Following the announcement of the $50 price drop for the Apple Watch Sport on Monday, Apple has now lowered the cost of its out-of-warranty repair price for the aluminum-cased wearable from $229 to $199. The program serves Apple Watch wearers not supported by AppleCare+, or the limited one-year warranty of the device, which will be ending soon for early adopters of the Apple Watch.
The company still has a few rules about out-of-warranty service, with any Apple Watch that "has been broken into multiple pieces" remaining ineligible for repair. For more detailed descriptions of applicable devices, the company has a full Apple Repair Terms and Conditions document on its website.
Since the other tiers of the Apple Watch have not gotten a price drop, their out-of-warranty prices haven't changed either. If an owner of either the Apple Watch or Apple Watch Edition lacks proper warranty, a repair will cost them $329 and $2,800, respectively.
Top Rated Comments
If you don't like their repair fee, maybe someone else will repair it for less. If not, there's likely a business opportunity available.
tl;dr: They don't care whether you want to get it repaired or not, you're bringing them similar amounts of dough either way.
Buy new or get it repaired, the "repairs" are priced in such a way that they couldn't care less economically.
Not out of spite, but you should REALLY check out the video I embedded in this post.
It's very enlightening.
And yes, they CAN charge whatever they want, but here's something else:
They practically HINDER others from doing repairs (again, watch the video and you'll see a lot of that) AND as a customer you're free to complain.
Business, even between end consumers and big corporations shouldn't be one-sided communication-wise.
"Yeah, that's great, but they won't read it anyways! Contact Apple directly!"
I tell Apple frequently that they are out of their minds concerning out-of-warranty repair costs, but don't underestimate the importance of critique in media and forums. ('http://9to5mac.com/2014/08/29/part-3-strategies-the-art-of-deep-background-and-controlling-the-press/')
Glassed Silver:mac
PS: I know that his take on the home button has since been commented on by Apple and that it was an accident. Basically skip that train of thought and check out the rest of his arguments.