9 ms·

"If you buy an Apple laptop, and need a repair, they'll fix it if it's in warranty, regardless of where you are." This can be misleading. I bought my Macbook A

"If you buy an Apple laptop, and need a repair, they'll fix it if it's in warranty, regardless of where you are." This can be misleading. I bought my Macbook Air in Portugal, had 2y warranty there. Then moved to the UK and the brick stopped working. Went to an Apple Store and since it was after the 1y warranty offered when you buy it in the UK, they rejected replacing it for me. Eventually went to Portugal to visit my family and got a new brick from the same store in 5 minutes. On a curious note, there's no Apple Stores in Portugal yet so in this particular case it was even more interesting to realise how much better help I got from a non-official store.

sambe 9y ago
There is (currently) a two-year EU-mandated warranty, Apple was even taken to court for not emphasizing this enough when selling AppleCare.
- blowski 9y ago
  They fixed the logic board of my 3 year old Macbook Pro. They quibbled at first, but agreed to do it free of charge after I quoted the EU legislation.
  - pc86 9y ago
    I'm confused, you quoted the 2-year support requirement and they then fixed your 3-year old laptop?
    - DamnYuppie 9y ago
      It is possible that it could be three years old but they had purchased it new and owned it less than 2 years. Just means that particular one sat in inventory for awhile.
    - blowski 9y ago
      The legislation doesn't have a fixed period, it provides a vague 'reasonable use for a reasonable period of time' type clause. This was a £1700 laptop, so I had a right to expect it to last longer than 3 years, which was supported by claims on Apple's website. Therefore, Apple either has to say "our laptops are only good for three years", or say that particular laptop was defective and fix it.
      - dahauns 9y ago
        > The [EU] legislation doesn't have a fixed period. Sure does: 2 years. http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guar...
        blowski 9y ago
        You are right! It's the UK implementation of the law that's more fuzzy.
        AlphaSite 9y ago
        The uk implementation is 4/5 years depending on your region.
    - germanier 9y ago
      Some countries, including the UK, have longer requirements in national law.
- jhasse 9y ago
  Do you know since when it's two-years? Apple's warranty has been (still is?) only one year in Germany IIRC.
  - germanier 9y ago
    For a long time. Note that there is a difference between the manufacturer's warranty (voluntary) and the seller's warranty (two years mandatory, "Gewährleistung" in German). When Apple talks about their warranty they mean the former. They even have a page outlining the difference: https://www.apple.com/de/legal/statutory-warranty/ https://www.apple.com/de/legal/statutory-warranty/
    - Kurtz79 9y ago
      "For further information please contact the seller" It is kind of cheeky, since in most cases for Apple products, the seller is also Apple.
- iaskwhy 9y ago
  Relevant: https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guar... I still don't understand how these make sense together...
  - Kurtz79 9y ago
    It is perfectly clear to me, in the very link you have posted: "This 2-year guarantee is your minimum right. National rules in your country may give you extra protection: however, any deviation from EU rules must always be in the consumer's best interest." (which is the case of UK law).
    - iaskwhy 9y ago
      From your reply I understand you didn't notice the second link, probably due to my bad formatting. Compare your analysis of the first link with what Apple states in the second. I don't understand how they can say it.
      - Kurtz79 9y ago
        I saw the link, but I thought your issue was with the 2/6 year thing. I still don't see any problem. Apple states that you get 1 year of "Apple" warranty, which allows you to get your product serviced by Apple, at no cost, independently of where you bought it. Beyond that date UK law will apply, but since it applies to the seller, and not the manufacturer, they say to contact the seller (as I said in another post, a bit cheekily, since they will be also the seller in many cases). Unless of course you buy Apple Care, that will allow the same level of service as the 1 year warranty...
- kilburn 9y ago
  Notice that this only applies to B2C transactions. Company-bought products do not have that protection.
- lloeki 9y ago
  Detail worth knowing: under the EU warranty the first year is covered by the manufacturer, the second by the reseller. If you buy a MacBook outside an Apple Store, after the first year you're supposed to bring it back to the place you bought it. There is even a difference between ordering it online through apple.com and buying it at the brick and mortar Apple Store as those are legally not the same. In practice though I have never had a problem having it fixed on the spot at an Apple Store but this is mostly because Apple cares about their customers.
  - merb 9y ago
    plain wrong. there is a 2-year warranty within 6 months the seller needs to actually prove that it worked correct. after that you (buyer) need to prove it. there is __never__ a warranty (under law, the manufacturer can make a special guarantee like apple care of course) between the manufacturer and the buyer (at least in the eu and might change if seller == manufacturer) the warranty is always between the _seller_ and the _buyer_. if the seller is something like amazon than you give your defective product back to amazon (amazon than of course has the same warranty between his seller/manufacturer). b2b is the same (but also has some special rules and might be (more) country dependant). ( Source: http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guar... German EU LAW: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:31999L0044 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX... (99/44/EG) ) Edit: Well the most important fact of course is that there is no "eu law" there are just policies that the countries than can enforce/make a law out of it (http://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-making-process/overview-law-making-process/applying-eu-law_en http://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-making-process/overview-law...) well european can than make claims against the country, but sometimes they even fail to do that.
