How do I escalate a complex AppleCare issue and reach someone higher up for resolution?

You can contact Apple corporate to explain the problem & your extreme displeasure at the whole situation.

Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple

Welcome to the wonderful world of Apple support where no one at Apple knows what is going on. Now imagine having to support a thousand devices and dealing with Apple for 30 years..... the last 10 years have been the worst ever & it keeps getting worse (Apple was never "easy" to deal with but 30 years ago was their pinnacle). I've had to fight tooth & nail to get anywhere with Apple the past 10 years even trying to get the Apple agents to actually understand Apple's own documentation which is extremely poorly written inviting multiple interpretations & confusion to all involved.

You may also want to consult a lawyer to see if you have any options that may be worthwhile pursuing.

I wish you all the luck since you will need it.

Get somebody on the phone and ask to speak with their manager. Or go to a store so you can be persistent with a manager there.

I know what you are experiencing is frustrating but this really is just a user to user support service and I'm afraid we have no special resources for getting in touch with anybody at Apple. We don't work here or have any official connection. I could, in theory, be in exactly your position next week for an issue.

Sorry, no. I spent 30 minutes last week trying to get beyond recorded messages with my health provider. I ended up pressing every number option, including some numbers not offered. In the end I got a real person in the facilities and maintenance department who was able to transfer me to a real person after I pretended to want to schedule a delivery. All I wanted to know was who had called me 5 minutes earlier because I had accidentally pressed the delete button when playing back the recorded message, and no —thank you— I did not want to schedule a colonoscopy.

It's only going to get worse with AI. ;-)

davido469 wrote:

I had a special order 27" iMac w/2tb drive that was under Applecare from day 1. It suddenly died and the store said they couldn't fix it because it was too old and sent me to Applecare. They told me it was too old to replace and they would refund me money if I furnished them with a receipt which I did.

Unfortunately that was incorrect. You did not mention the specific model iMac but even the newest 27 inch iMac was discontinued over five years ago. There is no possible way it would have been eligible for any kind of refund or replacement.

Now I'm told there is no one above the Senior advisor that I can speak with to try to get this resolved.

That is correct.

I would need to examine the AppleCare Agreement that provided assurance of a purchase price refund five years (minimum) after the model was discontinued. Only after examining it could I reach the extremely unlikely conclusion you had been entitled to such a remedy... but you would still be nowhere because you traded it in for $185.

Put the matter behind you. Enjoy your AirPods.

I KNOW the unit was covered, all I'm needing now is to find a way to speak to a higher up.

Apple's contact information is on their home page: Contact Apple