John Lewis

Sadaboutthetree

I bought an Apple MacBook laptop from John Lewis in 2021. It has been fine until now, but the screen has developed a fault that makes it unusable. I took it to Apple as the local John Lewis has closed. They said that it was a fault that, had we bought it directly from Apple they would have fixed free of charge ‘under consumer law’ were their exact words. So I checked this out and on the government website it says I am covered 6 years after purchase. So I went back to John Lewis. They refused at first, now they have said if we return the laptop they will give me £400 (the MacBook cost £1500 4 years ago). Or they will pay £250 towards the £598 cost of repair. John Lewis keep asking me to get evidence from Apple. I go back to Apple who say, they consider it covered under UK consumer law and can’t understand why JL don’t think it is. Anyone got any ideas to help resolve this impasse please?

Aylesbury_Duck

Sadaboutthetree said:

I bought an Apple MacBook laptop from John Lewis in 2021. It has been fine until now, but the screen has developed a fault that makes it unusable. I took it to Apple as the local John Lewis has closed. They said that it was a fault that, had we bought it directly from Apple they would have fixed free of charge ‘under consumer law’ were their exact words. So I checked this out and on the government website it says I am covered 6 years after purchase. So I went back to John Lewis. They refused at first, now they have said if we return the laptop they will give me £400 (the MacBook cost £1500 4 years ago). Or they will pay £250 towards the £598 cost of repair. John Lewis keep asking me to get evidence from Apple. I go back to Apple who say, they consider it covered under UK consumer law and can’t understand why JL don’t think it is. Anyone got any ideas to help resolve this impasse please?

It's not an impasse.  JL have made two offers, one of which (the partial refund) seems in line with your consumer rights for a three year old device.  You have no consumer rights with Apple, your consumer rights lie with JL.  JL are entitled to ask for evidence of the fault and that it wasn't caused by you.  The fact they're prepared to partially refund you without that evidence goes beyond their obligations to you, so you need to decide whether to accept either of the remedies they've offered, or pay someone to independently inspect it and see if you can get better offers from JL.

Ergates

JL are acting in accordance with consumer law.  Not necessarily in the most helpful manner but they're not breaching it.

It seems JL have accepted the fault is inherrent (i.e. not caused by something you did), which the report from Apple probably helped with.

They are then obliged to repair or replace the item.  However, if the cost of doing so is inordinate they can, instead, offer a refund.  If you've had an item more than 6 months, they can reduce the amount offered for the time you've had the product.  There is no fixed timescale for this, but 6 years is commonly quoted.  If you've had the laptop for 3-4 years then you might expect an approx. 50%-66% reduction (depending on when in 2021 you bought it etc).  

I can see why they'd do this if Apple were going to charge them nearly £600 for a repair.   Apple obviously woudln't charge *themselves* that, which is why they might have been more inclined to repair it.

You could try negotiating with them on the amount, as £400 seems a little low - If you work out exactly how long you've had it, calculate the % of 6 years that is then deduct that from the purchase price.

Or, consider the repair.  It's £350 for a working laptop, but a 4 year old one.

sheramber

 I am covered 6 years after purchase. 

That is not a guarantee.

 It is the time limit you have to make a claim your consumer rights which have been explained above.

km1500

another way of checking is to look at the price of a 4 year old macbook (eg eBay) - is £400 about right ?

Okell

Sadaboutthetree said:

... I took it to Apple as the local John Lewis has closed. They said that it was a fault that, had we bought it directly from Apple they would have fixed free of charge ‘under consumer law’ were their exact words....

Apple always say that.  It ain't true...

Sadaboutthetree said:

Sadaboutthetree said:

... So I checked this out and on the government website it says I am covered 6 years after purchase...

Have you got a link to that website, as that isn't what the law says?   (FYI any advice given on a .gov.uk website is often inaccurate)

Sadaboutthetree said:

... John Lewis keep asking me to get evidence from Apple. I go back to Apple who say, they consider it covered under UK consumer law and can’t understand why JL don’t think it is. Anyone got any ideas to help resolve this impasse please?

Apple don't know their elbow from any other part of their anatomy when it comes to their understanding of consumer rights.

In this case JL are more correct than Apple.  Nothing to stop you haggling for a better deal from JL.

(Under consumer law the burden of proof is on you after 6 months from purchase to prove that the item does not "conform" to contrcat.  One way of doing that is to get an "expert" report showing that - and that is why JL are asking you for evidence from apple.  You have to ask yourself why Apple don't want to do that.  But don't think too hard about it...)

GDB2222

I suspect that Apple are winding the OP up. 

Okell

GDB2222 said:

I suspect that Apple are winding the OP up. 

Obviously they are - just like they do with everyone else who didn't buy directly from Apple.  That's why I advised him not to think too hard about it...

born_again

If Apple were as good as they say their products are, then no matter where it was bought from they would fix the issue. 

Clearly they are not interested in keeping customers of their products happy, as they simply fob them off with bought it directly from Apple they would have fixed free of charge 

Well no matter where it was bought it is one of your products. Do the decent thing fix it & you have a customer happy to buy again.