[UniMacTech] Fwd: Important changes to your Apple warranty

[Charlie Nancarrow]

I agree with Adrian,

Global manufacturers need to made aware of the Statutory warranty conditions that Australian consumers enjoy in Australia. The previously included 3 year warranty, under tri-care, mostly overlapped with the statutory warranty, which for most people would be at least 3 years for a computer of the quality and price that is Apple. The inclusion of this, made the whole process of obtaining warranty repairs much easier.

Without Tri-Care, in order to get a machine repaired that has failed within its useable life (say 3 years) will require lots of jumping up and down and spouting Trade Practices acts etc.

Luckily the ACCC provide some templates of letters of demand to make things a little easier.

Check their website for more information and a good read about Statutory warranties and what suppliers and manufacturers responsibilities really are.

Apple, at the very minimum, should be providing a different product for the Enterprise and Education sectors, covering hardware repairs only. As Adrian noted, we don''t need the other stuff in APP, and should not need to pay for this additional 'Service Agreement'.

And some links for your reading:

Warranties, guarantees & refunds
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/3863

Warranties and refunds
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/322947
This is the best and should be read by anyone buying stuff in Australia.
This also provides good template for a Letter of Demand.

Please read this from an official goverment body website and see that you are indeed covered. Depite these rights and protection for anything we buy, it does require quite a good deal of phone calls, arguments and generall ball breaking to get a Store or manufacturer to comply. They will eventually and have too. They will usually bow to pressure after you send them a Letter of Demand based on the template provided from this site.

We should really push global and international companies to heed to laws and practices that are written in law for legal sale of product and merchandise in this country.

If you don't have the time to read all the details of these docs (one is quite legal and technical the other is 'dumbed' down a bit and it quite readable) I have summarised below some points I picked up.

• 'Everything' you buy has a Statutory Warranty.
• There is no set time limit for this Statutory Warranty. 
• The 'Warranty' provided when you buy goods is voluntary and is in ADDITION to your Statutory Warranty.
• The manufacture is liable for any fault that occurs to your purchase within its resonable lifetime of use.
• So long as you follow manfacturers' reccomendations for servicing and use of a product you are coverred.
• The manufacturers' 'Warranty' is actually better known as a Service Agreement and provides for things like replacement policies and turn around times.
• A manufacturers' 'Warranty' cannot deny you any rights you have under the Trade Practices Act.
• You cannot be told you 'Should have' purchased a AppleCare or similar extended warranty for service and rights already covered by the 'Statutory Warranty'.

Examples provided on the site above

'In the ACCC’s view a consumer is entitled to a 
refund if a TV that could be expected to last at 
least 10 years develops a serious fault after 
12 months. 

A consumer would probably be more than 
satisfied with a two-year run from a $10 watch 
but not if it had cost $2000. 

If a consumer advises a store they are 
specifically seeking an ovenproof dish and one 
recommended by the store cracks when it is put 
in the oven, the dish is not fi t for the purpose 
for which it was supplied and the consumer is 
entitled to a refund.'


cheers,


Charlie Nancarrow
'All things Bright and Technical'
IT Unit - Humanities and Social Sciences
Latrobe University
________________________________________
From: unimactech-bounces at auc.edu.au [unimactech-bounces at auc.edu.au] On Behalf Of Adrian Smith [a.smith at centenary.usyd.edu.au]
Sent: Friday, 26 June 2009 6:19 PM
To: University Macintosh Technical Mailing List
Cc: Rob Middleton
Subject: [UniMacTech] Fwd: Important changes to your Apple warranty

Dear all,

This is frankly appalling.

Apple should be increasing the value of their warranty offering not decreasing them... I don't believe AppleCare adds anything but expense to most "enterprise" or "education" purchasers. Certainly none of our users need the added extra support of AppleCare as they have on-site support from our IT staff.

We already have trouble justifying the extra cost of Apple hardware, having to factor in the extra cost of AppleCare to get system comparable to the "enterprise" systems from HP/Dell/Lenovo will push many of my users over the edge. Those companies (or Dell at least) not only reasonable on-site service but also reasonably priced "accidental damage" coverage - that is direction Apple should be heading not the opposite!

What can be done to convince Apple of the folly of this move?

Apple should also be ashamed of the timing of this announcement (5pm on Friday!). I hope the phone run hot for the all reps on Monday!

Regards,

Adrian Smith
Centenary Institute, Sydney, Australia


Begin forwarded message:

From: Contracts <contracts at asia.apple.com<mailto:contracts at asia.apple.com>>
Date: 26 June 2009 5:01:19 PM
To: Kristel Salmon <contracts at asia.apple.com<mailto:contracts at asia.apple.com>>
Subject: Important changes to your Apple warranty




Important changes to your Apple warranty




Hello,


Apple continually looks for ways to improve the experience for our enterprise customers to buy, own and care for their Macs.  One important area we've been looking at recently is warranty and post sale support.  To this end, we're bringing about important changes that will affect you.

The TriCare 3 year warranty that has been included with your hardware purchases to date is a 3 year, limited hardware warranty that does not cover the operating system or any Apple installed applications.  Nor does it allow you a direct relationship with Apple’s team of support specialists and engineers.

Tricare will be replaced with Apple’s standard 12 month warranty from 1 September, 2009.  After that date it will no longer be available.  However, you will have the option to upgrade your support from a range of new customer support products.

Our standard 12 month warranty provides an initial 90 days of telephone support covering every aspect of your Mac including Apple installed applications, with the remaining nine months covering hardware repairs.   With Apple’s hardware, software and operating system being so tightly integrated, a single point of contact within Apple with access to our global network of people and resources will allow for your technical issues to be addressed in the most efficient and satisfactory way.

Should you wish to extend the duration of the support provided by Apple, the best solution is the AppleCare Protection Plan (APP).

APP provides you with comprehensive hardware, OS and software support that can diagnose and resolve most issues over the phone.  Delivered by Apple support staff, it covers your complete system, is more efficient and ultimately delivers a far superior customer experience.

The AppleCare Protection Plan also covers your product for three years.

The existing TriCare warranty will continue to be included with any new hardware purchase you make between now and the end of August 2009.  And naturally, your existing TriCare entitlement from previous purchases will continue to be honoured for the balance of the warranty period.

As a result of these changes we have revised our Terms and Conditions of Sale.

Notwithstanding clause 10 of your existing Agreement with Apple, it is necessary for us to terminate those Terms and Conditions of Sale, effective 31 August, 2009 and replace them with a new set.

To review the new Terms and Conditions, please go to our Contracts web site.  You have the option to download the document for your physical review or you may elect to review and agree to the new terms, choosing to submit your acceptance online with no paperwork involved.

Should you have any questions relating to this matter or require a hard copy of the new Terms and Conditions, please email me at contracts at asia.apple.com<mailto:contracts at asia.apple.com>.

Should you have any questions concerning AppleCare or additional Apple branded support offerings, please contact your account manager or the Education team at Apple via email or telephone.  Their contact details are enterprise at apple.com.au<mailto:enterprise at apple.com.au> and 1300 552 024.


Yours sincerely,

Natasha O’Brien

Contracts Manager

Apple




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