Apple Is Forced By EU To Give 2 Years Warranty On All Its Products

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Apple Is Forced By EU To Give 2 Years Warranty On All Its Products

Posted by samzenpus on Monday April 2, 2012 @12:54AM from the genius-bar-working-twice-as-hard dept.

dsmalle writes "Apple has adapted its warranty to cover 2 years, under pressure of the European Union and after European consumer organizations sued Apple. From the article: 'The warranty conditions have been changed and these changes can be found on the website of Apple. Products that are purchased on the website of the manufacturer or in stores are now under warranty for two years, as it is required by the EU warranty guidelines. However, the warranty for Apple products that have been purchased elsewhere will not change and they will only be given a limited one-year warranty.'"

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As An American... by TheNinjaroach · 2012-04-02 00:58 · Score: 4, Informative

This is really amusing to me, that the EU has laws that mandate minimum warranty policies for devices sold.

Some of the only comparable laws I can think of in the US have to do with automobile emissions systems. If your car starts spewing too much pollution before 90,000 miles, the manufacturer is on the hook regardless of what warranty they sold with the car.

--
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
1. Re:As An American... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 01:01 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  This is really amusing to me, that the EU has laws that mandate minimum warranty policies for devices sold.
  Actually, it's much more than that.
  Not only was Apple not selling devices with the warranty required by law, but Apple was trying to upsell additional Applecare warranty to cover the mandatory warranty time period.
  Of course, if it's out of warranty, you're probably SOL since Apple designs most of its products to be non-repairable.
2. Re:As An American... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 01:25 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Well clearly they just didn't know. Since all the electronics they buy have 2 years warranty (by law) it isn't like they are going to go check that. They wouldn't find out until the thing broke and they needed warranty service. The fact that this even became a big enough deal to make it to the EU legal system means that many Apple products DID fail in less than 2 years (whether it was just battery not holding a charge or something worse) and enough people complained to bring it to the EUs attention.
3. Re:As An American... by UnknowingFool · 2012-04-02 01:30 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The summary and story is somewhat misleading. Under EU law, Apple has supported 2 years but it wasn't clear to a consumer in the EU. The warranty policy on Apple website listed 1 year.**
  **Local warranty laws apply. Your country may support a longer warranty.
  
  Worse yet, they were selling extended warranties which adds more years but not clearly stating that consumers already got 2 years. There wasn't consensus about the length from some anecdotal testimony so Apple may have to review this with all of their employees. This stems from the earlier Italian ruling. Italy did not rule that Apple was breaking laws by not offering a 2yr warranty but rather it was somewhat confusing to the customer and that an asterisk on the warranty agreement wasn't good enough. Needlessly upselling also was noted.
  
  --
  Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
4. Re:As An American... by skovnymfe · 2012-04-02 01:31 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  In the EU, you can't change the laws by writing terms on your website, or providing some arbitrary "agreement" with the product. All it takes is for someone to challenge it, and Apple will get a slap on the wrist and get told that the law applies.
  And now that someone did challenge this 1 year warranty "agreement", Apple has got their slap on the wrist and changed their heinous ways.
  That's all there is to it really...
5. Re:As An American... by BasilBrush · 2012-04-02 01:35 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  If Congress tried to pass something like this, we would never hear the end of "socialist liberal government taking over the free market." Sigh.
  
  Absolutely. Because the States is effectively rules by the corporations. Somehow certain consumers would complain about a law that only benefits them. How brainwashed are they?
6. Re:As An American... by AngryDeuce · 2012-04-02 02:00 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  And if this was the USA, there would be a class-action lawsuit
  If this was the USA, the ToS likely prohibits the customer from bringing a class-action lawsuit in the first place.
  I don't know for sure, though, as I don't have the time to read 56 pages worth of legalese.
7. Re:As An American... by higuita · 2012-04-02 06:54 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  In Europe you cant waive basic rights. if your country law say you can do lawsuits, no matter what the ToS try to sell you, isnt valid. This warranty case is just that, the ToS says something that isnt valid as the above law already gave you that rights
  
  --
  Higuita
Headline Is Understated for Once by MightyYar · 2012-04-02 00:59 · Score: 5, Insightful

For once, the headline is understated.
It really doesn't matter what Apple's warranty duration is, because there seems to be a statutory warranty of 2 years in at least part of the EU.
What this story is really about is Apple selling 2-year AppleCare plans in places with statutory warranties of 2 years, which is pretty darned slimy IMHO.

