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Floridians have no guarantees with AppleCare

updated 10:25 am EDT, Tue April 5, 2005

AppleCare Florida


Although companies like Microsoft, Gateway, and Best Buy hold special licenses to offer , Apple has neglected the issue, leaving many customers without extended coverage. AppleCare extended warranties, which range from $50 for an iPod up to $350 for a PowerBook, are not valid under Florida law, according to the St. Petersburg Times. To obtain a license, Apple has to apply under Chapter 634 of state statutes. "Boiled down, Apple would have to pay a $500 license fee and the state would make sure the company met financial requirements." One iPod owner had to pressure Apple to repair her iPod and refund the money she spent on the extended warranty. "I called too much. I cried," the high school senior said, "I was so mad."


by MacNN Staff

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  1. riverfreak

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    04/05, 10:49am | report spam | Reply |

    Wow!

    Gosh, you'd think that Jebbie would do something about that. Or maybe he has more important things to do like passing unconstitutional laws and creating epic government that interferes in the private lives of its citizens.

  1. garmonbosia

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2002

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    04/05, 10:56am | report spam | Reply |

    Re:Wow!

    Maybe they could just vote on it.

  1. ecrelin

    Junior Member

    Joined: Oct 2000

    0
    04/05, 10:57am | report spam | Reply |

    what is a zealot to do?

    Man, a typical real world example of the warm fuzzies you can get from Stevie and Apple corporate. Thank god the engineers still care so we don't have to use warranties too much. I happen to know someone there who just bought an iMac and the warranty, on my recommendation since they are technically clueless, now I have to apprise them of this. I wonder how many people have been "sold" extended warranties in FL, since they try to nail you with one on every order and it is now apparently sheer fraud. I hope everyone in FL who has one files a class action suit. Damn you Apple, how is this defensible, "we are no worse than the worst"? Low, really low…

  1. shastaX

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2001

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    04/05, 11:06am | report spam | Reply |

    Poorly Written

    MaccNN briefs are usually written well, but this is one of the worst briefs I've seen. Why this sentence further down, "Unfortunately for many Mac and iPod owners, AppleCare extended warranties are not valid in Florida," when that's exactly the meaning and import of the very first sentence? Maybe it's just a torturous way to introduce the link since you didn't want to do it in the first sentence, but it made me feel like I read the brief twice!

  1. beeble

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

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    04/05, 11:11am | report spam | Reply |

    met financial requirement

    I wonder who pays for this test. If FL only charges a $500 fee, then that's fine. But if Apple have to pay $10000+ a year to prepare financial reports to give to the FL government, why would they go out of their way to do that.

    The simple solution is, take your mac across a state line. Applecare on desktops is nationwide and on portables, it's worldwide (except in FL of course).

    I can understand why Apple doesn't want to pay an extra fee. But surely they can just repair covered Mac's. Ship them to a repair center out of state for the customer and then the FL law doesn't apply. There's got to be a simple solution to this without having yet another government hand in Apple's pocket. This is bad PR.

  1. bradbomb

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2001

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    04/05, 11:16am | report spam | Reply |

    More Details

    I'm a Florida Resident and there are two ways around this problem, both of which shouldn't have to be done. The first solution is if you are a business, Apple is allowed to sell you an AppleCare warranty on their products if its to a business with a Federal Tax ID. The other option is to buy the warranty with an out of state address and then you can still get items serviced while living in Florida. I used the first solution for my iPod, and the second solution when I had gotten my Powerbook G3 back when I was in College at New York University.

    Another company that hasn't paid up the cash for florida warranties, Dell. I have friends who buy Dells and get them shipped out of state to make sure they can get their Complete Care that covers any damage or accident including the LCD.

  1. bradbomb

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2001

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    04/05, 11:19am | report spam | Reply |

    The Fee

    The fee is just to sell the warranties in Florida, if you already have the warranty and you had originally registered it to an out-of-state address, it can be serviced in Apple Stores in Florida, or by calling 1-800-APL-CARE. I have voiced my disagreement with this policy with Apple everytime I call for a problem. I have to soon get AppleCare for my 12" Powerbook G4 and I'm going to have to buy it under the Company just so I can buy it in Florida.

  1. SomeToast

    Senior User

    Joined: Jan 1999

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    04/05, 11:24am | report spam | Reply |

    re: Poorly Written

    MaccNN briefs are usually written well, but this is one of the worst briefs I've seen.

    Perhaps MaccNN is written well, but in the Mac news arena, MacNN is the gold standard for typos, grammatical errors, bizarre copy/paste errors and lax editing.

  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    04/05, 01:11pm | report spam | Reply |

    The law

    BTW, Florida has a law that basically makes it illegal to sell extended warranties without a license. Apparently this was done because people there are (a) too stupid to say no to an extended warranty, and (b) too stupid to elect people who can pass a law that doesn't require an even greater buraucracy to allow people to buy what they want. Of course, they are a state that worries about a brain-dead woman and an illegal immigrant boy, so maybe thinking about more than one person at a time is a little too tough for them.

  1. Feeling_Macish

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

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    04/05, 02:15pm | report spam | Reply |

    RE: Dell

    Another company that hasn't paid up the cash for florida warranties, Dell.

    How funny, ironic, and typical, that the ultimate successful U.S. Jewish company would be too cheap to get the license to play fair in the ultimate U.S. Jewish state? (notice how many Jews go to Florida to retire - it seems to be as instinctive as salmon going on a spawning run).

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