Getting compensation from Apple

Sam10000

Hey guys, quick question. This is not a warranty issue.

My wife had a problem with her new iPhone she bought at an Apple Store. The guy selling it gave her an O2 contract SIM when she was on PAYG, which I (now) understand they are not allowed to do - the reason being that it can become corrupted, as it did here. This has caused my wife considerable problems, requiring hours upon hours of telephone calls to Apple and visits to Apple and O2 to try and resolve it. She has had three different iPhones (refurbs) and four different O2 SIMS.

We would like to try our luck at seeking compensation from Apple for the time spent and the distress (and potentially O2 for not identifying the issue properly, although Apple is more to blame). I would consider that the original item was not fit for purpose due to the faults, although I suppose it is arguable whether the faults belong to the SIM card rather than the phone.

Any suggestions on how to go about it? I'd prefer to do it in writing or by telephone rather than complaining at the Apple store, if possible. Has anyone had any luck with getting a penny out of Apple for something like this?

grumbler

Sam10000 wrote: »

My wife had a problem with her new iPhone she bought at an Apple Store. The guy selling it gave her an O2 contract SIM when she was on PAYG,

"Gave"?
I am sure Apple don't simply "give" contract sims away.

which I (now) understand they are not allowed to do - the reason being that it can become corrupted,

I don't think that a sim can 'corrupt' a phone, but surely Apple have obligations to sort everything out with their phone.

Have they done this at last?

We would like to try our luck at seeking compensation from Apple for the time spent and the distress (and potentially O2 for not identifying the issue properly, although Apple is more to blame). I would consider that the original item was not fit for purpose due to the faults, although I suppose it is arguable whether the faults belong to the SIM card rather than the phone.

SoGA says that Apple had to sort the problems "within reasonable time" and "without causing you significant inconvenience".

Any suggestions on how to go about it? I'd prefer to do it in writing or by telephone rather than complaining at the Apple store, if possible. Has anyone had any luck with getting a penny out of Apple for something like this?

It isn't clear what you want besides the 'compensation'. Send them a letter before action stating clearly your demands and giving them, say, 10 days to meet them. If they refuse submit a claim to the SCC. It's a different question whether the judge finds your demands reasonable.

MSE articles:

• Consumer Rights Armour
• Small Claims Court

macman

Forget pursuing a claim like this by phone, it has to be in writing by recorded delivery.
Though I'm quite unclear on what basis you are claiming..

gjchester

Sam10000 wrote: »

The guy selling it gave her an O2 contract SIM when she was on PAYG,
...
She has had three different iPhones (refurbs) and four different O2 SIMS.

Apple sell O2 PAYG sims they do not sell contracts so first you'd need to find out why they had O2 contract sims to give away. Even if you put a Contract SIM that's not assigned to an active contract in a phone it won't cause problems just report that the SIM is unregistered.

That said three phones and four sims suggests is more an account issue than a hardware issue, and so O2 at fault , its very unlikely that a SIM can corrupt a phone, and when they fail they tend to become inoperable, and even more unlikely that they can corrupt an account at the network end.

Your first problem is to work out exactly what the issue is and then try and find out who's to blame.