Australian Court Fines Apple For Refusing To Fix Products

Australian Court Fine Apple For Refusing To Fix Products Previous Repaired By Third Parties

I daresay that the vast majority of iPhone, iPad or any Apple product has had to have it repaired at some point or another. On my personal iPhone, it has had a screen replacement and I also went for the discounted battery replacement earlier this year.

While the phones are clearly quite powerful, I think it’s reasonably fair to say that they can be a little delicate. It seems, however, that Australian customers have been getting the short end of the stick in terms of repairs.

Apple Refused To Repair If Someone Else Had Done So Before

In a report via the BBC, Apple in Australia flat out refused to repair their products if they found that a third-party had applied a repair before they saw it. Now, in fairness, choosing to use a third-party to repair your phone is an entirely logical decision. One of the most common repairs required is screen replacements and, generally speaking, third-parties can offer to do this at a much-reduced rate than Apple would directly.

Court Ruling For Error 53

Now, from the UK perspective, it seems that Apple is a little more flexible in this regard. They were at least for me as my phone had a third-party screen replacement when I had my battery changed. In Australia though, that doesn’t appear to have been the case.

With over 250 people raising the matter in the Australian courts, they have agreed with the customers that this should not excluding factor for official repairs. Especially after the infamous ‘error 53’ issue which Apple refused to repair if third-party repairs were detected.

Apple Hit With Fine

As part of the ruling, Apple has been hit with a fine in the region of £5m. Now, admittedly, that is a drop in the Ocean for a company of this size, but it is, if nothing else, a good victory for Australian consumers.

What do you think? Is the ruling fair? Have you ever had any third-party repairs on your phone? Has this affected your ability to get repairs after? – Let us know in the comments!