Apple Adjusts Warranty Coverage in Australia to Comply With Consumer Protections Law

[king756]

Apple might of notified staff of changes and documentation to meet legal warranty requirements, doesn't mean they'll up hold it!!!

I took my MacBook Pro to a Apple Store on Saturday, it's just over 12 months old with a faulty superdrive, it's detected but the mechanism won't load disks. After they went through the diagnostics they said you need a replacement as it's older than 12 months old I'd be charged.

After quoting the UK Sale of Goods Act saying it's of unsatisfactory quality they pulled out a new fancy warranty leaflet showing EU, Apple standard and Apple Care warranty comparisons. In bold it said a consumer has up to 2 years to report a fault at time of purchase (first time I come to use the superdrive). After pointing out the bold print I was told the EU act doesn't apply to the UK as the UK supersedes it and the UK does not follow EU law "at all". The UK sales of goods act does supersede EU law as we have up until 6 years!!!

After quoting the Sales of Goods act several times, even pointing to the relevant sections on the Apple leaflet given to me I was getting nowhere, I was told to take it up with Apple Legal and I quote "sometimes you buy a good one and it'll last years sometimes you'll by a bad one it might fail in 12months, it's the risk you take". Asking for details of to contact legal I got none! Was told to do it via the apple site. Has anyone tried getting hold of a human from the apple site? A contact email? Address? If you have your a better man than me.

Apple Warranty works like this, they've got better lawyers than you and make it impossible to escalate. Last purchase I make from Apple direct, in the UK we have John Lewis who provide a no questions blanket warranty for 2 years on electrics with far better customer service and real people to escalate issues!

Rant over

 

[declandio]

Apple might of notified staff of changes and documentation to meet legal warranty requirements, doesn't mean they'll up hold it!!!

I took my MacBook Pro to a Apple Store on Saturday, it's just over 12 months old with a faulty superdrive, it's detected but the mechanism won't load disks. After they went through the diagnostics they said you need a replacement as it's older than 12 months old I'd be charged.

After quoting the UK Sale of Goods Act saying it's of unsatisfactory quality they pulled out a new fancy warranty leaflet showing EU, Apple standard and Apple Care warranty comparisons. In bold it said a consumer has up to 2 years to report a fault at time of purchase (first time I come to use the superdrive). After pointing out the bold print I was told the EU act doesn't apply to the UK as the UK supersedes it and the UK does not follow EU law "at all". The UK sales of goods act does supersede EU law as we have up until 6 years!!!

After quoting the Sales of Goods act several times, even pointing to the relevant sections on the Apple leaflet given to me I was getting nowhere, I was told to take it up with Apple Legal and I quote "sometimes you buy a good one and it'll last years sometimes you'll by a bad one it might fail in 12months, it's the risk you take". Asking for details of to contact legal I got none! Was told to do it via the apple site. Has anyone tried getting hold of a human from the apple site? A contact email? Address? If you have your a better man than me.

Apple Warranty works like this, they've got better lawyers than you and make it impossible to escalate. Last purchase I make from Apple direct, in the UK we have John Lewis who provide a no questions blanket warranty for 2 years on electrics with far better customer service and real people to escalate issues!

Rant over

If you call the support number and be patient you can usually get through to a 'customer relations' manager- they're usually very pleasant and helpful, they're in Cork not half way across the world.

The bozo's in-store are usually useless. But it pays to remain calm with them!

 

[bmt134]

Apple keeps getting pushed around. No wonder their stock is plummeting.

 

[declandio]

Apple might of notified staff of changes and documentation to meet legal warranty requirements, doesn't mean they'll up hold it!!!

I took my MacBook Pro to a Apple Store on Saturday, it's just over 12 months old with a faulty superdrive, it's detected but the mechanism won't load disks. After they went through the diagnostics they said you need a replacement as it's older than 12 months old I'd be charged.

After quoting the UK Sale of Goods Act saying it's of unsatisfactory quality they pulled out a new fancy warranty leaflet showing EU, Apple standard and Apple Care warranty comparisons. In bold it said a consumer has up to 2 years to report a fault at time of purchase (first time I come to use the superdrive). After pointing out the bold print I was told the EU act doesn't apply to the UK as the UK supersedes it and the UK does not follow EU law "at all". The UK sales of goods act does supersede EU law as we have up until 6 years!!!

After quoting the Sales of Goods act several times, even pointing to the relevant sections on the Apple leaflet given to me I was getting nowhere, I was told to take it up with Apple Legal and I quote "sometimes you buy a good one and it'll last years sometimes you'll by a bad one it might fail in 12months, it's the risk you take". Asking for details of to contact legal I got none! Was told to do it via the apple site. Has anyone tried getting hold of a human from the apple site? A contact email? Address? If you have your a better man than me.

