Do Apple have a complaints department in the UK?

I feel your pain.

There is no complaint department .....a "Senior Advisor" on the 0844 number told me there is no complaints department. He was very rude.

I sent my 9 month old IPad 2 for repair under warranty - it stopped working in the last few weeks - many other people have had same issue if you search forum.

I look after it very carefully but they said they wont repair it because the dock connector has some damage to a pin inside (it still works 100% so effectively an unrelated cosmetic damage) and apparently this had void my warranty. He even said if there was a scratch on the screen (which there isnt by the way) that the same would apply. Now I actually get the bit about not repairing a fault if accidental damage to that has caused the fault but looking for accidental damage elsewhere which has no day to day effect on the operation of Ipad. What a joke.

I am looking at the Office of Fair Trading if I cant get resolved with Apple.

It has left such a bad taste in my mouth as I really thought Apple truly valued their customers. Did Steve Jobs want this to be his legacy? Being made to feel like a liar or like you've not looked after a product that you love.......

I have had my iPhone for 6 months. I have always looked after my phone it has a special leather case and has aways been carefully used. Recently it has started to overheat when being put on charge, it would only last about 1 hour after a charge. Finally one day it got so hot the it broke the back glass case. I am told by an apple service engineer on the phone that this can happen with a faulty battery I am told to pack it up and return it to an apple service repair centre.

All this was done the special postage pack came and the phone was sent to apple. Then without warning or any communication I get this back from your service centre and there is no telephone number or return email to talk about this case.

Your iPhone is being returned as it has been deemed to have been damaged by the user?

I have never been so insulted in my life one apple service operator says it a common fault and we will fix it or send you a replacement and then next I get a rude email with no reply details stating its my fault.

I will not purchase any more apple products and I will blog and inform as many as I can about your dreadful service.

For a company who produces communication equipment Apple do NOT have a customer complaints department, any email contacts not even a customer service department that you can email I do wonder why maybe they don't want us to complain and keep us away from opening people's eyes to the truth that there product is not as good as they hype it up to be and all they really want is our hard earned cash !

The Yorkshireman, I feel your apology is unnecessary. A discussion board is exactly the place to air your views rant or otherwise. The beauty of this world is the freedom to express yourself, as long as you conduct yourself in a polite manner then why would someone have issue? If you feel the need to vent then do so, so Apple won't respond as this is for users...and? You as well as the other posters who have had problems with Apple are highlighting problems that other users such as myself can see and we use this to form decisions about whether we should keep going with Apple or try our fortunes elsewhere. Don't ever let people make you feel that your opinions are less valid than your own or not important.

I've read through this whole thread with some disgust, the treatment being dished out just because people want an easy way to make a complaint to Apple is ridiculous.

I came on to this site also looking for a way to complain, more about the level of service than anything else although I have an issue with a faulty USB cable for an Iphone 5. It basically started stopping to charge and then start again intermittently gradually getting worse, I noticed that the lead next to lightning connector was a little crumpled. It got worse then died. My charger is plugged in the same position next to my bed and has never left the house, so has only been used in a regular way. My first reaction was oh I'll buy another. So I downloaded the Apple store App and saw they were a pretty £15 but then noticed the reviews 1 and a half stars with 258 reviews I though "wow thats shocking". I looked and saw that every review reported the same issue as mine. To me that shouts a design flaw.

So I call Apple at my expense, get told that my phone is in warranty and they can supply a new lead, either through a visit to a store or they'll send one out. "Great" I thought easy I'll visit the store I can go after work tomorrow and I'll be back in business...BUT THEN...POW....I need an appointment...next appointment 5 days away and at a time when I cant get there because I like normal people work. Plus 33% battery left, I cant be without my phone for 5 days. So OK I thought they can post me one out, POW 5 days same problem, with the added hassle of having to give my card details to reserve the £15 in case I dont send my faulty cable back?? Having heard numerous stories of Apple techies telling people that damage was caused by themselves and refused to do anything I wasn't comfortable with this. So I thought I'd have to bite the bullet and just buy a new one, knowing that Apple wont refund me (nice huh). Still I thought I'd get the free cable too, I'll arrange a visit to the store next month when I have business in the city...POW... you can't book more than 6 days in advance!!

Crumbs apple what can you do!!??

