Apple has been referred to the ACCC

Apple has been referred to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

This could have repercussions across the board if the case is successful as currently if you have your iPhone, or iPad fixed by a non-Apple authorised repairer such as the Apple Stores, Apple can and does refuse to repair them.

In many countries including Australia this is seen as unfair trading however is by no means illegal.

The main complaint the ACC is looking to uphold is…

If the iPhone, iPad, iPod etc has been previously repaired by an unauthorised repairer, such as screen replacement or the speaker being fixed (common non warranty repairs).

Then if the iDevice subsequently has another fault not related to the unauthorised repair which would normally be covered under warranty Apple has then refused to repair the device.

This issue came to a head with ‘error 53’ and ‘error 53’ is the basis for the complaint and investigation.

“The ACCC commenced an investigation following reports relating to ‘error 53’ – an error which disabled some consumers’ iPads or iPhones after downloading an update to Apple’s ‘iOS’ operating system. Many consumers who experienced error 53 had previously had their Apple device repaired by a third party; usually replacing a cracked screen.”

If the case against Apple is successful it could open up the company’s products in Australia to non Apple authorized repairers. And would strengthen any cases in other countries when looking at similar complaints.