Apple is set to pay AU$9 million in penalties after the Australian Federal Court found that it made false or misleading representations to customers on their warranty rights under Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The case[1], initiated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in April last year, concerned users of iPhones and iPads who complained about "error 53", which bricked some devices after they updated their iOS.
Via its US website, customer service calls, and Apple Australia in-store staffers, the tech giant had then told at least 275 customers between February 2015 and February 2016 that they were ineligible to remedies if their phone or tablet had been repaired by a third-party store.
"The court declared the mere fact that an iPhone or iPad had been repaired by someone other than Apple did not, and could not, result in the consumer guarantees ceasing to apply, or the consumer's right to a remedy being extinguished," ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
"If a product is faulty, customers are legally entitled to a repair or a replacement under the Australian Consumer Law, and sometimes even a refund. Apple's representations led customers to believe they'd be denied a remedy for their faulty device because they used a third-party repairer."
Apple has already reached out to compensate around 5,000 customers, also offering a court-enforceable undertaking to train staff on how to deal with warranty matters and ACL compliance, as well as updating the policies on its website.
It has also said it will provide new devices as replacements for iPhones and iPads that have suffered a major failure, rather than refurbished ones.
Prior to the decision, Federal Court judge Mark Moshinsky had referred Apple