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Renewing yearly AppleCare+ possible on used Mac? (UK)

D

drecc

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 6, 2014
115
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I have a Macbook Air M2, which is currently under 3-year AppleCare+ coverage.

AppleCare+ UK terms say I can transfer this fixed-term coverage.

When I reach the 3-year deadline, I can then renew AppleCare+ on a yearly basis.

However, according to this page:

If you make monthly or annual payments* for your AppleCare plan, and your plan is already linked to an Apple ID, it can’t be transferred to a new owner
Click to expand...

Does that mean that if I sell my M2 after the 3-year initial term, the purchaser won't be covered by my yearly AppleCare+ extension, and so the purchaser won't be able to keep renewing the AppleCare+ yearly in the same way that I can as the original purchaser?

Thanks
 
Yes, essentially that's correct. If you move to Annual AC+, then the new owner won't be able to renew it. They'd have the remainder of whatever coverage you've already paid for - but nothing beyond.

Are there ways around that? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe. Nothing I'd personally deal with. Essentially you'd have to keep the AC+ coverage on your Apple ID, which I would not be willing to do as buyer OR seller.
 
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drecc said:
I have a Macbook Air M2, which is currently under 3-year AppleCare+ coverage.

AppleCare+ UK terms say I can transfer this fixed-term coverage.

When I reach the 3-year deadline, I can then renew AppleCare+ on a yearly basis.

However, according to this page:



Does that mean that if I sell my M2 after the 3-year initial term, the purchaser won't be covered by my yearly AppleCare+ extension, and so the purchaser won't be able to keep renewing the AppleCare+ yearly in the same way that I can as the original purchaser?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have just been in this situation, except I was the new owner. I purchased a 2+ year old M1 MBA from the national used electronics chain CEX in UK. I was not at all surprised that Settings > AppleCare & Warranty said all cover had expired. However I was very surprised when a few weeks before its 3rd anniversary, I saw in Settings a notification that Applecare was about to expire and did I want to extend it for a year....which I did with a new policy in my name.

So contarary to the quote, I was able to purchase a new plan in my name .....and why did it say all cover expired for several months after I had purchased it.
 
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FreakinEurekan said:
Yes, essentially that's correct. If you move to Annual AC+, then the new owner won't be able to renew it. They'd have the remainder of whatever coverage you've already paid for - but nothing beyond.

Are there ways around that? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe. Nothing I'd personally deal with. Essentially you'd have to keep the AC+ coverage on your Apple ID, which I would not be willing to do as buyer OR seller.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I guess I should sell before the 3-year point then.
 
Mike Boreham said:
I have just been in this situation, except I was the new owner. I purchased a 2+ year old M1 MBA from the national used electronics chain CEX in UK. I was not at all surprised that Settings > AppleCare & Warranty said all cover had expired. However I was very surprised when a few weeks before its 3rd anniversary, I saw in Settings a notification that Applecare was about to expire and did I want to extend it for a year....which I did with a new policy in my name.

So contarary to the quote, I was able to purchase a new plan in my name .....and why did it say all cover expired for several months after I had purchased it.
Click to expand...
Wow, thanks, that's interesting... I'll be interested to see what the AppleCare+ status shows as when I wipe and factory reset it
 
drecc said:
Wow, thanks, that's interesting... I'll be interested to see what the AppleCare+ status shows as when I wipe and factory reset it
Click to expand...
I should also have said that I have purchased many other devices over the years from the CEX chain, and quite often Settings > AppleCare & Warranty has reported that device is still covered by an AppleCare plan. The first time this happened I phoned Apple and they said there was no way of transferring the plan to be in my name, but the device was still covered unless the original purchaser cancelled it. The policy stays with the device until cancelled. Apple’s attitude was that I had got lucky, which I had in a way.

The M1 MBA I mentioned earlier is the first time I was able to get a policy on a used device in my own name.

EDIT I dont believe factory resetting will have any effect on the plan…it is all serial numbers on Apple servers. I have often reset devices without any effect on Apple care
 
Mike Boreham said:
EDIT I dont believe factory resetting will have any effect on the plan…it is all serial numbers on Apple servers. I have often reset devices without any effect on Apple care
Click to expand...

I guess it will say it is covered, but if they try and go to the Apple store, they will be refused due to not being the same person that took out the policy?

It's worrying that it may count against the seller in the national insurance anti-fraud databases if someone bought one that was in rough condition, and then intentionally broke it and took it to Apple to take advantage of the AC+ accidental damage cover.

Also, is it always a bad deal to take a cash offer from CEX? I don't think I'd have any use for a voucher since I don't have any plans to buy anything second-hand in the foreseeable future, and I've heard they're fussy about warranty repairs unless the item is in exactly the same condition as it was purchased.
 
drecc said:
I guess it will say it is covered, but if they try and go to the Apple store, they will be refused due to not being the same person that took out the policy?
Click to expand...