Apple Warranty works like this, they've got better lawyers than you and make it impossible to escalate. Last purchase I make from Apple direct, in the UK we have John Lewis who provide a no questions blanket warranty for 2 years on electrics with far better customer service and real people to escalate issues!

Rant over

I don't know if this will help you...

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/faulty-laptop-rights/

 

[Belmont31R]

Telephone contracts have long been 2 years, as they are in most countries around the globe. The deficit is that if a phone handset develops faults after 1 year but before the contract is up, then that consumer is left with another cash outlay or a significant downtime without a phone. Both are unsatisfactory. If you consider that many Apple products cost MORE than whitegoods in this country which come with 10 year warranties, why is it so outrageous to expect the same from Apple? Apple claims to make high end products, so then the warranties should be high end and support the claim.

In terms of Australia being poo pooed for holding Apple and other companies to account for their marketing claims, remember that in the US there is the ability to buy something and simply take it back if you change your mind. We can't do that. Where do all of those used products go? Prices should be higher in the US. However if the Australian government is prepared to stick up for the consumer and for what is very fair and reasonable, then it has to be a good thing. Again, if I can buy an oven for $300 with a 2 year REPLACEMENT warranty, then why can't Apple do the same thing for items which cost more than 3 times that amount.

A 2 year warranty is definitely appropriate for claimed high end goods.

Then buy from someone else if you don't like it. All it does it cost you guys more money the more 'services' a company is forced to provide. Ain't gonna get something for free.

 

[sir1963nz]

Apple might of notified staff of changes and documentation to meet legal warranty requirements, doesn't mean they'll up hold it!!!

I took my MacBook Pro to a Apple Store on Saturday, it's just over 12 months old with a faulty superdrive, it's detected but the mechanism won't load disks. After they went through the diagnostics they said you need a replacement as it's older than 12 months old I'd be charged.

After quoting the UK Sale of Goods Act saying it's of unsatisfactory quality they pulled out a new fancy warranty leaflet showing EU, Apple standard and Apple Care warranty comparisons. In bold it said a consumer has up to 2 years to report a fault at time of purchase (first time I come to use the superdrive). After pointing out the bold print I was told the EU act doesn't apply to the UK as the UK supersedes it and the UK does not follow EU law "at all". The UK sales of goods act does supersede EU law as we have up until 6 years!!!

After quoting the Sales of Goods act several times, even pointing to the relevant sections on the Apple leaflet given to me I was getting nowhere, I was told to take it up with Apple Legal and I quote "sometimes you buy a good one and it'll last years sometimes you'll by a bad one it might fail in 12months, it's the risk you take". Asking for details of to contact legal I got none! Was told to do it via the apple site. Has anyone tried getting hold of a human from the apple site? A contact email? Address? If you have your a better man than me.

Apple Warranty works like this, they've got better lawyers than you and make it impossible to escalate. Last purchase I make from Apple direct, in the UK we have John Lewis who provide a no questions blanket warranty for 2 years on electrics with far better customer service and real people to escalate issues!

Rant over

In New Zealand, you ask for their full name, if they wont give it ask for the manager so you can get their full name. If they wont give it you say thats fine I will simply state on the court documents that both the sales staff and the manager refused to give their names which is why I have had to name the plaintiff as "The Manager", and my friend here is my witness to this. See you in court as I am making this a claim under the Consumer Guarantees Act, and your actions so far are helping me greatly.

I have assisted 4-5 people so far, all of them have won. One person got thousands of $$ for the rebuild of their Harley Engine because the Shop that did it the first time failed to do it properly.

 

[gnasher729]

So if someone bought a Mac in Australia. A year later he flew to UK to work for 6 months and his Mac broke, would the person be covered by 2 years warranty or by 1 year warranty (assuming no Apple Care)?

Two years warranty from the seller (that is the store where you bought). One year warranty from Apple. That should make the answer obvious. You can of course try to talk Apple UK to fix the problem for you; but they have no obligation.

 

[ohbrilliance]

They wonder why things are more expensive in Australia?

Duh.

And this somehow explains why digital music costs 73% more here?

Duh.

 

[Tech198]

Wahoo !! Australia

I don't get this two year thing.......

"Apple has now changed this from 12 months to 24, which appears to bring it in line with Australian Consumer Law."

....We've never had a limited warranty with two years ever.

 

[Belmont31R]

And this somehow explains why digital music costs 73% more here?

Duh.

