Apple Asked To Pay Rs 1,07,500 To Consumer For Faulty iPhone

After his new iPhone X was found to have ‘undocumented damage,’ a Bengaluru youth sued Apple India in a consumer court, which ordered the tech major to compensate him and refund him the money paid for it.

Apple had earlier failed to replace the high-end phone or refund the device cost despite the handset being under warranty.

In its verdict on May 15, judges ruled that Apple India should refund Rs 97,500 to the customer after taking back the damaged phone. In addition, Apple was ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 for causing him mental agony and Rs 5,000 more for litigation expenses. It was told to pay the total sum of Rs 1,07,500 within 60 days.

In early 2018, Doddabommasandra-resident Deepak Kumar, 25, purchased an iPhone X 64GB from iCentre on Thanisandra Main Road by paying Rs 97,500. In August that year, he found something amiss — its speaker volume was low and he’d hear abnormal sounds while playing music.

Kumar rushed to the authorised Apple service centre in Thanisandra and gave his handset to be fixed. On August 6, he received an email from the centre that there was a problem with the speaker and replacement parts had been ordered. Five days later, he was shocked to receive another email which said he had to reopen his case for the repair.

Kumar contacted the Apple India helpline and was told his phone had suffered ‘undocumented damage’, which is not covered under warranty even though it was a few months old. He tried to contact Apple by email and phone numerous times, but its staff refused to address the issue.

He then approached the Bangalore Urban 2nd Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on September 24, 2018.

While Kumar presented documents regarding his case, Apple appeared through its attorney but didn’t file its version for reasons unknown.

After judges of the forum heard the case for eight months, they slammed Apple India for deficiency in service and not providing proper service to a customer despite the buyer having a valid warranty.―Gadgets Now