My lesson: don't forget to exercise your credit card benefits
Last August 2021, I bought my beloved MacBook Air M1 and have thoroughly enjoyed it. My Air is zippy, fast and reliable — pretty much the perfect laptop.
However, in mid-December, the MacBook Air’s screen would not come on at all. I could see the backlight and it worked fine while connected to an external display, but the regular laptop display was useless.
To fix it, I tried all the troubleshooting steps including restarting, resetting NVRAM, and consulting Apple Support via phone. Sadly, with everything being embedded on an SoC (system on a chip) with modern computers, there’s only so much we can do to fix hardware issues.
Looking at a big bill 😢
Ultimately, a trip to an Apple Genius at my local Apple Store confirmed the Air needed service which is estimated to cost $428, which wasn’t an attractive number. As I didn’t purchase AppleCare, my computer is outside of the manufacturer’s warranty.
I called a local repair shop hoping for a cheaper price and even they quoted me $400 for the fix.
Chase Sapphire Reserve to the rescue
Then, I remembered I purchased my computer using my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, which offers an extended warranty on card purchases. Upon investigation, I realized that in addition to the 1 year Apple warranty on my Air, Chase extends it for another year.
First, visit the Card Benefit Services website and file a claim. You’ll need this information handy:
- Original sales receipt (I had to visit my Costco to get a re-print)
- Repair authorization/quote
- Copy of original warranty
- Credit card statement showing purchase (I used Chase’s website to pull up my entry knowing the purchase date)
My outcome: after about a week of processing, Chase is paying for the repair, in full.
So, the moral of the story is: don’t forget about your credit cards extra benefits. For Chase Sapphire holders, Chase extended warranty protection adds a year of coverage to original eligible warranties of three years or less. Note: there are some exemptions on what type of items are covered, so consult your credit card’s documentation.