Can I return a faulty tablet after 18 months?

neilmcl

Anteater23 said:

KatrinaWaves said:

Anteater23 said:

KatrinaWaves said:

Anteater23 said:

Argos managers also told me that 1 year warranty is all they offer and so the 2 year EU consumer law doesn’t apply.

The ‘EU 2 year law’ is actually superseded by the U.K. consumer rights act which gives 6 years to raise a case. This is not, however, a warranty where you can take it back within 6 years.

Side note: Apple always say ‘if only you’d have bought it from us...’ and they rarely put their money where there mouth is when you have bought from them... so don’t get hung up on that (and I’m an apple fan!)

Argos are not exempt from the laws but ignore the EU law. It is irrelevant here. As it is over 6 months from purchase you need a report stating that the fault you are experiencing is ‘Inherent’ (aka from manufacture something was wrong) and if you can get that, then you can use it to make Argos  replace, repair, or refund (taking into account your usage time) sadly I imagine the Apple ‘genius’ who told you it was will be unwilling to actually put that in a report, but you can ask. 

They wrote in their statement that this is a problem I have been experiencing from purchase and that they would have offered a replacement under EU consumer law had I purchased it from them directly.

is that good enough?

It seems slightly wishy washy with the ‘problem you have been experiencing’ rather than actually stating what the manufacturing fault is. That’s just parroting back what you told them rather than the results of any investigation into the fault. 

 Show/send it to Argos, see what they say, but they may require something a little more concrete than Apples sales pitch. 

When I had the meeting with Apple in store they said they believed there is an internal problem within my iPad and that I bought it with this condition. They also told me such a problem cannot be fixed by Apple and so the only choice would be to get a replacement.

Did you get all that in writing?

Anteater23

neilmcl said:

Anteater23 said:

KatrinaWaves said:

Anteater23 said:

KatrinaWaves said:

Anteater23 said:

Argos managers also told me that 1 year warranty is all they offer and so the 2 year EU consumer law doesn’t apply.

The ‘EU 2 year law’ is actually superseded by the U.K. consumer rights act which gives 6 years to raise a case. This is not, however, a warranty where you can take it back within 6 years.

Side note: Apple always say ‘if only you’d have bought it from us...’ and they rarely put their money where there mouth is when you have bought from them... so don’t get hung up on that (and I’m an apple fan!)

Argos are not exempt from the laws but ignore the EU law. It is irrelevant here. As it is over 6 months from purchase you need a report stating that the fault you are experiencing is ‘Inherent’ (aka from manufacture something was wrong) and if you can get that, then you can use it to make Argos  replace, repair, or refund (taking into account your usage time) sadly I imagine the Apple ‘genius’ who told you it was will be unwilling to actually put that in a report, but you can ask. 

They wrote in their statement that this is a problem I have been experiencing from purchase and that they would have offered a replacement under EU consumer law had I purchased it from them directly.

is that good enough?

It seems slightly wishy washy with the ‘problem you have been experiencing’ rather than actually stating what the manufacturing fault is. That’s just parroting back what you told them rather than the results of any investigation into the fault. 

 Show/send it to Argos, see what they say, but they may require something a little more concrete than Apples sales pitch. 

When I had the meeting with Apple in store they said they believed there is an internal problem within my iPad and that I bought it with this condition. They also told me such a problem cannot be fixed by Apple and so the only choice would be to get a replacement.

Did you get all that in writing?

Unfortunately they didn’t mention that explicitly in the report but the Apple Genius did say to me that verbally. I might go back to the Apple shop and ask if they put what they said verbally in writing so it can be clearer. This has their exact written report:
”

Problem Description/Diagnosis

Issue: Customer’s iPad display is not functioning properly. 
It is intermittently not picking up touch, and there is a light spot at bottom left hand corner. 
Steps to Reproduce: Verified at Genius Bar through visual inspection.
During use of iPad I could see that it was not picking up touch, especially around the edges of display. 
There is a clear white spot of light leakage at bottom left hand corner of display (with lightning port at bottom).
Cosmetic Condition: Good condition.
Customer has kept the iPad in a case from Day 1. 
No accidental damage or misuse. 
Proposed Resolution: As this issue has been happening since customer first bought the iPad, if it had been bought from Apple the iPad would have been replaced at no cost under EU Consumer Law. 
As the iPad is now outside of Apple’s one year limited warranty, a replacement would be at cost of £349. 

Advised customer to return to point of purchase (Argos) to see what their coverage options are under Consume Law.”

JJ_Egan

<Proposed Resolution: As this issue has been happening since customer first bought the iPad,>

That may be good enough for CR route via Argos .

Manxman_in_exile

JJ_Egan said:

<Proposed Resolution: As this issue has been happening since customer first bought the iPad,>

That may be good enough for CR route via Argos .

