Just yesterday, we mentioned that new consumer laws meant that items sold on a contract should be covered by a warranty for the life of that contract. Proving the point, the ACCC has negotiated a court-enforceable undertaking with Optus that means phones sold on a 24-month deal will be under warranty for that entire period — even for iPhone owners.
The ACCC already had similar deals in place with Telstra and Vodafone, which means a large portion of the market is covered by a proper warranty arrangement that lasts the length of the contract. (Note that the Optus deal doesn’t extend to other companies which use its network such as Boost or Virgin Mobile, since it doesn’t deal directly with consumers or supply phones under those arrangements.)
What’s particularly interesting about the deal is that it includes the iPhone, something which didn’t happen with the Telstra and Vodafone arrangements, much to the ACCC’s chagrin. Optus is generally reckoned to have the largest share of the Australian iPhone market (something which might be at least partially explained by the fact that it has the cheapest contract deals), so getting Apple included for the full 24 months is definitely a win for consumers. We’ll watch to see if similar concessions are extended by Vodafone and Telstra.
Republished from Lifehacker
Todd Drexel
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 3:01 PMDoes this include current iPhone users that are already partly through their contract? Or only to new customers that wish to go on a 24 month plan?
Steven Janjic
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 8:32 PM^^This
I got my iPhone 4 at launch and decided against paying for insurance in favour of paying extra on my 59 plan for a 32GB phone. Having a warranty retroactively put onto my contact would be very awesome indeed (and will probably help prevent a heart attack when I drop my iPhone for the 1st time)
Greg
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 10:52 PMFunny. You DO realise that damage that is your fault (accidental or not) isn’t covered by warranty, right?
Peter Simpson
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 3:10 PMDidn’t changes come in in the new year which basically nulls extended warranties in that if a customer expects a product to last x years, the retailer is obliged to get it looked at? Be nice to see an article on it.
Peter Simpson
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 5:32 PMhttp://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/01/a-guide-to-the-new-australian-consumer-protection-laws/
Good thing I looked. :)
Cameron
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 3:11 PMIf the new consumer laws say that then need to provide a warranty for the life of the contract then why would they need agreements like this?
Greg
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 10:50 PMTelstra did this starting July 1, 2010 without silly government legislation for some handsets, and were continuing negotiations with other suppliers.
So Optus is only 6 months behind the game – wonderful! Vodafone and the rest, who knows.
Connor
Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 8:45 PMDid you even read the same article as everyone else?
Vodafone is mentioned as already doing this, both Telstra and Vodafone made a deal with the ACCC similar to the one which they have just started with Optus.