Kyle
Apple lost an appeal on Thursday in Italy and now has to reimburse Italian customers of their Apple Care product to the beat of $1.2 million dollars. Surely to a company that has $100 billion dollars in the bank $1.2 million dollars is just a drop in the bucket, however the reason for the reimbursement could end up in a PR debacle.
Most customers of Apple products (me included) are aware of Apple Care. Apple Care is an extended warranty and support program for customers of Apple products after their initial one year warranty in the United States. Most Apple Care devices can be covered in 1, 2 and 3 year increments.
More after the break
In Italy, by way of European Union law, consumers are protected with a two year warranty on all gadgets gratis. So in other words, Italian customers who bought 1 or two year Apple Care protection plans would have been required to receive the same or similar rights and services under European Union law.
The Italian court denied Apple’s appeal saying that the company used “unfair trade practices” to make consumers think they needed to buy the protection plans, when in fact they did not.
This was Apple’s first appeal and they are entitled to a re-appeal. In the meantime they have 90 days to change the packaging on their Apple Care product to conform to the European Union Law.
source: TNW
