Apple won't repair my in-warranty iPad

juggsy

The other day I picked up my 3 month old iPad 3 from my nightstand. I picked it up by the right hand side, with my thumb on the bezel, and when I did so I heard a faint 'click'. The click was actually a huge crack appearing on my screen. The crack starts from the right hand side of the home button at the bottom, and travels in a circular motion to the right, curving to the left and finishing on the right hand side at the end of the bezel, half way up the screen.

Now, my thoughts on this are that I should be able to pick up my iPad without it cracking, so surely this is a defect in workmanship (which the Apple warranty covers)? However they are having none of it and stating that because it is physical damage then it is not covered. I'm outraged by this quite frankly, the simple act of picking up my 3 month old iPad and they want to charge me £200 to fix it! Surely this should be covered, surely the sale of goods act comes into play here, which states that any item should be of reasonable quality, fit for purpose etc?

Without actually saying it, Apple are saying that its my fault, implying I dropped it or whatever (which I absolutely did not). So is the onus on me to prove it is a defect, or them that I damaged it? Do any other consumer rights apply here? Any advice much appreciated.

Many thanks,

An infruiated Apple customer.

neilmcl

Was Apple the retailer? Can you prove you didn't drop it or the fault wasn't caused by your misuse?

bazster

juggsy wrote: »

The other day I picked up my 3 month old iPad 3 from my nightstand. I picked it up by the right hand side, with my thumb on the bezel, and when I did so I heard a faint 'click'. The click was actually a huge crack appearing on my screen. The crack starts from the right hand side of the home button at the bottom, and travels in a circular motion to the right, curving to the left and finishing on the right hand side at the end of the bezel, half way up the screen.

Now, my thoughts on this are that I should be able to pick up my iPad without it cracking, so surely this is a defect in workmanship (which the Apple warranty covers)? However they are having none of it and stating that because it is physical damage then it is not covered. I'm outraged by this quite frankly, the simple act of picking up my 3 month old iPad and they want to charge me £200 to fix it! Surely this should be covered, surely the sale of goods act comes into play here, which states that any item should be of reasonable quality, fit for purpose etc?

Without actually saying it, Apple are saying that its my fault, implying I dropped it or whatever (which I absolutely did not). So is the onus on me to prove it is a defect, or them that I damaged it? Do any other consumer rights apply here? Any advice much appreciated.

Many thanks,

An infruiated Apple customer.

Apple's warranty may not cover physical damage but the Sale of Goods Act recognises no such nonsense.

But to exercise your rights under the SOGA you need to deal with the retailer, not the manufacturer, hence neilmcl's question above. If you bought it from Apple then you need to (politely) tell them to stuff their warranty where the sun don't shine and that you expect them abide by the law in respect of the SOGA. If you didn't buy it from Apple then you need to be having a similar conversation with the retailer.

juggsy

neilmcl wrote: »

Was Apple the retailer? Can you prove you didn't drop it or the fault wasn't caused by your misuse?

It was bought from Dixons at Heathrow T5 airside, but as the ultimately the warranty is with Apple I'm hoping this doesn't matter.

In terms of proving I didn't drop it, there is no impact point and the crack is under the glass, but not sure if that's enough. It goes back to my previous question though on whether the onus on me to prove I didn't drop it, or whether they need to prove I did?

xsunnysuex

juggsy wrote: »

It was bought from Dixons at Heathrow T5 airside,

You need to take it back to Dixons as your contract is with them. It might be a better outcome for you too. As they may just replace it with a new one. I took my daughters phone back to argos last week and it was replaced straight away with no arguement.

CoolHotCold

You won't be able to take it back to dixons as they have no physical stores.

Take it into your nearest PcWorld/Currys or phone the helpline on the Dixons website.

As it's a cracked screen be very prepared to fight. Dixons may pick it up and arrange a repair with Apple, and if their engineers say "Accidental damage due to X" then your only option is to get a 3rd party independent report stating it isn't accidental damage and see what Dixons do then, and maybe even go to small claims.


I do got put my point in here, you won't find a reputable independent repairer who will say "manufacturing fault" as cracked screens are pretty open and shut cases, so if Dixons do sent it to Apple/Repair centre and they comeback stating User damage, bite the bullet and pay apple the £200 to replace the iPad.


If it cracked within the first week or so, perhaps, but after 3 months, you probably put too much pressure or damage it without knowing.

bazster

juggsy wrote: »

It was bought from Dixons at Heathrow T5 airside, but as the ultimately the warranty is with Apple I'm hoping this doesn't matter.

It does matter, it matters a lot. You have no contract with Apple and if their warranty says it isn't covered then it isn't covered.

You're gonna have to take it back to Dixons I'm afraid (but I'm sure it doesn't have to be airside at Heathrow, which could be quite expensive to get to!)

ThumbRemote

juggsy, you need to understand the difference between a warranty and your statutory rights.

A warranty is (usually) offered by the manufacturer, and they can impose whatever terms or restrictions they want in it.

Your statutory rights are with the retailer, and include the sale of goods act. Retailers cannot get out of these.

If Apple have rejected you under the warranty, your claim is with Dixons under your statutory rights.

juggsy

ThumbRemote wrote: »

juggsy, you need to understand the difference between a warranty and your statutory rights.

A warranty is (usually) offered by the manufacturer, and they can impose whatever terms or restrictions they want in it.

Your statutory rights are with the retailer, and include the sale of goods act. Retailers cannot get out of these.

If Apple have rejected you under the warranty, your claim is with Dixons under your statutory rights.

Thanks ThumbRemote, appreciate the clarification. I guess I'm trying to convince Apple that as their warranty does cover 'defective materials/workmanship' then this situation should be mean the warrantly is applicable. However appreciate everyone's comments that as the contract is ultimately with Dixons/Currys, then the Sale of Goods Act has to be raised with them

I guess I thought I'd get a more sympathetic ear from Apple, specifically because a friend of mine actually dropped his iPhone and smashed the screen, and somehow got it replaced for free (and he had no extended Apple Care etc.). I've also read forums where people have dropped their iPads and had free replacements direct from Apple (despite purchase location), which is frustrating as I didn't drop or mishandle mine, it was just a freak occurence and yet Apple don't want to know .

Takeaway_Addict

if they have no records of your conversation then phone again, lay it on thick about how good you have heard their customer service is etc etc and you are hoping they can help you rather than you have to go back to Dixons who have no physical stores etc etc

No harm in trying is there

bod1467

And bear in mind ... up to 6 months from purchase SOGA says it is for the Retailer to PROVE any fault is due to misuse, NOT for the consumer to prove it was not.