Italy’s fines Apple with 1.2 Million UD Dollars for AppleCare Sales
The Italian Anti-trust commission has fined Apple US dollars 1.2 Million(900,000 Euros), for pushing customers to buy AppleCare for their products without letting them know about the existing warranty and support that comes with the unit.
Apple typically offers 90 days of complimentary telephone support and 1 year of hardware warranty with almost all their products excluding iMac’s which get at location service. In Italy, companies are actually required by law to provide two years of free support to customers, which, according to the Italian Antitrust Authority, was not clearly explained to Apple customers either online or at the point-of-sale.
The three companies affected with the fine are Apple Italia, Apple Sales International and Apple Retail Italia. The fine is split into two sections, where 400,000 Euros is the fine for not clearly disclosing already available warranties, and 500,000 Euros for selling AppleCare without disclosing the above.
The Anti-Trust commission has also given Apple 90 days to update the information on their website.
[Reuters]
