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Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner, has been writing to EU member states trying to whip up support for a renewed attack on Apple’s selling of its AppleCare extended warranty, which she claims is still being sold without buyers being told that it’s often duplicating the statutory EU guarantee.
Reding wants a full investigation to be launched into Apple’s selling of its extended product care agreements, with the complaint being that Apple’s failing to inform buyers that EU law covers their purchases for a two-year period anyway.
According to a letter seen by Bloomberg, Reding told EU member countries: “Apple prominently advertised that its products come with a one-year manufacturer warranty but failed to clearly indicate the consumers’ automatic and free-of-cost entitlement to a minimum two-year guarantee under EU law. These are unacceptable marketing practices.”
Reding wants to know if Apple offices in each of the 27 EU member countries have been advising buyers about their statutory two-year warranty, or if, as she obviously suspects, they’ve been glossing over it in favour of selling AppleCare packages instead.
Apple’s previously been in big trouble in Italy over the same issue of failing to pass on news of local buyer protection rules. [Bloomberg]
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Mis-sold insurance. My favourite.
Come on EU, pull your socks up. Fine Apple an amount equivalent to how much they’re ripped off EU consumers for mis-sold insurance. Or order them to refund customers.
I think 1 billion is more than fair.
So, Apple care is $99. Now we just need to know how many people in the EU have bought Apple products, and then Apple care.
But 1 billion might not be enough
Can we expect adverts during the day on ITV “did you buy and iPhone between 2007 and 2012? If so there is a chance you may have been mis-sold Applecare and be you may be entitled to a substantial claim running into thousands of pounds.” Call Applegougers Direct and let us help you to help yourself”.
Expect random text messages following this format:
“URGENT you are owed £3350 for the Applecare you took out, time is running out to claim, please visit http://www.applecaremore.com to claim, thank you”
Mis-sold apple care could be the new PPI.
Thanks Gizmodo! For once, reading an Apple story has had a positive effect on me. My 15 month old Kindle stopped working and Amazon refused a replacement as the warranty had expired when I phoned them 2 weeks ago. I had assumed this was where my story ended until I read in this story about the 2 year EU warranty. Phoned Amazon up, asked if there was anything they could do about my Kindle – they said short of a 15% discount on a new one, there was nothing they would do about it.
I then reminded them of the 2 year warranty… and my new Kindle should arrive in 2 weeks!
Might be worth mentioning this to the EU, looks like Apple aren’t the only people trying to stiff their customers into unnecessary payments.
Can tell you that every one of the mobile manufacturer, bar Nokia are criminal of that
And every high street shop too..
In the UK you have a six years manufacturing warranty. The first six months it is down to the retailer to prove that there is no manufacturing fault and that the goods were of satisfactory quality, outside of those first six months it is down to the consumer to prove that it is a manufacturing fault.
Its called the Sales of Goods act
The EU doesn’t decide the consumer law in each country, the Apple case is specific to Italy. The Italian authorities fined Apple, not the EU.
UK Consumer law states that the retailer does not have to do anything after the initial six months, unless the consumer can prove that the goods were faulty at the time of purchase/delivery. Large retailers normally just bite the bullet and offer repairs/replacement to keep on the good side of the consumer.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1677034/Two-year-warranty-EU-law.html
Not according to that.
“However, as this is a directive (it) is only partially adopted by the UK, its use is a grey area.”
“You may manage to get your refund on the basis of the EU directive, however, shops are within their rights to use the Sale of Goods Act as the definitive guideline instead.”
The laws which the UK use to cover the EU directive are:
Sale of Goods Act 1979 <—-
Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973
Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982
The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002