Apple Clarifies Warranty Coverage Options for Customers in European Union

SilenceBe said:

The fact how Apple handles warranty is even used as a marketing point by some shops why you should buy Apple products from them instead of buying them at Apple stores. The german Mediamarkt (which operates in a lot of European countries) explicitly advertises with it 2 year (and the funny thing it is really the law that mandates that) warranty in comparison with Apple.

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I am sure that Mediamarkt is offering something that is in excess of your legally mandated rights. Otherwise they would be so snowed under with Abmahnungen that they would lose the will to live. (Advertising that you do as the law requires you to do is a clear indication that you claim that your competitors don't - otherwise why would you mention it? That in turn is "unlauterer Wettbewerb" (unfair competition), so every lawyer in the country can send you a friendly letter asking you to stop your advertisements, together with a bill charging you 100 Euros or so).

zzebi said:

I don't think you get it guys.

The table is not about differences between Apple warranties and EU warranties. But in fact these warranties ALL apply in the same time for Apple products purchased in the EU.

Apple simply says that they have always respected the EU laws and never failed to honor the EU mandated warranties. Actually the Italian court also didn't fine Apple for not honoring the EU warranty but because they haven't clarified the difference between different warranty options for consumers.

So again:
When you buy an Apple product in the EU and it gets broken you have ALL of these options to consider.

- If you are sure that the product was shipped broken, then you can return it to the retailer within 2 years or can take it to the Apple for replacement within 1 year.

- If the product got defected in the first year, then you can take it to Apple and get it replaced within 1 year.

- If the product breaks after 1 year, you can take it to Apple for replacement in case you purchased an extra AppleCare warranty earlier.

******
All in all, it means that the default warranty coverage of Apple products is significantly BETTER than the warranty EU mandates because it has ADDITIONAL coverage beyond the mandate.

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I don't think you get it. You are literally telling the Europeans here that they are incorrect about their own laws and that their own experiences are incorrect. You, however, thousands of kilometers away, are obviously correct.

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gnasher729 said:

I am sure that Mediamarkt is offering something that is in excess of your legally mandated rights. Otherwise they would be so snowed under with Abmahnungen that they would lose the will to live. (Advertising that you do as the law requires you to do is a clear indication that you claim that your competitors don't - otherwise why would you mention it? That in turn is "unlauterer Wettbewerb" (unfair competition), so every lawyer in the country can send you a friendly letter asking you to stop your advertisements, together with a bill charging you 100 Euros or so).

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I don't think he means advertising. I think he rather means that the MediaMarkt clearly states that you have two years of warranty.

If I visit the MediaMarkt website, click on a product and look under the section "Warranty" it indeed says two years of warranty.

Nothing is free. The warranty cost is factored into the product price. If the EU requirements end up costing Apple money, Apple will just raise the prices for the EU customers.

ThatsMeRight said:

I don't think he means advertising. I think he rather means that the MediaMarkt clearly states that you have two years of warranty.

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No literally advertising with it in a local folder. They aren't the only one, we have a chain of stores which is called "switch".

They also advertise with their 2 years but don't explicitly name apple but are talking about "competitors who only give one year warranty". Off course the 2 year warranty is mentioned in a whole list of benefits.

Maybe it is against the law but here in Belgium it isn't uncommon in advertising to walk the fine line of... . In the past it was illegal to advertise with comparisons or naming your competitors, but the laws has relaxed a lot in that regards.

i do believe that the uk laptop electronics law states that laptops must be functional after 5 years of use otherwise the manufacturer must either repair, provide new, or offer money in value of the laptop..

it was on tv last year about it.. martin lewis did a cover of it..

gotta love the uk

zzebi said:

I don't think you get it guys.

The table is not about differences between Apple warranties and EU warranties. But in fact these warranties ALL apply in the same time for Apple products purchased in the EU.

Apple simply says that they have always respected the EU laws and never failed to honor the EU mandated warranties. Actually the Italian court also didn't fine Apple for not honoring the EU warranty but because they haven't clarified the difference between different warranty options for consumers.

So again:
When you buy an Apple product in the EU and it gets broken you have ALL of these options to consider.

- If you are sure that the product was shipped broken, then you can return it to the retailer within 2 years or can take it to the Apple for replacement within 1 year.

- If the product got defected in the first year, then you can take it to Apple and get it replaced within 1 year.

