■Press:
If the motherboard is damaged and forced to give up the data in the hard disk, do you think Apple needs to bear the corresponding responsibility?
"That's why I decided to sue Apple, to solve the problem, and it shouldn't be solved by the problem."
When the complainant Yuan Jie mentioned his Apple MacBook Pro, his tone was unexpectedly calm, he believed that the Apple computer malfunctioned during the warranty period and should not drag the user's personal data into the water, because the user was unaware and innocent.
According to Yuan Jie's description, this "unreasonable" problem did not only happen to him alone.
Replace the Apple computer motherboard, forced to give up the data in the hard disk?
At the beginning of 2020, Yuan Jie purchased the 2019 MacBook Pro in the apple official store. In July 2021, he found that the computer would not start, and he had been using it normally until then.
He then took the computer to the Apple Store for repairs and was told that the motherboard was broken (not artificial) for unknown reasons. Since the computer is still in the warranty period, the warranty measure given by Apple is to directly replace the new motherboard.
Embarrassingly, Yuan Jie's computer hard disk and motherboard are integrated design, if the motherboard is replaced, the personal data in the hard disk cannot be restored.
In this regard, Yuan Jie helplessly said: "If I want to retrieve the data in the hard disk now, I will find a third-party computer maintenance company to repair the motherboard, and then open the computer to retrieve the data." But if I do, I won't be able to enjoy Apple's warranty service again.
Either give up the data in the hard disk, choose to replace the motherboard, or choose to ask a third party to repair at your own expense and give up Apple's warranty service. This is a must-choose topic in front of Yuan Jie. He described himself as caught in the "Mobius Ring" and unable to find a way out.
The reporter noticed on the online platform that there are not a few people who have similar situations. This means that some users who do not have data backup habits may face the risk of data loss once they encounter damage to any part on the motherboard.
On the Black Cat complaint platform, macBook Pro's glitch problems are mainly focused on black lines, black screens and blue spots.
Lawyers argue that Apple's disclaimer is a standard term
Yuan Jie's incident received widespread attention on Weibo. Many netizens mentioned in the comment area that "data backup importance", "backup data to mobile hard disk", "remember to backup" and other words.
Yuan Jie told reporters that he also has the habit of backing up, about once a month, using Apple's built-in Time Machine. In the period before the computer motherboard was damaged, he traveled a lot and lost some data during the backup window period.
He repeatedly stressed that there was no loss of important information. But he felt that the logic given by Apple in this matter was not reasonable. He said: "If the motherboard damage this time is man-made, it was caused by me deliberately bumping or breaking the computer, and Apple is understandable for not recovering the data for me." But the identification result is non-human damage, which means that this is Apple's own product problem, why is the product problem, can ignore the user's personal data, let the user bear the loss? ”
During the two-month communication time with Apple, Yuan Jie expressed his demands through various channels: either Apple repaired the computer motherboard (which did not affect the user's data), or I asked a third-party company to restore the data at my own expense, and Apple replaced me with a new motherboard.
But Apple's reply to him is: everything is subject to Apple's policy.
The reporter logged on to Apple's official website and noticed some descriptions in the "Hardware Warranty Service" and "Maintenance Service Terms and Conditions" columns. Roughly summarized as "Apple is not responsible for data loss caused by use, warranty, and maintenance" and "Users are responsible for backing up the data of Apple products to prevent possible operational failures" and so on.
The corresponding terms come from Apple's official website
For privately finding a third party to repair Apple products, the requirements are also more stringent. Once the user selects a third party, the warranty will be void.
In the case of Yuan Jie, Ouyang Yipeng, a lawyer at Beijing Jingshi (Zhengzhou) Law Firm, said in an interview with consumer reporters that Yuan Jie was reluctant to replace the motherboard because of data problems, but hoped to keep the data by repairing the motherboard. According to Article 24 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, if the goods do not meet the quality requirements, consumers may request the operator to repair or replace them. Apple's warranty policy is only replaced, does not give consumers other choices, and is not in line with the purposes and provisions of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law. In addition, Apple's warranty policy is a standard clause, which does not clearly remind consumers to pay attention to the clauses that exempt or limit their liability, and the terms of the standard contract have the circumstances of exempting them from liability and increasing the liability of the other party, which should be invalid. Because the product was detected as damaged (not artificial) to the motherboard during the warranty period, and the product did not meet the quality requirements, if the consumer repaired it elsewhere, Apple should bear the liability for compensation for damages.
Article 24 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers: Where goods or services provided by business operators do not meet quality requirements, consumers may return them in accordance with national provisions or agreed upon by the parties, or require business operators to perform obligations such as replacement or repair. In the absence of national regulations and the agreement of the parties, the consumer may return the goods within seven days from the date of receipt; Where the conditions for legally prescribed rescission of the contract are met after seven days, the consumer may promptly return the goods, and if the conditions for rescission of the contract are not met by law, the proprietor may be required to perform obligations such as replacement and repair. Where returns, replacements, or repairs are made in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the proprietor shall bear the necessary expenses such as transportation.
