I noticed an interesting article in the Grauniad yesterday regarding iPods and out of warranty failures.
Apple iPod owners love their sleek machines. That’s when they work. When they don’t, they enter a twilight world where they discover their prized music player is considered by its manufacturer as nothing more than a throwaway item.
It doesn’t matter that iPod lovers can spend up to £300 on their gizmo. Apple operates on the basis that the iPod life expectancy is a year, and that’s it.
My first reaction to Apple’s attitude is: Ouch! Okay, so electronic goods do get replaced quickly these days, but a virtual admission that the iPod is a throwaway item surprises me. Not least, because I believed that it was at the upper end of the portable music market. A one year warranty is nothing unusual for electronic goods – my iPAQ had one. What I don’t expect is for it to fail just outside the warranty. When it does, things can get expensive. A new screen on my iPAQ at two and a half years was just over £100 and I had to weigh up the relative cost benefit of a repair or junking it. I decided eventually to stump up for the repair and put off upgrading for a bit longer.
The problem with Apple seems to be its attitude when faced with a significant number of complaints, in this case, the Clickwheel model is the cause of customer ire:
The 40Gb Clickwheel, now discontinued, appears to have suffered more than its fair share of problems. Apple says not. Its response, however, captures the dilemma faced by customers offered an extended warranty. Either the product is robust and the rare failure can be absorbed by the seller, or there is a widespread reliability problem which the manufacturer should deal with.
Apple, like most other manufacturers, refuses to accept responsibility for repairs even when machines break down within weeks of expiry of the one-year warranty.
This will apply to pretty much all manufacturers. You can, if you wish, buy the expensive after-market warranty. I don’t, they are unduly expensive, so I prefer to take the risk myself. Overall, this has been the wise choice.
The problem here seems to be inherent with the Clickwheel model. All of which, reminds me of the Harley Davidson 883 Sportster back in the late eighties and early nineties. The one with the self destructing gearbox. The self-destructing gearbox that, according to Harley, wasn’t. A friend of mine discovered this to her cost as her gearbox self-destructed.
Apple can be persuaded by quoting guidelines from the Sale of Goods and Services Act, which state that goods should last up to six years. Given the built in obsolescence in modern electronic equipment (many people upgrade their mobile phones annually) this seems more than reasonable.
Elizabeth Mitchell of Leicester confronted the staff of Apple’s Birmingham store. “Having read a Guardian Money article on consumer rights, I tried to get my 40Gb clickwheel iPod replaced, despite being three months out of warranty.”
She quoted clauses from the Sale of Goods Act and guidelines from the DTI setting out how goods should last up to six years.
“After a quick and pleasant exchange, the assistant consulted the manager, who offered to replace my iPod with the same model. But I had to return another day as there were none in stock. Five days later, I went to collect my new iPod. I heard three people alongside me complaining of similar issues. One had an extended warranty – no problem. One was in warranty, and one was no longer covered. The latter of the three saw the manager, had a pretty good foot-stamping session and ended up paying half price for a new one. That was their best offer. Thanks to the Guardian for telling me how to get a free replacement.”
There are two messages here. One is that the savvy consumer can persuade a reluctant retailer or manufacturer to replace or refund goods by demonstrating assertively, but politely, their rights in law. I found from experience that politeness here is key to a successful complaint. This is particularly so in this instance as the relevant part being quoted comes from guidelines not regulations, so, Apple could still decline without breaking the law.
The other message is that a reputable manufacturer or retailer, being aware of the potential risk to their good name will sometimes go out of their way to put matters right even if they don’t strictly need to.
An example here is BMW. My R1100RT developed a fault in the gear indicator display. A replacement unit cost around £250 at the time. As the bike was several months outside warranty I didn’t expect them to do anything much about it. My dealer felt that it was worth a “goodwill” claim and made one on my behalf. BMW replaced the unit free of charge – including labour as part of the goodwill gesture. They did not have to; they were perfectly within their rights to insist that I pay for a new unit. When I replaced the bike a year or so later, it was with another BMW. Sometimes taking a short term hit pays off in customer goodwill and a repeat purchase and customer recommendations. In this instance, £250 + labour paid off with a repeat purchase of around £11,000.
By contrast Richard Mair of Southwick in West Sussex battled for a year with Apple, only to be left “with a wonderfully designed but horrifically expensive paperweight”.
His £300 iPod broke inside the warranty period and was replaced. But the second machine broke within four months. To his surprise, it didn’t come with its own one-year warranty and he was asked for £160 for repairs instead.
The question Apple should be asking itself is; will Mr Mair be coming back for a repeat purchase?