[drissa]

My 8-core MP has died. No graphics output. My friend and I looked over it and think it could be more than the graphics card - possibly the motherboard.

My friend is insistent that, the MP being a premium product, I can draw on wider European consumer rights and push strongly for Apple to repair it without charge. I understand the concept of the warranty and the point of Apple Care, but also expect longer than one year from Apple's high-end machine.

Any experiences or advice?

Thanks

[cms]

Unfortunately where Apple is concerned here in Europe, it truly depends who you get to talk to. Some AppleCare staff are excellent and really do seem to care about Apple's reputation and overall customer satisfaction. Others couldn't give a monkeys. So it's all a bit of a lottery. Your friend is absolutely correct in that you can claim on your EU consumer rights and I do agree that you should be able to expect a longer life from such an expensive product. Best advice is to prepare for a bit of a battle but stick to your guns and make sure you understand your rights fully. Also, get on with it quick – if it's really only a matter of weeks then Apple might be prepared to stretch a bit – I've seen it happen. It is amazing how ignorant people are of their EU consumer rights here in the UK but I believe it is more widely understood and invoked elsewhere in Europe.

[Spheric Harlot]

Get on the phone with Apple, and above everything else, remember that the people on the phone are humans with a natural tendency to be friendly to people who are friendly to them.

IOW, a little human touch and desperation will get you WAY farther than pulling the lawyer card.

The other point is that the extended EU consumer rights are going to do squat in this case - they're designed to protect you from design errors and production defects (a.k.a. "lemons"), and simply do not apply to cases where the initial failure occurs this late in the game.

So whatever Apple can and will do for you - and I certainly expect them to if it's really "several weeks", rather than "several months" - will be purely in the name of customer satisfaction.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by cms 

Your friend is absolutely correct in that you can claim on your EU consumer rights

Originally Posted by cms 

It is amazing how ignorant people are of their EU consumer rights here in the UK but I believe it is more widely understood and invoked elsewhere in Europe.

Case in point, I'm afraid.

[cms]

Ref. previous post:

This is a case in point:

Hidden EU warranty rule helps shoppers get refunds | This is Money

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by drissa 

My friend is insistent that, the MP being a premium product, I can draw on wider European consumer rights and push strongly for Apple to repair it without charge. I understand the concept of the warranty and the point of Apple Care, but also expect longer than one year from Apple's high-end machine.

I hope it works out for you, drissa, but this is why independent Apple technicians I have spoken to who get no direct benefit from the purchase of AppleCare will say that it's silly not to get it, especially for high-end hardware. If you have AppleCare you're usually treated like a king and I've heard that sometimes a good authorized repair tech will replace even user damaged parts, but if not, then not so much.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by cms 

Ref. previous post:

This is a case in point:

Hidden EU warranty rule helps shoppers get refunds | This is Money

That's a very weird link.

They explain how stuff is and claim that due to the new EU directive, it's all completely different, and then link to a Word document that say absolutely nothing of interest, but gives a link to the actual directive:
EUROPA - Consumer Affairs -Sale of Goods and Guarantees

And the salient quote here (IANAL) is

Rights of the consumer

1. The seller shall be liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists at the time the goods were delivered.

Emphasis mine.

The lack of conformity with the sales contract MUST EXIST AT THE TIME OF THE SALE. In other words, it's a defective product or a manufacturing, design, or materials flaw.

Everybody refers to this passage:

Time limits

1. The seller shall be held liable under Article 3 where the lack of conformity becomes apparent within two years as from delivery of the goods. If, under national legislation, the rights laid down in Article 3(2) are subject to a limitation period, that period shall not expire within a period of two years from the time of delivery.

But that ONLY addresses flaws which exist AT THE TIME OF DELIVERY.

And this is determined as follows:

3. Unless proved otherwise, any lack of conformity which becomes apparent within six months of delivery of the goods shall be presumed to have existed at the time of delivery unless this presumption is incompatible with the nature of the goods or the nature of the lack of conformity.

In other words, if the problem shows up after more than six months, it's up to you to prove that it was a manufacturing/design/materials defect, else the seller owes you nothing.

ALSO: The EU warranty applies to the SELLER of goods, not the manufacturer. So if you wanted to go EU warranty claim route, and you didn't buy the machine directly from Apple, they couldn't really care less about what you might want or not.



The EU warranty regulations DO NOT MEAN what consumers commonly assume them to mean. This ignorance is encouraged by the media, but it makes actually dealing with misinformed and irate customers rather difficult - or easier, if start shouting about sicing their lawyers on you.

[Doc HM]

I can add to this that the Apple person who picks up the phone first will absolutely not be authorised or even particularly willing to extend a courtesy repair to you. These level one people have almost no autonomy in the decision making process. If (when) you get nowhere, make sure you (politely) as to be transferred up to a supervisor, who will be able to help.

If you are calm and civil I can't see them not helping you. I have had three customers who had iMacs that were several months (one was six months) over warranty but suffering graphics card issues. All three of them had their Macs replaced by Apple with no trouble at all once they got to speak to the right person.

Good Hunting.

[drissa]

Just to update...

Hats-off to Apple - once through to customer services, they sent me a new graphics card free of charge and everything is sorted.

[Spheric Harlot]

Excellent!

[Simon]

Good story. Nice to hear Apple still offers this kind of great CS.