Faulty Product - Nimble Podium 3-in-1 Wireless Charger

Nimble Podium 3-in-1 Wireless Charger - faulty product

On April 16 I purchased an item from the Apple online store. This product - a "Nimble Podium 3-in-1 Wireless Charger" - was picked up by me later the same day from the Apple Pacific Centre store in Vancouver.

Approximately 30 days after purchase, the product has become non-functioning - i.e. it fails to charge my iPhone 14 Pro or my spouse's iPhone 14. Note that it worked perfectly when first purchased. I have confirmed that both my iPhone and my spouse's continue to charge without problem on another manufacturer's wireless charging station. My Apple Watch will still charge and also my Airpods still charge on the Nimble station, but the centre iPhone charging element no longer works. I have tried both the extended and fully retracted positions - but neither works.

I contacted Apple technical support by telephone and was informed that Apple does not provide support for non-Apple products purchased through the Apple Online store. I was previously unaware of this, but this knowledge will now inform my future purchase decisions and I will make sure to assist Apple in the dissemination of this important information to my friends, family, clients and anyone else I think might be affected.

I was instructed by Apple technical support to seek assistance from "the manufacturer" of the product. (Whatever happened to the common-sense good business practice of taking responsibility for the products a retailer chooses to sell to its customers?). I was not provided with any information to assist me in determining exactly WHO "the manufacturer" of the product was. I resorted to a Google search for the product and found a search result linking to the website "gonimble.com". It appeared from the website that it represented the manufacturer of the product.

I subsequently contacted the manufacturer by sending an email to an email address displayed on the website - hello@gonimble.com. Unfortunately, at this time, I have been unable to make a warranty claim on the defective product, as I am having difficulty submitting the required warranty return form and printing a required shipping label from the manufacturer's website. To date, gonimble has not offered any viable alternative, therefore I find myself left with a defective product I purchased from Apple and no way to make a warranty claim to have it replaced.

I find this entire episode very disturbing as I have been a loyal Apple customer for over 15 years, and this is my first experience with unsatisfactory customer support.

I would appreciate it if Apple could stand behind the products it chooses to sell on its online store, or at the very least, only sell products that have proven to be supported by companies that provide the same level of customer service that an Apple customer would come to expect.  

I would also appreciate any assistance Apple could provide in rectifying my problem with the defective product that was sold to me by Apple.

Failing that, if anyone has any ideas about how I should proceed, please let me know!

Thanks!