Can´t repair / change a USA iphone 5 in Europe !!! How come??

Because the warranty is not, and never has been international.

There is no "world wide warranty". Whoever told you there was was mistaken.

You will have to take it back to the US or send it to someone you know there to take it in for service. Apple will not accept an international shipment, nor will they ship a replacement out of the US.

www.apple.com/legal/warranty/iphone.pdf

I am in the very same situation regarding warranty. But even worse I asked about the warranty while in the US and I was told no problem by the employee in the store. Also, I called to the Apple US hotline while back in Europe and they confirmed me that my iPhone will be exchanged in any Apple Store in Europe. I was told I can refer to the case ID and they could look it up.

The Apple Store in Germany referred to the warranty policy and explained me that my iPhone 5 A1428 does not match the exchange devices they have in stock which is Model A1429 for Europe. The information in my ticket was seen but I was told this is just plain wrong. Then I asked if they could get an A1428 from a US Apple store for exchanging mine and they told me that they are technically not even able to accept a return in the system if it's an iphone model a1428 - their software would just not do it. Only A1429's would be exchanged against another A1429.

Long story short I will probably exchange it in the US on another trip.

The reason they can't do this is the parts are different! What benefit would it be to apple to stock pile parts for customers in another country that won't fit phones in this country? In other words it is not the same parts for a phone in Europe as in the US therefore it they can't repair it because they don't have the parts for it!

As I do live in Europe the European version should work, right? So actually I would be fine with an A1429 over here.

Not if it's an A1429 from the US. The US A1429 is a CDMA model. Not the GSM model sold in Europe.

esmuz wrote:

What if a busniess man form USA going to work for a year in Europe finds out his phone stops working? Does he has to come back USA in order to repair it?

Yup. The reason is plain. Apple does not, nor ever has, repaired iOS devices. They exchange damaged or malfunctioning ones with factory refurbished ones. ALL repairs and refurbishment is done by FoxConn, the manufacturer, back in their plants in China. Apple just swaps a bad iPhone for the exact same model and configuration one, then ships the bad one back to FoxConn. There are no authorized parts supplies nor trained repair technicians anywhere because there is no repair program, only replacement programs. This is no different than most if not all other companies also do with their (essentially) factory sealed all solid state devices.

Since the warranty requires that replacement be of the exact same model and memory configuration as the original, the European stores literally do not have the replacement phones for US models. Since those models are not sold in Europe, they do not stock replacements for them - thus they cannot service a US phone (and vice versa for European phones in the USA).

Just to add to this, there are some complications that enter the picture regarding finances and how assets and money move between countries. Sending a US replacement phone to someone in Europe involves moving assets between countries where taxes and import duties are often imposed that can create an accounting nightmare for Apple, and that doesn't even take into account how the revenue for selling the phone in the first place is handled as it may be spread out across multiple years due to carrier subsidy agreements, etc.

It's just not practical to do in most cases. The EU has "fixed" many of those issues when you're talking about member countries, which is why it's possible to get a phone purchased in Germany replaced in France, etc.

Same problem in the Netherlands... I am from Shanghai (China). Received a new IPhone 5s in February 2014 from the Apple retail store located in Pudong after my first phone had some water damage. Last month I arrived in the Netherlands. After some time the battery stopped working and I could not power on the phone anymore. My boyfriend called Apple support several times. The first time they told him he could initiate a pickup and repair. After not receiving and verification from the website that they would pick up, he called again. They confirmed on the phone that they would pick up. One the day that they would pick up, Apple closed the case online. He called again. A senior told him because the phone is from China he had to go to the Apple Store in Amsterdam. The senior advised him to call the Apple store in front to verify that they have a Chinese 5s iPhone in stock as replacement. He called and they confirmed it would not be a problem. So Yesterday I took the train to Amsterdam to change the telephone (2 hours). Arrived at the Apple Store they checked the phone and confirmed something was wrong with the phone (not caused by the customer). A senior at the store told me they could not replace the phone because they have non in stock!? After a 2 hours trip back home I asked my boyfriend to call Apple again. He called today. A senior at Apple Support called the Store. They answered him they could not replace the phonebecause the serial of the phone is not accepted into the system for replacement. Possible because the phone from China is a replacement. End of story in the EU. My boyfriend questioned how it comes that such a international huge corporation does not support international travelers and actual has no companywide process in place to support them. Terrible that they actually push you to just take the plane again to China to change the phone while in the legal warranty they write that they offer support. In the Asian as European version. http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/iphone-dutch-nl.html / http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/iphone-english-a.htmlI hope somebody at Apple looks at this case. It's really unbelievable.

