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Applecare a ripoff in Europe with new warranty law?

erikamsterdam

erikamsterdam

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 21, 2006
183
0
amsterdam
Since January 1st last year all products bought in the EU have a standard 2 year warranty by law as far as I know. Seems that Applecare is not worth it then since it would only add 1 year.
Any legal people here that know if this is true? Thinking about buying a Macbook soon so I'd like to know this.

Erik.
 
erikamsterdam said:
Since January 1st last year all products bought in the EU have a standard 2 year warranty by law as far as I know. Seems that Applecare is not worth it then since it would only add 1 year.
Any legal people here that know if this is true? Thinking about buying a Macbook soon so I'd like to know this.

Erik.
Click to expand...

Actually that warranty is three years, at least in Sweden.
 
Well, I looked it up on the internet here in NL and some government page also says this. Standard warranty is 2 years. The Dutch Apple page also has an interesting disclaimer under their "standard 1 year warranty" statement that local law may supersede that.
Seems that buying Applecare here in NL is a waste of money.
And apparently Swedes are even luckier....
 
Don't know if this is standard EU or not, but in Denmark we have 2 years as well, however, only 6 months are "warranty" as we all know it, if something happens in the next 18 months the customer has to prove that the defect wasn't caused by him (within reason). It's usually quite obvious when the defect was caused by the customer (eg. exploding battery is obviously not caused by the user), so in reality it works like 2 years warranty.

Can give you links, but our laws are in Danish.
 
Even if you do get a two year warranty the Applecare would be worth the extra money if the machine needed repairing. I have read on other forums that it can cost as much as £500 to get the logic board or the screen replaced in the imac. Anyway who covers this warranty, the govenment. Don't make me laugh. If you look on the Apple website it clearly states that their computers come with a one year warranty. And after all it is up to the supllier or maker of the goods how long the warranty is not the government. I would like to see you go into an Apple store or an authorised repair centre with a 1 year 6 month old mac without Applecare and get it repaired for free. You better go with you credit card or cheque book because you will be paying for the repair.
 
This is a VERY IMPORTANT

Can some one find out the exact status of this warranty law, does it affect all EU members?

UK & Ireland are usually thrown into the mix and given the same rights, so where does this currently leave us?

So please if anyone knows links to UK and Ireland warranty law please post, I've been unsuccessful in searching google..
 
Macer said:
I would like to see you go into an Apple store or an authorised repair centre with a 1 year 6 month old mac without Applecare and get it repaired for free. You better go with you credit card or cheque book because you will be paying for the repair.
Click to expand...

Maybe it doesn't apply retroactively to products with expired warranties?
 
Macer said:
Even if you do get a two year warranty the Applecare would be worth the extra money if the machine needed repairing. I have read on other forums that it can cost as much as £500 to get the logic board or the screen replaced in the imac. Anyway who covers this warranty, the govenment. Don't make me laugh. If you look on the Apple website it clearly states that their computers come with a one year warranty. And after all it is up to the supllier or maker of the goods how long the warranty is not the government. I would like to see you go into an Apple store or an authorised repair centre with a 1 year 6 month old mac without Applecare and get it repaired for free. You better go with you credit card or cheque book because you will be paying for the repair.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this is completely wrong. Local law superseedes any supplier or resellers warranty rules. If the product is purchased in a country with laws dictating 2 years warranty, you will get the logic board replaced for free. The government doesn't pay for the extended warranty, the producer or reseller does. If they want to sell their products in a country with laws demanding 2 year warranty, they have to comply.
 
How can the dude just say Applecare is a rip off, if it is true about this new law it means all extended warraties are rip off's. Any way it will probably just mean you will get 4 or 5 years warranty with the Applecare.
 
Macer said:
I have read on other forums that it can cost as much as £500 to get the logic board replaced in the imac. Anyway who covers this warranty, the govenment. Don't make me laugh.
Click to expand...

Apple will have to cover such repairs. If the damage is not caused by user's actions, the responsibility is on the manufacturer.

Macer said:
If you look on the Apple website it clearly states that their computers come with a one year warranty.
Click to expand...

They can advertise one day warranty if they like, but they will have to honor the mandatory 2-year warranty whenever they operate within the EU.

