Apple Custom Order Warranty Starts When It Leaves Factory?

A family member recently purchased a custom configured Mac from Apple. On receiving the delivery the 1 year warranty shows that it started ticking as soon as it left the factory approximately 3 weeks before it was finally delivered due to multiple shipping delays. By any reasonable expectation the standard 1 yr warranty should start as soon an item is delivered to the buyer and activated not when it is built at the factory!

The issue will hopefully be sorted eventually, but no one from Apple support (2 different reps) has been able to correct this so far and they say the family member will have to call back next week to try and get in touch with a more senior representative.

Have others had similar experiences with custom configured Macs from apple.com.au that were shipped direct from the factory in China and did Apple correct the issue by changing it to start from the delivery date in the end?

A google search reveals a bunch of fellows from the US and Europe on sites like MacRumors arguing that it's perfectly reasonable for warranty to start as soon as it leaves the factory (or even as soon as the purchase is made). But this seems quite ridiculous as it disadvantages people buying direct from Apple.com.au warranty wise vs retail sales (where items could even be sitting on shelves for months before sale), because the shipping time is effectively subtracted from the warranty.

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Comments

  • +1

    From when purchased, but expectation under warranty it should be covered past that 12 months for the cost say a few more months. If it is going to be faulty it will most likely happen in the first 3 months

  • +1

    While I agree that from a consumer point of view that is hardly fair, I am not sure how are other retailers handling that. With Apple they consider an item "sold" when it is shipped so I guess that's why the also use it for the warranty purposes.

  • +2

    FWIW I had a warranty issue with an appliance received from appliance online sorted even through it was past the order date timeframe as it was delivered 1 month after purchase. For the sake of 3 weeks I am sure most companies will just fix it.

  • +3

    If you bought it from Apple Australia it really doesn’t matter. You get another year of warranty from consumer law anyways.
    Plus several times Apple has repaired/ replaced my iPhone and AirPods months after warranty expired.
    Just don’t worry about it and enjoy your new device

    • I think it won't stop them from getting a repair if anything breaks and many others have had good experiences, but from my personal experiences (with a previous desktop Mac just outside of warranty) with Apple it's far smoother to get it sorted if the official warranty is showing as in place

  • +1

    Shipping from China used to be very quick with Apple, I guess the supply chain virus crisis has delayed it a lot.

  • +2

    Apple customer service and warranty service is fantastic. I recently got a 4 year old macbook battery swapped out no questions asked, it even had >1000 cycles. Would have no issues imho.

  • +2

    Who cares, ACL trumps their warranty.

  • why don’t you hop in to their support app and talk to one of their members. they are very helpful and will adjust the dates to the date you received it.

    • They did that but that support rep did not have the ability to change the dates, phone support was the same. It was the weekend so someone during the week with greater authority should be able to sort it out I'm assuming

      • +1

        okay at-least you’ve tried. When I did, it was of no issues.

  • ACL will cover you with the expected durability clause. A reasonable person would expect a high end/high cost computer to last at least 5 years. Especially if it has been configured above the base model.

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