Has anyone used AppleCare +?

ripplyuk

The phone is £629 and this AppleCare is £189 for 2yrs, so it’s a significant amount. I had thought about adding personal possessions cover to my contents insurance instead but the excess would make it not worth claiming. My main concern is that Apple will take ages to repair/replace the phone if I lose it or damage it. I can’t do without a phone for long. Has anyone any experience with this insurance? Was Apple’s customer service good when you claimed? 

cx6

not an apple user myself, but for that money you could possible buy a used phone quickly as a spare should you ever need to ?

tempus_fugit

I used Applecare+ ealier this year, for an iPad Pro. I had dropped it and damaged one of the volume keys. It was still usable but to use the volume up I would have to use the control centre on screen rather than the button. I sent it off to Apple under the Applecare+ scheme and they came back saying that it was unrepairable and they would send me a new one. It was very quick and I think I sent it off on a Monday and got the new one by the Friday of the same week. YMMV but it was a quick turn around in my case. P.S. it cost me £39 "excess" - it's not free - not sure what it will be for an iPhone.  

ItsComingRome

ripplyuk said:

The phone is £629 and this AppleCare is £189 for 2yrs, so it’s a significant amount. I had thought about adding personal possessions cover to my contents insurance instead but the excess would make it not worth claiming. My main concern is that Apple will take ages to repair/replace the phone if I lose it or damage it. I can’t do without a phone for long. Has anyone any experience with this insurance? Was Apple’s customer service good when you claimed? 

Apple are generally fair when you return an item, and they are equally fair when you're using AppleCare+.

The question is whether it's worth paying near 1/3 of the item's cost for 2 years of accidental damage protection.  I don't tend to break my items so it definitely isn't to me, whether you're a clumsy idiot is a question only you can answer.

ripplyuk

I’m definitely not the clumsy type. I’m very careful with things and have never damaged any phone but accidents can happen to anyone. I did lose an AirPod once but thankfully found it again. 

I spoke to Apple this morning and they think the lower priced 64GB model is plenty for me and I guess they are right. I still have a lot of storage left on my old 32GB phone. It’s surprising (but nice!) that they don’t try to upsell. They also said I can take the AppleCare + monthly plan instead and cancel it at any time. That sounds like a better idea to me. I’ll probably keep the insurance for 6mths and then cancel it once I’m not so fussy about the phone and worried about losing/damaging it. 

crypto_dca

Numerous. I found the service to benefit me personally even though I have contents insurance. Each AppleCare claim bypasses the excess on my contents (which is set to a higher limit). Like a previous post mentioned, I've dropped an iPad and the power buttons stuck, and have phones drop out of my pocket whilst getting out of the car etc...

Also for my usage, it is not about the accidental damage but also hardware issues that might arise. When I make a claim, I would explicitly specify which agreement I'd like to be treated under to the Apple representative i.e. UK consumer law, Apple Warranty or AppleCare Plan - your rights and coverages will differ depending on the option you choose. 

There is often hardly any explanation needed when claiming under AppleCare in store. I find it works for what I need.

PS I'm new to the forum and for transparency - I don't work or represent Apple, and merely posting based on my personal experience

ItsComingRome

ripplyuk said:

I’m definitely not the clumsy type. I’m very careful with things and have never damaged any phone but accidents can happen to anyone. I did lose an AirPod once but thankfully found it again. 

I spoke to Apple this morning and they think the lower priced 64GB model is plenty for me and I guess they are right. I still have a lot of storage left on my old 32GB phone. It’s surprising (but nice!) that they don’t try to upsell. They also said I can take the AppleCare + monthly plan instead and cancel it at any time. That sounds like a better idea to me. I’ll probably keep the insurance for 6mths and then cancel it once I’m not so fussy about the phone and worried about losing/damaging it. 

Yes but I've had a selection of iPhones since the original iPhone and only accidentally damaged one of them (an almost brand new iPhone 6 accidentally in the wash).  I was charged about half the brand new price for a "refurb" that was probably new.

If I'd paid for AppleCare+ (or some derivative of it) for the past 14 years I'd probably be down over a grand.