We only pay a state sales tax which is like 7.8 cents per 1 dollar so a 99 cent song would be like $1.08 (rounded up on the penny). You guys likely pay a lot more in taxes on stuff than we do.

 

[harlequinn]

I don't think anyone is arguing it shouldn't cost more. But... Some people, myself included, would rather pay less for a 1 year warranty and have the option of paying more for a 2 year warranty than simply being forced to pay more.

Australian law takes price into account. So if a product is sold for more (i.e. a premium product) then it's warranty should last for a longer period, whether the manufacturer/seller volunteers it or not.

Apple's computers already sit near the top of pricing tier.

----------

Where's the:

• "Apple should just take some of it's war chest and buy Australia"

• 
  
  I've been looking for them too!
  
  In any case they'd only need another 1 trillion dollars to buy us out (in terms of GDP alone).

 

[macingman]

It's too bad Australia doesn't let the free market work without interference. If people value a longer warranty, they will buy computers that have them and those that don't will lose out in the marketplace. It's Econ 101.

Yet another American which doesn't know anything about Australia that makes sweeping comments about they economy just because they can.

 

[sir1963nz]

Yet another American which doesn't know anything about Australia that makes sweeping comments about they economy just because they can.

They know nothing about the US economy either.
The "Free Market" saw trillions to bail out private companies recently
The "Free Market" has trade barriers to protect it farmers
The "Free Market" has farming subsidies.
The "Free Market" has trade laws, copyright laws, patent laws, etc etc etc stopping us from legally buying our stuff from else where in the world and importing it.

 

[AidenShaw]

Apple is not the biggest corporation in the world - please

I own a lot of Apple stuff, but good for a country looking out for its citizens over the biggest corporation in the world. It's not like 1 extra year of warranty will break Apple.

As of this moment, AAPL has slightly higher market capitalization than XOM - but AAPL's wild price swings put it sometimes above, sometimes below.

XOM had $428B in revenue last period, AAPL had $165B.

Who's the biggest?

And by any measure, there are non-public companies with higher valuation and revenue than either of them.

 

[buysp]

It's about time Apple manned up!
It should be a given that all electronic products especially from Apple should have 2 years warranty as a minimium worldwide!

My MBP was purchased last June (2012) so can i wait till May 2014 to purchase Applecare? And if i do will it be only for an additional 1 year or 2?

Cheers Paul

 

[Belmont31R]

They know nothing about the US economy either.
The "Free Market" saw trillions to bail out private companies recently
The "Free Market" has trade barriers to protect it farmers
The "Free Market" has farming subsidies.
The "Free Market" has trade laws, copyright laws, patent laws, etc etc etc stopping us from legally buying our stuff from else where in the world and importing it.

None of that is free market. That is big government.

 

[harlequinn]

Wahoo !! Australia

I don't get this two year thing.......

"Apple has now changed this from 12 months to 24, which appears to bring it in line with Australian Consumer Law."

....We've never had a limited warranty with two years ever.

Their new 2 year warranty is their voluntary warranty - they aren't technically forced to do this.

Their statutory warranty is decided by the ACCC for each product. It may be considerably higher than 2 years depending on the product. This was the same with the older law but the consumer was required to take the company to court to get a ruling by a judge.

In regards to the seller providing the warranty, if a reseller offers a 2 year warranty on Apple's products and a customer claims on it, then the reseller has to fullfil the warranty, but the reseller can then claim the same repair costs from Apple (since Apple is the seller to the reseller).

 

[Lancer]

Again, if I can buy an oven for $300 with a 2 year REPLACEMENT warranty, then why can't Apple do the same thing for items which cost more than 3 times that amount.

A 2 year warranty is definitely appropriate for claimed high end goods.

Try 10 times the cost.

I agree with more consumer items getting 2-3 year warranties as standard you would hope a $3k computer would last 3 years, even some cars are now coming with 5 year warranties.

And most of the manufacturers know their products will last that long (or longer) before any issues might come up.

Either way I have my AppleCare but it's nice to know Apple is stepping into line with better standard cover to stop the confusion.

Also with cell phones IMO when you sign up to a contract the provider should also cover your handset for the life of the contract so that it can be replace if it stops working.

 

[bassfingers]

Apple might of notified staff of changes and documentation to meet legal warranty requirements, doesn't mean they'll up hold it!!!

I took my MacBook Pro to a Apple Store on Saturday, it's just over 12 months old with a faulty superdrive, it's detected but the mechanism won't load disks. After they went through the diagnostics they said you need a replacement as it's older than 12 months old I'd be charged.

