On Sat 24 May 2014, my MacBook Pro 17” was temporarily killed, for the second time, by the well-known and well-documented dead-&-bloated design-flaw inherent in the Apple MacBook Pro A1189 battery, which, in failing, also fatally damaged my computer’s power adapter.
I gave Apple three opportunities to Do The Right Thing – to honour their public, global, free-of-change, battery replacement program (as they had previously done in 2011, in identical circumstances):
- Sun 25 May 2014, Genius Bar, Apple Retail Store, Bentall Centre, Kingston – Genius Bar employee Philippe
- Wed 28 May - Mon 09 Jun 2014, worthless 14-email exchange with Margaret Lordan, Executive Relations EMEIA, Apple Distribution International, Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Republic of Ireland
- Sun 15 Jun 2014, Genius Bar, Apple Retail Store, Regent Street, London – store manager Kierra Colker
On each and every occasion I received Apple[don’t]Care Customer Lack-of-Support – Apple wanted ME to pay THEM for the replacement parts needed to repair the damage caused by THEIR design-flawed A1189 battery failure to MY Macbook Pro!
Having reviewed UK consumer rights legislation and consumer rights advice from the likes of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and ‘Which?’ Consumer Rights, as well as the the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules of the UK Ministry of Justice, I have:
- independently acquired the replacement parts needed to repair the damage caused by Apple's design-flawed A1189 battery failure to my Macbook Pro, and thereby got it up-&-running again;
- drafted and sent a ‘Final Letter prior to Legal Action’:
| to: |
Customer Enquiries - Apple UK <contactus.uk@euro.apple.com>
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| cc: |
Mark Rogers - Managing Director - Apple UK <rogers.m@apple.com>
Tim Cook - CEO - Apple Inc. <tcook@apple.com>
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| bcc: |
[supporters]
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| date: |
21 June 2014 11:41 |
| subject: |
Final Letter prior to Legal Action |
From
Tim Jones <xxx.xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx>
xxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx
London
xxxx xxx
United Kingdom
To
Apple UK <contactus.uk@euro.apple.com>
CC:
Mark Rogers - Managing Director - Apple UK <rogers.m@apple.com>
Tim Cook - CEO - Apple Inc. <tcook@apple.com>
Apple Retail UK Limited
5th Floor, 6 St Andrew Street
London
EC4A 3AE
United Kingdom
Reference
Recovering £137.76 in Repair Costs for Damage Done to my MacBook Pro 17” by the Failing of Apple’s Design-Flawed A1189 Battery
About This Mac – Serial Number: W88431GB3R9
Dear Sir/Madam,
As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably, and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules of the Ministry of Justice.
Case Summary
On Sat 24 May 2014, my MacBook Pro 17” was temporarily killed, for the second time, by the well-known and well-documented dead-&-bloated design-flaw inherent in the Apple MacBook Pro A1189 battery, which, in failing, also fatally damaged my computer’s power adapter (the latter failure being confirmed in testing by Apple Genius Bar employee Philippe on Sun 25 May 2014 at the Genius Bar, Apple Retail Store, Bentall Centre, Kingston).
The dead-&-bloated design-flaw inherent in Apple’s A1189 battery:
the lithium polymer cells swell up, cracking open the battery casing
On the first occasion when the dead-&-bloated design-flaw inherent in Apple’s (factory fitted) A1189 battery erupted, in mid-2011, Apple honoured their global free-of-charge battery replacement Exchange and Repair Extension Program, and swapped my dead-&-bloated A1189 battery for a fresh-&-new A1189 battery – and a verbal assurance that this design flaw had most likely been eradicated some time previously. Not so, in my experience: three years later that free-of-charge replacement battery erupted in exactly the same way, fatally damaging my computer’s power adapter as it failed.
One of Apple’s global free-of-charge battery replacement Exchange and Repair Extension Programs for your design-flawed A1189 battery
I have offered Apple UK three opportunities to act with honour again, by taking responsibility for the damage caused to my computer by your known-to-be-faulty A1189 battery’s failure:
- Sun 25 May 2014, Genius Bar, Apple Retail Store, Bentall Centre, Kingston – Genius Bar employee Philippe
- Wed 28 May - Mon 09 Jun 2014, worthless 14-email exchange with Margaret Lordan, Executive Relations EMEIA, Apple Distribution International, Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Republic of Ireland
- Sun 15 Jun 2014, Genius Bar, Apple Retail Store, Regent Street, London – store manager Kierra Colker
Apple's Dispute Resolution Proposal: Make the Customer Pay for Damage Caused by Apple Inc.
On each and every occasion I’ve received Apple[don’t]Care Customer Lack-of-Support – Apple UK proposed to charge me the full retail price to buy the two parts required to repair the damage done to my MacBook Pro by the dead-&-bloated failure of Apple Inc.'s design-flawed A1189 battery:
- One ‘Rechargeable Battery - 17-inch MacBook Pro’
- One ‘Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)’
- Total Cost To Apple Customer for Repairing Damage Caused by Apple Inc.: £174.00
These three instances of anti-consumer Apple[don’t]Care Customer Lack-of-Support are ultimately derived from Apple Inc.’s corporate abandonment policy, to explicitly and systematically deny any customer support to owners of “vintage” Apple Inc. products:
“Vintage products are those that were discontinued more than five and less than seven years ago. Apple has discontinued hardware service for vintage products.”
