Apple's exchange game isn't much fun for buyers or resellers.(Dealer's Corner)(Column)

For the most part, Apple makes reliable products. But it's a fact of life: Electronic components fail. What should we expect from a manufacturer when a product fails? If it's, say, an Apple Color Plus monitor beyond its one-year warranty, the answer seems to be "very little."

A disposable monitor

The Color Plus monitor is a product for which Apple offers only a whole-unit exchange. Not only are there no user-serviceable parts inside, but no dealer-serviceable parts either. The only service available, regardless of the severity of the problem, is to send the unit back to Apple, for which the customer will receive a new model.

Complaints about this kind of approach are reminiscent of those 15 years ago, when "real" computer technicians were annoyed they had to swap a whole circuit board when they knew they could fix it inexpensively at the component level. Still, swapping an entire product for what may be a minor problem seems more extreme and costly.

The result of this policy is that the expense of any out-of-warranty Color Plus repair will approach or even exceed the cost of simply purchasing a new monitor, since the company charges almost full price for exchange units. No one would choose a reconditioned unit with a 90-day warranty over a new unit with a one-year warranty at essentially the same price, so the only viable choice is to buy a new one. It is, in effect, a disposable monitor. As a manufacturer, Apple may be obliged to provide service for its products, but by ...