Faulty Apple Watch

JonathanB

I bought an Apple Watch in December 2021 from Argos, paying with vouchers/gift card which I bought through a work scheme.

Yesterday it stopped working and won’t charge. It has no more than wear and tear you’d expect for a 13-month old watch.

Argos support chat have washed their hands of it. I quoted the Consumer Rights Act 2015 saying that I thought that it was not fit for purpose for a reasonable length of time, but they weren’t interested.

I’m pretty sure Apple won’t be interested as it’s over a year old and I didn’t have extra AppleCare.

Do I have any sort of case for any sort of redress?

MikeJXE

I don't matter where you bought it from

Your best chance is the Apple Store, if it's hardware issue it's out of warranty but you never know if it's only 13 months old.

If it's the software Apple will fix it free of charge.

You have nothing to lose 

DullGreyGuy

Yes, but against Argos and their customer service.

At the end of the day there is no harm in asking Apple and they may be able to tell you what the problems is. Unfortunately they display a clear bias towards those that buy from them but then again your rights are with your retailer and so potentially it's only fair that they do. 

MikeJXE

DullGreyGuy said:

Yes, but against Argos and their customer service.

At the end of the day there is no harm in asking Apple and they may be able to tell you what the problems is. Unfortunately they display a clear bias towards those that buy from them but then again your rights are with your retailer and so potentially it's only fair that they do. 

I always used to by from an Apple Store but more recently JL because of their warranty, Apple have never refused me with software issues 

JonathanB

Sadly getting to an Apple Store is a pain.

I suppose I’ll start by writing to Argos and see where that goes. I guess in theory they ought to refund/replace and claim from Apple or at least get Apple to repair. I’m not expecting much help from either to be honest.

MikeJXE

JonathanB said:

Sadly getting to an Apple Store is a pain.

I suppose I’ll start by writing to Argos and see where that goes. I guess in theory they ought to refund/replace and claim from Apple or at least get Apple to repair. I’m not expecting much help from either to be honest.

Your choice but your best bet is still the Apple Store a pain or not it will be a big loss if you don't get any joy from Argos. 

The longer you leave it the worse the pain 

powerful_Rogue

JonathanB said:

Sadly getting to an Apple Store is a pain.

I suppose I’ll start by writing to Argos and see where that goes. I guess in theory they ought to refund/replace and claim from Apple or at least get Apple to repair. I’m not expecting much help from either to be honest.

You'll need to get a report highlighting that it had a fault at purchase that has only just manifested itself. If you goto Apple for this, I very much doubt they will say their product had an inherent fault. They will probably also say 'Had you purchased direct from us, we would have replaced this', but take that with a pinch of salt.

If you get said report, Argos can repair, replace or refund. They get to choose the most cost appropiate method. If they offer a refund, they can deduct for the 13 months use you have had. They would also refund the cost of the report if it's in your favour.

sheramber

I had a battery develop a fault after three years and the Apple Genius Bar replaced it free of charge. 

I did buy the laptop from Apple.

jon81uk

powerful_Rogue said:

JonathanB said:

Sadly getting to an Apple Store is a pain.

I suppose I’ll start by writing to Argos and see where that goes. I guess in theory they ought to refund/replace and claim from Apple or at least get Apple to repair. I’m not expecting much help from either to be honest.

You'll need to get a report highlighting that it had a fault at purchase that has only just manifested itself. If you goto Apple for this, I very much doubt they will say their product had an inherent fault. They will probably also say 'Had you purchased direct from us, we would have replaced this', but take that with a pinch of salt.

I've actually been told before in the Apple Store that I should have bought from John Lewis to get the two year warrenty, so its not always better to buy direct.

JonathanB

I thought I’d come back and update this post as I have a resolution!

After the useless support chat I penned a letter to Argos head office which I sent signed for so that I had proof of delivery. The following week I received an email with an offer of £327 (The purchase price of £399 less £72 for the 13 months usage, which I felt was fair) if I got a report stating that it was faulty, they also offered to pay for such a report. Finally I got to the Apple Store yesterday who were incredibly helpful and agreed it was a dud and wrote me a note referring back to the retailer - they didn’t charge for this. I emailed this to my contact at Argos and today went into an Argos store (well an Argos in Sainsburys as most of them are) with the watch and printouts of the correspondence and they processed the refund without any fuss! I’m just waiting to see it appear on my credit card now.

TL;DR: After writing a letter and getting the watch looked at by Apple, Argos have made a reasonable partial refund.