Apple have made it very hard for me to rectify what should really be an easy problem to sort, it's a cheap bit of kit, send me one free of charge. Done. They will have a record of it and can avoid customers abusing a goodwill gesture.

Here's the point that a lot of Fanboys here are missing, customer service philisophy is designed for the best interest of the customer as the best interest of the customer is what's best for the business. No customers no business! Apple have a bad habit of being self serving, they take their own side over the customers and thats bad customer service. I realise many customers are idiots and complain for no other reason but for complaining, but hey thats retail, deal with it. I do on a daily basis.

People want a complaints department, it's common practice to have one and one that you can email. Every company I have dealt with I can email or email a complaint to and have had a response within 48 hours, from tiny to large!!

Phone them? Why should I? Thats not what I want to do, I don't want to call them, I dont want to pay for a call, I'm not comfortable talking to people? Pick a reason theyre all valid for the individual.

Visit an Apple store? Why should I? My life is to busy to schedule it in, It's too far to travel, I'm not comfortable talking face to face. Again pick a reason they're all valid for the individual.

Snail Mail? How will I know it even gets to them? Pay for recorded delivery? Pay for a stamp? Why should I? Valid reasons for the individual.

It is not the responsibility of a customer to have to chase a company when things go wrong, companies should do the hard work for you and aim to satisfy the customer within reason.

Apple do not have an email complaints department...they should have and thats the final word, there's no argument that anyone can provide that counters that. Why don't they have one? One can only assume that they do not have the time or even care for the little people. The people that built their empire into what it is. Yes it is arrogance.

Apple make excellent products on the whole, but if something goes wrong with the product you have, then my friends the fun will start, you run the risk of becoming the victim, is it a risk you want to take? Ask yourself that before you buy future products. I was going to buy an Ipad Air, now I'm not so sure and why? Over a trifling matter of a faulty cable....

If you are contacting Apple just to file a complaint and you want it legally registerd then email is certainly not the way to go. You need to write a letter and send it registered mail so you can show that it was received.

I'm confused a bit by your comment. Are you actually wanting a resolution to your complaint or are you just wanting somewhere to send a rant? I've dealt with email customer service with other companies and it is a drawn out pain in the ***. I'd much rather talk to a real person where questions can be asked immediately.

And the AppleCare number is free.

If you are just wanting to rant you could just sent a message to feedback: http://www.apple.com/feedback/

If you are sold a faulty product, by law, you can insist on a new replacement within a certain period of time.

I'm using the new replacement that I was given in March this year right now. The one I bought in Dec last year was so faulty that the repair dept took one look at it and deemed it worthy of being immediately replaced, not repaired or refurbished, the same day they saw it. I refused to accept a "new refurb", and I checked the serial number online to make sure I hadn't been given an old one. I was given one that had been made two weeks before I received it. I was well outside of their official returns period, but had contacted Support umpteen times and been fobbed off by non-senior advisors, as well as about three seniors. It just took a while to find an advisor who actually wanted to help sort everything out. This is where it would be helpful to have a proper complaints dept, instead of CS/ Tech Support.

If your new product is faulty, and you are given another new replacement, it's only fair that they provide a new warranty with the new product. Legally, unreasonable clauses in any contract are over-ridden by the law of the country concerned, like the Private Parking Companies charging £100 to supermarket customers who over-stay the 2hr or 1.5hr parking time-limit. It is not reasonable that they should charge £100 to customers of a free customer car-park, because they can only charge for what monies they have lost by someone over-staying. By the same token, It is not reasonable to curtail a brand new product's warranty because the product it replaced was faulty and it took the company more than 3 months to address the situation.

I know Apple CS / Support aren't on here, and didn't say they were. Obviously there are moderators.

If you purchased the product from Apple you have 14 days to have it replaced (or return it) for a new one. Past that date the warranty clearly states that they will give you a service replacement unit, which may be new or may be refurbished (even the store employees do not know). You receive either the remainder of your warranty on the phone or 90 days, whichever is longer.

Apple has a proper Customer Service department.

If you want a device where they will give you a brand new retail product if replacing it under warranty, even if it is the last day of the warranty, you need to read the warranty prior to buying the product to see if this is in the warranty. It is clearly not in Apple's warranty so you need to buy a different product in the future.

