Am in honouring my consumer rights? (Opinion)

[Cjm1]

So, after owning my MBP 15 inch touch bar for just over a year. Using it daily for photo/video editing. It got sent in for repair and has already needed a new motherboard and ports. As an attempt to stop its daily kernel panics and general freezes I kept experiencing. The ports got replaced due to them having issues reading drives and cables coming out to easily.

I received the machine back after being away for 14 days ("Our technicians are on holiday, there will be a delay") and from past experience of having Mac's fixed by Apple. Something else goes wrong when you get it back. Again, I was right. The speaker on the left side was muffled.

I feel it was only fair if they replaced my laptop as it has cost me money and the running of my business for 2 weeks. I confronted them about it with nothing but rude abandon from the 'lead genius'. Expressing my concern that it is unacceptable for a year old laptop to need a near enough complete rebuild. I also expressed my concerns about quality of the repair and in my opinion how poor technicians skills must be from this case and previous laptops I have owned. And, the fact I payed good money for this laptop. with the response of "it is your opinion and you are entitled to switch to a different brand. And I would be grateful if you didn't insult our technicians." I may have been a bit too vocal than I should have been, but i was seriously p***ed off at this point.


But here is where I need an opinion on what to do. And for those in the UK who are more clued up on this i could do with some help.

As part of the UK Consumer rights act 2015


If you're outside the 30-day right to reject, you have to give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace any goods or digital content which are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described.

You can choose whether you want the goods to be repaired or replaced.

But the retailer can refuse if they can show that your choice is disproportionately expensive compared with the alternative.

If the attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, you can then claim a refund, or a price reduction if you wish to keep the product."

I doubt Apple would be willing to replace my laptop. But a refund must be somewhat feasible.

Do you guys think i should make this clear to them?

 

[casperes1996]

Absolutely. Take them to court if necessary. If consumer rights are not uphold by the customer, companies will see their chance to just piss on those rights.

You said it yourself. You paid good money for the product, and you expect certain quality of it.

I of course don't condone any insult or other negativity directed at individuals like engineers, geniuses or other staff, but structural complains and constructive criticism is what drives us forward.

Edit: If it comes to the courts and it will cost you money you cannot spare, I suggest starting a public funding project. It's not like the costs will be grand to Apple, but the message is grand. Customer support means something, and ******** on consumer rights will not be tolerated.

 

[Cjm1]

Absolutely. Take them to court if necessary. If consumer rights are not uphold by the customer, companies will see their chance to just piss on those rights.

You said it yourself. You paid good money for the product, and you expect certain quality of it.

I of course don't condone any insult or other negativity directed at individuals like engineers, geniuses or other staff, but structural complains and constructive criticism is what drives us forward.

Edit: If it comes to the courts and it will cost you money you cannot spare, I suggest starting a public funding project. It's not like the costs will be grand to Apple, but the message is grand. Customer support means something, and ******** on consumer rights will not be tolerated.

Im not going to go this far as to sue them. I just want a working laptop, which is what i expect. I gave my money to a brand that "pushes quality" and didn't receive that.

 

[casperes1996]

Im not going to go this far as to sue them. I just want a working laptop, which is what i expect. I gave my money to a brand that "pushes quality" and didn't receive that.

I'm not saying the courts should be your first move - on the contrary, your last.

But fight for the quality you paid for. Only if they do not comply would I urge you to take the route of the courtroom. Understandable that you may not be willing to go so far, but I think you should do everything you're willing to, to get a fully working product of the quality expected.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Before you get too far down the rabbit hole, the laws you have quoted only refer to the first 6 months of ownership.

After 6 months, the onus is on you to prove any defect was present at time of manufacture. As you were within the 1 year warranty, they have repaired the computer for you free of charge. However you feel this has resulted in a further complication and suggest it requires another repair. You must contact Apple to organise this repair, they are under no obligation to offer you a refund or replacement at this stage.

If after 3 major repairs the product is still faulty, then you are within your rights to request a refund/replacement. By major it means things like an entire Motherboard replacement, not a speaker. As it stands, Apple have repaired your computer and the issue you describe could be an oversight or something within their repair process, or it may have been there the whole time (From their perspective). As they were the last to touch the computer, they will repair the problem for you free of charge.

