Hi all,
Just wanted to give my fellow UK Mac Rumours peeps a heads up.
I had the Pink Hue problem with my iPhone 5 see - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1586346/
My iPhone was bought on 1st November 2012 WITHOUT Applecare i.e. 6 months out of warranty.
I managed to get a replacement iPhone for Free using SOGA (Sales of Goods Act) heres how:
I contacted Apple Chat support online, explained my problem and took a photo. The guy was helpful and said as I'm out of warranty there will be a fee I said:
"Am I not covered under the UK Sales of Goods Act 1979 as Amended ?"
He asked for more details of what this was and I said:
"Under UK consumer law, specifically The Sales of Goods Act, I am technically covered up to 6 years if a product has an inherent fault not caused by myself and there is an assumption a phone costing £600 would last longer than 18 months."
and put me on hold to speak to a higher rep. He asked if I could be called back by a senior advisor to which I agreed.
On my call back I spoke to a nice lady who was very helpful. She looked at my chat log and instantly said:
"I see you want to pursue this under consumer law. We would need to have the phone diagnosed to see that it was our fault but from what you have said it probably is."
She asked if I could take it an Apple store but my nearest is 35 miles away and she didn't want me travelling that far. So she arranged for a box to be sent, I then posted it off and within 2 days had a shinny new/refurb iPhone.
I wanted to bring this to light for folks in the UK as it might be something that could help you there are a couple of notes though to take into account:
1. The Sales of Goods Act is NOT a warranty. It does not entitle you to a hassle free repair / replacement like a warranty will provide. If you don't want the hassle of having to "fight" for your rights (which in Apples case I didnt need to) then an extended warranty would be for you.
2. The act applies to the Retailer NOT manufacturer. So if you buy a Macbook from PC World you have to take it up with them not Apple. Might be worth thinking who to buy from in the future.
3. For the first 6 months it is up to the retailer to prove it was your fault not the device that has a problem (but your covered usually under your 12 months warranty). After 6 months its up to YOU to prove it was the device / hardware / item etc that was at fault. To do this usually you would need a diagnostic report from an engineer or someone in authority. This could cost you a fair few £££ so work out if its worth it. In Apples case they diagnosed this for me costing me £0.
4. How the act works is an assumption based on the cost of the product and how long it should work at a satisfactory quality. I.e you cant use the act to say in 4 years time your £40 toaster doesn't work and it should, you would fail. You probably would fail even for an iPhone at 4 years. But if you pay out for, like myself, a £600 phone I bought that under the expectation it would last longer than 18 months. This expectation though is on the retailer not you, if you disagree you would have to go to court.
5. The act can only be used with the purchaser and retailer. If you have bought your phone / product second hand you cant then use the sales of goods act to get it fixed.
6. All members of the EU have a sort of sales of goods act. This lasts for 2 years unlike the UK's 6. Therefore if you act in under 2 years you essentially have 2 laws working for you which adds much more "clout" when trying to fight a company so the sooner you act the better.
7. Prepare for battle! Some retailers (cough Dell cough) will try the best they can to get out of it but if you battle on know your rights and are prepared to go to court you will likely win.
I hope this helps someone who was in my position a couple of weeks back. Some retailers will fight much harder than Apple will. IMO Apple were fantastic in this matter, Dell a few years ago though, different story lets just say a 2 hour phone call, an attempt to get me to buy an extended warranty but an eventual back down and £320 repair for free - it works!
Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere.
Just wanted to give my fellow UK Mac Rumours peeps a heads up.
I had the Pink Hue problem with my iPhone 5 see - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1586346/
My iPhone was bought on 1st November 2012 WITHOUT Applecare i.e. 6 months out of warranty.
I managed to get a replacement iPhone for Free using SOGA (Sales of Goods Act) heres how:
I contacted Apple Chat support online, explained my problem and took a photo. The guy was helpful and said as I'm out of warranty there will be a fee I said:
"Am I not covered under the UK Sales of Goods Act 1979 as Amended ?"
He asked for more details of what this was and I said:
"Under UK consumer law, specifically The Sales of Goods Act, I am technically covered up to 6 years if a product has an inherent fault not caused by myself and there is an assumption a phone costing £600 would last longer than 18 months."
and put me on hold to speak to a higher rep. He asked if I could be called back by a senior advisor to which I agreed.
On my call back I spoke to a nice lady who was very helpful. She looked at my chat log and instantly said:
"I see you want to pursue this under consumer law. We would need to have the phone diagnosed to see that it was our fault but from what you have said it probably is."
She asked if I could take it an Apple store but my nearest is 35 miles away and she didn't want me travelling that far. So she arranged for a box to be sent, I then posted it off and within 2 days had a shinny new/refurb iPhone.
I wanted to bring this to light for folks in the UK as it might be something that could help you there are a couple of notes though to take into account:
1. The Sales of Goods Act is NOT a warranty. It does not entitle you to a hassle free repair / replacement like a warranty will provide. If you don't want the hassle of having to "fight" for your rights (which in Apples case I didnt need to) then an extended warranty would be for you.
2. The act applies to the Retailer NOT manufacturer. So if you buy a Macbook from PC World you have to take it up with them not Apple. Might be worth thinking who to buy from in the future.
3. For the first 6 months it is up to the retailer to prove it was your fault not the device that has a problem (but your covered usually under your 12 months warranty). After 6 months its up to YOU to prove it was the device / hardware / item etc that was at fault. To do this usually you would need a diagnostic report from an engineer or someone in authority. This could cost you a fair few £££ so work out if its worth it. In Apples case they diagnosed this for me costing me £0.
4. How the act works is an assumption based on the cost of the product and how long it should work at a satisfactory quality. I.e you cant use the act to say in 4 years time your £40 toaster doesn't work and it should, you would fail. You probably would fail even for an iPhone at 4 years. But if you pay out for, like myself, a £600 phone I bought that under the expectation it would last longer than 18 months. This expectation though is on the retailer not you, if you disagree you would have to go to court.
5. The act can only be used with the purchaser and retailer. If you have bought your phone / product second hand you cant then use the sales of goods act to get it fixed.
6. All members of the EU have a sort of sales of goods act. This lasts for 2 years unlike the UK's 6. Therefore if you act in under 2 years you essentially have 2 laws working for you which adds much more "clout" when trying to fight a company so the sooner you act the better.
7. Prepare for battle! Some retailers (cough Dell cough) will try the best they can to get out of it but if you battle on know your rights and are prepared to go to court you will likely win.
I hope this helps someone who was in my position a couple of weeks back. Some retailers will fight much harder than Apple will. IMO Apple were fantastic in this matter, Dell a few years ago though, different story lets just say a 2 hour phone call, an attempt to get me to buy an extended warranty but an eventual back down and £320 repair for free - it works!
Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere.