Visits to service centers and visits to the dentist have one thing in common: in both cases you have to wait in the queue till it is your turn. If you're someone who hates waiting for your turn, or carrying your device to the service center, then Apple is giving you a very good reason to get it repaired at the comfort of your home.
According to a MacRumors report, Apple will be offering an onsite repair option for customers in select cities in the US. This means the customer need not have to lug his heavy iMac or visit the service center or Apple Store to have the issue with his iPhone or iPad addressed.
Get your iPhone repaired at your home
The option comes as a boon to customers who hate going to the service center and waiting for their turn or mailing in their beloved iPhones to Apple to get it serviced, which were the only options they had until now.
The report says that the repairs will be done by a qualified technician certified by Apple, and the onsite repair options are taken care of by Apple Authorized Service Provider Go Tech Services which promises to repair the broken Apple devices "at your home or office".
How to get the onsite repair option
Apple's Support site now displays a new "onsite" option when you select the "Schedule a Repair" option which now says "In select locations onsite service may be available" in addition to "Look for an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Genius Bar".
The onsite repairs from Go Tech Services are currently available in six cities – San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas and when you choose the onsite repair option in any one of these cities, Go Tech Services can provide onsite service.
Additional visit fee
However, the luxury of having your Apple devices repaired at home comes at an added cost. If you choose Go Tech Services which is listed as the top option in the aforementioned cities, the site will warn you about an "Additional onsite visit fee" which may be charged in addition to the standard repair cost.
Although the support site does not show the exact visit fee payable, clicking the "Book through this provider" option redirects the user to Go Tech Service's website where the repair can be scheduled.
Once inside the service provider's website, the user is instructed to choose a date and time for the repair. However, the site still does not show the visit fee and while some locations get same day appointments, some don't.
Repairs offered
Bear in mind though, Go Tech Services is an Apple Authorized Service Provider, so the repairs aren't directly coming from Apple. Since choosing the option redirects to Go Tech's website, it seems like they are working exclusively through Apple. But their services are still pretty good. Also, it is unclear as to what repairs can be done when availing of the onsite repair option. However, it seems like you can get your cracked iPhone or iPad screen replaced, but battery replacement is not available yet.
Apple's Enterprise users
Apple has been providing such onsite repairs to its Enterprise customers, in other words corporate customers or VIP customers. But this is the first time that Apple is giving an onsite repair option for regular consumers.
