Transferring a guarantee 5 February 2022 at 10:59PM in Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels 3 replies 141 views

Maff_King

Hi,

I have just purchased a MacBook Pro on EBay. The screen has a fault which I knew about. But it was a good price so I got it and thought I would pay to get the screen fixed. 

So the MacBook arrived yesterday and the seller has included the original receipt. This states that there is still 13 months left on a 3 year guarantee. 

So I called the store today. Explained the fault and the fact it was still under guarantee. They have told me that this would only be valid if used by the original purchaser of the MacBook, and that they would need to return the MacBook to the store not me. 

Sorry for the long post. But would this be the case? Surely the point is, the item in question is still under guarantee, no matter who currently owns the item. 

I would not be so cheeky as to ask the person who I bought the MacBook to return it. Why would they. 

Thanks for any help,

Matt

Sandtree

Warranties, as they are more commonly called, are above and beyond your statutory rights. As such the company can define any rules it wants on what it offers; non-transference is fairly common and perfectly acceptable. 

You could ask the seller to help you out but as you say they have little motivation to do so and presumably the price you paid reflected the fault. 

Thrugelmir

Maff_King said:

I would not be so cheeky as to ask the person who I bought the MacBook to return it. Why would they. 

To have a working machine themselves. 

The question is, why didn't they..........

IftiBashir

Thrugelmir said:

Maff_King said:

I would not be so cheeky as to ask the person who I bought the MacBook to return it. Why would they. 

To have a working machine themselves. 

The question is, why didn't they..........

This is exactly it. If the seller knew there was a fault, and knew he/she had a guarantee, why not have it repaired and then sell the item at a higher price as fully working?

Generally with Apple equipment, the AppleCare is on the device itself. They check to ensure the device is covered and thats it - Ive had no issues in the past and used AppleCare for an iPhone in this way.

However, remember that AppleCare can be cancelled at any time. It is entirely possible that you purchased the machine, and then the seller cancelled the remaining AppleCare in order to be refunded the remaining amount. Apple will simply look at how many months are remaining and refund that amount back to the owner. If the AppleCare has been used at all for any previous faults, then they will reduce the amount you're refunded with that cost, hence you will receive less back.

What could have happened here is the seller sold the item as faulty even though he had AppleCare, in order to reclaim his maximum AppleCare refund from Apple, leaving you to deal with the issue. Not saying thats what has happened, but it's entirely possible. 

I would go online and enter the serial number to check your remaining coverage. 
https://checkcoverage.apple.com/gb/en/;jsessionid=node01pn0be7xs4w02z5hpxkh7mrka3498249.node0

Assuming the item is still covered, contact Apple and inform them that you want the AppleCare transferred to yourself (original owner may have to do this if they don't let you do it).
You can then claim on the AppleCare as normal.