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Has anyone use the UK's Consumer Law?
- Thread starter MBP*
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Can I ask how you know that you only have 5 days left? I've got an Early 2011 MBP and it's starting to show GPU issues. I bought it from a third party seller on eBay brand new, sealed. What I'm wondering is how many days I have left - is it 6 years from the manufacture date of the MacBook Pro or 6 years from the date of sale and how I can find out the cut-off date.
Thanks
If you started your claim with Apple within your 6years of the purchase date you will be still be eligible for a consumer law (Sales of Goods Act ) claim.
I started my claim on 3rd Feb and my 6yrs didn't expire until end of March so even now everything backdates to my initial contact with Apple, sit tight and play the long-game.
I'm currently in procedures to take them to a small claims court, but if there's more of us on here with this response from Apple we will be in a better position to do a Class Action Suit. Since 2015 the US style law was introduced, and a win would mean no loss of OUR moola too.
@Hustler1337 it's 6 years from the date of sale, but as yours is not direct from Apple I think your claim is with who your brought it from not with Apple, even though the manufacturing fault is with them.
I'm no lawyer so not entirely sure what you should do next but at least go and get your diagnostics checked straight away through an Apple store or Apple Authorised Repair Centre.
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I'm assuming it's from date of purchase as printed on any Genius Bar Work Authorisation sheet you get when you go in. Although the actual invoice/receipt has the order date 3 days before that. I'm sure it was about a week postage before it tipped up at my address.
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Thanks theGreyeyeGemini. I haven't been able to find any information about this so far.
Definitely write a letter to the legal team, your well within your consumer rights for a full refund or replacement.
They have their hands held high with the fact they already had the Repair Program to correct this fault so essentially they sold us all a product with a manufacturing defect!
Here's a quick link to a template letter that the CAB recommended I use - http://bit.ly/2pycz88
Send it by recorded delivery so you get a signature confirmation and proof that they have received it.
Spoke to Apple Online Store again last night and apparently you have to have your claim within the six years. They said basically if you're outside the six year but started the claim (ie getting no where with Apple) within the six years you're basically out of luck unless you perhaps try the legal route.
@bigblue16 yep that is correct, as I mentioned, your diagnotics check and contact with Apple over the issue had to have started within the 6 years of your original purchase date.
I'm presuming you were outside of your 6yrs when you contacted Apple, real bad luck?
I have heard of an American guy on the apple forums who is still pursuing outside his (USA) consumer laws as it was a "known manufacturing defect " with Apple but he's been quiet on the forum for a few months now so not sure how it's going with his case.
I'm presuming you were outside of your 6yrs when you contacted Apple, real bad luck?
I have heard of an American guy on the apple forums who is still pursuing outside his (USA) consumer laws as it was a "known manufacturing defect " with Apple but he's been quiet on the forum for a few months now so not sure how it's going with his case.
It has but I think there some ambiguity into what constitutes as a claim. I was within the six years when the diagnostic check was done and still am now within the six years for the next day at least. From discussions with Apple, I think the reason why some are getting replacements and some not comes down to if they've had a couple or more repairs done. This gave me an idea. There is another slight fault with my Macbook. Went into store to get it recorded on the case. Hoping that now with it having a couple of faults, not repaired but within the six years would go in my favour. Just heard back from Apple Legal and no for the third time. The £200 is still on the table tho. If I decide to go to the ombudsman it no longer will be.
Hi - Just been offered the 2015 model rather than the 2016 as my replacement - can you please expand on why dedicated graphics mattered in your negotiation with Apple ?
At the time the only 2015 model they had still on sale lacked dedicated graphics as it was the 13" model. It needed to be like for like so they had to give me the 2016 15" model with dedicated graphics
The graphics on my late 2011 MBP 17 (purchased July 2012) failed in June 2016, Apple replaced the logic board but it has failed again. Unaware of Apple closing the repair program, I went down the route of contacting Apple to then be referred to the retailer to make a claim under UK consumer law. (I think this is a really crappy stance by Apple, effectively using UK consumer law to wiggle out of their obligations).
Just got back from Currys/PC World where after a lengthy wait while the assistant spoke to Customer Services, I was given a reference/case number, and a promise they would contact me within 3 days. She spoke of a voucher being issued to the value of a ilke-for-like replacement, not what I paid for it. This is fine by me and exactly as it should be.
Anyway, I'll still believe it when I see it, but I will say this, be polite and stress that you know your rights. I did have to repeat that it had been repaired once before and there was an inherent fault which would render future repairs useless.
Let's see what happens!
Just got back from Currys/PC World where after a lengthy wait while the assistant spoke to Customer Services, I was given a reference/case number, and a promise they would contact me within 3 days. She spoke of a voucher being issued to the value of a ilke-for-like replacement, not what I paid for it. This is fine by me and exactly as it should be.
Anyway, I'll still believe it when I see it, but I will say this, be polite and stress that you know your rights. I did have to repeat that it had been repaired once before and there was an inherent fault which would render future repairs useless.
