Is Apple's Self-Repair Program Real?
Has anyone successfully used Apple's Self Service Repair Store recently? I've tried ordering a battery replacement kit and toolkit for an iPhone 13 mini this week. Despite multiple attempts using different credit cards (Visa and Amex), browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari), and accounts (mine and my spouse's), each transaction was declined due to an "information mismatch" at the bank's end.
I confirmed with both banks that all entered information is correct, and they have no issues processing the transaction if submitted properly. They even ran test transactions using the exact information I provided, confirming that they would approve the transaction if submitted correctly. This suggests the issue lies with the repair store's payment processing.
Has anyone else faced similar issues? Is this program still functional for consumers? I reached out to their support and was told that I can pay for just the battery via PayPal, but I am not able to rent a toolkit via PayPal. And they refused to help me any further.
Is it me or them? I'm just trying to figure this out because I have no clue what to do next. I even tried a friend's credit card and that didn't go through either. I'm beginning to think that this is a fake program.
You posted this only a single day ago. No need to repost.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43807650
It's not "Apple's" service, for starters; the website very clearly states "The online store is operated by a third-party provider authorized by Apple to sell genuine Apple parts and tools." (https://support.apple.com/self-service-repair)
Normally this is the part where you'd take your phone to a cost-competitive repair shop for the same fix-me-up. Except you can't, because Apple stopped selling those people phone parts so they could profit off this instead.
Caveat emptor, repair shops warned you for years.
It’s a program organized and started by Apple. Why do I care that it’s “operated” by a shell company?
As for the battery swap, it costs the same to do it my self using this service or to take it to an Apple Store. I want to do it myself, otherwise I would just take it to the store and pay the same amount to have Apple do it.
I was asking to see if anyone else has had luck ordering parts and tools from this service recently. You have no information on the subject, why did you choose to comment?
> why did you choose to comment?
Because you posted this thread twice in seeming desperation, and I figured I would tell you the information you could ascertain by Googling your question since you seem so reluctant to research it yourself.