    - detaro 9y ago
      Of course there can be a manufacturer warranty, there just isn't a legal requirement for one (and it can have rules like "talk to the dealer if you bought it recently, we cover you only when you can't go through them anymore")
- fulafel 9y ago
  Many EU countries have protections stronger than this. Eg after 2 years you might have a right to compensation proportional to expected product life.
specialist 9y ago
Brick means the power adapter? I've gotten 4 or 5 replacements, for free. I always have spares (instead of carrying them with me). So always claim "Dude, weird, I just bought this a few months ago." Given the past drama, I think Apple just swaps them, to avoid any further bad PR. And, frankly, these adapters should last forever. For comparison, I don't think I've ever replaced an HP or Dell adapter.
- babuskov 9y ago
  I never replaced those either, but HP adapter did melt the plastic cover on one of my laptops and I started to see the naked wiring (on the DC side). I bandaged it with some tape.
  - lostlogin 9y ago
    Pre MagSafe I used to see a lot of Apple laptops with gaping holes around the power adaptor from various accidents. RIP MagSafe.
AlphaSite 9y ago
In the UK it's 5 years, so even then.
- tyfon 9y ago
  Same thing in Norway. Mobile phones also have a 5 year warranty here as you "should expect them to last this long" according to a court ruling.
gurkendoktor 9y ago
> in this particular case it was even more interesting to realise how much better help I got from a non-official store. I don't think that's an outlier. In my experience, going to an Apple Store is always more frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive (if you are buying upgrades) than going to an authorised reseller.
personlurking 9y ago
Good to know. I'm about to buy an MBA in Portugal. IIRC, there's an authorized retailer in Lisbon (Chiado). Warranty-wise, I wonder how buying one there factors in vs. getting one from anywhere that sells them new (like FNAC).
goatforce5 9y ago
I bought a MacBook in the UK and some time later when I was in the US they keyboard became faulty. I walked in to a US Apple store and explained the problem. The Genius person agreed there was a fault and then started tapping away at their computer. He umm'ed and ahh'ed and called over a manager. At this point I was thinking they were going to reject the warranty repair for some reason, but the manager ended up apologizing that they didn't have any UK-style MacBook replacement keyboards in stock, and they couldn't work out how to order the part in on their US system. As it happens I had moved to the US, so getting a US keyboard was actually a bonus. I told them I was happy with a US keyboard, and 10 minutes later I was leaving the store with it installed in my MacBook.
- pixelcloud 9y ago
  counter example. I had to take my MacBook in three times durnig its life, for the same issue (wifi/bt issues because of aircard connection to VM) Every single time I was told to make an appointment. Which take about 3 days to get. They took the laptop and spend a week fixing it (every time!) My experience at Multiple Apple stores in Southren Ontario.
  - hrrsn 9y ago
    I believe after the third repair, they'll replace the entire machine with a new model.
- ultimoo 9y ago
  Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference in the UK style keyboard vs the US style keyboard? Is the 4/$ replaced with the 4/£ key? Wouldn't this be problematic when programming (for example variable substitution on the shell etc.)?
  - TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
    There are quite a few differences. You can see what they are by looking at the Keyboard prefs in MacOS and loading different localisations. 4/$ still works, but some of the other symbols are in different places.
mgkimsal 9y ago
Counter experience (but it was 2009). I bought a used white macbook from craigslist in 2008. I'm from the US, and live in the US. Was traveling in UK, and laptop keyboard cracked - big hole in the side of the keyboard. Took it to Apple store in London - forget which one - replaced at no cost in about 3 hours. EDIT: per goatforce5's comment, I had a bit of 'umm' and 'ahh' when I was in London. I thought it would be "out of warranty", but it was the same thing - "not sure we have any parts to fit the US keyboard". They did find one, but that was the potential hold up.
- camus2 9y ago
  > Was traveling in UK, and laptop keyboard cracked - big hole in the side of the keyboard. Took it to Apple store in London - forget which one - replaced at no cost in about 3 hours. Same thing happened to me (white Macbook, cracks on the keyboard). AFAIK it is a known defect from this series and Apple accredited repair shops were instructed to replace the keyboard for free no matter if the warranty was still valid or not. It's still a good thing though, I know no other brand that would do that for free 4 years after the warranty expired (in my case).
nailer 9y ago
> If you buy an Apple laptop, and need a repair, they'll fix it if it's in warranty, regardless of where you are. The reason I wrote that is because I've purchased multiple MacBook Airs in the US and Apple UK has always serviced them. Obviously your experiences are different.
WhiteOwlLion 9y ago
So, how does the reverse work? If I buy a laptop in UK with 1 year, can I go to Portugal and get service between year 1 and year 2 because they offer 2 year warranty? There may be a chance I suppose...?