Let's see what happens!
It’s not a “crappy stance” by Apple, if you bought the device from Curry’s/PC World, it’s exactly how it should be dealt with. People seem to forget that their contract of sale is with the retailer and not the manufacturer, it’s the retailers responsibility to rectify the issue, whether that’s a repair, replacement, refund or something else.
I take your point, but Curry's/PC World have to take the 'hit' for Apple manufacturing a defective product. They can afford it though......
Well ultimately Apple will take the hit, Currys would gather a bunch of faulty Apple products and return them for a credit note against a future order.
Update - Currys requested a report from either themselves (at a cost of £60 to me...) or from Apple. Had it tested at the Genius Bar where it was confirmed the graphics chip was at fault (again). Assistant said if we'd bought it from Apple he's authorised to replace it there and then under UK consumer law.
Submitted the report to Currys who now want to examine it themselves, whilst acknowledging Apple's report they are disregarding it. I'm loath to hand it over to them (who knows what might happen to it?) so we have a stand-off. The issue has been exacerbated by the frankly rude, hostile and condescending tone I received from the Currys rep who attempted to compare the issue to a toaster that breaks down, "When it does, you just go and get a new one"..... Basically refusing to replace the MacBook because it can't be repaired, while disputing there is an inherent manufacturing defect, offering a "small percentage" of the cost.
Had some great consumer advice from Citizen's advice - onwards to the next stage!
Submitted the report to Currys who now want to examine it themselves, whilst acknowledging Apple's report they are disregarding it. I'm loath to hand it over to them (who knows what might happen to it?) so we have a stand-off. The issue has been exacerbated by the frankly rude, hostile and condescending tone I received from the Currys rep who attempted to compare the issue to a toaster that breaks down, "When it does, you just go and get a new one"..... Basically refusing to replace the MacBook because it can't be repaired, while disputing there is an inherent manufacturing defect, offering a "small percentage" of the cost.
Had some great consumer advice from Citizen's advice - onwards to the next stage!
I wonder if I should get a new MacBook Pro in London next time I come visit even though the price is higher than what we buy here in the US. I visit Europe at least a couple times a year. It still looks like the responses consumers get from Apple are not consistent though.
It’s very hard to get things resolved via the Consumer Protection Law. Apple didn’t want to know at all for ages until I found the right person at Apple Care who said don’t go to an Apple Store go to an authorised service provider for the report. The Apple Store in Brighton was a joke and the guy who saw the issue once but couldn’t recreate it (when the replacement program was running) was a supervisor when I went back and it was totally dead. His excuse was the program ended a week ago and why didn’t I bring it in sooner. He was a dick
Excuse the very late reply, I know this thread is very old, but I just wanted to share my experience form a while ago.
I have a MacBook Pro 13", mid 2014, and in January 2017, the trackpad just stopped working completely. A few nights before, I placed it on my desk after it was working perfectly, then a few days later I opened the lid, went to use it like normal and the trackpad simply did not work.
The next week, I took it to the Apple store, they told me that it would cost over £600 to repair. They told me they could not just simply check the ribbon cable and re-seat it to the motherboard, as the ribbon cable was routed underneath the battery on the 2014 model. They would need to remove the whole battery, and for safety reasons, they could only do this by replacing the entire top case.
After some discussion as to how to move forward, they told me that I could go down the route of a UK Consumer Law claim. Unfortunately, I bought my device from PC World, and this cost me dearly. They stated that if I purchased my device from Apple directly, the whole replacement would have been carried out free of charge under UK Consumer Law. They recommended using a template letter and sending this to PC World in order to get a replacement, though they offered to cover the repair for a significantly lower cost (only charging the battery replacement fee, £150 ish) due to the condition of the device being so pristine. Of course I took them up on this offer, as I've heard dealing with PC World is an absolute nightmare, and I would have been without my MacBook for a much longer period.
So in future, I will only ever buy directly from Apple. You have a much better chance of saving money in the long run.
I have a MacBook Pro 13", mid 2014, and in January 2017, the trackpad just stopped working completely. A few nights before, I placed it on my desk after it was working perfectly, then a few days later I opened the lid, went to use it like normal and the trackpad simply did not work.
The next week, I took it to the Apple store, they told me that it would cost over £600 to repair. They told me they could not just simply check the ribbon cable and re-seat it to the motherboard, as the ribbon cable was routed underneath the battery on the 2014 model. They would need to remove the whole battery, and for safety reasons, they could only do this by replacing the entire top case.
After some discussion as to how to move forward, they told me that I could go down the route of a UK Consumer Law claim. Unfortunately, I bought my device from PC World, and this cost me dearly. They stated that if I purchased my device from Apple directly, the whole replacement would have been carried out free of charge under UK Consumer Law. They recommended using a template letter and sending this to PC World in order to get a replacement, though they offered to cover the repair for a significantly lower cost (only charging the battery replacement fee, £150 ish) due to the condition of the device being so pristine. Of course I took them up on this offer, as I've heard dealing with PC World is an absolute nightmare, and I would have been without my MacBook for a much longer period.
