Apple can't answer a simple question?

[Phrasikleia]

I've now called, emailed, and sent snail mail to Apple with one seemingly simple question, but they are so far unable to answer.

I wanted to know whether or not Apple warranties and AppleCare are honored in Slovenia, where I spend about half of each year. I first searched everything I could find on Apple's site and found nothing specifically informative. So then I searched some Slovenian sites and again came up empty.

So then I called Apple customer service here in California. The person who answered the phone had no idea, so she transferred me to AppleCare. The person who answered the phone there also had no idea, so she did some searching while I waited on hold. At first she said she couldn't find anything and that she would advise me against purchasing AppleCare for my MBP. She then came across something encouraging and said that so long as there was an AASP in the country, the warranties and AppleCare ought to be honored; so yes, I should go ahead and buy AppleCare. About five minutes after ending that call, she calls me back. She found something else upon searching further: a note that anyone in Slovenia who had managed to purchase AppleCare online or otherwise (since it's apparently not for sale in the country itself) should be offered a refund (!). So she took that to mean AppleCare would not be honored in Slovenia and she reverted back to advising me against purchasing it. ::::sigh::::

So then I call a service provider in Slovenia directly. They say that AppleCare will be honored so long as I have a receipt for the purchase of my computer and the warranty certificate. Of course, this is just some repair shop in Slovenia, so the answer isn't coming from the horse's mouth, as it were.

Next I get an email from Apple (in response to one I had sent a week or so earlier). They had no answer to my question; they could only refer me to their "Customer Relations Team" in Slovenia and gave me the Slovenian phone number I should call!

It's now been a little over a week since I sent a paper letter to Cupertino with my seemingly simple question. I can only wonder what if anything they'll say in reply.

How can this question be so difficult??

 

[illegalprelude]

Yes and No. Let me explain. Your Apple Care (standard 1 year or extended 3 year) is world wide coverage. Meaning, any Apple Store will cover it for you. Now there are alot of countries with no AppleStore. SO, Apple will tell you of the nearest authorized Apple Repair Center and will reimburse you for your repair costs.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Yes and No. Let me explain. Your Apple Care (standard 1 year or extended 3 year) is world wide coverage. Meaning, any Apple Store will cover it for you. Now there are alot of countries with no AppleStore. SO, Apple will tell you of the nearest authorized Apple Repair Center and will reimburse you for your repair costs.

If that's the case, then why doesn't Apple just say so? I'm really surprised that nobody at Apple has been able to get an answer to me so far.

 

[jaw04005]

Did you try looking at the Slovenian contact us page? You might be able to get a quicker answer from one of the premium resellers listed.

From everything I gather, Apple has no corporate presence in Slovenia and operates only through authorized distributors.

http://www.apple.si/slv/footer/contact-us/

Also, the support page ...

http://www.apple.com/si/support/

 

[Phrasikleia]

Did you try looking at the Slovenian contact us page? You might be able to get a quicker answer from one of the premium resellers listed.

From everything I gather, Apple has no corporate presence in Slovenia and operates only through authorized distributors.

http://www.apple.si/slv/footer/contact-us/

Also, the support page ...

http://www.apple.com/si/support/

Yes, I tried that, as I wrote in my initial post:

So then I call a service provider in Slovenia directly. They say that AppleCare will be honored so long as I have a receipt for the purchase of my computer and the warranty certificate. Of course, this is just some repair shop in Slovenia, so the answer isn't coming from the horse's mouth, as it were.

 

[GSMiller]

If that's the case, then why doesn't Apple just say so? I'm really surprised that nobody at Apple has been able to get an answer to me so far.

I've sent multiple support requests to different companies over the years and never received a response. It's odd to not get a reply through snail mail, email, and over the phone.

 

[illegalprelude]

If that's the case, then why doesn't Apple just say so? I'm really surprised that nobody at Apple has been able to get an answer to me so far.

You just got it

 

[opeter]

Yes, I tried that, as I wrote in my initial post:
So then I call a service provider in Slovenia directly. They say that AppleCare will be honored so long as I have a receipt for the purchase of my computer and the warranty certificate. Of course, this is just some repair shop in Slovenia, so the answer isn't coming from the horse's mouth, as it were.

Hello Phrasikleia,
i live in Slovenia and well, in Slovenia, we don't have a typical Apple Center, or whatever it is called in the Western European countrys, only an Apple IMC and some Premium Resellers and Partners.

The best thing would be, if you register yourself at this forum of Slovenian Mac Users and there are some users who speek very good english and can also help you with such informations.

Uporabniško ime: (user name)
Elektronski naslov: (email)
Geslo: (password)
Potrdi geslo: (verify password)

Everything (four fields), that you have to fill out is marked with a *

At the end, press the Pošlji (send) button. An e-mail should arrive to you mailbox for activating your registration.

http://www.jabuk.si/pbb/forum.php

After you login, at the bottom of the page, there you will see a forum called Discussion forum for foreign language users and a subforum General, there you can open a new theme with you question:

http://www.jabuk.si/pbb/viewforum.php?f=26 (just press the "Nova tema" -> New theme button)

After you wrote your message, click on Pošlji (send) button.

The answer should relativelly shortly arrive, since there are some users at that forum, who work at local Apple IMC or even at Premium Reseller Stores, like iStyle and EPL Ljubljana, FMC and such companys, who sell/distribute Macs in Slovenia.

Hope, that this will help you.

 

[Abstract]

Yes and No. Let me explain. Your Apple Care (standard 1 year or extended 3 year) is world wide coverage. Meaning, any Apple Store will cover it for you. Now there are alot of countries with no AppleStore. SO, Apple will tell you of the nearest authorized Apple Repair Center and will reimburse you for your repair costs.

I believe this is correct. If there's no Apple store (and lots of countries don't have them), then an Apple reseller fixes it for you. It's no additional paperwork for you or anything. They contact Apple, get the parts they need, and they bill them. You don't need to pay anything.

If there's no Apple reseller, then Apple, who are responsible for honouring your warranty no matter where you are, may advise you on who/where to send your computer to. It may be somewhere like Switzerland or something, but you'll definitely get it fixed.