--
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Re:This does not seem fair by Jerom · 2012-04-02 01:00 · Score: 4, Informative

It's manufacturer warranty - the retailer has nothing to do with this.
Silly headline.... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 01:01 · Score: 5, Informative

.... Just silly... Apple wasn't "forced by EU", was forced by the EU directives that were transposed to law in all EU countries. The headline should be: "Apple forced to abide the law in EU countries".... since it wasn't until now. It's not something that just happened to "fall" on our laps here in EU countries just now... it's decade and an half old law.
Apple still weaselling out of it by pelorus · 2012-04-02 01:02 · Score: 4, Interesting

This hasn't changed anything. What's the point of a warranty that lasts two years which covers defects that were present on delivery?
(See http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/)
Apple should be forced to stop weaselling and just give us what the law requires.
-- An Apple Fanboi
1. Re:Apple still weaselling out of it by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 01:15 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  What's the point of a warranty that lasts two years which covers defects that were present on delivery?
  "Defects present on delivery" IS what the law requires. However, the intended interpretation of this is that a product is defect if it cannot sustain two years of regular wear and tear without breaking. As such, bad soldering causing your screen to stop functioning after 19 months is considered a defect present at moment of purchase.
Re:This does not seem fair by laurensv · 2012-04-02 01:08 · Score: 5, Informative

It is a retailer warranty. It only applies as Apple sells something directly to consumers.
In other cases, other retailers have to get Apple to fix the stuff, but Apple isn't directly liable.
Swings and Roundabouts by petes_PoV · 2012-04-02 01:26 · Score: 5, Funny

The EU has consumer protection laws, the USA has class action lawsuits and guns. It probably balances out in all but bodycount.

--
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
1. Re:Swings and Roundabouts by ericloewe · 2012-04-02 01:33 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Too bad the US allows companies to force you into no-sue contracts (like Sony and EA have done).
Re:This does not seem fair by arth1 · 2012-04-02 01:42 · Score: 5, Informative

It is a retailer warranty. It only applies as Apple sells something directly to consumers.
In other cases, other retailers have to get Apple to fix the stuff, but Apple isn't directly liable.
No, it's a manufacturer warranty, but generally handled by the retailer, who acts as a go-between for the customer and manufacturer.
I.e. if your iGizmo breaks down, you take it to the retailer, who sends it to Apple, who fixes it under warranty. This is in the interest of the consumer, who has a single point of contact. The manufacturer (or, rather, brand name holder) is still the liable part.
This in contrast to US conditions, where the customer usually has to contact the manufacturer directly.
In addition to the mandatory warranty, the purchaser also has reclamation rights not limited to a fixed term, but the reasonably expected lifetime of a product. For consumer electronics, this is generally interpreted to be in the ballpark of the warranty or shorter, but if you buy, say, house siding that cracks after ten years, or a water heater that that breaks down after four years, you probably have a good case for getting it fixed by the manufacturer.
A big difference between that and regular warranty is that for regular warranty, the manufacturer is liable by default and has to show that the customer misused the product to get out of it, while for the reclamation rights, the customer has the burden of evidence.
Still, it is useful, and while I lived in Europe, I exercised this right a couple of times (broken washer/dryer, guitar neck that warped).
Re:This does not seem fair by BorgDrone · 2012-04-02 02:02 · Score: 5, Informative

No, it's a manufacturer warranty, but generally handled by the retailer, who acts as a go-between for the customer and manufacturer.
Not really. I as the consumer enter a contract with the retailer. I pay them money and they provide me with a product, they are responsible for delivering a decent product and therefore have to give a warranty. Where they got the product from and how they provide the warranty is none of my concern, I didn't enter a contract with the manufacturer, as far as I know they don't exist.
Re:...or is it? by nospam007 · 2012-04-02 05:35 · Score: 4, Informative

"If there really is that kind of law, could some kind soul tell me where to find it?"
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/protection_of_consumers/l32022_en.htm
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31999L0044:EN:NOT