So in future, I will only ever buy directly from Apple. You have a much better chance of saving money in the long run.
Hi everyone,
Apologies for reviving a dead thread. I was wondering if I could get some advice about the following situation.
I understand that Consumer Law is against the seller rather than the manufacturer, but any advice for the following?
- Bought a MBP from Dixon's Travel at an airport in late 2019.
- Bought AppleCare from Apple.
- Multiple keyboard failures, with 4 replacements through Apple. Had issues from like 6 months in but with COVID I put up with it, otherwise I suspect there would've been more repairs. I did book appointments then cancel so there is some paper trail though I appreciate it's limited as no employee saw it. I'm medical and so priorities were elsewhere at the time.
- There is a current keyboard service program for this generation MBP, and multiple Apple staff have explained that there is an inherent fault with the keyboard.
- On the last time the Apple rep mentioned Consumer Law and that they would have replaced the machine entirely for a new model on the next failure had it been purchased through them.
- Dixon's Travel is no longer trading, but they were a Currys subsidiary. I'm assuming that the Consumer Law stuff transfers to Currys, or am I just out of luck?
- From what I understand, Currys is like drawing blood from a stone in regards to consumer law. Also, all my repairs have been through Apple though I've previously been told by Currys to contact the manufacturer directly when I've had issues, like with the PS5 controller and Sonys. Again, appreciate limited as I didn't speak to Currys about the laptop so who knows if they would've said the same thing.
- My keyboard has gone bust again, which is annoying because otherwise I like the laptop and have no need to change it.
My questions:
1. I'll speak to Currys, but do repairs by the manufacturer count?
2. Is there a consumer law aspect to the AppleCare? The previous repairs were done under AppleCare not the the keyboard service program.
3. Anyone in a similar situation manage to convince Apple to take the lead considering they admit the keyboards are faulty?
4. If, somehow, I convince them to do something and they elect to refund rather than repair/replace, similar MBPs are going for like £4-700. Is that the amount I should expect or do they refund the whole amount?
Thanks for any help
Apologies for reviving a dead thread. I was wondering if I could get some advice about the following situation.
I understand that Consumer Law is against the seller rather than the manufacturer, but any advice for the following?
- Bought a MBP from Dixon's Travel at an airport in late 2019.
- Bought AppleCare from Apple.
- Multiple keyboard failures, with 4 replacements through Apple. Had issues from like 6 months in but with COVID I put up with it, otherwise I suspect there would've been more repairs. I did book appointments then cancel so there is some paper trail though I appreciate it's limited as no employee saw it. I'm medical and so priorities were elsewhere at the time.
- There is a current keyboard service program for this generation MBP, and multiple Apple staff have explained that there is an inherent fault with the keyboard.
- On the last time the Apple rep mentioned Consumer Law and that they would have replaced the machine entirely for a new model on the next failure had it been purchased through them.
- Dixon's Travel is no longer trading, but they were a Currys subsidiary. I'm assuming that the Consumer Law stuff transfers to Currys, or am I just out of luck?
- From what I understand, Currys is like drawing blood from a stone in regards to consumer law. Also, all my repairs have been through Apple though I've previously been told by Currys to contact the manufacturer directly when I've had issues, like with the PS5 controller and Sonys. Again, appreciate limited as I didn't speak to Currys about the laptop so who knows if they would've said the same thing.
- My keyboard has gone bust again, which is annoying because otherwise I like the laptop and have no need to change it.
My questions:
1. I'll speak to Currys, but do repairs by the manufacturer count?
2. Is there a consumer law aspect to the AppleCare? The previous repairs were done under AppleCare not the the keyboard service program.
3. Anyone in a similar situation manage to convince Apple to take the lead considering they admit the keyboards are faulty?
4. If, somehow, I convince them to do something and they elect to refund rather than repair/replace, similar MBPs are going for like £4-700. Is that the amount I should expect or do they refund the whole amount?
Thanks for any help
Have you explained all of this to Apple Support? You did have Apple Care and hopefully as there is a keyboard repair programme they could add you to that? Curry’s will stonewall for ever. Small claim court or try the consumer help columns on the Guardian or D Mail (they usually ring the press office and get a result).
Yeah, they were aware of everything which is why they raised the Consumer Rights Act and that a total replacement would’ve been on the table had I bought it from Apple directly. I guess I’m not sure if AppleCare falls under CRA? Like does replacing a faulty part with another count as a sufficient repair? Each time I was told not to expect much and that there’s a high chance of failure.
Wasn’t aware of the columns, thank you. Will add that as an option if need be.
Think the newspapers is the best route re Curry’s as they have dreadful reputation on service. Or write to them saying you will lodge Small Claims Court (old name forget the new) unless you hear by x days. Would have thought someone at Apple would have just swapped them, regardless. Keep all of us informed.