Apple as a world-famous technology company, by the user to sue is not a new thing, February 18, a Chinese MacBook user decided to sue Apple, because in the process of warranting the MacBook Pro, Apple told it that it can only replace the motherboard to fix the problem, and after replacing the motherboard, the original data in the MacBook Pro will not be retained.
Subsequently, the user consulted a third-party maintenance company, the other party said that the data can be extracted, and Apple said: "If you repair the computer in a third party, you will no longer be able to enjoy Apple's official warranty service." To put it simply, the user can only choose one of the two warranties and data, and for the next two months, Apple has always refused to change the warranty plan on the grounds of "policy".
On second thought, Weibo user @Not so Perfect Circle decided to sue Apple and will update on Weibo for follow-up developments. This move quickly attracted the attention of the technology circle, as a digital enthusiast Xiao Lei is naturally no exception, to be honest, although the final result may still be "arm but thigh", but Xiao Lei still applauds the courage of this user.
Warranty does not protect data, even if this is the "general unspoken rule" of the consumer electronics industry, is it reasonable?
Apple's "rogue" maintenance regulations
Today's mobile phones and computers have become an indispensable part of many people's lives, as electronic devices, mobile phones and computers are not only the devices we connect with the network world, but also a data carrier to record life and work, from travel photos to important work files, we often save it in the computer for use and viewing at any time.
As an editor, losing information is the last thing Ray wants to recall, because every loss of information means that a day, or even a few days of work effort, disappears. The more people who understand electronic devices, the more they know the unreliability of electronic devices when saving data, so in addition to the original data saved on the device, Xiaolei will also save data in mobile hard disks and cloud disks, so that in the event of an accident, the loss of data can be recovered through backup.
There may be readers who feel that Xiao Lei is too cautious, in fact, this is all from the past lessons from the experience, in the consumer electronics market, the manufacturer's warranty is basically only for hardware, once your device has a problem needs to be warranted, you may lose all the data.
Especially with all-in-one devices, users not only need to face high storage expansion costs, but also need to bear the risk of data loss caused by non-removable hard disks. For example, the protagonist of this event, MacBook, is a very typical integrated design product, and a series of hardware such as hard disk, processor, and memory used by MacBook are "non-removable" design.
Simply put, it is welded on the motherboard, if a module of the MacBook's motherboard is damaged and cannot be used, it can often only be repaired by replacing the entire motherboard. In this regard, Apple users at home and abroad have already complained, and many users in other countries have therefore confronted Apple in court, hoping to let Apple revise the regulations on maintenance rights, but most of them ended in defeat.
The reason is simple: a list of terms you agree to when you first use an Apple device includes a description of the situation. In the process of hardware warranty, Apple is not obliged to save the user's data, as long as you click to agree to the terms, then Apple has completed the obligation of "advance notice", and this is Apple's most powerful weapon when similar disputes occur later.
If the user does not agree to the terms, then the device will not be usable, essentially you can only choose to agree or return, rogue? It's really rogue, but apple is not the only one, almost all consumer electronics companies have similar rules when selling devices that provide data storage capabilities, but some are written in the user clause, some are written in the warranty regulations, anyway, no matter where it is written, you must agree to use the device.
Moreover, in Apple's relevant regulations, it is also stipulated that users repair or disassemble the device at unofficial maintenance points, then they will automatically lose the qualification of subsequent warranties and paid maintenance, all maintenance rights belong to Apple, all interpretation rights also belong to Apple, and users can only choose to accept.
This is also the main contradiction between Weibo user @ not so perfect circle and Apple in this incident, data and maintenance, users can only choose one of the two.
Is data loss really inevitable?
For users who are not familiar with electronic equipment, they may think that the data loss caused by maintenance is inevitable, but in the eyes of the industry, in fact, in most cases, as long as it is not physical damage to the hard disk itself, the data can be saved.
