Apple customers left fuming

Complaints about Apple iPhones in Shanghai spiked nearly six times in October and November as compared to the same period last year, with most of it related to abrupt device shutdowns, according to the Shanghai Consumer Council.

The watchdog said that it received as many as 1,221 complaints between October 1 and November 30, with 860 of them related to sudden shutdowns. The council also revealed that the number of complaints about Apple products received between January and November this year is 2,763, almost twice the amount last year.

"This is not a safety issue and only affects devices within a limited serial number range that were manufactured between September and October 2015," said Apple of the shutdown issue on its website.

The tech giant maintained that the problem is caused by a faulty battery component in a small batch of iPhone 6s devices.

The China Consumers Association sent a letter to Apple earlier last month, urging them to quickly address the problem after the company had on Nov 20 introduced a free battery replacement program. However, the shutdown issue appeared to affect other phone models as well.

"My iPhone 6 Plus is not included in the free replacement program, but it has also shut down unexpectedly recently. I decided to pay for a battery change," said Lin Xue, an iPhone user.

Many consumers have been complaining about the slow battery replacement process. Another Apple customer, Li Wenjia, said that it is still difficult to make an appointment for battery replacement online. Those who have managed to secure an appointment said that they have to wait up to two weeks before they can get their batteries replaced. The battery replacement process usually takes between four and six hours.

Apple did not respond to inquiries from China Daily by press time.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 12/09/2016 page7)