- If the product breaks after 1 year, you can take it to Apple for replacement in case you purchased an extra AppleCare warranty earlier.

******
All in all, it means that the default warranty coverage of Apple products is significantly BETTER than the warranty EU mandates because it has ADDITIONAL coverage beyond the mandate.

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this is all true apart from the last 3 lines, I can't see how apple's products end up with a better warranty than any other items on the market.

Plutonius said:

Nothing is free. The warranty cost is factored into the product price. If the EU requirements end up costing Apple money, Apple will just raise the prices for the EU customers.

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it won't cost apple any more as I have stated many times, why don't you open your eyes away from your tunnel vision as see that?
take the nvidia faulty chipsets as an example they were inherently faulty when the product was made this under EU law would be fully covered if it eventually died within 2 years, you would take the product back to where you bought it (say PC world) they then fix it for you, they claim the money from apple who in turn claim the money from nvidia for supplying them with faulty parts.
now apple did extend unusually did extend that to everyone in the world, but if they wanted to they could have just honoured it in the EU and left the US consumers high and dry.

take the faulty iPhone 3G home button as a 2nd example, one would expect that the home button to work free from defect for at least 2 years (ie the contract length), therefore you can go back to where you bought the iphone from and they will have to by law fix it,
over in the US you would have to use some lesser phone for the rest of your contract, but you seem like you would be fine with that.

sevimli said:

If I buy my iPad from Germany, Greece or any other EU country, would Apple honor 2-year warranty in US?

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No, but not exactly for the reason that were given: this EU law applies to any purchase made in a store in the EU; you do not have to be a resident (at any point) of the EU to benefit from this law.

HOWEVER, EU law compels the seller to provide this guarantee, not the manufacturer. So the seller would be your point of contact, meaning you would have to physically go back to where you bought the device to get it repaired (and even if afterwards the seller turns to Apple, that's "none of your business" ).

Added to that:
Even if you were to buy it in a chain store with EU wide penetration (e.g. Mediamarkt), the guarantees are often valid only in one single country because each chain is a local legal entity. So if you bought your iPad in a Mediamarkt in Berlin, you couldn't bring it back to a Mediamarkt in Paris.

Bottom line, in your case, for prolonged guarantee...get an AppleCare plan

salacious said:

i do believe that the uk laptop electronics law states that laptops must be functional after 5 years of use otherwise the manufacturer must either repair, provide new, or offer money in value of the laptop..

it was on tv last year about it.. martin lewis did a cover of it..

gotta love the uk

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yes the Sales Of Goods Act allows you to bring a claim within 6 years, but it has to be a reasonable fault, you would succeed claiming against a faulty motherboard or CPU as they are reasonably expected to last many many years (or forever) under proper use, but you would be very lucky to win for claiming against a hard drive breaking after 2 years as a hard drive everyone knows they do break.
again any and all claims go through the seller if they have shut down (eg Game and any consoles) you are up the creek.

Plutonius said:

Nothing is free. The warranty cost is factored into the product price. If the EU requirements end up costing Apple money, Apple will just raise the prices for the EU customers.

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You're not gonna start the debate "free market Americans versus European socialists" are you?

It is a moral choice to take the risk you are mentionning, to make sure consumers don't buy expensive crap that breaks down after a year.
If the manufacturer wants to increase the prices, he's free to do it; but the free market (yes, we still do have that ) will ensure prices remain low.

EU law (which I don't always defend, believe me) in this case takes a simple approach: products are supposed to work for a reasonable amount of time, and 2 years for an expensive piece of hardware seems fair to them; on which I agree.

peterbaby said:

No, but not exactly for the reason that were given: this EU law applies to any purchase made in a store in the EU; you do not have to be a resident (at any point) of the EU to benefit from this law.

HOWEVER, EU law compels the seller to provide this guarantee, not the manufacturer. So the seller would be your point of contact, meaning you would have to physically go back to where you bought the device to get it repaired (and even if afterwards the seller turns to Apple, that's "none of your business" ).

Added to that:
Even if you were to buy it in a chain store with EU wide penetration (e.g. Mediamarkt), the guarantees are often valid only in one single country because each chain is a local legal entity. So if you bought your iPad in a Mediamarkt in Berlin, you couldn't bring it back to a Mediamarkt in Paris.

Bottom line, in your case, for prolonged guarantee...get an AppleCare plan

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Let me rephrase my question then

I have an iPad from Germany (from a genuine Apple Store), and after 15 month of purchasing it, I happen to be in US for business or pleasure etc. What happens if my iPad fails and I go in any US Apple Store? Will they decline me because of my original purchase location?

