Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$

Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by virtualritz on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @05:51AM (#4099645)

In Europe you are forced to give your customer 2 years of warranty on certain products. E.g. computer hardware or electronics.

Apple refused to in the past (and still had their crazy EUR prices then). But now, after being dragged to court about it in Italy, and loosing, they at least have a good reason to charge more in Europe. ;)

This is the case for most vendors. E.g. my Panasonic GH2 camera did cost a bit more in Europe than it would have in the US. But I get 24 months of warranty.

See:

http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/apple-increases-product-w... http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by maigret on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @06:40AM (#4099760)

But this 1$ = 1€ rule has been there for much more time. This can't be the main reason. As another poster wrote, I think the reason is rather "because they can". They may have charged a premium back in the 80s or 90s and just kept it because it worked.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by virtualritz on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @06:53AM (#4099806)

As I wrote, they did have crazy EUR prices before, compared to USD.

When you ask any sales rep. of any big brand in Europe about this, they always use the "24 months warranty vs 12 months elsewhere" excuse.

I'd never buy anything from Apple, so I don't know what excuse they used, being that they illegally dodged the warranty in the past. All I am saying is that they now have both a good excuse as well as a good reason. Anything mechanical is heaps more likely to fail after 24 months than it is after 12.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by toyg on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @07:14AM (#4099837)

The 24-months legislation was introduced only recently. IT companies have had these prices for a long time. It's just that multinational sellers will always ask for the maximum price the specific market can bear, regardless of costs.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by virtualritz on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @07:41AM (#4099914)

Recently? In my book, 10 years is rather not so recent (EU Directive 1999/44/EC came into affect January 2002).

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:...

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by toyg on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @09:08AM (#4100227)

Italy half-assedly implemented it in late 2002, and then reworked it in 2005 -- so it's about 7 years since it was fully implemented and enforced, which is still "recently" from an industrial point of view. Considering that Apple kept ignoring it until at least December 2011 (!) when they finally lost the trial, I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing the same in other EU countries.

TL;DR: Apple only "felt" this legislation in the last 12 months.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by waxjar on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @07:47AM (#4099931)

Apple's warranty policies in Europe are still a disgrace, unfortunately. The warranty on a laptop charger is only one year, instead of two, for example. They aren't cheap to replace either (€80 for a simple cable?!). The warranty on an iPod is useless when there's a crack in the screen: defects that have nothing to do with the screen will only be fixed for a hefty price. The advice is to "just buy a new one".

In the mean time, they do reel in this extra money, for apparently no good reason. It really made me think twice about buying an Apple product again. The products are exquisite, but the service is just terrible.

The warranty policies in the US however seem to be exquisite as well (or were a while ago at least).

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by icebraining on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @07:54AM (#4099956)

The warranty on a laptop charger is only one year, instead of two, for example.

They might claim that, but it isn't, and a small claims court or equivalent will prove it to them. All new non-perishable products have two years of warranty, period.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by jadyoyster on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @09:25AM (#4100294)

Always threaten with small claims court, and if they still won't honour the warranty just sue.

Those judges will usually rule in your favour and Apple might not even send a representative.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by matthewowen on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @03:10PM (#4102190)

I had my laptop charger replaced four years after purchase. The Sale of Goods act trumps Apple's policies. The power cable is a vital component of the overall product.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by rmc on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @12:39PM (#4101302)

Many shops will claim that their warrenty is such-and-such, or that store policy says such-and-such. Sometimes this does not match Law. In this case the Law wins.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by danieldk on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @08:04AM (#4099994)

In Europe you are forced to give your customer 2 years of warranty on certain products. E.g. computer hardware or electronics.

To be honest, one would hope that a warranty term of 2 years would force manufacturers to make their products more reliable, rather than keeping the quality constant and increasing the price.

But, in an industry where it is normal to deprecate products in two years now (hi, iPad 1), I guess that's too much to ask.

I am sorry for our planet.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by m_eiman on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @07:22AM (#4099861)

I think it's actually 36 months, at least it is in Sweden.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is Apple ripping of European users? 1€ ≠ 1$ by virtualritz on Tuesday June 12, 2012 @07:43AM (#4099922)

Individual states can have laws that force vendors to give more than 24 months. But 24 months is the legally required minimum warranty timespan for anyone selling tech in the EU.

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