Yang Zhongshan, the chief lawyer of Guangdong Xinyao (Huangpu) Law Firm, also gave his own views, believing that Apple's disclaimer belongs to unfair and unreasonable provisions for consumers such as excluding or restricting consumer rights, reducing or exempting operators' liabilities, and increasing consumer liabilities, and its content is invalid standard terms. The Apple Notebook MacBook Pro was found to be damaged during the warranty period, which is that the quality of the product itself does not meet the agreement. According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code and the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, Yuan Jie may reasonably choose to request the other party to bear the liability for breach of contract such as repair, rework, replacement, return, price reduction or remuneration according to the size of the loss.
Article 26 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, where business operators use standard terms in their business activities, they shall draw consumers' attention in a conspicuous manner to the quantity and quality of goods or services, prices or expenses, performance periods and methods, safety precautions and risk warnings, after-sales service, civil liability, and other content that has a major interest in consumers, and explain them in accordance with consumers' requirements. Proprietors must not use methods such as standard terms, notices, statements, or store notices to make unfair or unreasonable provisions that exclude or restrict consumer rights, reduce or exempt business operators' responsibilities, or increase consumer liabilities, and must not use standard terms and use technical means to force transactions. If the standard terms, notices, statements, store notices, etc. contain the contents listed in the preceding paragraph, their contents shall be invalid.
Article 582 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China [Defective Performance of Liability for Breach of Contract] Where performance is not in accordance with the agreement, the party shall bear the liability for breach of contract in accordance with the agreement of the parties. Where there is no agreement on the liability for breach of contract or the agreement is unclear, and it is still uncertain in accordance with the provisions of Article 510 of this Law, the injured party may, depending on the nature of the subject matter and the size of the loss, reasonably choose to request the other party to bear the liability for breach of contract such as repair, rework, replacement, return, reduction of price or remuneration.
According to the telephone recording with Apple's technical customer service provided by Yuan Jie, the other party clearly stated that "private demolition does not come with a warranty.". When Yuan Jie questioned, he asked what the definition of private demolition was. Apple's unknowing situation can be defined as private demolition, and if the user goes to a third-party company to recover personal data with Apple's permission and approval, it should not be defined as private demolition. Although the customer service believes that Yuan Jie is reasonable, he still insists on the judgment of after-sales engineers and Apple's policies.
The reporter dialed the Apple customer service phone, and contacted the staff of "Cool Motion - Shenzhen Futian Jiufang Store" under his referral, the other party said that apple computers with touch bar are generally welded to the motherboard, so the motherboard has a problem, it can only be changed together. If the user finds a third-party company to repair the Apple product, then Apple will not provide repair services for the product. He also suggested that users should develop the habit of backup when using computers, using network disks or removable hard disks.
The staff of the Changhang-Shenzhen Link Store said that after 2017, Apple computers are basically all hard disks on the motherboard. Although the user's computer can not be turned on, but the motherboard is bad also scored, if the motherboard can still be powered on, you can enter the DFU mode, the data in the hard disk to take out. However, Yuan Jie told reporters that it has been tested during the overhaul, and the motherboard cannot be powered on and cannot enter DFU mode.
Image source: Figureworm Creative
In addition to Apple, will the situation encountered by Yuan Jie happen to notebooks of other brands?
The reporter successively dialed two Lenovo official service outlets, and expressed concern about the motherboard warranty situation similar to Yuan Jie, and the reply received was depending on the model, if it is the motherboard hard disk integrated, the warranty is also to replace the motherboard, there is no way to preserve the hard disk data, and the warranty period is privately dismantled and repaired, and the subsequent warranty qualification is also lost.
The reporter also called Xiaomi's customer service hotline, and the reply was that the motherboard hard disk integrated notebook, if the information is not very important, the warranty is generally to replace the motherboard; if the information is very important, it can only be sent to the factory for motherboard maintenance or data export, but it cannot be guaranteed to repair or remove the data. Customer service clearly mentioned that there are indeed users who have had similar situations.
In other words, not only Apple, but also other brands of hard disks on the market, motherboard integrated design notebooks may appear Yuan Jie's situation, which is a notebook warranty blind spot worthy of consumer attention, but also the entire notebook industry should consider the perfect after-sales maintenance problem.
Users sue Apple
At present, Yuan Jie has sued Apple in court.
The picture shows Yuan Jie's public information
Apple has always insisted that Apple is not obliged to keep consumers' personal data on Apple products, and has also prompted users of the importance of data backup.
However, from the perspective of time node, even if the user backs up once a month, to a weekly backup, and then to a daily backup, he may still have to give up the personal data in the hard disk because of the damage to the motherboard during the backup window. In fact, there are not many users who can back up every day.
Yuan Jie believes that Apple's so-called tips are superficial, and Apple has the responsibility to warn users of the situation, such as because of the integrated design of the hard disk and the motherboard, any part damage on the motherboard may affect the personal data of the hard disk due to the need to replace the motherboard during maintenance.
Yuan Jie feels that perhaps the lawsuit will not win, but if it can make Apple make a little change to this similar situation in the future, it will also make sense.
As Yuan Jie expressed, Apple pushed my data and warranty into the water at the same time, and then asked me which one do you save? I'm going to try draining the water and see how many rights there are at the bottom of the pool that have been forced to give up.
He hopes that consumers will no longer have "water" and no more "mountains" on the way to defend their rights.
Consumer Reports will also be closely following the latest developments in the incident.
(At the request of the interviewee, Yuan Jie is a pseudonym in the article)