ProCare to be split into two services
For the past several years Apple has offered the ProCare program for $99/year. Basically, there were two classes of service that ProCare subscribers were entitled to: 1) priority service at the Genius Bar, including 14-day advance appointments (versus 2-days for regular folks), and 2) one-to-one personal training from Apple Store "Creatives." Now ifoAppleStore is reporting that these two classes of service are being split into separate programs, each $99/year.According to ifoAppleStore, ProCare will continue to offer priority repairs and access to the Genius bar, while the personal training will become a new program called "One2One." If there's any upside to this doubling the price/halving the service move, it is that it's supposed to take place on May 2nd. That means you have the rest of today to get in under the wire for the old price. If you had ever been seriously considering ProCare, today might be the day to act.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rob said 9:16AM on 5-01-2007
It looks like Apple is trying to find ways to make more money by DOUBLING the price of an existing service.
My advice -- Vote with your wallets and DON'T buy either.
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iJavaJoe said 9:27AM on 5-01-2007
I was talked into the current Pro care and it's not worth half the $99 price. The classes are way to basic and I live to far from the store to make the other features worth it. Fool me once...
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Todd Bradley said 9:30AM on 5-01-2007
I really wish I had good things to say about ProCare. I bought my first new Mac last fall - a Core2Duo MacBook Pro. And since I'm using it for audio and video editing, which is a part-time business of mine, I decided the ProCare would probably be worth it. Even if the system doesn't need repair, the weekly training sessions will certainly be worth it. Well, unfortunately, both times I went in to talk to the "Genius" / "Creatives" about issues, they didn't know anything more about the software than I could figure out from reading the manual. They even had the nerve to go through the old "trial and error" routine while I was sitting there - "Hmm, maybe there's a menu item for that on this menu. Nope, maybe on this menu. Nope, maybe on this menu." In the end, I just posted my (admittedly challenging) question to the appropriate Apple forum and several other users gave me a variety of good answers, all for free. ProCare may be useful for the non-savvy user who has a lot of time on their hands, but as someone who was trying to get "pro" level answers to "pro" level questions, it disappointed me.
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Levi said 10:20AM on 5-01-2007
To the two people who are saying that the genius's/ Creatives dont know anything.
I am a Creative at an apple store. Have you ever tried to teach someone? and not just people who are profesionals but also people who have never used a computer before? and are you expected to know everything from how to print labels to running Logic Pro, Final cut, and Aperture? Because I am. And yah we may take the "trial and error" method sometimes but im sure that you came in with a questions just to try to prove you knew more than they did. I dont really care if you didnt like the service just dont insult my peers to make yourself feel big.
To iJavaJoe: if you feel the something is too basic than try to explain that you want to do something more advanced.
To Todd Bradley: Im sorry but you came in with a question you didnt know, so when other people tried to help you find out you get upset? i really dont see how this is a bad thing, and perhaps the creative had not yet been trained on the program or it wasnt thier specialty, but they were trying and you even admit that it was a tough question. I have had plenty of people who are professionals come in and get help on applications, but just because you came in trying to prove that you could "Stump a genius" dosnt mean that we are useless or we are just for people "with too much time on thier hands" We are for people who want to learn how to use computer better.
I think the problem here is not that the creatives did not know what they were doing but that these people didnt want to learn
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eric f. said 11:32AM on 5-01-2007
Two days before I had to go out of town on a job my macbook came down with the dreaded Random Shutdown Syndrome.
The $99 for Procare was so worth a priority appointment and less than 24 hour turnaround for my repair...not only that but it covers ANY Apple computer I own, so my G5 gets the same royal treatment (although it's been rock solid for years).
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Hal said 11:33AM on 5-01-2007
Another one who doesn't know the rules. Levi is now officially an EX-Creative.
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Brian Reading said 11:50AM on 5-01-2007
Heh, yeah Apple's support with software seems to be far too basic. For any advanced user, it's just ridiculous. Don't even try calling them about CLI errors, or they'll have a fit!
One guy basically summed it up for me. AppleCare/ProCare supports installation/reinstallation of software if needed, backing up data, and making sure the applications launch correctly. Otherwise, they "don't support any features of the applications." One exception I was told was with iLife or other simple consumer-grade applications.
I was astounded when I was told that Apple developers are writing pieces of software for the CLI that are specifically "meant to be used at my own risk." This is even after prefacing my questions with, "Does Apple support all software written by its developers with AppleCare?" Where I was told, "Of course, sir."
Ironically, reading AppleCare's terms, I couldn't find anything about how only select applications would be supported.
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GM said 12:55PM on 5-01-2007
I have a different take on this...
I asked over and over again at my local store in Jax, FL if I could use ProCare to learn things like Illustrator, Quark, Photoshop... things I needed for my new graphic arts responsibilities at my job. Every time they just said "yup".
I bought it, and a guy named Richard with an Aussie accent gave me about a dozen classes on Illustrator, Quark, Photoshop, and of course a bunch of general Mac issues I had, being a fairly new switcher. There was nothing I could throw at him he didnt know.
People still dont believe me when I tell them its $99 for unlimited classes for one year on pretty much anything they want to learn...
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Blair said 3:52PM on 5-01-2007
Levi,
I hope you're not that petulant when you're at work. The attitude you display here is exactly what people complain about in regards to Geniuses and 'Creatives.' "I don't really care if you like the service..." What a shocker! I've come to regret the money I spent on ProCare as well. Geniuses and Creatives all seem to take the same attitude... that the onus is somehow on the customer to make the experience good. WE ARE PAYING YOU. Don't you get it? It's your job. If all of your customers are really so far below the intelligence level you expect of them, maybe it's time for you to find a new line of work. Seriously... take a damn look at the paragraph you wrote. You're a disgrace to the few Geniuses and Creatives out there who actually enjoy doing what they do.
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Kai Cherry said 9:11AM on 5-02-2007
Blair:
I'm willing to bet that the approach and tone in your post is likely to match your approach in an Apple store.
I have been in Apple stores all over the US, as a customer, and I have to say that the general way that "long time Apple Customers" treat the staff is *appalling*...I know MANY Apple Store employees, current and past, and the general theme seems to be that people come into the store with a sort of "I'm a Mac User....c'mere BITCHES".
I mean, just rude, impatient...petulant. I mean, at times, I've seen Geniuses suffer serious verbal abuse because they can't fix obvious things that customers did (like drops) for free...they rail on and on about how much they paid, blah blah blah....and it appears that unless someone gets physical, the employees have to take this garbage...over and over.
Many have told me they "don't get it...we're Mac people *too*...why?"
The most polite and attentive customers seem to be switchers...perhaps they haven't quite yet drank enough of the Kool-Aid to feel they have a right to abandon basic principles of courtesy.
I mean everyone has "rude customers" but I have NEVER seen this so consistently at any other "top tier" retailer...never.
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