Apple maintenance accused of frequent violations of the Five Overlord Terms

Enjoyed too many glorious Apple products, but this time it fell into the eyes of consumers questioned.

The Consumers Association of China announced a joint contract with the Consumers Association of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Jiangsu, Shandong, and other provinces yesterday (June 19th) in response to consumer complaints about unfair contract terms in Apple’s maintenance contracts. "Reviews" refers directly to the five unfair terms in the "APPLE Maintenance Terms" and "iPhone Repair Report."

"Daily Economic News" reporters found that maintenance disputes caused by Apple's "Overlord Clause" have been non-cases, and some consumers said that they tried to talk with Apple but faced great difficulties. If Apple does not rectify the relevant situation, it may trigger the investigation and punishment of the local industrial and commercial departments.

Apple's "word game"

This "Comments on the Unfair Forms of Apple Maintenance Contracts" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions") jointly issued by China Consumers Association etc. mentioned five items: repairs available refurbished parts, belonging to the old parts; maintenance caused damage to the product Only pay for repairs; transport damage is not free maintenance; overdue did not take the machine, as a waiver of ownership; self-limited liability scope.

Regarding the provisions of “reserve available refurbished parts, ownership of old parts”, comments commented that the concept of parts and components was confused, and the legal responsibilities within and outside the “three guarantees” period were confused, and consumers were unaware of maintenance. Under the premise of real parts and components, a blanket and general choice was made to infringe the consumer's right to know and to choose their own right.

In an article on “Product Damage in Special Cases, such as Product Damage Caused by Maintenance or Transportation,” Apple has also been challenged to exempt it from liability.

Comments commented that maintenance caused damage to the product only to pay for repairs, is Apple's own limited scope and amount of repair damages, reduce and eliminate the company's liability to compensation, limiting the consumer to obtain compensation rights. According to China's "Contract Law" and "Consumer Protection Law," the relevant provisions should be invalid clauses. At the same time, "transport damage can not be repaired free of charge" does not distinguish between specific circumstances, and generally eliminates its own responsibilities and is obviously unfair.

For overdue maintenance after the repair, Apple said in the terms, this will be regarded as consumers give up product ownership, and consumers also need to bear the daily storage fee of 10 yuan. Comments commented that this "is not only without any legal basis, but also suspected of illegally appropriating the legal property of others."

In Article 5 of the "APPLE Maintenance Terms", Apple also limited the scope of its own responsibility to make alternatives to consumers. Comments commented that this ruled out the rights of consumers and should be regarded as invalid.

"The text is a bit harsh, and Apple's terms are a bit like playing 'word games'." Attorney Jiang Suhua of Beijing Yingke Law Firm said in an interview with the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that Apple did not clarify the contract body and will impose on the terms of the consumer. Written as commercial terms. When consumers purchase Apple products, they generally do not go over the terms of Apple, nor do they have the ability to coordinate. This makes consumers relatively vulnerable.

Zhao Occupy, chief legal advisor of China Network Legal Network, believes that there are many obvious unfairnesses in the maintenance clauses. It can be seen that Apple lacks basic respect for consumers and there are many direct violations of the maintenance clauses. For example, the use of refurbishment parts for maintenance violates the statutory “Three Guarantees” obligation. If overdue non-acquisition of aircraft is deemed as abandonment of ownership, it is a violation of China’s “Guarantee Law.” As a multinational giant, Apple did not abide by the laws of the Chinese market as it had imagined.

"Daily Economic News" reporter tried to contact the head of Apple's public relations department by telephone and text message yesterday, but as of this writing, no reply has been received.

Frequent maintenance disputes across the country

China Consumer Relations Association issued the above comments on Apple's comments.

"Daily Economic News" reporter found that as early as April of this year, the Consumers Association of Jiangsu Province received consumer complaints about Apple's maintenance services, which was one of the reasons for the comments. After the release of yesterday’s comments, the Jiangsu Association of Consumers published the full text on its official website.

In an interview with reporters, Li Xiaojuan, the deputy secretary-general of the Jiangsu Association of Consumers and Consumers, said that the association had conducted an in-depth investigation and the comments included information they learned.

Li Xiaojuan said that it was a complaint from an Apple consumer that triggered the cancellation of investigations in Jiangsu Province.

It is understood that Nantong Gu Gu consumers bought an iPhone4 at the end of last year. Due to the malfunction of the talker, on March 15th this year, Mr. Gu sent his mobile phone to a maintenance company in Nantong, Apple. Since it is still under warranty, the repair company indicated that he could replace a new mobile phone for him.

When Mr. Gu agreed to take his mobile phone, he discovered that the so-called “new mobile phone” was not packaged, had no certificate, no manual, and no date of manufacture. Moreover, after a few days of use of the "new mobile phone," there were apparent overheating problems and frequent failure of the talker.

Seeing that Apple’s mobile phone repair statement contained a “new or refurbished part for repairing and replacing parts”, Mr. Gu suspected that this “new mobile phone” was a “refurbished machine,” but Apple’s customer service staff was based on the date of manufacture and was classified as confidential. Due, refused to provide relevant information. Mr. Gu complained to the Association of Consumers in Nantong City and later went to the Jiangsu Association of Consumers.

