Apple Repair Policy Gets Them Sued For Misleading Warranty Claims
Does Apple have misleading warranty claims? Italy and China certainly seem to think so.
And they may just be right, considering that the Italian Antitrust Authority managed to fined them a whopping €900,000 (roughly $1.2million US dollars).
Apple Sued For Breaking Italian Law With Illegal Warranty Policy
So on just what grounds did the Italian Antitrust Authority manage to weasel such an amount from Apple? For failing to inform their Italian customers of their right to 2 years of warranty.
This warranty policy is in accordance with Italy’s laws, specifically, Italy’s Consumer Code. The worldwide Apple repair and warranty policy – dubbed “AppleCare” – is one year of free warranty service with every Apple purchase.
However in Italy, any Apple product sold has to provide an additional second year of warranty, in order to legally be allowed to sell that product in Italy.
The agency accused Apple of instead offering to sell Italian consumers an additional year of warranty. This is despite consumers being legally owed the extra year of warranty for free in accordance with Italian law.
Apple was fined €400,000 for not informing customers of their legal right to a two year warranty, and €500,000 for selling AppleCare warranty coverage when they knew it to be legally free.
Is Apple’s warranty policy fair? Italian Courts ruled it illegal, resulting in a suit against Apple.
Apple CEO Tim Cook (pictured) has had to face allegations of misleading Apple warranty policies from both Italy and China.
Apple CEO Tim Cook (pictured) forced to issue public apology to Chinese consumers for Apple warranty.
China’s Accusations Against Apples Warranty Policy
Italy is not the only country to lock horns with tech giant Apple over misleading warranty claims.
China also criticised the Apple repair and warranty service, during a screening of a program for World Consumer Rights Day.
The show reported that any iPhone sent in to Apple repair always gets a used iPhone back cover, which is not in accordance with their policy. It also reported that for any changed item the warranty is a mere 90 days.
Furthermore, the warranty timeframe for Mac computers and iPads are not in accordance with Chinese laws.
Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook publicly issued a formal apology in regards to these accusations. He apologised to both the Chinese consumers and altered the Apple repair and warranty policy.
To read more about Apple’s repair and warranty policy, click here.