Advice regarding consumer rights claim vs Apple (on a MacBook Pro)

LawBoy2018

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118221834#Comment_118221834

Costs aren't awarded in the small claims court afaik.

travist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118221875#Comment_118221875

Agree. Let me rephrase /explain... I want to start a small claim for a faulty good purchased in a store. The store is referring me to the manufacturer. The manufacturer isn't entertaining cause item is out of warranty. Should my claim be against the retailer or manufacturer?

bmwfan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222553#Comment_118222553

your contract is with the reseller not the manufacturer

Ardeehey

Any update Op? Been sitting on the edge of my seat to hear what happens next!!

rm212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118256703#Comment_118256703

They’re still being super slow and stalling. Courts have given me a new hearing date automatically for Jan so hopefully that forces Apple to speed things up a little bit with their “investigation” as they call it.

All through this they’ve been holding on to my device too.

cnocbui

None of this surprises me. The insulation on the power cable of my MBPR started disintegrating at about 18 months. I tried contacting them but they said it's out of warranty, pay for a service consultation. I replied that under EU regs, the warranty was at least 2 years and said I'd take them to the SCC. That got a shift and they said they would send me a new one, but first asked me to buy a new power supply from them for €85 and send the old one to them for verification of the fault and would refund me if it was confirmed.

They did eventually refund me a couple weeks later, but insisted the whole process was not something they were obliged to do and that they were doing me a favour. 🙄

Of course the insulation on the new cable disintegrated in about 14 months, so my MBPR has been running on a third party power supply and cable for a few years now.

I still find it incredible that Apple's European headquarters are here, and yet there is no Apple store, which has significant ramifications for repair costs. The battery in my MBPR degraded to the point of needing replacement. The cost via an Apple store in the Uk was around £250. The cost here via Compu-B was quoted to me as €700.

Bought one from China via Aliexpress for about $47 and fitted it myself, together with a s/h cooling fan that was rattling and death-buzzing and a s/h mag-safe connector.

I have bought many Apple products and the failure rate is astonishingly high. About the only devices that didn't die an early death are a G5 iMac, an ipod nano and an imagewriter II printer, but I seem to recall that was made by Okidata, so that would explain why it was well made and didn't fall apart.

I wish you the very best of luck. Appalling company.

rm212

FINALLY we have it done and dusted, repair inbound!

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299048#Comment_118299048

Ahh here - one line is not gonna cut it, give us more info. This is like a really crap film where they solve everything in the last 5 minutes

rm212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118299070#Comment_118299070

Hahaha I'm sorry! They made me sign something to not discuss the specifics of the settlement unfortunately :( Was nothing too exciting, came after an extended period of silence from their end.

bmwfan

the whole idea is to drag it out

if they have 100 people come at them using the sale of goods act and they have enough hoops they end up with 2 or 3 that will see it out

whippet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118291212#Comment_118291212

This is a flip opposite to my experience with apple products .. I have had many many devices over the past 20 years and the only items I've ever needed to get any warranty work on have been an original iPod nano, airpod pros and a iPhone 3GS

in that time I've had every second generation iPhone ... about 5 iPods, 6 different laptops, two iMacs, Apple TV's ... etc

fael

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118300248#Comment_118300248

Glad to see it's resolved. Unfortunately this is a typical outcome of the legal department getting involved, dragging it out and not admitting fault. But you have been reasonable the whole way through and I'm glad you persevered.

SCC is absolutely fantastic, the only way to enforce companies to adhere to the law.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118322052#Comment_118322052

Mac SE (1987) - died

Powerbook Ti - died; and needed the wifi card replacing - twice! Hinges failed and had to be replaced.

Macbook 13" unibody - CDROM drive out of spec - died - (battery swelled up broke the trackpad and then died itself)

iPhone 5 - battery failed and lost capacity - subject to extended warranty/replacement program but only found out after replacing the battery.

iMac G4 - wifi card failed

iMac 23" - display light badly degraded

iPod 3rd gen - HD failed, battery degraded severely - sued in the US, ordered to replace, didn't extend program outside the US.

Macbook Pro retina 15" - pwer supply cord failed, replacement power supply cord failed. Mag safe connector failed, fan died. In the first couple of years, it would crash about once a month, and sometimes more frequently. After several years, they seemed to have fixed OSX and the firmware and it became less frequent.

The only things that have given no trouble and performed to spec and as one would expect, given the cost, are an iPhone 8, an imagewriter II, an iPod nano and iPod Touch.

Apple's products are appealing, but usually have manufacturing and design defects and do not have a manufacturing quality and operational longevity that justifies the price. I have been buying their products for 34 years

rm212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118322235#Comment_118322235

Thank you, I'm glad I persevered too - couldn't let it go on principle alone! Yes, the SCC was excellent here, no chance I got it sorted without it. I should have skipped the 2 months of Apple shoving me back and forth before ending with a big fat 'no' and gone for the SCC claim sooner! :)

applechancers

Very happy I found this forum.

On Friday just gone I faced Apple in the small claims court for the EXACT issue with the backlight (#Flexgate) on a Macbook Pro 15 inch Touchbar model that I purchased from Apple.ie in September 2017. I submitted my claim in April 2021 and went through months of back and forth discussions/delays with a representative of Apple at Mathesons solicitors. My experience/discussions with Apple support, Apple executive relations and their legal representatives was almost word-for-word the same as that of the creator of this thread. However, for whatever reason, Apple made the mistake of choosing not to settle with me and disputed this claim in court.

My case finally went to hearing on Friday and the judge awarded my claim! I provided sufficient evidence in the hearing to prove that this backlight issue was undeniably a MANUFACTURERS DEFECT.