MacRumors said:

Apple's warranty covers defects that arise at any time during the warranty period. EU protection laws generally require consumers to prove that a given defect was present at the time of product delivery.

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Once again this is very misleading from Apple. For example in the UK the law states that any product should be expected to last a reasonable amount of time depending what the product is, how much it cost, etc. This can be anything up to 6 years. There is absolutely no requirement to prove that the product had a defect at the time of purchase unless you are taking it back having just bought it recently.

I hope this has nothing to do with Apple hiring that guy from Dixons/PCWorld/Currys as they are well known for this sort of thing. I think we should at least expect a 2 year warranty as standard with Apple products now. I usually buy all my products from John Lewis these days as they do give you a free 2 year warranty as standard on all Apple products.

sevimli said:

Let me rephrase my question then

I have an iPad from Germany (from a genuine Apple Store), and after 15 month of purchasing it, I happen to be in US for business or pleasure etc. What happens if my iPad fails and I go in any US Apple Store? Will they decline me because of my original purchase location?

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Oh! So that's a special case indeed. I guess that depends on Apple's good will and its systems. You bought from a local German entity (Apple Retail GmbH or something like that), so what you are fully entitled to, is to return it to any German Apple Store.
Whether Apple (as the seller, not the manufacturer) allows you to return it in the US is actually a question someone else may have to answer. I guess if Apple's system linked to your serial number states "2y guarantee" it might work...but if they have a system that says "2y guarantee if returned in Germany", then good luck.

SilenceBe said:

When something is broke after a year they will *always* point to the one year warranty. To get them comply with the law it always involve a consumer organisation or a threat with a lawsuit. There is a reason why different consumer organisations now bundled forces and imho rightfully. Apple is one of the few companies that doesn't comply with the law completely regarding warranties.

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ThatsMeRight said:

I don't think you get it. You are literally telling the Europeans here that they are incorrect about their own laws and that their own experiences are incorrect. You, however, thousands of kilometers away, are obviously correct.

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You didn't read my post or just didn't understand it.
Show me a single case when Apple was sued because they didn't honor EU mandated warranty. You can't because it never happened. Apple was sued because (Google translation from French):

"Test-Procurement has been found significant problems relating to information provided by the manufacturer by Apple and its authorized distributors regarding the relationship between guaranteed legal, commercial warranty of one year applied by the manufacturer and any extended warranty "AppleCare Protection Plan" 2 or 3 years proposed by Apple.

...

Encouraged by previous Italian Test-Achats/Test-Aankoop has combined forces with 10 other consumer organizations (Consumentenbond the Netherlands, Italy Altroconsumo, OCU in Spain, Portugal at DECO, vzbv Germany, ULC Luxembourg, the EN Denmark, FK Poland, Slovenia and EKPI.ZO SPAs in Greece) to stop these illegal practices. Test-Achats/Test-Aankoop sent this March 12, 2012 a notice to Apple.

Test-Achats/Test-Aankoop demand that Apple should clearly every where mention is made of either contractual guarantee, all the elements that characterize the legal guarantee in force in Belgium and revise in depth the structure and length of the contract documents to be accessible and understandable to the average consumer."

zzebi said:

Show me a single case when Apple was sued because they didn't honor EU mandated warranty. You can't because it never happened.

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You cannot possibly know that.

Shaun said:

You cannot possibly know that.

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We can only talk about facts. Until anyone comes up with a case we have nothing to talk about.
In fact Apple had two kinds of warranty troubles in the EU:

1) In 2010 they were forced to honor EU mandated warranties across the whole EU region (across-borders). So if someone purchases the product in one EU country, Apple has to provide warranty for it in another EU country as well.

2) This year they are sued because they haven't informed customers clearly enough about the difference between different warranty options.

gnasher729 said:

Simple logic: If you buy a MacBook Pro, it will stop working at some point for one of three reasons: Because of a defect that was present when you took delivery, or because a defect that you or someone else caused after taking delivery, or because of wear and tear. If nobody handled the MacBook Pro wrong after delivery, then it is wear and tear or a defect that was present when you took delivery. EU laws also say that wear and tear mustn't stop it from working too early (but that would depend on how much wear and tear you produce; I suppose it is possible to wear out a perfectly good MBP battery within 13 months if you try very hard).

