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Bloomberg reports that Apple has revised its warranty replacement policy for iPhones in South Korea under pressure from regulators, now offering customers returning their defective phones within the first month of ownership the option of receiving brand-new replacement phones rather than refurbished units as has been standard policy.
Consumers who find defects in their iPhones within a month of purchase will receive new devices instead of refurbished ones, the Fair Trade Commission said in a statement today. South Korea became the first country to convince Apple to change its global customer policy, the commission said. Steve Park, a Seoul-based spokesman for Apple, declined to comment on the change.
Korean iPhone buyers have complained Apple only gives devices refurbished with used parts when there are problems with the product, even though its service warranty states customers can get refunds, new phones or free repairs, the commission said. Under the revision, consumers have the right to choose between the options, the regulator said.
The policy change comes after Korean lawmakers summoned Apple iPhone executive Farrel Farhoudi to the country's parliament last October to address concerns over Apple's policy of offering refurbished units as warranty replacements.
Questions over warranty replacements are not the only concerns facing Apple in South Korea, as a customer was recently awarded nearly $1000 in a lawsuit over the collection of iPhone location data. That decision has led to a $25 million class-action lawsuit covering about 27,000 iPhone users in the country.
Top Rated Comments
I agree.
I often buy Apple's refurbished products and never had issues with them.
But if I bought something new and it went south, I'd expect a new replacement.
I won't lie, but Apple refurbs are immaculate. I'm even considering buying a refurbished iPad because of how indistinguishable they are to a new device.
Refurbs are post customer. In the US for sure, they can't use them as service parts because of privacy risks. Other countries may have different mileage on this due to their own laws. Maybe in South Korea, refurbs are fine. Thus they are used.
In the US at least what they do get are remanufactured phones. These are phones that have failed factory testing on one or two parts. The bad parts are replaced and the unit is retested. Then packaged as a service part. They have never been touched by a customer or 'used' beyond the testing process.
Despite the issue of laws, I'm betting all countries get the same 'remanufactured' units. Not actual refurbs and the issue is actually staff error in using the wrong terminology.
Also if we were to look at the South Korean policy text I'll put down odds that the phrase used is "replacement unit" not "new unit". Apple is very careful about that term because of the implications.
Anyone in the US who is getting a refurb within the 1st 30 days is being duped.