sambe 9y ago

There is (currently) a two-year EU-mandated warranty, Apple was even taken to court for not emphasizing this enough when selling AppleCare.

blowski 9y ago
They fixed the logic board of my 3 year old Macbook Pro. They quibbled at first, but agreed to do it free of charge after I quoted the EU legislation.
- pc86 9y ago
  I'm confused, you quoted the 2-year support requirement and they then fixed your 3-year old laptop?
  - DamnYuppie 9y ago
    It is possible that it could be three years old but they had purchased it new and owned it less than 2 years. Just means that particular one sat in inventory for awhile.
  - blowski 9y ago
    The legislation doesn't have a fixed period, it provides a vague 'reasonable use for a reasonable period of time' type clause. This was a £1700 laptop, so I had a right to expect it to last longer than 3 years, which was supported by claims on Apple's website. Therefore, Apple either has to say "our laptops are only good for three years", or say that particular laptop was defective and fix it.
    - dahauns 9y ago
      > The [EU] legislation doesn't have a fixed period. Sure does: 2 years. http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guar...
      - blowski 9y ago
        You are right! It's the UK implementation of the law that's more fuzzy.
        AlphaSite 9y ago
        The uk implementation is 4/5 years depending on your region.
  - germanier 9y ago
    Some countries, including the UK, have longer requirements in national law.
jhasse 9y ago
Do you know since when it's two-years? Apple's warranty has been (still is?) only one year in Germany IIRC.
- germanier 9y ago
  For a long time. Note that there is a difference between the manufacturer's warranty (voluntary) and the seller's warranty (two years mandatory, "Gewährleistung" in German). When Apple talks about their warranty they mean the former. They even have a page outlining the difference: https://www.apple.com/de/legal/statutory-warranty/ https://www.apple.com/de/legal/statutory-warranty/
  - Kurtz79 9y ago
    "For further information please contact the seller" It is kind of cheeky, since in most cases for Apple products, the seller is also Apple.
iaskwhy 9y ago
Relevant: https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/ http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guar... I still don't understand how these make sense together...
- Kurtz79 9y ago
  It is perfectly clear to me, in the very link you have posted: "This 2-year guarantee is your minimum right. National rules in your country may give you extra protection: however, any deviation from EU rules must always be in the consumer's best interest." (which is the case of UK law).
  - iaskwhy 9y ago
    From your reply I understand you didn't notice the second link, probably due to my bad formatting. Compare your analysis of the first link with what Apple states in the second. I don't understand how they can say it.
    - Kurtz79 9y ago
      I saw the link, but I thought your issue was with the 2/6 year thing. I still don't see any problem. Apple states that you get 1 year of "Apple" warranty, which allows you to get your product serviced by Apple, at no cost, independently of where you bought it. Beyond that date UK law will apply, but since it applies to the seller, and not the manufacturer, they say to contact the seller (as I said in another post, a bit cheekily, since they will be also the seller in many cases). Unless of course you buy Apple Care, that will allow the same level of service as the 1 year warranty...
kilburn 9y ago
Notice that this only applies to B2C transactions. Company-bought products do not have that protection.
lloeki 9y ago
Detail worth knowing: under the EU warranty the first year is covered by the manufacturer, the second by the reseller. If you buy a MacBook outside an Apple Store, after the first year you're supposed to bring it back to the place you bought it. There is even a difference between ordering it online through apple.com and buying it at the brick and mortar Apple Store as those are legally not the same. In practice though I have never had a problem having it fixed on the spot at an Apple Store but this is mostly because Apple cares about their customers.
- merb 9y ago
  plain wrong. there is a 2-year warranty within 6 months the seller needs to actually prove that it worked correct. after that you (buyer) need to prove it. there is __never__ a warranty (under law, the manufacturer can make a special guarantee like apple care of course) between the manufacturer and the buyer (at least in the eu and might change if seller == manufacturer) the warranty is always between the _seller_ and the _buyer_. if the seller is something like amazon than you give your defective product back to amazon (amazon than of course has the same warranty between his seller/manufacturer). b2b is the same (but also has some special rules and might be (more) country dependant). ( Source: http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guar... German EU LAW: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:31999L0044 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX... (99/44/EG) ) Edit: Well the most important fact of course is that there is no "eu law" there are just policies that the countries than can enforce/make a law out of it (http://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-making-process/overview-law-making-process/applying-eu-law_en http://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-making-process/overview-law...) well european can than make claims against the country, but sometimes they even fail to do that.
  - detaro 9y ago
    Of course there can be a manufacturer warranty, there just isn't a legal requirement for one (and it can have rules like "talk to the dealer if you bought it recently, we cover you only when you can't go through them anymore")
fulafel 9y ago
Many EU countries have protections stronger than this. Eg after 2 years you might have a right to compensation proportional to expected product life.

