Last January, the belgian consumer association Test-Aankoop said it would take Apple to courts for not respecting the laws regarding warranties. Apple was indeed not very clear with its customers concerning warranties, telling them they only had one year for free. However, European laws say sellers must provide buyers with a two-year warranty starting on the delivery date (which unfortunately too many people don’t know).
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. Directive 1999/44/CE of the European Parliament, Article 5
Let’s not forget Apple charges its customers to extend their warranty to 2 (iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple TV) or 3 years (Mac and Apple screens). The case was even brought before the Commercial Court of Brussels. Thankfully, we can now see on Apple’s website that their warranty policy has (finally) changed:
[Warranty for Apple products is] 2 years (minimum) from date of delivery, 5 years in Scotland and 6 years in the rest of the UK
Here’s Test-Aankoop‘s reaction:
It’s surprise for us, since we initiated legal actions against Apple in this regard Jean-Philippe Ducart, spokesperson for Test-Aankoop
We can say this is a pretty nice surprise which will probably restore some of Apple’s image among consumers :-)
Sources: La Libre
