Is it worth my while buying an applecare extended warranty?

seamus

Coming up on a year of having my iPhone 4, and I'm contractually stuck with it for another year, so I'm looking for ways to protect myself if there's a hardware failure on it.

An extended warranty is €70 and it covers me for another year - presumably it's identical to the standard warranty where they'll just replace the phone straight out for hardware faults and like?

I'm aware that Three (as the vendor) as legally obligated to me for at least two years from date of purchase, so theoretically they have to cover any hardware faults in the handset. But outside Apple's warranty, Three will send it off to be evaluated, repaired, etc and I could be without a phone for weeks while I wait for them. With apple's warranty by contrast, A faulty phone can be evaluated and replaced/repaired and in my hand in less than a week.

Is it worth considering that the phone has been faultless for 12 months now, it's unlikely to develop a fault in the next 12? Would I be better off trying to invest in some form of insurance rather than warranty care?

whiterebel

seamus wrote: »

Coming up on a year of having my iPhone 4, and I'm contractually stuck with it for another year, so I'm looking for ways to protect myself if there's a hardware failure on it.

An extended warranty is €70 and it covers me for another year - presumably it's identical to the standard warranty where they'll just replace the phone straight out for hardware faults and like?

I'm aware that Three (as the vendor) as legally obligated to me for at least two years from date of purchase, so theoretically they have to cover any hardware faults in the handset. But outside Apple's warranty, Three will send it off to be evaluated, repaired, etc and I could be without a phone for weeks while I wait for them. With apple's warranty by contrast, A faulty phone can be evaluated and replaced/repaired and in my hand in less than a week.

Is it worth considering that the phone has been faultless for 12 months now, it's unlikely to develop a fault in the next 12? Would I be better off trying to invest in some form of insurance rather than warranty care?

I don't know where the 2 year idea is coming from, unless all other manufacturers offer it, but with Apple and Three (and the others AFAIK) its a 12 month warranty.

If you have an APP on the iPhone, you will have a new phone next day, not within a week. They ship you a replacement first, and you return the broken one to them. I purchased it only last week on mine. You will find it difficult to get insurance nearly 12 months on, and would it cover for a fault? Most don't only damage or loss.

Sad Professor

The 2 year thing is in Europe; it doesn't apply here. But "consumer experts" on the radio regularly claim that it does. Arguably the Irish Sale of Goods Act gives better protection, but the ambiguity over the timeframe is exploited by resellers who will usually act like they don't know what your talking about when you mention consumer rights.

seamus

whiterebel wrote: »

I don't know where the 2 year idea is coming from, unless all other manufacturers offer it, but with Apple and Three (and the others AFAIK) its a 12 month warranty.

Under EU law, a vendor is obligated to the purchaser for a minimum of two years from the date of purchase. This means that the item purchased must, under normal use, operate without fault for those two years. If a fault develops, the vendor is required to repair, refund or replace the faulty item.

That's EU law. Under Irish legislation, the vendor is obligated to the purchaser in the same regard for a "reasonable period" after purchase, which is purchase-dependent obviously, but I would expect to get a minimum of two fault-free years from a mobile phone.

Both EU and Irish legislation covers an Irish buyer.

Applecare will ship you a phone same day, if you pay a deposit which is returned when your broken phone arrives. If you don't pay the deposit, the turnaround is 3-4 days. I know, I've done it before.

Sad Professor

The EU thing is a directive, not a law. The 2 year part wasn't translated into Irish law, so Irish consumers aren't covered by it.

seamus

Sad Professor wrote: »

The EU thing is a directive, not a law. The 2 year part wasn't translated into Irish law, so Irish consumers aren't covered by it.

Theoretically they are. Where existing Irish law is in conflict with an EU directive, the directive takes precedece (afair).

In any case, as you point out Irish law arguably provides more protection than the EU directive but less certainty, so it's not that important.

Certainly if a shop tried to tell me that 12 months was a "reasonable lifetime" of a mobile phone, I'd be straight down to small claims getting my cash out of them.

whiterebel

seamus wrote: »

Under EU law, a vendor is obligated to the purchaser for a minimum of two years from the date of purchase. This means that the item purchased must, under normal use, operate without fault for those two years. If a fault develops, the vendor is required to repair, refund or replace the faulty item.

That's EU law. Under Irish legislation, the vendor is obligated to the purchaser in the same regard for a "reasonable period" after purchase, which is purchase-dependent obviously, but I would expect to get a minimum of two fault-free years from a mobile phone.

Both EU and Irish legislation covers an Irish buyer.

Applecare will ship you a phone same day, if you pay a deposit which is returned when your broken phone arrives. If you don't pay the deposit, the turnaround is 3-4 days. I know, I've done it before.

As SP says, that part was never brought into Irish Law, and therefore doesn't apply. Bringing it to Small Claims Court if fine for almost everything, but spending months without a phone?

Under AppleCare they send you the replacement first, without a deposit, that is one of the major selling points points of it. They send you the new phone, you send back the broken one. They put a block on your CC for €600 until they receive the broken one back.
If you don't have AppleCare, but are in warranty, you can either;

a) Send the phone back and wait for the replacement - costs nothing
b) Pay €29, get the replacement first then return the faulty one - CC blocked for €600 until faulty one is returned.