Apple Sued Over Swollen Batteries in Apple Watches

[rouxeny]

I have had both happen. My wife’s Apple Watch Gen 1 had a swollen battery which popped out the screen. It was replaced for free at the Apple store, the watch was well outside warranty.

I have a current gen iPad Pro, and have had continuous instances of the screen not responding to swipes, and horribly inaccurate typing via the touchscreen keyboard. It’s gotten to the point that I try to use the Smart Keyboard for everything. I thought it was me, and that somehow I was not typing correctly. Not sure why that would be, I’ve been using iPads since they were first sold.

The inconsistency of the touch screen is a major flaw which really cuts into the enjoyment and productivity of the iPad. If I didn’t have a Smart Keyboard, I’d be even more frustrated. Very disappointing.


I will try the Apple Pencil hack and see if it helps.

 

[forerunnerg34]

What do you expect from Apple? Quality? no.

 

[C DM]

What do you expect from Apple? Quality? no.

For the most part for most people that appears to be actual reality.

 

[Pbrutto]

You have the mistaken impression that even pressure can't result in a diagonal crack, so let me ask you this: what happens if the clips and glue don't give way first? The answer of course, is that the glass cracks along a plane of weakness. Guess what a common plane of weakness for a square pane of glass would be? Corner to corner. i.e., diagonal. Corners are weak points.

Now I'm not going to say the crack is definitely from a swollen battery, but we don't have nearly enough information from that picture to second guess the claim.

I’m not saying it can’t, but I am saying from personal experience with a watch that has had the screen pop off for this exact reason and all of the pictures that I’ve seen so far of the same issue none of them had a crack from the screen pushing up meaning I don’t believe it likely that it’s the case here. I’m certainly not saying it’s not possible but from the evidence presented so far, unlikely.
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He also replied to the MacRumours story without reading it. Oh wait, that was you.

I have also since read the article in its entirety and posted the lengthy response about the damage to the screen. Since you took the time to post that just to give me a hard time go back and find my other post and read it and comment on that one too for me.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

I don’t know. What are you turning this back to Apple? If someone wants to sue Apple over a defective device, the burden of proof is on them to prove there’s a defect.

Because it is relevant to any lawsuit. Apple issued an extended warranty for the problem. What was their acknowledgement and explanation? Any court case hinges on that.

I've seen a lot of this swollen battery issue with my devices. The state of battery technology is crap. I'm for switching all these devices over to miniature internal combustion engines fueled by petrochemicals. Also, tiny gas stations around town.

Nah, go with nuclear. Or perhaps a super tiny tiny hamster running on a tiny wheel.

 

[KevinN206]

Reparations for all individuals in the state who have purchased any Apple Watch ever? Reparations for WHAT, exactly?
Oh brother... Just give the lady a new watch so she'll shut up.

Apple refused.

 

[PrismaticRealms]

This just happened to my 1st gen Apple Watch this past weekend. Apple is charging me $99 CDN to repair (the price of the battery) but they are actually replacing the whole watch, not just replacing the battery/gluing the screen down.

Update: I received my replacement Apple Watch and was happy to see that they've actually replaced it with an Apple Watch Series 2! So, a nice little upgrade. I'm very happy with this outcome.

 

[athletejmv]

The list of bad news from Apple continues unabated. This is what happens when we have a bean counter CEO.

One of the largest multi-billion dollar companies in the world and they are going to harass a customer over a known defect? Lame... that's a bad Apple.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Update: I received my replacement Apple Watch and was happy to see that they've actually replaced it with an Apple Watch Series 2! So, a nice little upgrade. I'm very happy with this outcome.

Do you happen to know your approximate purchase date on the Series 1? Mine just bulged, and the representative tried to get me a discounted $79 repair (actually replacement) fee, but ultimately ended up quoting $199 because the Watch was too old. Did you call or visit the store?

They don't care enough to actually fix it, but do insist I talk to their safety team tomorrow about it.

It's outside even the extended AppleCare it carried so I'm not super upset about it, but it would have been nice to get the replacements everyone else in this thread got.

 

[bushman4]

I had this problem and Apple handled the situation pretty good. They replaced the watch with a brand new one
Lithium ion batteries swell up just like alkaline batteries leak. Only the difference is that the chances of lithium ion batteries swelling is rare. But it does happened

 

[Gizmotoy]

No replacement for me. There was a little knick in the side of the casing, so the battery swelling was "user damage." $199 fee to fix.

