Hi Alan, I usually find my experiences at Apple Stores are very good, but the few times I called the main Apple custpomer service line it is often the opposite. I have had good experiences there, but just as you I often found the people they have answering their phones are not very knowledgeable at all. By the way, I read that Apple’s cost to manufacture their phones is about 35% of what they are sold for at retail and that apparently Apple keeps their margins about the same. This would mean that a set of $30 /Earpods would cost about $10 to make, but I somehow have a feeling it is much less than that because the actual value of the components can’t be more than $4 or $5 and in the same article which was a few years old and was talking about the iPhone 5S I think said that while the components of the phone cost about $200 the actual manufacturing cost was only $8. If I consider a factory which produces headsets where probably millions of the things are pumped out constantly they just have to be cheap. The same formular applied to the Airpods would indicate the cost of a set of Airpods is about $55 for Apple with a bit over $100 in profit (of course shipping costs must be deducted from that at least for the portion of Airpods which are ordered online and where Apple offers free shipping. Let’s face it, there is a reason why Apple is the richest company in the world, I wish I could get away having a 65% profit margin. I also agree that Apple Care Plus is less attractive nowadays since it has become so much more expensive. It used to be $79, I think now on the iPhone X it is $199 and adding Apple Care Plus is just simply expensive nowadays.
Regards, Sieghard From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Alan Lemly Sent: Saturday, May 5, 2018 9:57 AM To: VIPhone Email List <[email protected]> Subject: AppleCare Plus Still Worth It? What's Your Experience? Hi List, I've always been a major proponent of purchasing AppleCare Plus when buying a new iPhone. My reasoning is that these devices are not inexpensive and since they are constantly being carried around, the opportunity for accidents or physical wear and tear is fairly substantial. I'm starting to have second thoughts after my last two experiences filing a warranty claim under AppleCare Plus. I've posted on this list about an issue I'm having with my wired Apple earpods and thanks to comments on this list was able to confirm that the microphone on those earpods was starting to fail. I initiated over the phone an AppleCare claim to get a replacement pair of earpods earlier this morning. This was the second such claim for replacement earpods because the pair I'm having replaced now were a replacement in January, 2018. My understanding is that you qualify for two such earpod replacements under AppleCare Plus. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to get this claim filed. The initial person I spoke with had difficulty distinguishing my wired earpods from the very expensive Airpods and had to be corrected when she set up the claim incorrectly. She asked me to turn off Find my iPhone which I'm pretty sure is unnecessary when doing a warranty claim on a $30 retail item. She ended up putting me on hold for about 10 minutes at which point I terminated the call and started over. The next guy I spoke with was a bit better but ended up transferring me to a Senior Advisor for some reason. When the Senior Advisor came on, she started talking about my Airpods claim. By this point, I was getting pretty frustrated and again explained that this was a DIY claim for a pair of $30 wired Earpods under my AppleCare, not for wireless Airpods. She then came back and said the claim required a $30 shipping charge. I told her she was incorrect and that the item cost $30 at retail with no shipping if I purchased it new from Apple Online. She again came back an said she couldn't waive the $30 shipping charge. I must admit that I was losing my patience by this point but went on in a somewhat louder voice that the way these DIY claims had always worked in the past was that Appple would take my credit card info, send the replacement item, provide me with a return shipping label that I could use with their turnaround envelope, and then credit me back the hold on my credit card when I returned the defective item. I strongly emphasized that I wondered if paying $130 for AppleCare Plus was worth it if I had to pull teeth to file a couple of warranty claims for a $30 item that probably cost Apple no more than $18. Finally, she said she did something different and the claim was now showing correctly that a hold would be placed on my credit card and cancelled when I returned the defective item and that no shipping charge would apply. She was not able to answer me when I asked her what she had done differently. It almost sounded as if she had refreshed her screen or some such thing. After spending at least 45 minutes on the phone getting this claim filed, I thought I'd write here to find out what others have experienced with AppleCare claims. I've had great success in the past but the last two I've filed for defective wired earpods replacement have not gone well. I don't know if this is a trend with the support reps who are fielding these calls but I thought I should ask the group. I try very hard to communicate clearly to avoid confusion and I'm pretty sure the problem is with the listening on the other end as opposed to what I'm saying on my end. Are others having good experiences when talking with AppleCare folks on the phone? Is there a better way to initiate one of these claims perhaps by using the Apple Support app or online with a computer and a web browser? Thanks for reading my rant and for any comments you can supply. Alan Lemly -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
