What good is Apple Worldwide Warranty in Argentina.

[Desde2008]

I have had two Apple products malfunction while still under warranty and both times the local Authorized Apple stores would not repair them.

The best one was my Apple TV 2G that would not work after 3 weeks of use. I took it to the store at Ayacucho 1184 and they checked it out. They verified that it was not working correctly and checked that it was still under warranty. I gave them all my information including my phone number as they reassured me that it would be repaired in a couple of weeks. After 4 weeks with out hearing from them, I stopped by their store and they told me that this product was not supported in Argentina and that I should return it to the store that I bought it from. So I walked to my local Amazon store, oh yeah, that didn't happen. I saved it for my next trip to the USA and was lucky enough to get it taken care of before the warranty expired.

Next case was a Apple Touch 4G where they USB connector must have broke from constant use. I read on the Internet, so it must be true, that they replace these in the USA if they are still under warranty. Unless you are in Buenos Aires because the only thing they will do for you is waste your time and tell you they can not help you unless you are there to buy something then they have all the time in the world.

I hear how wonderful Apple products are and they are wonderfully designed but the true test is when something breaks. So far Apple support sucks outside of the USA in this part of the world.

Does anyone have any good experience with Apple Stores here in the city? I would really like to know.

~Desde

 

[Philsword]

Sorry for your problem. My experience is that warranties aren't worth the paper they are printed on in Argentina.

 

[HeyBA]

I was told at the Apple store in the States that if you get Apple Care for a product, you can ship it to them to be fixed and they express ship it back, all paid for by Apple, even if you're outside of the US or Europe. This was backed up with the story of someone who was an aid worker in a markedly undeveloped country, who bought Apple Care for this purpose.

I have absolutely no experience with this though, so who knows if that's really the case.

 

[katti]

I am sorry to hear that!

My experience is totally different. My daughter dropped something on her laptop right on the spot where her hard disk is. It is insured in Belgium, so I needed an official document that it was 'total loss', for the insurance company. I went to apple Ayacucho, telling them the story (they have to check it, put in writing, and it will be replaced by a new one from Belgium). They told me they will look at it and will give me news within 24hours. In less then 24 hours they called me, saying I could pick it up. The hard disk was replaced under warantee. I didn't have to give any invoice or warantee document, it seems that the laptop was registered and it was less then 6 months old.
They made me wait for the technician who had to tell me something important : he had to apologise that he didn't put all the photos on the exact same place and wanted to explain how I had to move them....Besides that all the data was recovered. I didn't pay anything.

 

[davonz]

I have heard a few stories of apple not fixing/replacing things in arg, unless it is easy or they carry that particular item/model - a faulty hard disk is a common problem with apple laptops (due to overheating), so they should have plenty of replacements in stock, and isnt a problem to replace.

I think the problem is they dont like to carry alot of stock here. I had the same problem with HP, my laptop screen played up, it had 3 years warranty, and they couldnt replace it with the hi-res exact screen, because he said it was not an item they sold in argentina, and it was a problem with customs to get parts into argentina - time and cost, and then to ship out faulty part for replacement. So he said i had 3 options, go to chile and replace under warranty, go to uruguay and get replaced, or they could replace with a lower-res screen which they had in stock, and then i could get a new hi-res screen the next time i was in another country.. which is what i did..

I also had a Motorola cell phone that stuffed up, again it was a common problem, and again it had a world wide warranty, but it didnt matter in arg, they wouldnt fix it.. even though they made the same phone in agentina.. I even printed out the email form motorola USA help desk which told me to take it to the local service centre - and gave the address... made no difference..I think it was that they couldnt be bothered with the hassle..

 

[dani28]

If it's under warranty, the authorized Apple place on Ayacucho claims to honour and repair items still under warranty. I have yet to need something done, however they did inform me about this when I asked.

 

[Desde2008]

We had an iPod that was under warranty that was purchased in the USA and it died...it was replaced here...they did honor the warranty.

Wish I would have had your luck but 2 times they refused to repair/replace an item that was still under warranty.

 

[PhilipDT]

I had the wifi antenna replaced in my computer under a us applecare.