Apple has been accused of riding roughshod over European consumers after bigging up its a one-year warranty in advertising campaigns even though this falls way short of the minimum two-year warranty guaranteed under the EU Sales Guarantees Directive.
The EU has received complaints from 11 different countries about Apple’s advertising of product warranties, sparking Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding to ask consumer protection ministers in all 27 European Union member states to look into Apple’s advertising.
A number of MEPs have also complained about Apple, saying that the computer giant failed to notify buyers of their entitlement to a minimum two-year warranty.
The Commission is concerned that Apple may have misled customers by failing to clearly indicate the consumers’ automatic and free-of-cost entitlement to a minimum two-year guarantee.
Apple could now face a range of sanctions as the legislation is enforced differently across member states.
The European Commission is actually powerless when it comes to consumer legislation, but it could launch an infringement procedure if there is proof that a member state systematically fails to enforce an existing law.
In a statement issued, the Commission said: “Consumers need to be confident that their rights apply regardless of the country in which they shop.”