After quoting the UK Sale of Goods Act saying it's of unsatisfactory quality they pulled out a new fancy warranty leaflet showing EU, Apple standard and Apple Care warranty comparisons. In bold it said a consumer has up to 2 years to report a fault at time of purchase (first time I come to use the superdrive). After pointing out the bold print I was told the EU act doesn't apply to the UK as the UK supersedes it and the UK does not follow EU law "at all". The UK sales of goods act does supersede EU law as we have up until 6 years!!!

After quoting the Sales of Goods act several times, even pointing to the relevant sections on the Apple leaflet given to me I was getting nowhere, I was told to take it up with Apple Legal and I quote "sometimes you buy a good one and it'll last years sometimes you'll by a bad one it might fail in 12months, it's the risk you take". Asking for details of to contact legal I got none! Was told to do it via the apple site. Has anyone tried getting hold of a human from the apple site? A contact email? Address? If you have your a better man than me.

Apple Warranty works like this, they've got better lawyers than you and make it impossible to escalate. Last purchase I make from Apple direct, in the UK we have John Lewis who provide a no questions blanket warranty for 2 years on electrics with far better customer service and real people to escalate issues!

Rant over

Should've bought applecare.

rant over

 

[Belmont31R]

Try 10 times the cost.

I agree with more consumer items getting 2-3 year warranties as standard you would hope a $3k computer would last 3 years, even some cars are now coming with 5 year warranties.

And most of the manufacturers know their products will last that long (or longer) before any issues might come up.

Either way I have my AppleCare but it's nice to know Apple is stepping into line with better standard cover to stop the confusion.

Also with cell phones IMO when you sign up to a contract the provider should also cover your handset for the life of the contract so that it can be replace if it stops working.

You guys down there can mandate that all you want...just don't complain when stuff is cheaper in other countries with less mandates and less taxes...

 

[Mackan]

I hear about Apple wanting to 'give back money to its shareholders'.

Well, the money actually comes from the consumers buying Apple's products. I think Apple should 'give back money to the consumer' instead. How? Have a 2 year global warranty on their products. Can't be too much to ask for, right?

After all, they have the highest profit margins in the industry. Or with all their efforts on design and attention to details, they expect the lifespan of their products to only be 1 year? Very sad.

 

[Belmont31R]

I hear about Apple wanting to 'give back money to its shareholders'.

Well, the money actually comes from the consumers buying Apple's products. I think Apple should 'give back money to the consumer' instead. How? Have a 2 year global warranty on their products. Can't be too much to ask for, right?

After all, they have the highest profit margins in the industry. Or with all their efforts on design and attention to details, they expect the lifespan of their products to only be 1 year? Very sad.

Don't like it? Don't buy it. No one forces you to buy Apple products. Give the profit back to consumers? Are they a charity or non-profit now?

 

[Lancer]

You guys down there can mandate that all you want...just don't complain when stuff is cheaper in other countries with less mandates and less taxes...

No it's about having fairer consumer laws and people not suing because their coffee is too hot!

 

[RonDMC]

You guys down there can mandate that all you want...just don't complain when stuff is cheaper in other countries with less mandates and less taxes...

I would rather pay a little more in taxes than our streets being littered with homeless people, being able to walk a couple of blocks without people asking for money, free health care, jobs, an economy that is not broken and has 16 trillion in debt. If it means a few hundred dollars more when I buy my MacBook and get an additional 1 year warranty and the minimum wage is more than twice the USA bring it!

 

[Belmont31R]

No it's about having fairer consumer laws and people not suing because their coffee is too hot!

Are you incapable of voting with your money?

I would rather pay a little more in taxes than our streets being littered with homeless people, being able to walk a couple of blocks without people asking for money, free health care, jobs, an economy that is not broken and has 16 trillion in debt. If it means a few hundred dollars more when I buy my MacBook and get an additional 1 year warranty and the minimum wage is more than twice the USA bring it!

Most of our bums are not homeless, and you can make $40,000+ being a professional pan handler. Being homeless is largely a choice, and at any rate we spend more per 'welfare' recipient than the median household income here. Our amount of dollars spent is not the issue. We spend over 1.6 trillion a year just on the elderly.

You'd rather spend a few hundred more to get an additional 1 year warranty? I just bought a Retina MBP last week and Applecare cost me $239 giving me a 3 year warranty. If I was happy with the standard 1 year warranty I could have saved $239. How is having a choice 'less good' as you guys tout consumer protection? Giving you guys less choice at a higher price?

As far as minimum wage goes...is this wrong? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/minimum-wage-world_n_2686049.html#slide=2109619 In US dollars it equals $9.53 an hour in AUS. The last UN report I read Aussies have less disposable income than Americans.


NOTHING is free. You guys pay for it one way another.