As Apple did not settle this case outside of court, I signed no such waiver that requires me to keep my mouth shut about this defect and dispute. I am therefore eager to spread the word of this case and it's judgement to as many people as possible having the same issue with their Macbook Pro.

If anyone reading this thread is experiencing the flexgate issue, I cannot urge you enough to open a claim against Apple (should they refuse to repair it or accept responsibility). Apple will likely contact you in advance of the hearing to offer a "free inspection" as part of their settlement. Under no circumstances should you accept this as a settlement as its only intent is to get your device into their hands so that they can fabricate a "technical issue" with your device and use it to their advantage in a hearing, regardless of its accuracy. Should you submit a claim, DO NOT SETTLE for anything short of full acceptance of responsibility from Apple and a guaranteed repair/remedy.

I would be delighted to share the details of my case to anyone that may make use of it as my experience with Apple throughout the entire process was nothing short of SHADY and DECEITFUL. To summarise: if anyone reading this forum has the flexgate issue on a 2016/2017/2018 Macbook Pro purchased in Ireland, please submit your claim now! There is more than enough evidence out there to convince a judge that this is a manufacturers defect. 😃

bmwfan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573189#Comment_118573189

Well done and nice update

Did you get a full refund of the purchase price, I had similar with dell but they failed to show up and I was awarded a full refund in default that they refused to pay until the sheriff called

applechancers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118577574#Comment_118577574

Unfortunately not a full refund no, I decided to claim for the price that Apple quoted me to repair the job out of pocket (a ridiculous 770 Euro) and the judge ordered that this amount be paid to me although I am still not sure if I will go to Apple to conduct the repair as I'm not exactly trustworthy of them at this stage. I have a feeling Apple will refuse to pay this amount to me on time and I will have to contact the sheriff also!

loughrey

It's really great to see that you succeeded but that was a lot of hassle they put you through. It is a good example of why Applecare is still a good idea in Ireland and why we shouldn't automatically assume the 6 year legal guarantee is the same thing for free because Apple can really make it very difficult and there's never a guarantee that the judge will always rule in our favour or that this outcome with Apple will always be the case, especially if the device isn't in good condition and Apple can use it as an excuse in tut court to get out of it. You may have been lucky because your device was in great condition and that this is a known and well documented issue across the world that Apple knows you could use in court as evidence of a widespread issue with this model.

pleasant Co.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119177193#Comment_119177193

Given the timeframe put forward by the OP, AppleCare would have lapsed - leaving you with the same hassle of dealing with Apple via the SCC and being down the additional €400 for AppleCare.

Jdoe

Hi folks, apologies for resuscitating a (semi) old thread. Looking for some advice on the same topic.

Background:

• Bought MacBook Pro 2016 13 inch (2 thunderbolt port) on January 16, 2017. Making it just over 5 and a half years old.
• Never had an issue until a week ago when the display started glitching like crazy.
• For some reason I thought it might be software related based on things I was reading online so tried a spectrum of troubleshooting options until I reached the dreaded factory reset today.
• 
  
• I only came across this ‘Flexgate’ issue this afternoon and fortunately/unfortunately it seems to align with the issue I’m having with the display.
• I believe apple started the service program 21 May 2019. The terms are that for free repair, it must be within 5 years of the initial sale of the unit or 3 years from the start date of the program.

Problem:

• I am outside of both conditions by 6 months and 2 months respectively. Should I cut my losses or is this worth following up?

C J

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119400137#Comment_119400137

Glad you did resuscitate it! I am having the same problem with my MacBook.

C J

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573189#Comment_118573189

I would love more information. I am in England but have same issue. Would like to pursue. I have just joined the forum. Is there a way for you to direct message me with details?

applechancers

Not sure at all what you should do. I’m pretty sure that you are within your rights to open a claim but it’s definitely possible that, even though it’s within the timeframe of statutory consumer law, the age of the device may harm your defense - but seems to be completely at the judges discretion.

If I were you I would open the claim regardless, it’s only €25. Even if you were unlikely to win I would still happily attend the hearing because it can go two ways: you win and Apple are down the remand and solicitors fees or if you lose Apple still have to waste solicitors fees and time defending themselves.

I know that is totally petty 😅 I genuinely wouldn’t care tho given that Apple are shady enough to refuse to admit fault. Only thing is if the hearing proceeds it will be in cork - so depending on where you are that can be a pain. I had to drive 4.5 hours to attend my hearing and spend €100 ish in expenses just to be there, so I would have been rightly sour if I spent all that just to lose.

Apologies for the rant, it really is entirely up to you, but if you do decide to go ahead with it I would be more than happy to offer more details on my case or share evidence that I used to secure a win.

applechancers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119517446#Comment_119517446

DM’d you!

daoirse_

Hey,

Would OP or anyone else be able to DM me more info on how to get apple to repair my Mac. Like others, was going great but the display started losing brightness.

Today, the screen went completely blank and no only works when opened at an acute angle.

Thanks! :)

Gru

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119562581#Comment_119562581

the exact same happened my 2016 Macbook pro (with the touchbar) in feb 2019, i had bought it in Compu b luckily for me, so they fixed it, and apple paid them for it, they fought for it under warranty so i didn't have to pay. they said it was a common problem and they were seeing lots of it,

since repair in 2019 so far i've had zero issues with the screen. (still have the sticky keyboard problem)

Louise11

@applechancers would you be able to send me the details of your claim please? I have the same issue but I’m in the U.K. I hope your details could be useful here though.

Thanks 😀

Nicetrustedcup

.cc

RurtBeynolds

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119177193#Comment_119177193

Your take away from this thread is that we should just pay hundreds extra for Apple care??? Ffs.