As for time lost etc. I just wouldn't bother with it, I know it's frustrating but there's nothing you can do other than get more and more red faced over the situation. Significant/excessive delays are normally deemed at over 30 days, and Apple again are under no obligation to refund you for lost time here. So I would be polite and explain the situation to see if you can get a faster repair, this sounds like something that could be done in-store so wouldn't take long. But don't go down the consumer rights side of things unless you are 100% and willing for a fight, it's not worth the stress and hassle and Apple generally are very good at giving you your right without you having to quote things and turn into a snarky customer.

Good luck with it but know that they want to be on your side, so be friends with them, if you make them defensive then they are very disinclined to offer above and beyond help for you.

 

[bcave098]

I feel it was only fair if they replaced my laptop as it has cost me money and the running of my business for 2 weeks.

Apple won't reimburse you for lost income under the terms of the warranty (see "limitation of liability"). I would suggest purchasing a business-level support agreement with Apple if you rely so heavily on one product for your business. Joint Venture, for example, includes a loaner if they need your computer for more than 24 hours.

I'm not too knowledgable on the laws in the UK, but it sounds like they repaired the issue that breached the warranty, so I don't see how the repair would be considered "unsuccessful." The only thing that seems out of place is the amount of time it took to repair, 14 days is longer than usual. Now you could attempt to speak with Customer Relations and maybe get an appeasement, but that's it. They have no legal obligation to make repairs quickly.

And insulting people doesn't get you far. Remaining polite and professional will get you much further.

 

[iMi]

Disheartening story. I had the exact opposite experience several years ago. I had a MacBook that had similar problems. One issue after another. After the forth repair attempt, I got a call from someone at Apple. They offered to replace it because the experience was “not what Apple expected” for their customers. They replaced it with a brand new base model that was one model year ahead. It honestly blew me away. I had AppleCare, which I think helped as well. The machine was shy of two years old, if I remember correctly. This was several years ago and I’ve never had a problem with any other devices, aside form a defective screen on the iMac a few years back, which Apple repaired.

I would recommend you call corporate customer relations office. They should be able to help you. Keep pursing the case with them because they should absolutely replace your machine.

 

[GeniusAdvisor]

You have to try and be realistic here. Your mac has experienced an issue, this happens. The Genius Team, have tried to fix it, ultimately you have another issue - this is unfortunate.
Apple sell a service for BUSINESS CUSTOMERS, called Joint Venture - If your business money and work was so important to you, you should buy this service. One of the advantages of this service is having "loaner macbooks"
Give the team a chance to fix your issue properly. I can assure you, the Genius who fixed your machine will be just as annoyed as you that your machine is not working correctly (They wont want to look like a poor Genius).
If you are still having issues after the second repair, PM me and I will give you some advice.

 

[leman]

Well, they did repair the computer (albeit they took their sweet time about it) and I guess they offer to repair the speaker damage as well? So I guess they did fulfil their part of the deal. Of course, Apple often exchanges laptops in such situations but they are under no obligation to do so, not to mention that you seemed to have made a "little scene" based on your description As to the "I couldn't run my business for 2 weeks" — that is solely your responsibility, as is making contingency plans for cases of hardware failure. Next time try Lenovo, who regularly keep laptops for over a months for repair — at least that was my experience with them. This is why business owners often have premium support plans that include loaner hardware while your device is being repaired.

All in all, I certainly agree that your experience has been less then stellar here and that Apple should have handled the situation better, but I do not think that you have a compelling case in your favour.

 

[Cjm1]

And insulting people doesn't get you far. Remaining polite and professional will get you muc

You are correct. But considering every single Apple product I have bought since 2008 has broken/had a fault within the first year of ownership you can understand by frustration. And this is no exaggeration.

Joint Venture, for example, includes a loaner if they need your computer for more than 24 hours.

I will consider looking into this.

If you are still having issues after the second repair, PM me and I will give you some advice.

I will most likely have to. The outcome of this second repair will be interesting.

I don't ever remember the service from Apple being this bad. They seem to stand on a Product before Customer attitude when it comes to service. And a Profit before Consumer attitude when buying. It stinks! If they ain't selling you something that goes in your pocket or on your wrist they just don't care about you. Apple are now aware the quality of their products have slipped and I feel they cover their arse's by making the customer loose out. Hopefully this new Software/Hardware delay to focus on quality does reap them some benefits. Cause its only going to be so long before people Boycotting the Mac.