You would need to call and speak to customer relations and get your complaint escalated

Sorry to disappoint, but "we guys" are not Apple. You are complaining to fellow users, not Apple staff. As there is nothing we can do to help you, a bit of a waste of time.

there have been a couple posters recently with complaints about service in the UK.

If this might help, it is contact info for the US but you might be able to lodge a complaint through that avenue.

http://www.apple.com/contact

@gemski, I sympathise with your situation, when something costs so much, for it to break is rather upsetting. However, as tonefox suggests, it is not the responsibility of a manufacturer to repair 'accidental damaged' goods for free under their warranty. The responsiblitydoes lie with you I'm afraid and I'm sure you will find that most companies will take this same line. Perhaps you should check if your ipad can be claimed on your household insurance. Failing that, if you bought your ipad on a credit card then it may be insured through them!

Having 2 young children myself, I know they can be very accident prone but as a parent you need to take responsibility for you childs actions, you cannot expect apple to pick up a bill for a mistake that you have made! I hope you manage to find a way of restoring your ipad to its former glory.

See my step by step explanation of how to log a complaint in a previous post in this thread. If you want an online complaints department feel free to ask either of the two people I pointed out in my prior step by step explanation

Andy

I am also trying to complain ... I wanted to give apple the opportunity to make things right before i take them to court but to whom can i direct my letter ? I will put it in an enveloppe and send it to the CEO to their HQ.... I dont see an alternative!

Dear Sir/Madam,

On 23rd April 2011 I purchased an Apple ipad 2 from the T-Mobile shop in the Oracle Centre, Reading, England.

I have taken good care of my ipad and I have thoroughly enjoyed using it.

On 11th March I noticed that there was a crack on the right hand side (as I was holding it) on the edge of the LCD screen. This morning I phoned the apple express lane. I explained what had happened and I was advised that it may be a warranty replacement matter due to the unusual breakage of the glass and that I should go to my closest apple store to schedule me in for a genius bar appointment. My case number is: 297419330.

Acting upon this advice, I went to the apple store in the Oracle, Reading. My appointment was at 11.10am. However, I had to wait for 20 minutes before I was seen by a member of staff. I explained what had happened. The technical support person examined the ipad. He asked me if I had dropped it, and I informed him that I had not done so. He told me that the ipad could not be repaired under warranty. I was not happy with this advice considering that I have taken excellent care of my ipad so I asked to speak to the manager.

I then spoke to John Baldwin. He repeated what I had already been told and he did not believe that the damage happened by itself and through no fault or action of mine. This was very frustrating for me as I have given honest information and it is a very unpleasant experience not to be believed in this way.

I believe that this has happened before to other customers and it is therefore clearly a fault either in the assembly or in the design of the unit. It appears that the crack originated from the edge of the LCD screen at the point where the screen is held between the fingers and (normal and reasonable) pressure is applied to hold the unit steady for use.

I request that this matter be reconsidered and that you repair the ipad under the warranty or replace it. In the absence of a satisfactory response to this reasonable request, I will issue a claim against you for the cost of the repair to the ipad or a replacement ipad, whichever is the most viable option.

Kind regards,

Bert Uitterlinden

I have had my iPhone for 6 months. I have always looked after my phone it has a special leather case and has aways been carefully used. Recently it has started to overheat when being put on charge, it would only last about 1 hour after a charge. Finally one day it got so hot the it broke the back glass case. I am told by an apple service engineer on the phone that this can happen with a faulty battery I am told to pack it up and return it to an apple service repair centre.

All this was done the special postage pack came and the phone was sent to apple. Then without warning or any communication I get this back from your service centre and there is no telephone number or return email to talk about this case.

Your iPhone is being returned as it has been deemed to have been damaged by the user?

I have never been so insulted in my life one apple service operator says it a common fault and we will fix it or send you a replacement and then next I get a rude email with no reply details stating its my fault.

I will not purchase any more apple products and I will blog and inform as many as I can about your dreadful service.

For a company who produces communication equipment Apple do NOT have a customer complaints department, any email contacts not even a customer service department that you can email I do wonder why maybe they don't want us to complain and keep us away from opening people's eyes to the truth that there product is not as good as they hype it up to be and all they really want is our hard earned cash !