Proving: Normally, in a civil lawsuit a judge would have to decide which side is more likely. However, for selling goods the rules are changed: Within six months, it is assumed that the defect was present unless the seller shows a good reason why it is otherwise. After six months, it is assumed that you broke it unless you show a good reason why it is otherwise.

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Interesting, thanks! (And thanks to the others who replied also).

sevimli said:

Let me rephrase my question then

I have an iPad from Germany (from a genuine Apple Store), and after 15 month of purchasing it, I happen to be in US for business or pleasure etc. What happens if my iPad fails and I go in any US Apple Store? Will they decline me because of my original purchase location?

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My guess: Apple wouldn't be obliged to provide any (free) support/replacement in the US in that scenario. They might well do so voluntarily, for good will; or maybe do so for a small charge. But that would be their choice. Alternatively, you would have to return the device to the jurisdiction/market where it was bought for repair/replacement.

zzebi said:

We can only talk about facts. Until anyone comes up with a case we have nothing to talk about.
In fact Apple had two kinds of warranty troubles in the EU:

1) In 2010 they were forced to honor EU mandated warranties across the whole EU region (across-borders). So if someone purchases the product in one EU country, Apple has to provide warranty for it in another EU country as well.

2) This year they are sued because they haven't informed customers clearly enough about the difference between different warranty options.

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If I take Apple to the small claims court coz they won't fix my MBP nobody would ever know about it. If you know the law and walk into your local AppleStore with all the facts, I suspect they would simply fix the fault rather than risk legal action and the bad publicity. So to come back to your OP you cannot possibly say that there have never been any such cases.

AustinIllini said:

any European country outside of Germany is totally hosed.

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LOL. You watch too much Fox News. Actually, in the UK, we're not doing too bad thanks At least I am anyway.

Wirelessly posted

Shaun said:

zzebi said:

We can only talk about facts. Until anyone comes up with a case we have nothing to talk about.
In fact Apple had two kinds of warranty troubles in the EU:

1) In 2010 they were forced to honor EU mandated warranties across the whole EU region (across-borders). So if someone purchases the product in one EU country, Apple has to provide warranty for it in another EU country as well.

2) This year they are sued because they haven't informed customers clearly enough about the difference between different warranty options.

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If I take Apple to the small claims court coz they won't fix my MBP nobody would ever know about it. If you know the law and walk into your local AppleStore with all the facts, I suspect they would simply fix the fault rather than risk legal action and the bad publicity. So to come back to your OP you cannot possibly say that there have never been any such cases.

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What you are saying is barely even an anecdotal evidence.
Here people are claiming that European masses protest Apple for not honoring their rightful, mandated warranties, while this is completely untrue. Noone is suing Apple for not honoring warranties.

peterbaby said:

You're not gonna start the debate "free market Americans versus European socialists" are you?

It is a moral choice to take the risk you are mentionning, to make sure consumers don't buy expensive crap that breaks down after a year.
If the manufacturer wants to increase the prices, he's free to do it; but the free market (yes, we still do have that ) will ensure prices remain low.

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You take a rather one-sided view of this. Free market economics would also dictate that if product quality did not match the price asked for it then the market for that product would shrink. i.e. People only stand for buying expensive rubbish for a finite period. You can't argue that statutory warranties don't have a direct impact on supplier margins (and so by extension product pricing) because clearly they do.

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Shaun said:

Once again this is very misleading from Apple. For example in the UK the law states that any product should be expected to last a reasonable amount of time depending what the product is, how much it cost, etc.

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Not misleading at all. The EU Statutory Warranty Summary the article mentions was drafted in response to EU law. There is a footnote to specifically cover some EU nations that have longer claim periods, and the UK is one of them. So Apple are being perfectly open and clear.

During the claim period (see above), consumers may claim, among other things, free repair or replacement where a product does not correspond to the contract. Some EU member states, including Finland, Ireland, UK, Netherlands and Sweden, have a claim period that is longer than 2 years from date of delivery. Please contact your local European Consumer Centre for details of the position in your country.

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You obviously have zero understanding of European warranty law. It doesn't matter what breaks or when. Anything bought in the EU (almost all the EU) that breaks at any time during the first two years (doesn't matter if it arrived with the fault or it developed aferwards) is covered under the warranty. This warranty is with the seller of the product. If I by from Apple then Apple has to honor this warranty (nothing to do with Applecare or anything else). If I bought from another retailer then my warranty is with them. They have to either fix or exchange the product and then take it up with Apple to get their money back.

