo of both me
and the guy in the Apple Store, was having the Apple Store simply
order the replacement DVD and hand it to me in the store. Two trips
for me to the Apple Store, certainly worth more of my time that the
optical drive was.
The upshot is that AppleCare is playing its own game, they write the
rules to suit themselves and you don't know what they are until you
find out the hard way. I think this is disgraceful.
I think the only reason to consider AppleCare is to insure against
catastrophic hardware failure (which I'm less worried about than I
used to be). You need to consider not only the likelihood of failure
but the other options available for repair because the list prices
for walking in off the street at the Apple Store are not low. Right
here in Silicon Valley, they appear to be few options other than
Apple's service. They list some servicers on their website, when I
started calling them one or two were out of business, one was "What?
I think maybe we used to do something like that...". I think I know
of exactly one other outfit that claims to do Apple repairs in the
area and I haven't ever tried them.
Tom
On Nov 2, 2010, at 11:55 AM, Sven Aluoor wrote:
Hi folks
I am not interested in software help and support. But if some hardware
component in my iMac 27" fails, I would welcome if Apple repairs it
for free.
What are your experiences with AppleCare Protection Plans? Do you buy
it usually? Is it worth it? If a Disk fails, will Apple fix it for
free?
cheers Sven
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