Apple Vs Sales of Goods Act

[glenn.fnx]

Hi,

Recently my Macbook Pro has had a logic board failure, and Apple are quoting a near £700 to get it repaired.

I've been reading up on the Sales of Goods Act (92) in which if a product breaks through no fault of your own, the manufacturer is obliged to repair it free of charge for up to 6 years.

I was wondering has anyone here been successful in persueing Apple under the Sales of Goods Act, as they are notorious for not following it.

Thanks,

Glenn

 

[niuniu]

Hi,

Recently my Macbook Pro has had a logic board failure, and Apple are quoting a near £700 to get it repaired.

I've been reading up on the Sales of Goods Act (92) in which if a product breaks through no fault of your own, the manufacturer is obliged to repair it free of charge for up to 6 years.

I was wondering has anyone here been successful in persueing Apple under the Sales of Goods Act, as they are notorious for not following it.

Thanks,

Glenn

With computers it can be hard to enforce the Act unless the retailer caves in. Usually you have to prove that it was faulty upon sale, and that it wasn't your wear and tear that wore down the logic board. You'll have to get some sort of credible computer expert or engineer to give a professional opinion on it. Really is a lot of bother unfortunately as the logic board worked for a while.

How long did it work for by the way? And who did you buy it from, Apple, or another retailer?

 

[smiddlehurst]

Hi,

Recently my Macbook Pro has had a logic board failure, and Apple are quoting a near £700 to get it repaired.

I've been reading up on the Sales of Goods Act (92) in which if a product breaks through no fault of your own, the manufacturer is obliged to repair it free of charge for up to 6 years.

I was wondering has anyone here been successful in persueing Apple under the Sales of Goods Act, as they are notorious for not following it.

Thanks,

Glenn

No, you're wrong here I'm afraid. The sales of goods act may cover goods sold for up to six years but that figure is not automatically applied as a six year guarantee. Think of it as how long an item can realisticly be expected to last given that it is well cared for and not abused. Realisticaly in terms of computers you'd have a chance at claiming three years as a) Apple offer extended warranties to that time frame and b) for items that have been covered outside of warranty (the current 8600GT issue for example) Apple have usually offered three year coverage.

Next is WHY the part failed. Basically (and this is a bit over-simplified) after 6 months the burden of proof is on YOU to make the case that this part has not failed through misuse and that the issue would have been present at time of manufactuer or that it has been caused by a design defect. That's on top of proving that it has not lasted a reasonable length of time. Your opinion alone is not satisfactory for this, you will need to present supporting evidence and, potentially, an expert analysis of the problem.

Long story short - if there has been a history of problems with this particular part, official recalls or other notifications, AND you're still within a reasonable time frame of purchase you may be able to make a claim under this act but it will need considerable legwork on your part.

 

[redrum42]

I have had success actually.

My logic board died on me outside of warranty, and because my laptop was only about 2 years old, apple agreed that it was unreasonable for me to pay for a new one.

I think the key to getting help from apple's customer support is establishing a relationship with one of the senior members of the service team. Since I had to exchange my macbook a couple of times, and I made a bit of a fuss, I got put in touch with someone working at Executive Relations. Now, whenever I have an issue, I ring and speak to them directly, and they are always more than happy to oblige. If you make the case for being a loyal apple customer, and push them a bit, I have found that they are extremely helpful. This employee has helped me numerous times and even offered free upgrades on occasion to say sorry.

They have also happily given me a new iphone when it broke outside of warranty. From my experience I have come to regard extended warranties such as Apple Care as somewhat of a waste of money and unnecessary. If you are reasonable, and insistent, and there is a genuine flaw, Apple will help.

Hope that is helpful!

 

[gnasher729]

I've been reading up on the Sales of Goods Act (92) in which if a product breaks through no fault of your own, the manufacturer is obliged to repair it free of charge for up to 6 years.

I would bet that this is not what the Sales of Goods Act says. If I drove my car over your laptop then obviously the product broke through no fault of your own, but you wouldn't expect Apple to repair it.

As others have said, the employees in the Apple Store have some freedom to do repairs for free or not, and they will use that freedom. "I read up on the Sales of Goods Act" is likely not a good way to start a conversation with them. "I was so happy with my MacBook and it worked so well and I can't live without it and is there nothing you can do?" is probably a better way.

 

[ditzy]

The key words are up to. I think that if your MBP is under three years old you have a good chance of winning that case if you took it that far, as Apple sell a warrantee that covers you for that long, which essentially says that they expect the product to last that long. Older than three years I doubt you'd win.