It was really an illuminating process for me. I got shuffled around between a number of teams, including Safety. Each had an extreme focus on finding absolutely any external damage. They said they've seen "The Depot" repair center decline battery swelling repairs for as little as small scratches on the screen, and indicated they have little to no control over what the Depot decides is damage. This had a little approx 0.5mm x 0.5mm round impact point on the side of the case, so they were certain it would be deemed that the swelling battery was caused by that. They've seen this same issue on the Series 4s, so the problem isn't fixed. Everyone was very nice, but their policies are extreme.

For anyone looking to purchase a watch, just beware that any noticeable damage will be used to deny warranty service, even on unrelated parts. AppleCare+ is probably a necessity, but that only gets you 2 years, which is well short of the lifetime of a watch. Maybe a third party has another option.

This was my wife's watch, and I was thinking about getting one. Apple was pretty amazing at convincing me not to.

 

[Khedron]

No replacement for me. There was a little knick in the side of the casing, so the battery swelling was "user damage." $199 fee to fix.

It was really an illuminating process for me. I got shuffled around between a number of teams, including Safety. Each had an extreme focus on finding absolutely any external damage. They said they've seen "The Depot" repair center decline battery swelling repairs for as little as small scratches on the screen, and indicated they have little to no control over what the Depot decides is damage. This had a little approx 0.5mm x 0.5mm round impact point on the side of the case, so they were certain it would be deemed that the swelling battery was caused by that. They've seen this same issue on the Series 4s, so the problem isn't fixed. Everyone was very nice, but their policies are extreme.

For anyone looking to purchase a watch, just beware that any noticeable damage will be used to deny warranty service, even on unrelated parts. AppleCare+ is probably a necessity, but that only gets you 2 years, which is well short of the lifetime of a watch. Maybe a third party has another option.

This was my wife's watch, and I was thinking about getting one. Apple was pretty amazing at convincing me not to.

So Apple admits its watches can be broken by minor scratches.

Meanwhile, on the Samsung Fold thread, apparently Apple only makes perfect products ready to be used by the public.

 

[I7guy]

So Apple admits its watches can be broken by minor scratches.

Meanwhile, on the Samsung Fold thread, apparently Apple only makes perfect products ready to be used by the public.

Well, if this is the vein of this conversation at least apple products don’t break after 3 seconds use. /s

 

[mikzn]

It's outside even the extended AppleCare it carried so I'm not super upset about it, but it would have been nice to get the replacements everyone else in this thread got.

My Series 0 screen just popped off - I guess I was luckier than most that it lasted this long.

A friend of mine bought 3 AW's - one for his wife, his son and himself and I purchased mine at the same time as they did - about 3 years ago - all 3 of their watches had the same issue with the screen popping and now mine - that is 4 out of 4

I really like the watch and already bought a new gen 4 - that said, for the price of the watch I think they should include a replaceable battery that can be done by the owner or at least by a third party repair shop.

Who wants to bring a watch (or other apple product) to the apple store for help and be scolded for not taking care of the product, it's becoming like the Seinfeld episode "Soup Nazi" except now it's the Watch Nazi's

 

[Gizmotoy]

My Series 0 screen just popped off - I guess I was luckier than most that it lasted this long.

A friend of mine bought 3 AW's - one for his wife, his son and himself and I purchased mine at the same time as they did - about 3 years ago - all 3 of their watches had the same issue with the screen popping and now mine - that is 4 out of 4

I really like the watch and already bought a new gen 4 - that said, for the price of the watch I think they should include a replaceable battery that can be done by the owner or at least by a third party repair shop.

Who wants to bring a watch (or other apple product) to the apple store for help and be scolded for not taking care of the product, it's becoming like the Seinfeld episode "Soup Nazi" except now it's the Watch Nazi's

Yeah, pretty disappointed. My wife got a new Series 4 and this was her old one. I was going to test it out to see if I wanted to buy a new one as well. Guess not!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Fingers crossed ours will keep going. My wife has a series 0 still working, albeit short battery life. My daughter has my old Series 1, still working. My son has my old series 2, still working. I am using a launch day Series 3 LTE and no problems so far, knock on wood.

 

[small_CAPS]

No problems on my series 3 as of yet. Almost been a year since purchased.

 

[PrismaticRealms]

Do you happen to know your approximate purchase date on the Series 1? Mine just bulged, and the representative tried to get me a discounted $79 repair (actually replacement) fee, but ultimately ended up quoting $199 because the Watch was too old. Did you call or visit the store?