But that isn't an "independent report" is it?  The Apple "genius" doesn't know that - it's just what the OP has told them!  They haven't identified the cause of the fault.

The OP needs a written report from Apple saying the problem is caused by an inherent fault which was present in the machine at the time of sale.  Kudos to Apple if they do that...

Anteater23

Manxman_in_exile said:

JJ_Egan said:

<Proposed Resolution: As this issue has been happening since customer first bought the iPad,>

That may be good enough for CR route via Argos .

But that isn't an "independent report" is it?  The Apple "genius" doesn't know that - it's just what the OP has told them!  They haven't identified the cause of the fault.

The OP needs a written report from Apple saying the problem is caused by an inherent fault which was present in the machine at the time of sale.  Kudos to Apple if they do that...

Does independent report mean it can’t be from Apple? Who else would I go to?

Manxman_in_exile

No - it can be from Apple.  I was saying it wasn't "independent" in that the bit about the fault being present from purchase is not something Apple discovered from investigation - you told them it had been present from purchase!  Simply repeating what you told them is not independent of you.  Do you see?

You can get a report that there is a manufacturing fault from Apple, but will they put in writing that the fault is caused by or during their manufacturing process?

You can get a report from any independent "expert".

theonlywayisup

Anteater23 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

JJ_Egan said:

<Proposed Resolution: As this issue has been happening since customer first bought the iPad,>

That may be good enough for CR route via Argos .

But that isn't an "independent report" is it?  The Apple "genius" doesn't know that - it's just what the OP has told them!  They haven't identified the cause of the fault.

The OP needs a written report from Apple saying the problem is caused by an inherent fault which was present in the machine at the time of sale.  Kudos to Apple if they do that...

Does independent report mean it can’t be from Apple? Who else would I go to?

It can be from Apple.  The report you have doesn't give an actual fault and cause.  You need a report which outlines what the fault is and that the fault was inherent at time of purchase. 

Anteater23

theonlywayisup said:

Anteater23 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

JJ_Egan said:

<Proposed Resolution: As this issue has been happening since customer first bought the iPad,>

That may be good enough for CR route via Argos .

But that isn't an "independent report" is it?  The Apple "genius" doesn't know that - it's just what the OP has told them!  They haven't identified the cause of the fault.

The OP needs a written report from Apple saying the problem is caused by an inherent fault which was present in the machine at the time of sale.  Kudos to Apple if they do that...

Does independent report mean it can’t be from Apple? Who else would I go to?

It can be from Apple.  The report you have doesn't give an actual fault and cause.  You need a report which outlines what the fault is and that the fault was inherent at time of purchase. 

So should I go back to Apple? How would I get them to be more clear about the specific fault? The technician told me verbally that he believes I received the iPad with that fault and that the fault cannot be repaired. So frustrating.

KatrinaWaves

Anteater23 said:

theonlywayisup said:

Anteater23 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

JJ_Egan said:

<Proposed Resolution: As this issue has been happening since customer first bought the iPad,>

That may be good enough for CR route via Argos .

But that isn't an "independent report" is it?  The Apple "genius" doesn't know that - it's just what the OP has told them!  They haven't identified the cause of the fault.

The OP needs a written report from Apple saying the problem is caused by an inherent fault which was present in the machine at the time of sale.  Kudos to Apple if they do that...

Does independent report mean it can’t be from Apple? Who else would I go to?

It can be from Apple.  The report you have doesn't give an actual fault and cause.  You need a report which outlines what the fault is and that the fault was inherent at time of purchase. 

So should I go back to Apple? How would I get them to be more clear about the specific fault? The technician told me verbally that he believes I received the iPad with that fault and that the fault cannot be repaired. So frustrating.

Yes but he also said Apple weren’t going to do anything about it, so he had no need to say anything else or be more specific. 

If it had stated something like ‘it appears the solder between the touch point receptors is below the minimum required, and this could not have been affected by a drop or bang during use and was therefore present at manufacture ’ then that would work (I just made that up don’t come at me for my lack of tech knowledge)

currently all you have is ‘I can see the fault the customer is complaining about, and she’s always kept it in a case so it can’t have been her. But it’s not my problem so £349 please’

Manxman_in_exile

You can try telling Apple that you need a written report from them saying that the item is faulty, identifying that fault, and that the fault is one that was inherent (ie existed) in the product at the time of purchase.  If they can add that the fault is a common and well-known one, all the better.  Remind them what the "genius" has already told you.

If you can get such a report out of Apple (the manufacturer!) I don't see how Argos can ignore it.

I think your problem will be getting Apple to commit in writing to what they have told you.  (They may charge you for the report, but if they do, my understanding is you can claim that cost back from Argos - if it demonstrates an inherent fault).

Good luck with Apple!

EDIT:  The report does not have to be from Apple.  It can be from anyone qualified (whatever that may mean in practice) to examine the product and diagnose the cause of faults.