Buying online and via phone the APPLE scam 4 January at 9:28PM in Consumer rights 10 replies 434 views

Sive

I purchased a left AirPods Pro earphone from a telephone number as per the Apple site as I could not complete it online. I had lost mine so simply wanted to purchase another. The purchase was on 30th December 2022. The left AirPod cost me £96.44. They arrived on the 3rd January 2023 and so I checked Apple's returns policy which clearly says a full refund will be issued if items are returned with 14 days. I had by this stage found my lost AirPods. I was told I could not return the goods as it was a replacement and that internal processes (which customers are not privy to and that Majella (Apple Europe) could not direct me to or forward me this) means that this was a ‘replacement purchase’ so there would be no refund. Nowhere on their site do they indicate that the 14 day cooling off period does not apply to some items. I was told this is an internal rule. have I made a purchase via web page and telephone call and believe that it is my right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations that they offer a refund under the 14 day cooling off period. 

They told me to send this complaint by writing and this I will do.

 

 

 

elsien

Which country did you buy them from? 

DullGreyGuy

Guess this is part of their self service repairs now? On unrelated matters the Mrs lost 1 of her expensive earrings, they were a natural material and so a random spare one wouldnt necessarily look like a pair... was very surprised that the company charged 35% of the retail price for its replacement and took about 3 months to supply it saying they struggled to find a suitable match (I am taking this to be a real reason not a delay tactic)... if these could be ordered online you'd save 30% ordering two spares!


Doesn't matter what their internal policy etc is, you entered into a new contract to purchase an item so your statutory rights under the CCR apply

HillStreetBlues

Sive said:

I purchased a left AirPods Pro earphone from a telephone number as per the Apple site as I could not complete it online. I had lost mine so simply wanted to purchase another. The purchase was on 30th December 2022. The left AirPod cost me £96.44. They arrived on the 3rd January 2023 and so I checked Apple's returns policy which clearly says a full refund will be issued if items are returned with 14 days. I had by this stage found my lost AirPods. I was told I could not return the goods as it was a replacement and that internal processes (which customers are not privy to and that Majella (Apple Europe) could not direct me to or forward me this) means that this was a ‘replacement purchase’ so there would be no refund. Nowhere on their site do they indicate that the 14 day cooling off period does not apply to some items. I was told this is an internal rule. have I made a purchase via web page and telephone call and believe that it is my right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations that they offer a refund under the 14 day cooling off period. 

They told me to send this complaint by writing and this I will do.

Did you ask for a return, or to cancel the contract under CCR?

Manxman_in_exile

Yes - did you clearly inform Apple that you were cancelling as per your rights under The Consumer Contracts (etc) Regulations, or were you just returning them under what you describe as "Apple's returns policy"?  (See s29 and s32 The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (legislation.gov.uk) )

Also, under the regulations you have up to 14 days after receipt of the goods to inform Apple that you are cancelling the order, and then a further 14 days in which to return them. See s35(4).

And if Apple didn't inform you of your statutory right to cancel, I believe the cancellation period can be extended by up to a year.  See s31(1).

Of course, if you didn't order from Apple in the UK all this might be academic as it might not apply...

sheramber

You cannot buy one airpod so what you got was a replacement under the repair service.

https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/sales-support/terms/repair/generalservice/servicetermsen/

2.5 Refunds. Except as described in the Warranty and Limitation of Liability section below, Apple does not provide refunds for service orders.

Manxman_in_exile

sheramber said:

You cannot buy one airpod so what you got was a replacement under the repair service.

https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/sales-support/terms/repair/generalservice/servicetermsen/

2.5 Refunds. Except as described in the Warranty and Limitation of Liability section below, Apple does not provide refunds for service orders.

Serious question - does that necessarily override The Consumer Contract Regulations?  The very next section (3. Warranty and Limitation of Liability) seems to expressly say that the national legislation of your own country may give you additional rights.

Also, you might not be able to buy one airpod, but that's what the OP thinks he did when he paid Apple £96.44 for a new one.

Why wouldn't it count as a sales contract under the legislation?  

“sales contract” means a contract under which a trader transfers or agrees to transfer the ownership of goods to a consumer and the consumer pays or agrees to pay the price, including any contract that has both goods and services as its object;

As I say, it's a serious question why this transaction wouldn't be subject to the right of cancellation.

sheramber

You need to ask Apple that as  that is their conditions of supplying a replacement product. 

I am not saying it is right or wrong. Only showing the OP that they do cover this in their service terms as he said their was no mention of it on the site.

DullGreyGuy

sheramber said:

You need to ask Apple that as  that is their conditions of supplying a replacement product. 

I am not saying it is right or wrong. Only showing the OP that they do cover this in their service terms as he said their was no mention of it on the site.

You could but the reality will be its effectively legal advice you are asking and the average call centre/store agent isnt going to be trained for that but instead will tow the line of our T&Cs are what they are.

But no, you cannot be forced to waive your statutory rights in the CCR... however...  you can clearly manipulate things to avoid them such as having the contract bound under a different legal jurisdiction or potentially managing to make it the sale of a service rather than goods etc.

Various warranty providers have done very similar to ensure they dont fall within the legal definition of insurance and all the rights you'd get if you were buying an insurance policy -v- a warranty.

HillStreetBlues

Manxman_in_exile said:

Serious question - does that necessarily override The Consumer Contract Regulations?  The very next section (3. Warranty and Limitation of Liability) seems to expressly say that the national legislation of your own country may give you additional rights.

Also, you might not be able to buy one airpod, but that's what the OP thinks he did when he paid Apple £96.44 for a new one.

Why wouldn't it count as a sales contract under the legislation?  

“sales contract” means a contract under which a trader transfers or agrees to transfer the ownership of goods to a consumer and the consumer pays or agrees to pay the price, including any contract that has both goods and services as its object;

As I say, it's a serious question why this transaction wouldn't be subject to the right of cancellation.

I'm only surmising here, if Apple ( or whoever the OP had the contract with)  had  to link it with the other AirPods Pro, could then that be classed as being personalised so exempt?

But if it was one was simply taken off the shelf I can't see how CCR wouldn't apply.

Off Topic
I wish the Consumer Contract Regulations was  called something else as when I type the acronym I get "Bad Moon Rising" stuck in my head.

DullGreyGuy

HillStreetBlues said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

Serious question - does that necessarily override The Consumer Contract Regulations?  The very next section (3. Warranty and Limitation of Liability) seems to expressly say that the national legislation of your own country may give you additional rights.

Also, you might not be able to buy one airpod, but that's what the OP thinks he did when he paid Apple £96.44 for a new one.

Why wouldn't it count as a sales contract under the legislation?  

“sales contract” means a contract under which a trader transfers or agrees to transfer the ownership of goods to a consumer and the consumer pays or agrees to pay the price, including any contract that has both goods and services as its object;

As I say, it's a serious question why this transaction wouldn't be subject to the right of cancellation.

I'm only surmising here, if Apple ( or whoever the OP had the contract with)  had  to link it with the other AirPods Pro, could then that be classed as being personalised so exempt?

But if it was one was simply taken off the shelf I can't see how CCR wouldn't apply.

Off Topic
I wish the Consumer Contract Regulations was  called something else as when I type the acronym I get "Bad Moon Rising" stuck in my head.

They dont so a moot point but given they can be reprogrammed again and so even if they did I would struggle with the idea of it being personalisation... its not like having your name engraved in something which is then permanent.

CRA is the one that annoys me... for most my life that was a Credit Reference Agency