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Who else can I contact if a repair is refused by Apple?

F

Falcon80

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 27, 2012
537
173
My fully functional but out of warranty Apple Watch is getting poor battery life in recent weeks. I spoke to an Apple Advisor and was asked to send it in for battery replacement and was quoted the cost of the battery replacement. However, after several days, I was given another quote of a full replacement charge because my watch has some scratches on it (case, not screen) and that's constitute as accidental damage. I called a Senior Advisor and he told me the decision made by the Engineering team is final and there is nothing he can do. And since he is a senior advisor, no further escalation can be done.

Is this true? Is there anyone higher than Senior Advisor (someone with more empathy?) who I can contact?
 
Falcon80 said:
Actually I do not need empathy. It is ridiculous to reject a battery replacement because the watch doesn't look like a new condition.
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Yeah that bit is interesting for sure. I wasn’t aware that cosmetic issues prevent them from replacing the battery.
 
Falcon80 said:
Actually I do not need empathy. It is ridiculous to reject a battery replacement because the watch doesn't look like a new condition.
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I think I read somewhere that they usually just swap the watch rather than replacing the battery on yours. I assume that thereafter the battery on yours gets replaced somewhere and given to someone else.
 
That's odd, I sent my S2 for repairs several times and only got charged once (because that one time I obviously dropped it). The other times the watch was scratched good but they never made me pay nothing and I wasn't even on AC+.
 
These senior and junior positions in Apple are constitute to screw you over. Both of them are sitting 2 feet from each other. Junior to senior speaks :"shall we escalate this my young apprentice ?" -"No can do,let him suffer "
 
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Your senior advisor will still have a supervisor, I would politely ask to speak to them. But it may be out of their hands now because I am not sure they can override what they are being told.
 
jbachandouris said:
Email tcook@apple.com and the Executive Team will call you.
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Thanks. I will probably do that but I guess I should not keep my hope high on this. After all, my watch is out of warranty for more than a year. I just frustrated that I have to give up on my watch which clearly battery life is the only issue.
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Lobwedgephil said:
Your senior advisor will still have a supervisor, I would politely ask to speak to them. But it may be out of their hands now because I am not sure they can override what they are being told.
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To be honest, I used to have much better service several years ago. The senior advisor would really go the extra mile to make sure you are happy with their service.
 
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akash.nu said:
They used to, then people started taking advantage. And now it’s ruined for all of us.
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Sigh.... Nothing much can be done now, I guess. Probably I will try to open up another case with them.
 
akash.nu said:
Yeah that bit is interesting for sure. I wasn’t aware that cosmetic issues prevent them from replacing the battery.
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"Scratches on the case" may not necessarily be a cosmetic issue, but that there are scratches that could affect the case sealing, maybe leaving doubts about a good closure on the case - or the scratches are close the control buttons, or etc.
Might be nice to see pictures...
 
DeltaMac said:
"Scratches on the case" may not necessarily be a cosmetic issue, but that there are scratches that could affect the case sealing, maybe leaving doubts about a good closure on the case - or the scratches are close the control buttons, or etc.
Might be nice to see pictures...
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Exactly. They won't decline a repair due to scratches on the casing of the watch, there usually has to be an enclosure issue with the watch, such as a nick or dent where the display meets the case or something like that. Senior advisors have no control over what they say. They can't even contact them, they just say no and quote you a new price based on what they find.
 
Apple cannot refuse to repair a watch if the customer has requested it and is paying for the repair. That infringes you’re statutory rights as a consumer. You should be challenging this. Scratches constitute normal wear and tear.
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
Apple cannot refuse to repair a watch if the customer has requested it and is paying for the repair. That infringes you’re statutory rights as a consumer. You should be challenging this. Scratches constitute normal wear and tear.
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Exactly, I am not seeking for a free battery replacement. I willing to pay for the battery replacement but to charge me for full cost of replacement is forcing me to upgrade to a new Apple Watch.
 
This is the latest update. They have changed their statement from "accidental damage" to "battery not defective" thus not eligible for battery replacement. Upon probing, they said it likely to have other hardware issue which they refused to reveal what it is.. I am done with talking to the Senior Advisor and Store Manager. Other than Tim Cook, no one can help me right?
 
Falcon80 said:
This is the latest update. They have changed their statement from "accidental damage" to "battery not defective" thus not eligible for battery replacement. Upon probing, they said it likely to have other hardware issue which they refused to reveal what it is.. I am done with talking to the Senior Advisor and Store Manager. Other than Tim Cook, no one can help me right?
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They are not allowed to refuse to tell you what the failure is. You’ve paid for the product and have a right to have it repaired if you are willing to pay for it. I have never heard of a shop/manufacturer refuse to tell a customer what is wrong with a faulty product?! I would be kicking up a right fuss over this and contacting the relevant ombudsman to ensure my consumer rights are being respected.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
They are not allowed to refuse to tell you what the failure is. You’ve paid for the product and have a right to have it repaired if you are willing to pay for it. I have never heard of a shop/manufacturer refuse to tell a customer what is wrong with a faulty product?! I would be kicking up a right fuss over this and contacting the relevant ombudsman to ensure my consumer rights are being respected.
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Basically they are pushing all the responsibilities to the Repair Center to be the final decision maker and they have no power to override it. Furthermore, they could not dig out any further information other than giving me the options of returning me the watch or pay for the full cost replacement. In addition, they also warned me that as the inspection requires taking the watch apart, further damage could have been inflicted and they will not be responsible for that.

Just hope Tim Cook can find time to read my email this weekend.. :(
 
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