Why is Italy not seeing eye to eye with Apple? Hit the jump for details on the potential ban in the country.
Italy’s Antitrust Authority is officially taking Apple to task over the company’s alleged failure to offer two-year warranties on its products under Italian law. The authority confirmed on Tuesday that it had opened proceedings against Apple, which will potentially face fines of up to $378,000 or even be suspended from selling its products in Italy if the company doesn’t meet the criteria for offering a two-year warranty to customers.
Apple was fined $1.2 million in December of 2011 by the Regional Administrative Tribunal for allegedly misleading Italian consumers about their rights to product warranties. At that time, Apple was offering its standard one year of support and urging customers to purchase AppleCare Protection Plans for longer-term coverage. But according to Italy’s 2005 Consumer Code, companies are liable for defective products for two years after the time of sale. The fine led Apple to alert Italian customers to their right to two-year warranties via the company’s online store, but that wasn’t enough for the Antitrust Authority.
The authority argues that Apple Sales International, Apple Italia, and Apple Retail Italia had been requiring customers to provide proof of the existence of a defect outside of the standard one year, as noted by IDG. Although communication between Apple and customers had improved, the group said Apple still wasn’t doing enough.
“Apple has 30 days to present its counter-arguments and it could face a fine of up to a $189,000 for each of the two practices under examination,” antitrust spokeswoman Emanuela Goggiomani told IDG. “If the company continues to breach the Antitrust Authority’s order, further proceedings could lead to a 30-day suspension of trading in Italy.”
Unsurprisingly, Apple doesn’t agree with the decision to crack down on its own warranty practices. The company says it has appealed to the Authority over its decision to continue to pursue the case, and that it “disagree[s] with their latest complaint.”
