By Chris Chang, posted Aug 18, 2011 at 5:55 AM, 1,265 views,

Apple Selling Refurbished iPhones to Customers in Beijing Apple Store?

A well-known Chinese counterfeit goods crusader, Wang Hai, has filled two lawsuits against Apple after customers reported purchasing iPhone 4 from Beijing Apple stores only to discover their registered warranties were for less than a year. The shortened warranties have prompted allegations that Apple sold refurbished iPhones to the customers. More details after the jump, and a video.

You may ask, who the hell is Wang Hai? Well, he is well-known for his 15-year crusade against counterfeit goods in China, and he even runs a hot line for needing customers. So, the locals can ring him up if they discovered that they’ve purchased counterfeit goods or got tricked by retailers/vendors. Wang will definitely try his best to help you.

So, what’s going on with Apple? Well, here’s the story. Recently, there are at least six Chinese consumers who purchased iPhone 4 in Beijing Apple stores report that their registered warranties are less than the one year promised by Apple. Why? When the customers went home to register their iPhones on Apple’s website, they discovered that the deadlines for their devices were listed as January and April of next year, three to six months less than the standard one-year warranty. These consumers even discovered that their newly-purchased iPhones have scratches, and not able to connect to the Internet. So, they now think that Apple sold refurbished iPhones to them. Without any second thoughts, they called Wang for help.

Wang got the info. And he has documented the cases of two customers (ladies), Liu and Wu, who each purchased new iPhone 4 handsets (16GB black) from the Xidan Joy City Apple Store in Bejing on July 9. Below is a receipt showing one of them who purchased an iPhone 4, an iPod touch and an iPad.

One of them bought the iPhone 4 on July 9, and when she went back home to register her iPhone on Apple’s website, here’s what she discovered.

This means that the newly-purchased iPhone has only six months warranty, instead of a year promised by Apple. Looking at this ridiculous case, Wang delivered indictments against Apple to Xicheng District People’s Court on Monday for the two consumers, citing the country’s “Consumer Protection Act”. And Wang even went on to blog about the two consumers’ complaints and uploaded pictures of the consumers’ iPhone receipts and search results on the Apple website as evidence. Here’s what Wang said to the local media,

“China is driving huge demand for Apple devices, and local scalpers have also made some profits thanks to Apple. There’s a high possibility that refurbished devices are being sold to consumers. We think that Apple is surely selling refurbished devices as brand new devices to Chinese consumers. It’ll be discrimination against Chinese consumers if the case turns out to be true as refurbished cellphones are also sold in overseas, but at a cheaper price.”

Another consumer at Xidan Joy City store said she had the same problem, but when she found her iPhone was refurbished and went to the store to negotiate, the shop staff “tried to trick her” by modifying/extending the date of the due warranty. Of course, she refused, and took a new iPhone instead, according to Wang. You may wonder, how Apple would solve these problems? Well, here’s what Wang said,

“They (the consumers) went to the store before calling me, but the store only offered to give them a new one without other compensation.”

The local media called the Apple spokeswoman regarding to this matter, and here’s the reply,

“We need customers to provide the serial number of the device before we could solve their problems.

At the meantime, the plaintiffs are demanding compensation twice the amount they paid plus legal fees — 11,998 yuan ($1878), as well as an apology. The China Consumers Association has said it is paying attention to the cases right now. And interestingly, Apple’s Chinese public relations office has yet to respond to requests for comment.

Source: Sina Tech via GlobalTimes