Macer said:
And after all it is up to the supllier or maker of the goods how long the warranty is not the government.
Click to expand...

No. Government can set a minimum warranty period, but it is up to the manufacturer if they want to extend it. Any company that does not honor the minimum warranty set by government is breaking the law and can be sued.

Macer said:
I would like to see you go into an Apple store or an authorised repair centre with a 1 year 6 month old mac without Applecare and get it repaired for free.
Click to expand...

If it's broken because of a manufacturing defect, then the repair _will_ be free. Dead logic boards and blown batteries are such defects and Apple will have to repair them under warranty even if the computer died a day before the 2-year warranty deadline. Isn't it nice? :)
 
JFreak said:
Apple will have to cover such repairs. If the damage is not caused by user's actions, the responsibility is on the manufacturer.



They can advertise one day warranty if they like, but they will have to honor the mandatory 2-year warranty whenever they operate within the EU.



No. Government can set a minimum warranty period, but it is up to the manufacturer if they want to extend it. Any company that does not honor the minimum warranty set by government is breaking the law and can be sued.



If it's broken because of a manufacturing defect, then the repair _will_ be free. Dead logic boards and blown batteries are such defects and Apple will have to repair them under warranty even if the computer died a day before the 2-year warranty deadline. Isn't it nice? :)
Click to expand...

Very! If someone could clarify that this is the case in the UK too, I will be very happy. :D
 
That would be true, but are you going to go to a foreign country and buy a computer just for the extra warranty. At the momeny in this country your warranty is one year from Apple. A new law takes time to come into affect, so if it was decided this week or last week it will probably become a law by this time next year.
 
Well considering most EU countries have 20+% sales tax I'd pass and just buy it elsewhere and shell out for Applecare. The sales tax they pay in their countries essentially IS applecare! :rolleyes:
 
generik said:
Well considering most EU countries have 20+% sales tax I'd pass and just buy it elsewhere and shell out for Applecare. The sales tax they pay in their countries essentially IS applecare! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

17.5% thankYOU. :) ;)
 
Your One Year Guarantee
All new Apple hardware is guaranteed against defects in materials and workmanship for one year from date of purchase (the date on your invoice).
We will provide remedial maintenance and repair, including all parts and labour, necessary to restore failed hardware to proper working condition.


This is on the Apple uk site, if it was law in this country wouldn't the web site say a two year guarantee. After all if it didn't would Apple be breaking the law.
 
liketom said:
i would think us Brits would still have the normal 12 months unless otherwise stated , i have been unable to find anything on google except the trading standards website


http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?file=ADV0043-1011.txt
Click to expand...


Nope. It's a EU directive, which means that all memberstates must implement it before a given time. in this case January 1. 2002.
So it should be implemented in all EU countries.

By the way, we have 25% sales tax :(
 
NJuul said:
Nope. It's a EU directive, which means that all memberstates must implement it before a given time. in this case January 1. 2002.
So it should be implemented in all EU countries.

By the way, we have 25% sales tax :(
Click to expand...
25% :eek: and i complain at 17.5%:D
 
Sounds to me like a bunch of us here in the UK, and throughtout the EU, need to get together and complain jointly to Apple. These machines were advertized with very short warranties, and we addeed 2 years of extended warranty at a fixed price. Now we discover that we only extended these by 1 year due to misleading warranty information published by Apple?

If all of this information is correct, this should be a snap for those of us who bought under these terms.
 
netdog said:
Sounds to me like a bunch of us here in the UK, and throughtout the EU, need to get together and complain jointly to Apple. These machines were advertized with very short warranties, and we addeed 2 years of extended warranty at a fixed price. Now we discover that we only extended these by 1 year due to misleading warranty information published by Apple?

If all of this information is correct, this should be a snap for those of us who bought under these terms.
Click to expand...

I didn't buy AppleCare.. I just want the year more warranty. :D
 
so where is the link to this EU directive ? want to have a read up myself.

if this means we in the UK should be getting 2 years then that would have a knock on effect for all the electronic retailers and e-tailers here like Dixons/Comet/PCWorld and Argos all flogging extended guarantees when they did'nt need to :rolleyes:
 
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