"Although there is no statistics, according to our in-depth investigation, the above situation is not a case." Li Xiaojuan told the reporter of the "Daily Economic News" that not only Jiangsu, but also other consumer associations in Tianjin and other provinces and cities have also reflected similar situations. Tianjin Consumer Association is also one of the joint publishers of this comment.

In Shandong Province, China's first lawsuit on rights protection of Apple products was formally filed on the afternoon of June 18. The iPodtouch4, which is still under warranty, was sent to the maintenance department for maintenance. In the maintenance report dated May 26, the repairer confirmed that Mr. Bi's warranty for replacement of the machine was only 90 days from May 26, 2012. This led to Mr. Bi's dissatisfaction. He entrusted the lawyers to file lawsuits against the maintenance company and Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

"Since it is to replace the new aircraft with the plaintiff, it should be stipulated by the State's Three Guarantees and be guaranteed for one year, instead of setting a 90-day maintenance period on its own." Mr. Bi's attorney, Ma Liwu, told reporters yesterday that he understood this. Classes are not uncommon.

Hard and hard "apple" apple

In the process of consumers safeguarding their own rights and interests, Apple's attitude has caused many questions. The interviewees all stated that they could not find an apple matchmaker, making it difficult for local consumer associations to find a breakthrough to negotiate.

Lawyer Ma Liwu told the reporter of “Daily Economic News” that before the lawsuit was filed, the Shandong Consumers’ Association had intervened in mediation, but it had no effect. In addition to contact with the maintenance company, communication with Apple can only be carried out through customer service.

“The attitude of customer service is relatively poor and we cannot always talk effectively.” Ma Liwu said that every time he communicates with customer service on the phone, he is “kicked and kicked like a ball.” Each time he has answered more than four people, he has Can't solve the problem. The Consumers Association of Shandong Province has twice sent official e-mails and express delivery to Apple on the request of Apple's official website.

Jiangsu Consumer Association also encountered the same problems. It is understood that the Consumers Association had called the Apple Service Hotline provided on the "iPhone Repair Report." Apple asked the company to explain the issue of the complaint. The answer was that there was no phone call to the relevant department or person in charge. The service hotline also provides an email address that can only be reached by email. On May 2, 2012, the Consumers Association of Jiangsu Province sent an interview letter to the e-mail address. Apple was asked to contact and interview him before May 8, but it has not responded.

Li Xiaojuan disclosed that on May 24th this year, Jiangsu and Nanjing Associations of Consumers went to Apple's service provider office in Nanjing to inquire and verify the maintenance report terms and the implementation of maintenance reports. The service provider said at the time that the maintenance report was Apple's unified production, and will soon use the new maintenance report, some of which will be changed.

On June 5, the above-mentioned service provider provided the Consumers Association of Jiangsu Province with a revised maintenance report issued by Apple, indicating that "the maintenance report was provided by Apple." However, the Consumers Association believes that the new report still has problems.

Li Xiaojuan disclosed that the new report cancelled the clause in the original report “Replacement of Replaced Parts with New or Reconditioned Components” to avoid or obscure the company’s corresponding responsibilities. In addition to the “refurbished parts” no longer appearing, the new report is more demanding in terms of custodial responsibilities. Apple said in the report that the company is not responsible for any custodial responsibilities if it is notified after delivery and it is overdue.

According to the Jiangsu Consumers Association, in addition to the adoption of new reports in Nanjing, old reports are still used in Suzhou, Nantong, and other regions.

For Apple's above-mentioned practice, Li Xiaojuan believes that it is "reducing its own obligations and increasing consumer responsibilities."

Or triggered the investigation of business

In fact, Apple’s global customer policy is not just a problem of “soil and water” in China.

According to foreign media reports, Apple's mobile phones that were previously replaced by faulty mobile phone users in South Korea are almost all second-hand refurbished machines, rather than brand-new mobile phones. The company also does not provide free repair or refund services, which once triggered the ire of Korean iPhone users. Later, at the request of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, on September 14, 2011, Apple agreed to revise the iPhone's service policy in the country. Users can find new handsets free of charge after purchasing the iPhone. This also made South Korea the first country in the world to persuade Apple to change its global customer policy.

“Overseas, multinational corporations generally pay more attention to consumer rights and interests, but in the country, it is exactly the opposite.” Zhao Occupy, chief legal advisor of China’s network law network, said that in some countries in Europe and the United States that are more concerned with protecting consumer rights, relevant laws have to be dealt with more seriously. The power of consumer rights defense groups is relatively strong and can also bring class actions on behalf of consumers. The above-mentioned maintenance issues of Apple in China are only promoted by consumer associations. Consumer associations are only industry organizations. Without enforcement power, they cannot bring class actions on behalf of consumers. He suggested that the most effective way is to investigate and deal with the industrial and commercial departments, require Apple to correct deadlines, or fine.

It is understood that on May 29th, 2012, the above-mentioned Nantong maintenance companies used unequal format contracts in their mobile phone repair services to exempt their legally liable responsibilities and other violations. Nantong City Administration of Industry and Commerce had already imposed administrative penalties.

Li Xiaojuan disclosed that the Jiangsu Association for Consumer Affairs has communicated with the provincial industrial and commercial department. If Apple does not regulate the above behavior, the industry and commerce departments will investigate and handle the case.

The comments included the participation of the China Consumers Association and the Consumers Association of 6 provinces and cities. Zhao Occupied that if Jiangsu Province starts investigation, other provinces and cities may follow suit.