"Importing" from USA, warranty?

[Devie]

Hey all,

After many months of wanting an iPad but not understanding why, the MBA comes along and is just perfect (albeit a little underpowered but eh), so its time to get one, though; my dad is flying to Houston to check out some real estate and that became an instant opportunity for me to get one, and save about $300.00 in the process. Also to get a 13" instead of the 11".

So the question is, if I where to get one, will my warranty still be honored? If it isn't, the $300 difference is probably worth it!


Also, are the Apple stores struggling to keep stock, or it should be pretty easy to walk in and grab one?
Thanks all.

 

[smacman]

Apple's Desktop / Notebook Warranties are worldwide. You can get service at any Apple Authorized Service Center in any country.

 

[s2dio]

the warranties are worldwide. However, my questions is the following: will your dad have to pay the tax of your country upon return?

 

[Devie]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

If declared, yes. Though it's a simple matter if removing the packaging and leaving it in luggage. He'll be getting a bag/case with it as well as a travel kit. Or he can declare it as a family purchase (going there with his gf), in which gives you a value of $900 per person easily covering the price.

Cheers for the info on the warranty! Any ideas on the availability?

 

[Dias]

the warranties are worldwide. However, my questions is the following: will your dad have to pay the tax of your country upon return?

If you buy the stuff personally and bring it back in your bag, nope.

 

[s2dio]

Concerning availability, it depends on which configuration are you going for. The base models should be in stock, but the ultimate models must be ordered online.

If you want the ultimate one, you can order one through the online store, and let it be shipped to the hotel in which your dad is planning to stay. I did the same when ordering my Macbook Air 13" ultimate in Singapore.

 

[Devie]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Awesome, I'm only after the base 13" so it's sounding like a plan

 

[s2dio]

Yep. Good luck with it. I just can't wait to get mine

 

[old-wiz]

Tax upon bringing a purchase back to your own country depends on the country. You would be wise to check it out first to make sure you don't get a problem when you return.

If you are a U.S. citizen and you go, for example, to England and buy stuff over a certain amount (used to be $400), you are supposed to declare it at customs and possibly pay import duty on it. If you are caught with something really expensive and fail to declare it you can be in trouble with a stiff fine on top of the import duty. You can always say you had it before you left, and you might get away with it, but there's still a chance they won't accept that explanation.