No, Apple were quite clear it would be covered for me as second owner, hence saying I had got lucky. Fortunately I have never needed to test this but it is consistent with other reports I have seen …..cover stays with device until cancelled by the person who took out the policy.
Needless to say at first I wasn’t very happy that my cover depended on an unknown person not cancelling, but nothing I could do about it, so now just accept it as a bonus.

Also, is it always a bad deal to take a cash offer from CEX? I don't think I'd have any use for a voucher since I don't have any plans to buy anything second-hand in the foreseeable future, and I've heard they're fussy about warranty repairs unless the item is in exactly the same condition as it was purchased.
Click to expand...

You always get more for a voucher than the cash offer, so I nearly always get the voucher and use for next purchase. The voucher offer is sometimes quite generous compared to other trade in deals I have seen, eg Apple‘s. I have bought all our Apple Watches, iPhones, iPads and Macs from CEX for years, concentrating on nearly new items which can sometimes be very good deals. You have to search and research carefully….some of their recently released nearly new stuff is priced far too high. They have a lot of older stuff I avoid.

Sometimes nearly new items are new enough for me to be able to take out an AppleCare plan in my own name.

I nearly always buy on line from CEX to have the 14 day no questions full refund return which works well. If you buy in store you only have two days and then only get a voucher.

I don't think CEX warranty repairs require exact same condition…a return would do. I have never needed to test their 2 year warranty claim, and expect they would want to replace with a similar item from their stock than actually repair.
 
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Mike Boreham said:
No, Apple were quite clear it would be covered for me as second owner, hence saying I had got lucky
Click to expand...
I think this is what you're saying:

1. You had a device that said "no coverage", even though someone else had taken out a 3-year applecare plan
2. Near the 3-year mark, the device unexpectedly gave you an opportunity to do a yearly extension, and that's why they said you "got lucky" - due to the "unexpected" part.
3. By "got lucky" you mean that you didn't know the original owner had taken out the 3-year applecare plan, and it turned out they did, which is where the luck came in. If you'd known they had taken out the AC plan, it would not have been lucky at all, because you'd have known about the AC and been entitled to claim under it and extend it.

Also, to clarify, was this with AC, or with AC+? The accidental damage coverage part in AC+ makes me wonder whether they treat AC and AC+ situations differently. There would be people who intentionally buy beaten up macs for cheap with AC+, then "accidentally" run over it with their car, get it repaired with so many replaced parts that it's basically new, and then flip it for profit.
 
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drecc said:
I think this is what you're saying:

1. You had a device that said "no coverage", even though someone else had taken out a 3-year applecare plan
2. Near the 3-year mark, the device unexpectedly gave you an opportunity to do a yearly extension, and that's why they said you "got lucky" - due to the "unexpected" part.
3. By "got lucky" you mean that you didn't know the original owner had taken out the 3-year applecare plan, and it turned out they did, which is where the luck came in. If you'd known they had taken out the AC plan, it would not have been lucky at all, because you'd have known about the AC and been entitled to claim under it and extend it.

Also, to clarify, was this with AC, or with AC+? The accidental damage coverage part in AC+ makes me wonder whether they treat AC and AC+ situations differently. There would be people who intentionally buy beaten up macs for cheap with AC+, then "accidentally" run over it with their car, get it repaired with so many replaced parts that it's basically new, and then flip it for profit.
Click to expand...

I think I have confused you. I have had two very different types of experience with AppleCare as the second owner.

1. My most common experience with nearly new CEX devices is that Settings > AppleCare & Warranty showed that they are sometimes already covered by AppleCare, taken out by the original owner. The first time it happened (a few years ago now) I contacted Apple to understand the situation and what my options were. This is when they said AppleCare cannot be transferred to be in my name, but the device would remain covered unless the original owner cancelled the plan. This is when they said I got lucky.

2. The experience of the very recent M1 MBA suddenly offering the chance to renew AppleCare+ in my name, was a quite exceptional one off. I did not contact Apple about it, I just clicked yes, paid the money and received the documents in my name. This was doubly odd because Settings > AppleCare & Warranty previously said all cover had expired.

Maybe the second case is indicative of a new policy by Apple…after all they got new business by offering me the chance to extend cover.

This plan on the recent M1 MBA is AppleCare+. I can’t recall whether the plans I have inherited previously were AppleCare or AppleCare+
 
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Mike Boreham said:
This is when they said AppleCare cannot be transferred to be in my name, but the device would remain covered unless the original owner cancelled the plan
Click to expand...
Thanks for taking the time to explain... I'm still a little confused about this part - if it was a 3-year fixed-term AC plan, what reason would the original owner have to cancel it, other than spite?
 
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