Breaching UK Statutory Consumer Rights
However, as Apple UK well knows, the UK statutory consumer rights protection against faulty goods afforded by the UK Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) extends to six years:
“Complimentary Support In the United Kingdom, consumers are entitled to a free of charge repair or replacement, by the seller, of goods which do not conform with the contract of sale. Under English law, consumers have up to six years from the date of delivery to exercise their rights.”~
Apple UK, from
‘Contact Apple Support’ “Summary of EU-wide Consumer LawsClaim period: 2 years (minimum) from date of delivery, 5 years in Scotland and 6 years in the rest of the UK.During the claim period, consumers may claim, among other things, free repair or replacement where a product does not correspond to the contract.”~
Apple UK, from
‘Apple Products and EU-wide Consumer Laws’ “Getting faulty goods replaced or repairedYou have the right to get faulty goods replaced or repaired. Under the Sale of Goods Act, the retailer must either repair or replace faulty goods 'within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience'.If the retailer refuses to repair the goods, you have the right to arrange for someone else to repair your item, and then claim compensation from the retailer for the cost of doing this.You have six years to take a claim to court for faulty goods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; in Scotland you have five years.”• source:
‘The Sale of Goods Act’, from ‘
PC Tips and Tricks’
“Your rights if an item is faultyIf something is not of satisfactory quality, you have a statutory right under the Sale of Goods Act, to a refund, have it replaced or repaired for free.If the retailer refuses to repair the faulty goods, you have the right to arrange for someone else to repair them and claim compensation from the retailer for the cost of doing this.If you're having problems and the shop won't repair or replace or replace your goods then it should be reported to your local Trading Standards department as they are breaching your statutory rights.” • source:
‘Problem – What do I do if I have a faulty product?’, by
‘Which?’ Consumer Rights
Since Apple UK have refused, on three occasions, to meet your repair obligations under the Sale of Goods Act, I have followed the consumer rights recommendation from ‘Which?’ et al, and effectively arranged for someone else to affect the required repair, prior to claiming compensation from Apple UK for the cost of doing this – by acquiring the necessary repair parts independently:
Independent repair parts acquisition – my ‘Order Confirmation’ email from TheBookYard.com. Total repair cost: £137.76
Repair Compensation Claim Against Apple UK: £137.76
In light of Apple UK failing to meet your repair obligations under the Sale of Goods Act, I therefore claim £137.76 from Apple UK, in compensation for the cost of independently acquiring the two repair parts (detailed above) which were required to remedy the damage done to my MacBook Pro by the failing of Apple Inc.'s known-to-be-faulty A1189 battery on Sat 24 May 2014.
Dispute Resolution Proposals
If Apple UK would like to settle this matter now, I have both a UK bank current account and a PayPal account into which you may transfer £137.76 – please let me know which means of payment you would like to use.
However, if Apple still choose to decline to face their legal responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act, I may pursue my claim for the recovery of my repair costs caused by the failure of Apple Inc.’s design-flawed A1189 battery in court without further notice, through the small claims track offered by the Ministry of Justice. Were this to occur, the court will ask if we are prepared to use the Small Claims Mediation Service, a free-of-change alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme for settling out of court.
“Mediation is a voluntary process and therefore no party can be forced to attend mediation. However the courts do sometimes take an ‘unreasonable’ refusal to mediate into account when allocating liability for the parties' costs at the end of a court case.”• source:
‘Mediation FAQs’, by
LawWorks, supported by The Law Society
So prior to my beginning a court-based claim for the recovery of my repair costs, we could choose – of our own volition – to use a free-of-change ADR scheme, such as the mediation service offered by LawWorks, to explore whether we could reach an out of court settlement. Please let me know if ADR is a dispute resolution avenue which Apple UK would like to explore – I invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard.
Consequences In Court
Should Apple UK persist in refusing to meet your legal responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act, be advised that there will be legal consequences:
- The conduct of Apple UK in breaching UK statutory consumer rights in this case will from the basis of a report to the Trading Standards authority.
- Possible consequence: court prosecution of Apple UK; up to £5,000 paid in compensation.
- Proceedings will be begun against Apple UK in the Small Claims Court for breaching UK statutory consumer rights granted under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended).
- Possible consequence: court action against Apple UK; up to £10,000 paid in compensation.
Dispute Resolution Response: Time Frame and Deadline
I expect to read Apple UK’s response to my dispute resolution proposals within 28 days, by email reply to “Tim Jones” <xxx.xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx>. Should Apple decline to offer a satisfactory reply by Saturday 19 July 2014, you may expect the two ‘Consequences In Court’ mentioned above to occur, with no further reference to you. This may increase your liability for costs.
In closing, I would draw your attention to Section II (4) ‘Compliance’ of the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules, which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction, including failing to respond to this letter before claim.
Please submit an acknowledgement of receipt of this ‘Final Letter prior to Legal Action’ by return of email to “Tim Jones” <xxx.xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx> as soon as possible; and please submit your substantive response to my dispute resolution proposals by the same route, by Saturday 19 July 2014 at the latest.
I look forward to your acknowledgement.
Yours faithfully,
Tim Jones
Apple’s response? From the same Margaret Lordan, Executive Relations EMEIA (Apple Distribution International, Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Republic of Ireland), who had previously wasted my time in a fruitless and worthless 14-email exchange, Wed 28 May - Mon 09 Jun 2014:
“Apple will be unable to meet your request below.”
– where “below” = full text of my ‘Final Letter prior to Legal Action’.
So I am now seeking legal advice on the wisdom of making a repair compensation claim against Apple UK for £137.76 through the Money Claim Online means of accessing the small claims track, as provided by HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
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