Taking a laptop as an example, if the hard disk is a detachable design, there are many ways to save the data. For example, in the maintenance process, the hard disk is removed, and then connected to the computer after the repair is completed, even if the system disk that needs to be restored, can also be connected to a separate hard disk reading tool in the case of no damage to the hard disk, and the data in it can be saved to other hard disks or computers.
Xiao Lei has previously sent a laptop with a problem with the thermal module, in order to solve the problem, Dell's after-sales engineers have successively replaced the motherboard and thermal module in the computer, but because of the modular design used, the computer's original hard disk and other hardware have been retained.
And in the process of communicating with the after-sales engineer, XiaoLei told the other party that he hoped to retain the data of the non-system disk, and also got the engineer's commitment. After the end of the laptop repair, although the system disk is still emptied (necessary steps to prevent the system from causing the device to cause problems again), the data in the spare disk is saved, so that Xiao Lei saves the time to restore the backup.
In fact, even with all-in-one products, the data in the hard disk is actually extracted in a way, such as by removing the hard disk chip and soldering it to other motherboards or reading devices. However, in general, manufacturers do not provide this service, on the one hand, it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to train maintenance personnel and purchase maintenance equipment, on the other hand, it is also based on the user's privacy considerations.
Therefore, users can often only entrust a third-party agency to pay a large data recovery fee to retrieve their data.
There are not many rogue clauses in the consumer electronics market
After reading the above content, you may feel that Apple is "playing hooligans", in fact, there are not many similar rogue clauses in the consumer electronics market, and it can even be said that they are very common. Xiao Lei can casually give a few examples, such as the graphics card does not allow personal insurance, mobile phone ROOT automatically loses the warranty and so on.
Taking the graphics card does not allow personal insurance as an example, if there is a problem with some brands of graphics cards during use, the user wants to carry out after-sales warranty, he must first contact the dealer of the graphics card, and return to the factory through the dealer's channel for repair and testing, the maintenance process is: user - dealer - manufacturer.
In contrast, the after-sales process of graphics cards that allow individuals to send insurance is: the user - the manufacturer, can directly skip the dealer's link, which not only saves the after-sales time, but also avoids the risk of graphics card damage that may be brought about by the transportation process.
Moreover, if the distributor selling the product goes out of business or cannot be contacted, the user can only pay a certain premium on behalf of the dealer and let other dealers deliver the insurance on behalf of the dealer. From beginning to end, it is ordinary users who suffer losses, not only can not get the convenient after-sales service they deserve, but may even have to pay additional fees.
Interestingly, even if everyone knows that this regulation is a rogue regulation, but there is no choice, most people choose to eat a dumb loss, or in advance when buying products, avoid brands that do not support personal insurance, so that some graphics card manufacturers even "support personal insurance" as a selling point of publicity.
In Xiao Lei's view, this kind of provision is a naked transfer of the manufacturer's risk to the consumer, and the consumer is often unable to resist, and what is more infuriating is that the consumer has actually paid the cost of dealing with this part of the risk for the manufacturer.
There may be readers can not understand, Xiao Lei simply explained that the money we pay when buying products is not only corresponding to the hardware cost and research and development cost of the product itself, but also the after-sales cost of the manufacturer. Taking graphics cards as an example, why is the price difference between the first-line manufacturers and the third-line small factories of the same model of graphics cards? In addition to the differences in workmanship, materials and design, the after-sales system of first-line large factories is also more comprehensive than that of third-line small factories, and the operating costs of the after-sales system are also directly reflected in the price.
After paying an additional cost, users can not enjoy the after-sales service they deserve, is it not enough to make people feel angry and confused? In the final analysis, only consumers will suffer in the end, and it will only be consumers, and ordinary consumers like you and me often do not have the time and energy to argue with manufacturers with big businesses, and can only choose to accept.
Although the lawsuit by Weibo user @ Not So Perfect Circle is likely to end in Apple's victory, Xiao Lei likes a sentence in his Weibo: Even if it can be a small step forward, it makes sense. If more consumers are willing to stand up and defend their rights and interests, then in the future, we may really be able to see the relevant regulations further improved one day.