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When does the warranty start?

Hi,


I wonder if anyone knows when the warranty starts.


From the moment I buy the product or I activate the product?


Thank you.

Posted on Sep 9, 2015 1:15 AM

Reply
21 replies

Jul 11, 2017 8:14 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Hello seventy one and IdrisSeabright,


I absolutely agree. This seems totally outrageous.


Here's my personal example from 2015:


  • October 28 (Wed): I place my order for a MacBook Pro
  • October 31 (Fri): Apple charges my credit card for the MBP and ships it (actually in the hands of UPS in China).
  • November 6: UPS delivers the MBP to me.


Apple officially tells me that my warranty started on October 28. Yes, the warranty started before I even paid for it!


Here in California (and I believe the USA) I believe it's legal for a warranty to start on the "sale" date. The question now is, what is the exact definition of the "sale." Is it when I place the order? When they charge my credit card? When they ship it? Or, when I actually get it and activate it?


It's looking like the "sale" date is when they charge my credit card. And, I also think that they can't charge my credit card until the ship it.


So of me, Apple says my warranty started on Oct 28th when legally it should have started no earlier than Oct 31st. But, ethically it shouldn't have started until Nov 6th.


For many products it's an added step for a company to verify when a customer actually gets their item for the warranty to start. For Apple it's much easier since I couldn't start to use this computer without entering my Apple ID and then Apple can see the serial number and knows the exact date of first use.


Just to be clear, I am not an attorney so I'm just now looking into all of this mess.


If anyone can clear up the exact legal terms that would be great! Until then I'll try to find out more of the law on this.


Thanks,

Larry.

Jul 10, 2017 2:44 PM in response to ggwpcommended

Today (July 10, 2017) I spoke with someone in the Apple Corporate Executive Relations group (executive group under Tim Cook).


He told me very explicitly that the warranty starts on the order date, not the date you receive or activate it.


While this is usually just a few days it's possible for this lost warranty time to be considerably longer. If you order a newly released item and it gets back ordered for a month or two the warranty still started on the order date.


So be careful about ordering any Apple products on-line. Just keep in mind the lost warranty time. In my opinion, if I ever buy an Apple product again, I will always buy it in store so that I can actually use it throughout the whole warranty period.


I don't know the legality of this but it obviously is very immoral. If your Apple product has any issues in that lost warranty time they can technically charge you for the repair even though you didn't have use of the item for the whole warranty duration.


Good luck everyone and you've now been warned!

Larry.

Jul 11, 2017 6:17 AM in response to seventy one

seventy one wrote:


No disrespect meant but I truly cannot believe that. How can a warranty legally be accepted as part and parcel of a purchase, when you have not necessarily received the goods to which the warranty applies.

Especially when it can sometimes be months between an order and the receipt of goods if the item is extremely popular.

Jul 11, 2017 8:25 AM in response to lschwarcz

Larry,


I am not an attorny either so you will understand the limitations that govern answers here.


But having said that, and assuming the consumer laws are not too strong in the USA, I would pursue Apple senior management at 1 Infinite Loop. Or see if someone local to you would give a qualified opinion, no more.


I am sympathetic; I will try and dig around and come back if I find anything.

Jul 11, 2017 8:33 AM in response to lschwarcz

lschwarcz wrote:



It's looking like the "sale" date is when they charge my credit card. And, I also think that they can't charge my credit card until the ship it.

I believe that is correct.


I ordered my MPB but it didn't ship for about a month. I was charged two days before I received it. I believe the warranty start date is the charge date. I would be quite upset it it was the ordered date as the difference was almost a month.


They do seem to be giving you a bit of a runaround. I wish you all the best.

Sep 9, 2015 2:53 AM in response to ggwpcommended

I believe that the warranty is activated the moment the device is turned on and the setup screen appears.


I bought two iPod Classics and only used one two years ago. I opened the second one last Monday and started using it. The warranty on the second one showed it is active for one year from last Monday September 1. The problem was after two years, the battery was dead so I took it to Apple and they replaced the battery under the warranty. The iPod only worked while plugged in.


The only time the warranty starts upon purchase is if you buy the device directly from Apple. Like others have mentioned, they obviously know when it was purchased.

When does the warranty start?

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