Xiaomi was recently fined around 3.2 million Euros, or just about 21.76 million of Yuan, in Italy. Italy’s competition watchdog states that the smartphone maker refuses to repair the phone’s main problem. These phones were still under warranty. However, the company refuses to repair when the product has scratches or other minor defects.
According to a report from The Paper, Xiaomi responded to journalists. The company says it’s aware of the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) decision. Therefore, it is evaluating the reasons behind it.
“We reiterate that Xiaomi Italy has always adhered to legal and compliant operations and abides by the relevant laws and regulations of the business location. We are committed to providing every Italian user with the most perfect after-sales service experience possible.”
The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) said on Friday that Xiaomi Technology Italia Ltda. made “warranty services subject to repairs of damage beyond the scope of the warranty”, thereby compromising consumers’ rights.
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The Italian regulator states that Xiaomi Italy is also charging customers for certain services. The company needs to evaluate if there are defects or not. After that, it needs to return the product to the customer. The product needs to return free of any shipping fee or service cost. However, this has not been happening.
According to the agency, investigations found that the Chinese company often refuses to repair products inside of legal warranty. This happens when these products have “secondary defects”. That is if the user has a battery or display problem, Xiaomi Italy refuses to offer a warranty. Quoting as an example, if the smartphone has a scratch on the canvas with corn that is five-hundredths of a millimeter wide or five millimeters long, it will not be able to have its warranty triggered. Of course, this has generated a huge backlash from customers, making enough buzz to the associated legal authority that has promptly punished Xiaomi Italy policies.
This certainly is bad marketing for Xiaomi while the company tries to catch the headlines with its upcoming EV and with the 200 MP camera smartphone.
