Apple has been threatened with temporary closure of all Apple stores in Italy if does not offer customers a free two-year warranty as required by Italian law. Instead, Apple offers a one-year guarantee with the opportunity for customers to purchase an additional year of coverage for a fee. In addition to a potential temporary closure, Apple will have to fork over €300,000 if it fails to meet the legal requirements. Apple has 30 days to respond to the request from the Italian Government.
This isn’t the first time Apple’s been in trouble in Italy; the country’s AGCM competition and market authority has previously issued a €900,000 fine against Apple for failing to tell customers about their rights to free technical support.
Like all other companies out there, Apple has to play by the rules when doing business in other countries, and we expect Apple will comply with the Italian Government’s request for a free two-year guarantee on Apple products. Though if you were planning on picking up an Apple product in the next month or two, you may want to buy in the next 30 days just to be safe if the company drags its heels and gets its Italian stores shut down.
[via Reuters]