Find Yourself an Apple Retail Store. If the iPhone is still in warranty you can go with an appointment to an Apple Retail Store and they can order parts/replacements, which would take about 2 weeks to arrive and you have to go to the Apple Store a second time to get the iPhone repaired with the newly ordered part or to have the iPhone replaced with the newly ordered replacement. But this is at the hand of the Retail Store Management if they make orders or not. Most of them do.

Hopefully this helped you.

FYI: AppleCare Hotline cannot repair iPhones from USA , China etc... but the ARS have the possibility to help with orders.

They won't. They did not make any replacement order because they could not put the IPhone serial into there internal system. This IT/procedure problem was reason for the management of the store not to take care and just tell me to arrange the phone to be fixed in China. The most ugly thing of the whole situation is that every Apple employee I talked with until now tells me a different story. Waste of money and time.

btchard wrote:

Find Yourself an Apple Retail Store. If the iPhone is still in warranty you can go with an appointment to an Apple Retail Store and they can order parts/replacements, which would take about 2 weeks to arrive and you have to go to the Apple Store a second time to get the iPhone repaired with the newly ordered part or to have the iPhone replaced with the newly ordered replacement. But this is at the hand of the Retail Store Management if they make orders or not. Most of them do.

Hopefully this helped you.

FYI: AppleCare Hotline cannot repair iPhones from USA , China etc... but the ARS have the possibility to help with orders.

There is NO INTERNATIONAL WARRANTY ,service in and post warranty is ONLY available in the Country of original purchase

Apple do not repair they exchange for a factory refurbished unit

Nothing has changed since the original post dated 2013 and the responses from Kilted Tim and others

Please run through translator:

http://www.apple.com/cn/legal/statutory-warranty/

See: Apple One-Year Limited Warranty | Overseas service.

Am I reading this wrong? Here is referred to a world wirde warranty: http://store.apple.com/Catalog/Images/worldwidewarranty.html In this warranty document is written very clearly:

"An Apple representative or Apple Authorised Service Provider will help determine whether your product requires service and, if it does, will inform you how Apple will provide it. Apple or its Apple Authorised Service Providers will provide warranty service on products that are tendered or presented for service during the Warranty Period, as permitted by law. If the product is portable, meaning that it can operate independently without a power cord, you may obtain warranty service worldwide. However, service will be limited to the options available in the country where service is requested. If the product is not portable, warranty service may be restricted to the country where the product is purchased. Service options, parts availability and response times will vary according to country. You may be responsible for shipping and handling charges if the product cannot be serviced in the country it is in. In accordance with applicable law, Apple may require that you furnish proof of purchase details and/or comply with registration requirements before receiving warranty service. Please refer to the accompanying documentation for more details on this and other matters on obtaining warranty service."

It is as Peter said. There is a logical reason; unlike many tech products (like computers) iPhones are specific to a geographical area. This is due to differing legal requirements in different countries, different cellular bands in different areas, different cellular standards for different carriers that require firmware differences. Apple does not repair phones in Apple stores, except for the glass on iPhone 5 series and battery replacement. Instead they replace the whole phone. But if you bring in a phone purchased in a different country the local store will not have a compatible phone to replace it. It would not be reasonable for a store in one country to maintain inventory of dozens of different models from other countries.