Am I entitled to get the Iphone Repaired for Free?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Am I entitled to get the Iphone Repaired for Free?

I have always been a die hard fan of Apple products but a recent drama/event has changed my mind completely.

I am just wanting to know what are your thoughts around this matter and any suggestions on how I can go forward with it?

The story goes like this...(I have already cut the story short, there are bits here and there that frustrates me)

I bought my mum an Iphone 7 plus in Japan around end of Dec 2016.

About one month ago the phone failed while mum was charging the phone. She put the phone to charge and when she returned the phone was extremely hot so she unplugged the phone straightaway. The phone would not turn on ever since.

I rang up Apple Care Support New Zealand as we live in New Zealand. They told me to bring the phone into the local service center, which I did. The service center did their thing and found the phone is broken. Initially Apple was happy for proceed with the repair and will pay for the repair. After a week of waiting, they concluded that no one can repair the phone within NZ & AUS and we have to send the phone back to Japan ourselves.

I checked the shipping cost was around $170NZD which I thought was really expensive so I asked Apple NZ if they are willing to reimburse that. Their response is "No, we are already doing you a favour for not charging for the repair and also the shipping back from Japan." A bit of paraphrasing here.

We got caught out because the 1 year warranty ran out by about 3 months. They have mucked us around for 1 month now which is ridiculous.

It just frustrates me that I have always had high regards about apple build quality and also their customer service. I believe the iphone should fail within 1 year and 3 months unless it is due to human error. Also considering the phone got really high temperature.

Any suggestions on how I can get a better support from Apple. I feel I am not going anywhere with the current Apple Support. I still can't believe Apple would treat their customers like this.

iPhone 7 Plus

Posted on Mar 15, 2018 6:31 PM

Reply

Answer 1

y_p_w

Level 6

17,642 points

Mar 15, 2018 6:49 PM in response to jonny921

All iPhone warranty terms clearly state that service may only be available in the country of purchase.

Apple 製品 1 年限定保証

I don't read Japanese, but Google Translate does. It translates to this (which is almost identical to what I see in the English warranty terms):

Apple may restrict the warranty service of iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV to the country in which Apple or its authorized distributor first sold the device.

Frankly you are kind of lucky that they're doing it for you. Most of the time they won't do it for you. You would typically need an intermediary.

Reply

Answer 2

deggie

Level 10

167,177 points

Mar 15, 2018 6:35 PM in response to jonny921

The warranty on an iPhone is not international. If you had purchased the iPhone in New Zealand you could have had it repaired under warranty. Apple repair sites will not accept international shipments of devices so you would have had to return to Japan and taken it in yourself or sent it to someone you knew there and had them take it in.

This is the risk you take when you buy it in one country and then take it to another. You haven't been mistreated and phones can fail within the warranty period. No one has a 0% warranty failure. You can't get better support from Apple in New Zealand.

Reply

Answer 3

Mar 15, 2018 6:39 PM in response to jonny921

Sorry, but if you were looking for sympathy, you'll not find what you hoped for. Apple has never offered international warranty for iPhone. You bought the phone in Japan and that's where the phone should have gone for service. This is the chance you took buying in a different country from where you live.

Reply