Following fine in Italy, Belgian group sues Apple for warranty practices

[nsane.forums]

Customers are entitled to a 2-year warranty, but Apple wants to sell AppleCare.

Consumer groups throughout Europe continue to take issue with Apple's warranty practices, even after Apple was fined by regulators in Italy. This time, it's a Belgian consumer group called Test-Aankoop, which filed a lawsuit against Apple for not complying with EU law and misleading customers about their warranty rights.

Test-Aankoop's complaint mirrors that of the one filed in Italy at the end of 2011. The basic gist is that EU law specifies that buyers should receive a warranty of at least two years for their electronics. Apple, however, offers a free one-year warranty on all its products from the date of purchase, and if users want to extend the coverage, they can purchase AppleCare to cover them for another two years.

The distinction is a minor but important one—Apple doesn't explicitly tell European customers about their right to a free two-year warranty and implies they must purchase AppleCare in order to get it. This is why Italy sued Apple for allegedly misleading customers, and it's also why Test-Aankoop has joined in. As noted by TNW, the organization argues in its suit that Apple is deliberately withholding information about the EU law because it wants to sell more AppleCare, and that Apple has been slow to respond to complaints.

Complaints about this issue have been picking up steam since Italy got the ball rolling in late 2011. A Portuguese consumer group announced its own plans to sue Apple over its warranty practices last July of 2012, and in October, the EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding asked the EU's 27 member states to review whether Apple had properly advertised buyers' rights to a two-year warranty. Apple has already been fined more than $1.2 million in Italy for its advertising misdeeds, but as long as it continues to avoid telling European consumers about the two-year warranty, it looks like there could be more where that came from.

View: Original Article

[DKT27]

So in other words, they are not only selling overpriced junk, they are also unlawfully selling warranties? :huh:

Of course, every company sells extended warranty (some at very cheap rate), but no one says that we are giving you 6 months basic warranty but if you want, you can by 6 months more extended warranty, which basically includes no part replacement whatsoever.