In February we got new iPhones for me and two of the kids. My wife wanted to get the back of her current phone fixed before upgrading to a new phone.
The phones are great, but that’s another story.
Once we had the phones in-hand, I wanted to make sure that we all had coverage in case something happened to them. Some phone cycles, we keep the phone longer than the typical 1-2 years. We had the last phones for over 3 years.
I bought AppleCare+ on my phone (paying monthly for as long as I have the phone). It was super easy. Just activate an in-app-purchase and I was done. Now, I’m covered for as long as I have the phone.
I figured doing this for the kids would be just as easy. I was so wrong.
I got the kids to make the same in-app purchase I made. Since they have kid accounts, I had to approve it. They initiated the requests, I approved them. Once that was done, I figured we were good to go. We weren’t, and aren’t.
We were immediately billed for the purchases. But when I looked at the status of the AppleCare+ on their phones, it said “Limited Warranty” & “AppleCare+ Coverage Available”. I thought this was strange, but figured there might be lag in it showing up on their phones. 🤷🏻♂️
Fast forward a month. I got billed for AppleCare+ on their phones again. I decided to check their phones and see what the coverage said. I got the same “Limited Warranty” & “AppleCare+ Coverage Available” messages.
I figured there was something wrong with their phones, so I checked Apple’s Check Coverage site. The site basically says the same thing with an “Eligible for an AppleCare product” message.
I then started down the path of Apple’s Support. Apple’s support is usually great and things are taken care of quickly.
I started with Apple’s Support chat system. This didn’t work out. The advice they gave me was to check the phones again and they provided me with a link to tell me how to purchase AppleCare+. Uh. Thanks?
Later that evening, I set up a call with Apple. I chatted with several nice folks at Apple. I was on the phone for over an hour and talked to three different people. The only thing we were able to determine was:
- I was indeed paying for AppleCare+ on these two devices. (I knew that)
- The state of these purchases was stuck in limbo.
- The folks on the phone had no idea how to fix it.
The last person I talked to said they they were personally taking ownership of this issue and should have it resolved shortly. They were going to call me back in two weeks to verify that things were taken care of.
Nothing has changed.
Every few days I’ll check the Check Coverage site and verify that the phones are in the same “Limited warranty” state.
They were supposed to give me a call back last night at 8pm (Eastern) and did not. I waited around for over 30 minutes before finally giving up. There was no communication from Apple outside of the original email setting up the appointment.
I did email them last night after waiting. The support person responded this morning saying that something came up last night. We’re going to try the call again next week.
I am not sure what to do here.
I think there are a few days left where I can purchase AppleCare+ via the website for these devices. I could do that, but it will mean I will have over-paid for AppleCare+ on two devices (for 2 months).
It bothers me that purchasing AppleCare+ for a child account through an in-app purchase is so broken. Not only is it broken, it’s all Apple’s system and they can’t figure out how to fix this. The support person who set up my call back did not call me, or communicate to me that they would not be calling me.
This all leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
To be continued…