With the launch of the iPhone 15 series, there are endless news about it on the Internet, and there are naturally a lot of negative things about it. The most popular news is "an actor angrily smashed his mobile phone in front of the Apple Store." The actor said that his mobile phone purchased at the Apple store had never been modified, but Apple after-sales service charged a high maintenance fee on the grounds of unauthorized modification. Liu Jin also announced that he would no longer buy any Apple products from now on, believing that Apple is far ahead on the road of being domineering, arrogant and unreasonable.
access:
Apple Online Store (China)
In this era of real and false news flying all over the sky, netizens are naturally divided into two different teams. Some netizens support the actor's rights protection behavior, while others say that the actor is just trying to gain traffic and gain attention. Is Apple's after-sales service really that bad? As ordinary consumers, how should we protect our rights and interests when encountering similar things? Don't worry, Xiaolei will tell you slowly next.
Is it hype or being "cheated"?
Before we can judge who is right or wrong in this matter, we must first understand the ins and outs of the whole thing. From the actor's statement video, we can know that the actor's iPhone 13 Pro Max has a problem and needs repair. After Apple's inspection, it was determined that there was a problem with the motherboard of the phone, and the actor needed to pay a repair fee of 4,400 yuan.
However, the actor believed that this kind of non-man-made hardware problem should be Apple's sole responsibility and he should not be asked to pay related expenses. After consultation, Apple also stated that if it was really an internal hardware problem, it would repair it for free. Originally, the matter ended here. However, after disassembly and inspection, Apple believed that the internal parts of the iPhone 13 Pro Max were not original and had been modified without authorization. Not only could it not be repaired for free, but it had to pay an additional cost of replacing original parts totaling 6,960 yuan. Afterwards, the actor once again coordinated through 12315 and Apple customer service. Apple's answer was that it was based on factory testing and determined that the phone had been modified.
After many negotiations to no avail, the actor couldn't take it anymore, so he staged the scene of "angrily smashing an iPhone in front of the Apple Store", which quickly attracted attention on the Internet. In addition, he also stated that he would not use any Apple devices in the future, but attentive netizens found that all his subsequent responses were replied with Apple devices, so they suspected that he was just trying to gain traffic.
So the question is, who is responsible for this "farce"? First of all, judging from the actor's response, he does lack some convincing evidence - a proof of purchase. Although he repeatedly stated that his mobile phone was purchased from an official store, he refused to show the proof of purchase. This makes it difficult for everyone to suspect that he purchased a second-hand or even refurbished machine. Secondly, the actor’s mobile phone has been out of warranty for 19 days. According to the relevant provisions of the Three Guarantees Law, Apple has no reason to provide him with free repair rights.
Finally, there is the problem of the mobile phone itself. Even if the actor bought an original new phone and has not modified it, Apple's definition of "illegal modification" is actually rather vague. For example, if the phone is accidentally damaged by external force or body fluid, the encrypted identification code will be damaged as a result of the damage, causing the assembly line to be unable to read the identification code. This is similar to the liquid droplets on the QR code on a rainy day, or the QR code is deformed and cannot be scanned out. It will be defined as modification and the warranty will be denied.
But as for the test report or disassembly diagram of the mobile phone, Apple refused to provide it, and did not even point out where the modifications were made. This kind of response without any evidence will inevitably make the actor break his defense.
Therefore, from the current point of view, there are certain mistakes between Apple's after-sales service and the actor. If the actor can produce proof of purchase such as proof of purchase, this problem can be effectively solved. Apple should explain their judgment standards and charging policies for modified mobile phones more transparently, instead of explaining to customers in a somewhat "vague" way.
If Liu Jin's phone has indeed been modified, then Apple's charges are reasonable. But if Liu Jin’s phone was not modified, then Apple should take responsibility and provide reasonable solutions.
Regardless of whose fault this incident was, the actor's behavior did arouse discussions about consumers' rights and interests. As ordinary consumers, we naturally hope that the products we spent eight to nine thousand yuan will have a complete set of after-sales service and reasonable maintenance policies. Even a company with extremely high user loyalty like Apple cannot ignore the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Once a company loses the trust and support of consumers, it is not far from going downhill.
Are Apple repairs too expensive?
However, some netizens said, "Regardless of whether this is a hype or not, isn't Apple's repair price of five to six thousand yuan more outrageous?" Indeed, the actor said in his statement that the iPhone 13 Pro Max cost him 8,699 at the time. It was purchased for RMB 5,699, and the maintenance fee accounts for almost half of the entire phone. After checking the official website information, Xiaolei also found that if you want to replace the motherboard of the newly released iPhone 15 Pro Max, you need to pay RMB 5,699, which accounts for 63% of the entire phone. I believe that the vast majority of consumers will choose to buy a new phone when faced with such a high repair price. If it were not to preserve some important data in the phone, it would be difficult for Xiaolei to come up with a second reason.
After seeing this, some readers must stand up and refute. Apple is not the only one who thinks that replacing the motherboard is expensive. Basically, replacing the motherboard of all mobile phones costs several thousand yuan more. After checking the relevant information, Xiaolei found out that the price of replacing the motherboard of most domestic models is between 40% and 50% of the selling price. Taking the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, which is sold starting at 5,999 yuan, as an example, the price of replacing the motherboard is 2,560 yuan. However, because Apple’s stand-alone price is higher, the repair price will appear to be more expensive. There is actually no doubt about this.
After all, the motherboard can be said to be the most valuable part of a mobile phone. Today's mobile phone manufacturers integrate various components onto the motherboard as much as possible in order to save space inside the fuselage. The consequence is that repairs are time-consuming and laborious, and the cost of replacement is even more difficult to estimate. What's more, many mobile phone manufacturers basically guarantee that within the warranty period, if there is a problem with the motherboard itself, the manufacturer will repair and replace it free of charge. Therefore, it is really untenable to criticize Apple for the expensive maintenance fee.
The real problem with Apple is that its after-sales service is not transparent. Taking Xiaolei as an example, he once took an iPhone 13 Pro with AppleCare+ service to an after-sales service point to replace a battery, but was told by the store clerk that the store did not have this model of battery in stock and needed to be returned to the factory for repair and replacement, which was estimated to take about two weeks. Although Apple did give Xiao Lei an iPhoneXR, this result is still difficult for Xiao Lei to accept. As a mobile phone giant, users have to wait two weeks to change the battery of their mobile phones? This seriously affects users' trust in Apple.
In fact, Apple's after-sales service in the early days was very conscientious. If there were problems with basic products, Apple officials would try their best to solve the problem. In the past, they even used the "replacement-repair" method to replace users with new ones. However, due to some well-known reasons, Apple's after-sales replacement standards have become more and more strict. Nowadays, many users who want to go through official repairs often encounter warranty rejections. In addition, in order to further increase its profit margins, Apple's after-sales service is indeed not as good as it was in previous years.
Let’s not talk about whether the actor’s behavior of slamming his iPhone in front of the Apple Store is advisable, but this incident should indeed be a wake-up call for Apple’s after-sales service. In a fiercely competitive market environment, companies cannot only rely on the advantages of the product itself, but also need to focus on the improvement of user experience and after-sales service. Once a company loses touch with consumer needs, it will eventually be abandoned by consumers.