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EU Says Apple's Warranty Advertisements Are Unacceptable
An anonymous reader writes "The European Union believes that Apple should be investigated for the way that it advertises warranties on their products. EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wrote to the member countries which is 27 to ask them to check whether Apple retailers failed to let buyers know about the right to a minimum 2-year warranty for products such as the iPhone and iPad under EU law."
...about consumer rights, and about the information it passes to buyers. A lot of Apple fans pay a steep premium for Apple products, assuming that they are "the best", even though that is hardly the case. There really is no legit reason why a Mac will cost 1.5 - 2 times more than a similarly specced Windows PC. ---- There's only one way Apple will go from here if it doesn't implement more ethical policies across the board: Down, down, down...
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
Apple is going to release a slightly bigger version of the iPhone in 6 months anyway and you are going to throw your old phone out the window. So does it really matter anyways?
Good luck to them. Apple considers discovery of flaws as breaches of their conditions of sale
On the plus side, apple will now sue anyone with sleazy advertisements.
Does the EU require a 2 year warranty on calendars? How does that work?
Usually well ;-).
In the first six months, any burden of proof is on the side of the vendor. So unless it's obvious that it wasn't used according to the specs, replacement is painless.
After six months, the burden of prood switches over to the buyer. Which may be a hassle, but doesn't need to be.
They are selling extended warranties for the period the *law* says they have to cover and hiding the fact the devices are covered. If Apple don't like it, they're welcome to not sell their products in the EU.
Does the 2011 calendar still correctly show the days of the week and the dates for 2011? If so, not defective.
They're trying to make people think that they will have to pay for something when in fact Apple is required by law to provide it for free.
Help I am stuck in a signature factory!
The law includes a requirement to point out what remedies the customer is entitled to under the law. Probably, that is exactly to prevent sellers from deceiving the buyer into thinking they must pay for an extended warranty. Apple ignored that bit exactly so they could sell the extended warranty.
Just the other week I brought in some Apple equipment that had a slight hardware fault (charging problems) that was over a year old but under two years old, and they told me they'd charge for it to be fixed. I'd forgotten about the two year EU warranty (it used to be a year, IIRC). The defect wasn't apparent for the first year or so, but there's no visible damage and I haven't knocked it around at all. Anybody know where I stand?
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
Not everywhere; here in Portugal the burden of proof never shifts.
Dilbert RSS feed
The European Union is strict about consumer law so that consumers will be comfortable buying across national boundaries within the Union. It's part of the "single market" concept which defines the EU.
"A practice is misleading if it contains false or untrue information or is likely to deceive the consumer, even though the information given may be correct. In particular, this information relates to: ... the consumersâ(TM) rights on aspects of the sale of consumer goods."
Here's how Apple misleads customers: Start at the Apple UK site. Try to find warranty information. The "support" page does not mention a warranty. There's "AppleCare Products - extend support coverage for your Apple products." Going to that page, we see "All Apple hardware comes with a one-year limited warranty (1) and up to 90 days of complimentary telephone technical support.". Down at note 1, in grey 77% white type, there's a link to "Apple Products and EU Statutory Warranty" Only there does Apple admit there's a 2-year warranty.
Do I have to go to law school now just to avoid being ripped off when I go shopping?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The pricing is set to create excellent profit margins.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Microsoft, Google, Apple -- what do they have in common?
All are based in the same country.
Anyone have a list of French or German companies fined?
hu? are you crazy?
take a look at p. 3; "Ten highest cartel fines per undertaking" - not a single US-based company.
That is on the website and TFA said so. It's not what the printed materials say.
So much is wrong in your comment. a) This is about consumer protection. You don't get to lie to customers in Europe, even if you are more akin to a cult. b) The bailout of Greece is not funded by the EU, but by state actors and the IMF. That means that you, even if you are American, are bailing out the Greeks. c) If Apple decided to not sell stuff in Europe, they would lose a lot of money, and their market share would collapse to the benefit of google. Which would be bad for them.
Also, you need to get off the libertarian crack: if all "job creators" all left at once, they would be replaced almost instantly...
Let's see:
- High corruption compared to most of the European countries
- High number of companies, foundations and individuals living from state rents.
- High taxes (e.g. 23% VAT), and rising
- High unemployment, especially among young people, including college graduates
- Low education rates (only 28% finish High School), including among business owners
- High number of workers under a special "no contract" regime
- Low salaries and pensions, which together with high taxes leads to
- Low purchasing power
And the most important: it'll only get worse in the medium term.
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Their website for the UK shows only a single years warranty on a new iphone 5
This is a lie, and constitutes fraud as it is attempting to induce you into buying an "extended" warranty
It is. It's fraud.
The customer is entitled to the 2 years warranty anyway, even without paying the 1 year extension. So selling it something for money he is entitled anyway is fraud.
That's very interesting. However the Android devices come with a 2 year warranty and are cheaper. Yes even the Taiwanese devices.
it's only there now because they got their ass handed to them in court already.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
It's very misleading because it only covers EU minimum requirements and not the individual country's laws that meet (and, typically, exceed) that minimum requirement. They claim that the statutory warranty in the UK only covers defects present at time of purchase. That could possibly be considered to be true, if you consider bad design to be a defect. The Sale of Goods Act states that the goods must be suitable for the purpose for which sold and must continue to function if subjected to normal operation for a reasonable period and gives you five years to claim. I know that Apple is aware of this, because as soon as I was elevated to talking to their tier-2 support person they replaced a four-year-old battery for me without quibbles, because it had had fewer than the number of discharge cycles that they say that it will retain 80% of the original charge for and was only retaining 25% - it was not under warranty, but as soon as I mentioned the relevant laws they authorised a replacement. Slightly depressingly, I had much better service from them in this instance than when I've had repairs that were covered by their warranty...
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