3 year warranty with Higher Ed. purchases, or not?
A few weeks ago, Apple stuck a message up on their Higher Education store (EU only) stating that due to a new national agreement for Higher Education individual purchases, any Macs purchased from the store would receive three years of parts and labor coverage at no extra cost. When I later purchased a MacBook from the HE store, I was so excited to be picking up a new Mac as to not notice that the sign had disappeared. I was reassured later on by several people in the support forums who showed me this extract from the HE Store's Terms and Conditions (no, not this one! Yes, there are two T&Cs *sigh*):
"10.1.1 All Apple-branded desktop and portable computer products shall be subject to a 36 calendar month warranty period commencing from the date of delivery."
When I received my MacBook, I checked the included booklet regarding my warranty: the above clause is nowhere to be seen. Instead the booklet talks exclusively about my one year limited warranty with no mention of Higher Education or extended warranties. Likewise, when I use Apple's tool to check how much AppleCare you have remaining, it returns a result of 356 days. Apple has confused me even further by allowing people who have purchased new Macs from the HE Store to purchase 3 year telephone coverage for around £50. When I bought my MacBook, there wasn't even an option to purchase AppleCare in the build to order section!
I'm not the only one to feel confused. People over at the Apple support forums (1, 2, 3) and the MacRumors.com forums are equally mixed up. So, what's the deal Apple?