That's how it works. Doesn't matter if its an iphone, ipad, a car, a fridge, a taoster etc. Applies to all.

The basis of the law is that it must be of "merchantable quality". Ie its expected to last 2 years hence the across the board warranty.

I've used this warranty many times - Once with an apple product bought direct from Apple and they fixed it without charge after 15 months usage.

zzebi said:

I don't think you get it guys.

...
So again:
When you buy an Apple product in the EU and it gets broken you have ALL of these options to consider.

- If you are sure that the product was shipped broken, then you can return it to the retailer within 2 years or can take it to the Apple for replacement within 1 year.

- If the product got defected in the first year, then you can take it to Apple and get it replaced within 1 year.

- If the product breaks after 1 year, you can take it to Apple for replacement in case you purchased an extra AppleCare warranty earlier.

******
All in all, it means that the default warranty coverage of Apple products is significantly BETTER than the warranty EU mandates because it has ADDITIONAL coverage beyond the mandate.

Click to expand...

peterbaby said:

You're not gonna start the debate "free market Americans versus European socialists" are you?

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No - that's not really the economic issue at hand; this is TINSTAAFL case.

It is a moral choice to take the risk you are mentionning, to make sure consumers don't buy expensive crap that breaks down after a year.
If the manufacturer wants to increase the prices, he's free to do it; but the free market (yes, we still do have that ) will ensure prices remain low.

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True, but there's probably enough price elasticity for Apple products that they can raise prices to cover anticipated warranty costs. Companies generally factor anticipated warranty costs into the pricing, given the EU's 2 year consumer protection law I would be surprised if Apple didn't factor that into its pricing; and given the higher cost of Apple products in the EU (even beyond currency and VAT differences) it appears they have. Since its spread over a larger amount of products than when Apple care is sold the cost per product is lower but still a real additional cost.

EU law (which I don't always defend, believe me) in this case takes a simple approach: products are supposed to work for a reasonable amount of time, and 2 years for an expensive piece of hardware seems fair to them; on which I agree.

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I agree it's a good thing; but you are paying for the added protection.

tdream said:

Búllshit document more like. The 2 year EU warranty covers anything that goes wrong with an electronic product at any time during the 2 years with standard usage. It's not restricted to the time of receipt of goods.

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Don't forget that beyond 6 months from purchase under EU law the burden of proof that the product is defective lies with the consumer. EU law gives you very limited cover. In fact statutory rights in some EU member states give you far better coverage than the one size fits all EU law.

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kevinof said:

You obviously have zero understanding of European warranty law. It doesn't matter what breaks or when. Anything bought in the EU (almost all the EU) that breaks at any time during the first two years (doesn't matter if it arrived with the fault or it developed aferwards) is covered under the warranty.

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Please check your facts because what you state above is manifestly untrue. It is very important to note that beyond the first 6 months after purchase, under EU law, the consumer is responsible for proving the product was defective. In most cases, I think the average consumer would struggle to provide such proof.

kevinof said:

You obviously have zero understanding of European warranty law.

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Even though you claim that you are right and I'm wrong, you have just argued exactly the same as what I wrote in my post.
Thanks for the confirmation.

peterbaby said:

Oh! So that's a special case indeed. I guess that depends on Apple's good will and its systems. You bought from a local German entity (Apple Retail GmbH or something like that), so what you are fully entitled to, is to return it to any German Apple Store.
Whether Apple (as the seller, not the manufacturer) allows you to return it in the US is actually a question someone else may have to answer. I guess if Apple's system linked to your serial number states "2y guarantee" it might work...but if they have a system that says "2y guarantee if returned in Germany", then good luck.

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Everyone keeps using the term warranty for Apple's warranty and the EU consumer law, while the later is not a warranty but rather a set of legal obligations on the part of the seller and buyer. Apple has a 1 year warranty that gives the buyer certain protections, and EU law provides additional legal protections and remedies but it is not a warranty. That said, I'd be surprised if a US Apple store showed an EU purchased product as having a 2 year warranty.

Apple happens to provide a world - wide warranty but even that is not a requirement - they simply do it for whatever reason they thought was good. You could have a non-Apple product, go to the US arm of the manufacturer, and be denied a warranty claim even if it is still within the original warranty period offered by the manufacturer when you bought it.