Australia set up a sting operation and caught Apple technicians lying red-handed

[William Gayde]

Court documents in Australia have revealed a sting operation carried out by the nation's consumer watchdog group. They caught Apple staff misleading customers on their rights after the famous "error 53" glitch. Apple officially stated that the error was caused by repairs carried out by unofficial repair shops and released a patch shortly after.

The investigation, which started in late 2014, was lodged this year following numerous customer complaints over the error. Apple did eventually release a fix that would unbrick phones for users who had gotten repairs at non-licensed repair shops. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

The Guardian reports the case will go to trial in December and encompasses more than just error 53. It alleges Apple employees told customers they were not entitled to a free repair even when the specific repair was not related to error 53 (a screen or speaker repair for example). The ACCC posed as iPhone customers with a broken speaker and called all 13 Apple retailers in Australia. Under Australian law, consumers have the right to a replacement or free repair if their product is faulty or of unacceptable quality.

While Apple has been silent about the pending case, court documents show they are strongly denying the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's claims. Apple has faced similar lawsuits in the United States over error 53 and repair associated with it. Those cases were thrown out last year.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/69588-australia-set-up-sting-operation-caught-apple-technicians.html

 

[Squid Surprise]

So what was the "lie" that Apple techs were caught saying?

Apple is not granting people free repairs, so by saying that the affected users "were not entitled to a free repair", they were telling the truth... just being jerks...

 

[Uncle Al]

Appears to be a simple case of fraud ... maybe they will be good enough to elaborate .....

 

[Raoul Duke]

"Under Australian law, consumers have the right to a replacement or free repair if their product is faulty or of unacceptable quality."
"The ACCC posed as iPhone customers with a broken speaker and called all 13 Apple retailers in Australia."
"Apple employees told customers they were not entitled to a free repair even when the specific repair was not related to error 53 (a screen or speaker repair for example)."
so to summarize:
1. under law, Apple is obligated to fix or replace faulty phones.
2. every Apple retailer told their customers they were not entitled (when they were by law) to said repair or replacement
3. Apple has broken the law and are being taken to Court

 

[Squid Surprise]

"Under Australian law, consumers have the right to a replacement or free repair if their product is faulty or of unacceptable quality."
"The ACCC posed as iPhone customers with a broken speaker and called all 13 Apple retailers in Australia."
"Apple employees told customers they were not entitled to a free repair even when the specific repair was not related to error 53 (a screen or speaker repair for example)."
so to summarize:
1. under law, Apple is obligated to fix or replace faulty phones.
2. every Apple retailer told their customers they were not entitled (when they were by law) to said repair or replacement
3. Apple has broken the law and are being taken to Court

1) I suspect that Apple never admitted that the phones were faulty... they probably claimed that the failures were due to other causes...
2) Which, if the phones weren't faulty, would be the truth...
3) That would be for a court of law to decide....

--> And courts in other countries have already thrown similar cases against Apple out of court.... so unless there is more information that we haven't been given in this article (which could very well be the case), Apple has done nothing illegal... just immoral...

My problem is with this article's clickbait title, not the actual case against Apple...

 

[Raoul Duke]

Absolutely Squid Surprise, it is for a court to decide.

 

[Deevo]

You should understand that Australian consumer law is much more comprehensive than that of most developed countries. Consumers are very well protected.
Sellers cannot set terms for warranties. For example all electronics have a one year warranty by law. If the device is faulty the manufacturer must repair or replace the device or refund the full purchase price, and the choice of which option is used is the buyers and not the sellers.
There is further protection also. If the item is considered to be durable goods (and mobile phones fall into this category) warranty protection extends to what is considered to be the reasonable expected life of the goods. For mobile phones this is three years and consumers can exercise this protection.
The ACCC never takes a case to court unless they are sure they are going to win, and being as they set the consumer law they always do. Apple will lose no matter how much it postures and protests. It can carry on as much as it likes about the terms of its warranties but if their terms are not in accord with Australian consumer law (and they're not) they will be paying a very hefty fine.

 

[Kotters]

So what was the "lie" that Apple techs were caught saying?

Apple is not granting people free repairs, so by saying that the affected users "were not entitled to a free repair", they were telling the truth... just being jerks...

"Under Australian law, consumers have the right to a replacement or free repair if their product is faulty or of unacceptable quality."

Read the article next time?

 

[Squid Surprise]

"Under Australian law, consumers have the right to a replacement or free repair if their product is faulty or of unacceptable quality."

Read the article next time?

"1) I suspect that Apple never admitted that the phones were faulty... they probably claimed that the failures were due to other causes...
2) Which, if the phones weren't faulty, would be the truth...
3) That would be for a court of law to decide...."

Next time read my entire post

 

[SamuraiSamson]

Even if the lawyers are able to prove that this constitutes fraud Apple would have to pay a fine which would not even make a dent to their bottomline. Monetary punishments seem to have no effect on the predatory actions of these tech giants. Unless some kind of suspension from the markets takes place for anti consumer activities expect nothing but the worst from these c***s.

 

[merikafyeah]

I first heard of Error 53 from Louis Rossman, and it is indeed bullsh|t that should be illegal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tOaWuvTjFg

In the U.S. I think there was a class-action lawsuit over this, but sadly class-action lawsuits don't actually help consumers, only lawyers.

 

[Godel]

"Under Australian law, consumers have the right to a replacement or free repair if their product is faulty or of unacceptable quality."

Read the article next time?

"1) I suspect that Apple never admitted that the phones were faulty... they probably claimed that the failures were due to other causes...
2) Which, if the phones weren't faulty, would be the truth...
3) That would be for a court of law to decide...."

Next time read my entire post

No, even for apple to make such a claim is against the law. For example, many stores have been fined for displaying signs like "No refunds or replacements" which are seen as an attempt to deceive consumers about their rights.

 

[Kotters]

"1) I suspect that Apple never admitted that the phones were faulty... they probably claimed that the failures were due to other causes...
2) Which, if the phones weren't faulty, would be the truth...
3) That would be for a court of law to decide...."

Next time read my entire post

I did. Please kindly re-read my post, wherein I have quoted the entirety of the post I was responding to. Thanks.

 

[TechHeadKeta]

What a surprise. What a "society" we live in.