The exact date that I ordered my first watch was Apr 27, 2015 which is only a couple of days after it was released. It isn't a Series 1, by the way. It is the 1st gen Apple Watch, so technically it's a Series 0 (the original Apple Watch.)

I visited the store in person.

 

[nmjanow]

Have this same issue and have been to authorized service provider, an apple store and called into apple twice. They all give me a different story. At first they try to tell me the issue is RARE. Then they say they have heard of this but i'm out of the extended warranty period for my series 1. They say that the warranty was extended to a max of 2 years past purchase date and its a $199 standard repair/replacement fee for the watch. i'm at my wits end. Its a perfectly functioning watch but then they also tell me to stop using it immediately. Yeah bc who knows if it will blow up? when that happens maybe they will finally get on the ball and replace them for free. This class action better go through. Its a known defect and they know it and admit to it.

 

[Khedron]

Have this same issue and have been to authorized service provider, an apple store and called into apple twice. They all give me a different story. At first they try to tell me the issue is RARE. Then they say they have heard of this but i'm out of the extended warranty period for my series 1. They say that the warranty was extended to a max of 2 years past purchase date and its a $199 standard repair/replacement fee for the watch. i'm at my wits end. Its a perfectly functioning watch but then they also tell me to stop using it immediately. Yeah bc who knows if it will blow up? when that happens maybe they will finally get on the ball and replace them for free. This class action better go through. Its a known defect and they know it and admit to it.

The "rare" thing is hilarious, just their Apple training to deny everything first. Rarity has nothing to do with whether it's a defect or not.

BTW in Europe all warranties are a minimum of 2 years anyway so tell them if they sacrifice customer safety in the US so they can save money by applying the lower minimum standards there then that's their PR problem when it blows up on your wrist and their face.

 

[spinedoc77]

Does anyone know if this warranty extension is 2 years or 3 years for the series 2? According to macrumors it's 3 years for the series 2 ( https://www.macrumors.com/2018/04/14/apple-watch-s2-swollen-battery-service-policy/ ) But I've spoken to 3 reps and all 3 say it's only 2 years and offer a replacement for $79 plus shipping, one quoted me $199. So is that macrumors article incorrect, or are these reps incorrect? I was hoping this watch would hold me over until the AW5 comes out, would stink to be out a watch for 2 months.

 

[raf66]

This happened to my series 2 AW that was out of warranty. Took it in to my local Apple Store, and after the rep looked it over thoroughly, I was told that it was a battery defect issue and that Apple would likely replace it free of charge. He even showed me the swollen battery in my watch

I then got an email a few days later from Apple corporate stating that they’d gone over the watch with a fine tooth comb and determined that I had abused the watch and caused the screen to pop off. They then gave me a list of specific items they claimed to have found supporting their claim that the watch was in poor condition, and were kind enough to include a few photos highlighting those items. However, the watch they photographed was not my watch, at least not the same watch I left with the store rep. Mine was in like-new condition when I dropped it off while the watch in the pictures had very clearly been damaged cosmetically in a number of ways. I explained everything to the Apple corp rep and my claim was then escalated to a higher level. Luckily the rep at the Apple Store had also photographed my watch when I dropped it off and apparently shared those photos with corp. After talking to the local store personnel and comparing the photos, they ultimately replaced the watch at no charge, but the whole process left a sour taste in my mouth.

Clearly there are some design/manufacturing flaws with the AW that cause the battery to swell in some units through no fault of the consumer.

 

[I7guy]

The "rare" thing is hilarious,...

From your point of view it’s “hilarious” from apple’s point of view it could be rare based on a percentage of defects vs sold.

 

[Khedron]

From your point of view it’s “hilarious” from apple’s point of view it could be rare based on a percentage of defects vs sold.

It has zero relevance though, so why does the Apple rep even bother to mention it? If you're dealing with a problem you want it fixed, not reassured that Apple's other customers aren't experiencing it as if that's supposed to make you feel better. Or are they suggesting that because it's rare you should let Apple off with their mistake and just accept the problem as your own bad luck?

 

[I7guy]

It has zero relevance though, so why does the Apple rep even bother to mention it? If you're dealing with a problem you want it fixed, not reassured that Apple's other customers aren't experiencing it as if that's supposed to make you feel better. Or are they suggesting that because it's rare you should let Apple off with their mistake and just accept the problem as your own bad luck?

Rare vs the Takata air bag scandal? Or the “rate” occurrence of the vw emissions cheat?

There’s a pattern on these forums to take one case and make it a generalization. However maybe this incident was referred to as rare to assure people they are not dealing with a takata air bag sized scandal.