AppleCare under fire by Italian regulators

AppleCare, a paid support service from Apple, has found itself under fire in Italy where government regulators are probing the company over a possible noncompliance with the European Union’s consumer laws. Setteb.it explains that EU consumers laws protect buyers with a minimum two-year coverage on all consumer electronics products, which includes Apple’s iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple TVs. However, Apple is selling those gadgets with a one-year warranty. How’s that possible?

Well, it’s unclear who should provide the coverage to consumers. Apple offers the AppleCare protection plan for iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple TVs that extends the one-year warranty to two years (three years in the case of Cinema Displays and Macs). This collides with the Union’s laws. Basically, Apple is saying consumers in the European Union should pay to get a two-year warranty guaranteed by consumer laws anyway. Apple on its part, the publication claims (through a poor Google translation), says the one-year warranty is on top of warranties provided by local laws. In a nutshell, the company is arguing that it’s local retailers’ responsibility to comply with Italian laws by ensuring that consumers are covered during the second year.