I don’t know of any similar, well, localization problems in Germany but I agree that the service isn’t so great. It has gotten better in recent years; still, th

I don’t know of any similar, well, localization problems in Germany but I agree that the service isn’t so great. It has gotten better in recent years; still, there is no Apple Store anywhere close to me [0]. A repair means losing access to my MBP for several days or weeks. It’s not so much that the service itself sucks (though I had an awful experience with an Authorized Apple Service Provider once), all that waiting sucks. (Besides that, my experiences with Applecare were pretty great. Apple was willing to repair everything without flinching – broken keyboards with suspicious amounts of crumbs under them included – and was always extra accommodating whenever I had a problem. They have very friendly and patient people taking support calls who approved exchanging my battery five or so times for free.) [0] The situation is improving. There are now four Apple Stores in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Oberhausen (near Düsseldorf and Cologne) and Munich, all built in the last two years and Apple might well build several more.