Total driving yesterday was 700 miles, over 17 hours on the bike. 4:30AM to 10:30PM.
I want you to know (because it matters to me, if nothing else lol) that I wasn't trying to imply your a troll. Rather than quote every naysayer I just wanted to point out that it's difficult to completely rule things out, but also difficult to believe Apple could drop the ball this freaking hard. I'm having trouble imagining what it would take for Apple to fix this if I were in your shoes.Good evening. I don't have a completed update yet but I do have something.
I drove up to an Apple Store in Montreal. I won't list which one for now. I gave the employee my entire ordeal and he stopped me to say that let's pretend like I didn't already send in the watch. He was going to ignore that I said that and do what he could to help me out. Basically, I'm an off-the-street guy who has a cancelled AppleCare+ Plan on watch and some water damage. He was going to send the watch in like it was a fresh issue. Here's an overview of the work:
He said that while it says I owe $329 since it's out of warranty, that he would add notes to help my case. The only real issue is the watch once repaired will be sent back to Montreal. Quite a drive from me (3 hours) but I don't mind going to canada. The exchange rate is GREAT right now. GF and I usually grab a bunch of wine while there. He said it'll be back at some point next week and they'd call me with an outcome. Honestly, if I end up owing $329, I'm just going to forfeit the watch and let Apple's recycling program deal with it.
A follow up to this email that I sent to the level II contact at Apple I spoke to last week (Wednesday) when I got the return email:
I received a response today (on a Sunday, no less!)
What's interesting is he has CCed another person at Apple on this..a new name to me. He also says my previously cancelled repair agreement is now active again. But on GetSupport.apple.com, I see this:
Repairs and Service Coverage: Expired
Our records indicate that your product is not covered under Apple's Limited warranty or AppleCare Protection Plan for hardware repairs and service based on the estimated expiration date.
My phone support is still active until May, 2017.
So...it's an update but I won't know until the Montreal store calls me if everything has worked out. a store employee and Back of House manager both looked at my watch, saw it boot up (for me to un-pair it) and tested out all of the features. They agreed that the product did not show any mis-use or modifications.
I do feel like the guy @ Apple I dealt with is just sort of following up because he has to. I won't bother him anymore because he's just doing his job. I looked up the guy he CCed on email and it seems it's just his boss he CCed (a telecommunications project manager)
I still think this is under warranty at least a part of my AppleCare+ Incidents that I'm ready to gladly pay for. I hope Apple makes this right.
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That's why I keep posting screenshots. It's really easy for an internet anonymous person to make stuff up but I'm trying to be as transparent as possible.
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It was a blast! Lots of off-roading. Went up to ride with these guys. 40 bikes on some beautiful twisty back-roads.
https://www.facebook.com/events/941898785935881/?active_tab=posts
I love Canadians. Get up there as much as I can. Aside from Belgians, Canadians are just wonderful people and very kind. I told a few people I was planning on driving home last night and both offered their couch up for me. Complete strangers. The good exchange rate right now does help.
Took my baby up:
See guys, I'm a real person. Not hiding anything. Just want my AppleCare+ to actually get utilized
Or Apple stands by their ground (which they have done in the last with faulty water detection sensors) and the user is screeed unless he takes them to court (which is ultimately what resolved those issues in the first place). Let's very much hope that your scenario is what pans out because the matter is awful lol.
I actually caught that reading up anbit after I asked lol. I appreciate the response anyway. Hopefully Apple handles this. Would be great if you find out what caused the mixup but I'd be shocked if you ever get that much info. I'm rotting for you
That's fine. I'm just saying there is precedent if the company erroneously dismissing potentially thousands of hardware failures as user error. If there wasn't that precedent I would absolutely be less Concerned.
Last week, I did my normal routine. I got up and put on my watch, a Stainless Steel 42MM Space Black Watch. I was wearing the (RED) Sport Band that day and took a shower as I did since receiving the watch on May 21st, 2015.
Around lunch, I tried to interact with the watch and couldn't. The watch wouldn't react to my gestures on the top 30% of the screen. I rebooted a few times and then reinstalled the WatchOS itself. I was running the latest version of iOS9 and WatchOS 2.
I tried to set a passcode and couldn't since my passcode starts with a 2, the top 40% of my screen was not responding to taps.
I submitted a Self Service ticket with Apple and chose there was an issue with the screen. The prompt said "error, please call us at 1-800-275-2273" so I just hit the back-button and chose something arbitrary like battery / charging and wrote in the notes the screen was having issues and I wanted it looked at.
I chose "Warranty Item" not the option for "I'll pay for Apple Care+ since this incident was caused by accidental damage". I didn't think I needed to pay but I assumed they'd call me if I needed to.
I sent the watch in on Tuesday. It's Wednesday and I just received this in my Inbox:
I immediately called, a level two support engineer answered and read over the notes. In short, here are some lines he gave me
I only used Apple Official Watch Bands (Link, Milanese, Sport), I registered my AppleCare+ Warranty 5 minutes after receiving the watch. I've never modified it or installed WatchOS Betas. I only use the Apple Watch charger that came with the phone. There are no scratches on the watch at all. The jog wheel and button work perfectly. The screen is scratch free w/ no blemishes. The health features all worked fine before I mailed the unit to them. I've never called Apple with a watch issue before.
- My hands are tied
- I didn't see the watch in person and I can't override what the guys at depot decided
- You no longer have a warranty for this item
- You can't pay anything to have it repaired
- mention of modifications is very severe, we rarely see this so something must have been modified
- i.e. stickers, paint, removing the watch screen, modifying the electronics or jailbreaking (his words, not mine, I didn't know you could jailbreak a watch)
- You can try to take it to a store but you have almost no chance of having this over turned.
The only extra thing that was different from my repair notes is the day I didn't wear the watch waiting for the box from Apple to arrive, I heard a slight whining sound coming from the speaker if you put the watch to your ear and tapped the screen. I assumed this was just a fallout from the droplet of water that got in the phone and a small black spot had appeared on the screen behind the sapphire crystal outer layer that I couldn't get rid of.
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I am beyond upset. I worked at a store and was respectful with the guy on the phone. I did ask him if I had any other options and he said no. I jokingly said "well I guess I'll be a millennial and post a video to YouTube showing the device isn't modified in any way in hopes someone higher up sees it". His response was, "are you threatening apple?"
am I threatening apple? What does he even mean by that? Is that just an easy way for them to be able to hang up w/o any recourse?
I'm without an Apple Watch and basically spent $1100 + $150 in bands and $99 in AppleCare for 14 months. I never abused the watch, put stickers on it or defaced it.
I don't even really know what to do but this is my only outlet so here we are. Apple really let me down. Like severely just a punch in the stomach. I spend 5 grand a year on Apple Hardware and Services since 2000 when I got my first iBook. Every phone, Watch, iPad, iPod and accessory. I even bought one of those Apple Hi-Fi systems. I just feel completely sucker punched by someone @ Depot who was just having a bad-day.
No, they shouldn't. They should solve this case in an appropriate manner and give him a freaking exchange watch.
There may be some additional compensation made to the OP - if he does write that escalation letter to Tim. (I'd wait until this is finally complete, so you're able to give the entire story). There's a gap in their process that they need to fix. One tech at the repair centre's fat-fingered mistake in processing this shouldn't be allowed to have repercussions like this. Each case that would have such dire consequences for the customer should at least be subject to a second set of eyes before the wheels are set in motion.
