Apple warranty v. Mediamkt v. Interdiscount

Tech, TV, Mobile, Internet and Geek Corner
1
I aim to buy an iPad Mini retina when available but can anyone clarify the following points re warranties:

Is it correct that Switzerland has a mandatory 2 year warranty on electronic goods? If so, how is it that Apple only offer free warranty for 1 year - 2 year cover has to be paid for.

If 2 years is mandatory what does the 2 year cover specifically advertised by Interdiscount and Mediamkt really mean? I cannot find any details of their warranties on their websites i.e. would it cover return to Apple for repairs or only in their repair workshops? (I note other posts experiencing problems in making claims with them)

Basically, the question is what is the benefit of paying for Apple Care (other than it does include up to 2 claims,at extra cost,for user damage) if the same cover is provided by the discount stores?

2
Ok, Apple has stopped selling Applecare for iPads since the end of September bascially as a result of the standard 2 year warranty as per Swiss law.

What they've done however is replace the original Applecare with something called AppleCare plus, which is being marketed as an insurance product. Basically under this insurance policy you can smash you iPod touch iPad or iPhone and apple will replace it for a nominal fee, an excess if you like. You'll also get all the features of the old Applecare even though it's effectively redundant under the new Swiss laws.

3
May I make a suggestion? Buy the ipad at an authorized apple shop. The after sales service is superb which could come in handy in the future.

4
I have an apple product that kicked the bucket two weeks after the 1 year warranty was up. I went to the apple store and the "genius" said sorry, we dont can't replace it. We can replace it for CHF 299....but i recommend going upstairs to the main store and buying a new one.....

Do i have any recourse? I got the product through sunrise...but dont remember if they provided any kind of warranty

5
In Switzerland, 2 years warranty are applicable by law since 01Jan2013.

For this reason I always shopped in Germany until then, even if the price was slightly higher which was rarely the case.

Since 01Jan2013 I just compare prices.

6
I purchased my iphone5 directly from Apple website. First one failed after 3 months and was replaced by Apple promptly. The replacement failed after a few months and again was replaced promptly. I am on the third one and so far so good.