specialist 9y ago

Brick means the power adapter? I've gotten 4 or 5 replacements, for free. I always have spares (instead of carrying them with me). So always claim "Dude, weird, I just bought this a few months ago." Given the past drama, I think Apple just swaps them, to avoid any further bad PR. And, frankly, these adapters should last forever. For comparison, I don't think I've ever replaced an HP or Dell adapter.

babuskov 9y ago
I never replaced those either, but HP adapter did melt the plastic cover on one of my laptops and I started to see the naked wiring (on the DC side). I bandaged it with some tape.
- lostlogin 9y ago
  Pre MagSafe I used to see a lot of Apple laptops with gaping holes around the power adaptor from various accidents. RIP MagSafe.

AlphaSite 9y ago

In the UK it's 5 years, so even then.

tyfon 9y ago
Same thing in Norway. Mobile phones also have a 5 year warranty here as you "should expect them to last this long" according to a court ruling.

gurkendoktor 9y ago

> in this particular case it was even more interesting to realise how much better help I got from a non-official store. I don't think that's an outlier. In my experience, going to an Apple Store is always more frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive (if you are buying upgrades) than going to an authorised reseller.

personlurking 9y ago

Good to know. I'm about to buy an MBA in Portugal. IIRC, there's an authorized retailer in Lisbon (Chiado). Warranty-wise, I wonder how buying one there factors in vs. getting one from anywhere that sells them new (like FNAC).

goatforce5 9y ago

I bought a MacBook in the UK and some time later when I was in the US they keyboard became faulty. I walked in to a US Apple store and explained the problem. The Genius person agreed there was a fault and then started tapping away at their computer. He umm'ed and ahh'ed and called over a manager. At this point I was thinking they were going to reject the warranty repair for some reason, but the manager ended up apologizing that they didn't have any UK-style MacBook replacement keyboards in stock, and they couldn't work out how to order the part in on their US system. As it happens I had moved to the US, so getting a US keyboard was actually a bonus. I told them I was happy with a US keyboard, and 10 minutes later I was leaving the store with it installed in my MacBook.

pixelcloud 9y ago
counter example. I had to take my MacBook in three times durnig its life, for the same issue (wifi/bt issues because of aircard connection to VM) Every single time I was told to make an appointment. Which take about 3 days to get. They took the laptop and spend a week fixing it (every time!) My experience at Multiple Apple stores in Southren Ontario.
- hrrsn 9y ago
  I believe after the third repair, they'll replace the entire machine with a new model.
ultimoo 9y ago
Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference in the UK style keyboard vs the US style keyboard? Is the 4/$ replaced with the 4/£ key? Wouldn't this be problematic when programming (for example variable substitution on the shell etc.)?
- TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
  There are quite a few differences. You can see what they are by looking at the Keyboard prefs in MacOS and loading different localisations. 4/$ still works, but some of the other symbols are in different places.

mgkimsal 9y ago

Counter experience (but it was 2009). I bought a used white macbook from craigslist in 2008. I'm from the US, and live in the US. Was traveling in UK, and laptop keyboard cracked - big hole in the side of the keyboard. Took it to Apple store in London - forget which one - replaced at no cost in about 3 hours. EDIT: per goatforce5's comment, I had a bit of 'umm' and 'ahh' when I was in London. I thought it would be "out of warranty", but it was the same thing - "not sure we have any parts to fit the US keyboard". They did find one, but that was the potential hold up.

camus2 9y ago
> Was traveling in UK, and laptop keyboard cracked - big hole in the side of the keyboard. Took it to Apple store in London - forget which one - replaced at no cost in about 3 hours. Same thing happened to me (white Macbook, cracks on the keyboard). AFAIK it is a known defect from this series and Apple accredited repair shops were instructed to replace the keyboard for free no matter if the warranty was still valid or not. It's still a good thing though, I know no other brand that would do that for free 4 years after the warranty expired (in my case).

nailer 9y ago

> If you buy an Apple laptop, and need a repair, they'll fix it if it's in warranty, regardless of where you are. The reason I wrote that is because I've purchased multiple MacBook Airs in the US and Apple UK has always serviced them. Obviously your experiences are different.

WhiteOwlLion 9y ago

So, how does the reverse work? If I buy a laptop in UK with 1 year, can I go to Portugal and get service between year 1 and year 2 because they offer 2 year warranty? There may be a chance I suppose...?