Wow. Big news with my case!
SUCCESS.
Apple have today agreed to directly refund me for my defective 2017 TB MBP under Apple's 1 Year Limited Warranty.
In the phone call from an AppleCare customer relations specialist this afternoon, I was given the following news:
"We did receive your letter, and I wanted to give you a call to let you know that your case was reviewed and that we can go ahead with the product refund."
But this story is
not over, and this fight to be treated as a normal customer remains as insane as ever.
They're making this as inconvenient for me as possible and I think it's illegal what they told me on the phone today. Continue reading.
She said, as usual, that Apple would prefer that I go through the reseller, and in fact offered to contact them to try and ask them to initiate the refund at their end (and shirk Apple's own responsibility to their warranty) -
saying that it would be much quicker.
About the process of Apple refunding me directly for my defective laptop, she said:
"[Once] I put the product refund request through, [i.e. after the laptop has been given to Apple and checked for liquid damage / accidental damage and then approved for refund after this check], because transfers are done once per billing cycle, so like once a month, depending on where we're at with the billing cycle, the refund can take 4-8 weeks."
I couldn't believe my ears. I repeated her words right back to her in astonishment.
I said that I'll have to check with the ACCC but that I am quite sure that is longer than what is accepted under consumer law as a reasonable maximum processing time for a warranty refund.
In response, she said:
"We can't speed up that process."
Given that is not the first "We can't" from Apple that I've then overruled by clearly stating my consumer rights (once I was clear on them), I doubt this statement holds any water.
Does Apple really think they can make a customer wait for TWO MONTHS without a machine simply because THEY botched the product design and despite the fact that they CAN easily refund me immediately on taking the laptop in such as issuing an Apple Store Gift Card which is a very common method with Apple customers as we all know?
I can't help but wonder that if I were a celebrity, I would be treated very different. But then, I don't
want to be treated like a celebrity - that would change nothing here. Instead this is a fight for the
little man. The
consumer.
The fact that Apple are trying their hardest to make this as difficult as possible for me is a story in and of itself. This "4-8 weeks" is total ******** and not specified in their warranty at all!
I will continue documenting this case as each laborious step progresses, and as Apple continues I have a pretty epic slew of fully documented breaches of ACL to report to the ACCC at the end of this. (I'm documenting it for the public interest.)
What takes my breath away is that Apple have
already broken the law (more than once) in this warranty case - I've identified it, shown it to them, and they've agreed to no longer do those unlawful things by agreeing to refund my laptop now - but they
still think they can treat me like dirt (and even break potentially
more consumer laws by quoting an outrageously unreasonable amount of time for a refund to be issued to the consumer for an everyday business laptop - which needs my investigation early next week), and they
still think this fiasco they're causing me will have no consequence whatsoever!
Do they think I'm going to run out of energy? Do they think I don't want to share this story?
Hell this story is looking to be good enough for NPR, in a 'Hidden Brain' episode about human persistence or individuals battling trillion-dollar corporations.
So I have some thoughts about my actions going forward:
Sadly, once Apple have my laptop, I don't trust them now to follow through on even issuing the refund within an amount of time that they promise to me, simply based off of their word. Would
you trust them, given the entire story by now? Imagine the number of BS excuses they could give for delaying the funds being returned to my bank account - it would be very in character.
So I may go to the NSW Tribunal to have a court order issued that Apple process my refund within x days of confirmation of product defect, just to ensure that Apple don't do this to me.
Or another idea is, have Apple issue a written communication notifying that they will issue the refund with a certain maximum refund processing time that is the same amount as what consumer law generally rules they must before a court order for damages would take place (whether that's 30 days or 2 weeks), and so if that doesn't happen, I can then pursue legal action under the Tribunal to seek compensation for damages (to lost income, stress, and who knows what else I could legally be compensated for that I would lose for being treated like that) - if that's something that Fair Trading could help me with.
Or even better, it might be possible that because Apple have
already confirmed my defect in the Apple Store on 18th July, Apple could simply be ordered (by court or by demand from the Fair Trading case officer under a consumer complaint) to refund me IMMEDIATELY (without delay) simply because they've made me wait three weeks already (after confirming the defect in-Store) and thus making the customer wait even longer is itself a serious breach of consumer law.
At this point Apple know that I will pursue every legal right I can under consumer law, so such courses of action above would not surprise them at all.
Let's see how this drama continues to unfold. The longer they treat me like dirt as an Apple customer, the more material there is for a good media story or blog article.
I wouldn't recommend anyone emulate my steps until I've finished them to completion, at the end of which I can formulate a smooth action workflow (of what to say and how) to achieve a convenient and fast warranty claim experience for the consumer as it should be. (I'll know what shortcuts you can take once I complete my own process.)
I want to say that I have nothing against any individual Apple employee or even their own behaviours, because I am sure they are trained to trick, lie to, and persuade the consumer towards whatever's Apple's best option. What I am fighting is a corporation and a corporate culture which SUCKS and crosses over into the illegal.
So:
SUCCESS today. I'm slowly bending a trillion dollar company to my will. It feels weird and it's mostly stressful, and just a big,
BIG hassle. I shouldn't even be having to do this in the first place. But I will if it's necessary.
Have a nice weekend, and I'll update you next week.
