Buying Apple in Thailand - Warning

[ChiangMaiThai]

I just went through a horrendous experience with an iPhone I bought in Thailand. For those of you who just want the moral of the story, it's this:

 

If you want to buy an Apple product in Thailand, do so on Apple.co.th. There they have quite a reasonable policy on returns and exchanges. Do not buy from any of the official Apple Retailers (there are no actual Apple Stores in Thailand yet) as they take zero responsibility for what they sell. 

 

For those of you who want to have a little read. Here we go:

 

On Dec 23rd, I bought a 128 GB iPhone 7 Plus at Studio 7 Emquartier Branch in Bangkok. It turned on, the camera worked, you could swipe from side to side. Great. 

 

On Dec 25th I gave the phone as a gift. 

 

On Dec 26th, I set up the phone and noticed that when you plugged the charger into the phone, it made the sound like it was charging, and the lightning bolt icon appeared on the screen, but it wasn’t actually charging. The longer it “charged", the more the battery indicator went down.

I changed chargers and wires. I did a hard reset. I restored from a back up. I deleted all content. I turned off. I left plugged in all night. This morning after 'charging' all night, the phone wouldn't turn on at all. Clearly, the product was defective from the beginning.

 

As I am now in Chiang Mai, I visited Studio 7 here. They said that since I didn’t buy the phone at their branch, there is nothing they can do.

 

I called the Studio 7 Emquartier branch where I bought the phone. Unbelievably (to me anyway), I was advised that as a customer I have ONE DAY to exchange a defective product. After that I have to go to Apple iCare. So I just paid 35,500 Baht for a phone that doesn’t work at all, I tell the official reseller about it 4 days later and I'm told ‘it’s not our problem’. 

 

I called Apple Thailand. They said that if I had bought from them online they would of course give me a new phone (as any normal company would). But because I bought from Studio 7, there is nothing they can do to help me. 

 

My only option was to go to iCare and leave the phone with them. They will now send it to Singapore to try to fix it / replace it. But I have no right to insist on receiving a brand new phone from them. If they can open it up and replace the battery and make it work, I am forced to accept the now refurbished phone. In total it will be 3-4 weeks. I was offered a temporary phone, which was an old iPhone 6, which was kind of funny to me, but they didn't see the irony. To add a little insult to injury, iCare can't accept a phone with a screen protector on it. So they had to take that off and throw it away (and no they don't reimburse you). 

 

Everyone I spoke with kept referring to ‘policy’. The policy is completely backwards and customers should be aware of the complete lack of responsibility that Apple resellers take in Thailand. Save yourself the hassle and buy from Apple.co.th. 

 

Fully understand that this is a very first world problem and in the end I'll get some kind of working phone, but thought the story should be told. It's been enough to get me thinking about moving over to one of the high end Android phones, which I never thought I would hear myself say! If your customer service is abysmal, your hardware is arguably inferior to that of some of your competitors, and your OS a locked environment, then what is your USP, the logo?

 

Anyway, the old adage 'Buyer Beware' proves once again to be truer than ever in the Land of Smiles.

[ukrules]

Better still, I will avoid Apple completely.

[Seligne2]

My sympathies and thanx for the info. I am stunned that people pay 36k baht  for a phone.

[ChiangMaiThai]

Just now, Seligne2 said:

My sympathies and thanx for the info. I am stunned that people pay 36k baht  for a phone.

Starting to understand your feelings! But to be fair the high end Android phones are not much cheaper....

[ChiangMaiThai]

52 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Better still, I will avoid Apple completely.

Yes seriously looking at Huawei for my next phone:

http://consumer.huawei.com/en/mobile-phones/p9/index.html

[wxpwzrd]

11 hours ago, ChiangMaiThai said:

Yes seriously looking at Huawei for my next phone:

http://consumer.huawei.com/en/mobile-phones/p9/index.html

 

I actually recently bought the Mate 9. Nice phone. A bit to get used to coming from Samsung. 

[KittenKong]

13 hours ago, ChiangMaiThai said:

If you want to buy an Apple product in Thailand, do so on Apple.co.th. There they have quite a reasonable policy on returns and exchanges. Do not buy from any of the official Apple Retailers (there are no actual Apple Stores in Thailand yet) as they take zero responsibility for what they sell. 

 

If you want to buy anything at all of value, do so outside of Thailand if you possibly can. I like to buy in Europe where I often get a free two-year warranty and where most retailers will just replace an item that shows a manufacturing defect within the first few months, with the faulty one going back to the manufacturer.

 

No one here seems to willingly accept responsibility for anything.

[SooKee]

I've always been interested as to how these re-seller stores would stack up in the event of a problem.  Not very well it seems.  Given that their prices are the same as Apple Online I think I'll go the online route next time.  Sorry to hear about your problems - PITA.

 

Trouble is unless Apple get their own physical presence here their brand guarantees don't count for sh*t IMO.  Folks often tell me they'd rather buy from places like iStudio than MBK for the national support in the event of a problem.  Clearly that's a misconception.

[arkom]

I had a similar issue with you but fortunately, it turned out a bit better.  I bought an iPhone 6 Plus from Apple directly on the website and had a problem with the camera.  It was past the 14-day return policy but still under warranty and when I called Apple directly about it, they told me that at here in Thailand they do not repair anything and will just give you a new phone if its under warranty, even if bought from an official retailer.

 

So had to take it to anyone of the iCare, iMedic or whatever they call them here and got a new one in about 2 days.

 

I think Studio7 is giving you the run around about it taking 3-4 weeks, because from what I hear Comseven (company that own Studio7 and BananaIT) are one of the worst companies to deal with in regards to after sales service.

[ChiangMaiThai]

4 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

If you want to buy anything at all of value, do so outside of Thailand if you possibly can. I like to buy in Europe where I often get a free two-year warranty and where most retailers will just replace an item that shows a manufacturing defect within the first few months, with the faulty one going back to the manufacturer.

 

No one here seems to willingly accept responsibility for anything.

That last line is EXACTLY what I have been trying to explain to COM7 in an email exchange today. They simply aren't capable of looking at the issue from any angle other than that of 'This is the policy. We followed the policy. Sorry for your bad luck.'

 

With an obviously unused, defective product, a receipt, and within a week of purchase, why not exchange the phone on the spot and then move the burden for figuring out what is wrong with this $1000 paperweight to the seller? Because that would be against policy, even if it would retain the customer and offer a nice competitive advantage for the company in the long run. 

 

I should know better by now than to expect any outside the box thinking here, but still it gets to me.  

[ChiangMaiThai]

1 hour ago, arkom said:

I had a similar issue with you but fortunately, it turned out a bit better.  I bought an iPhone 6 Plus from Apple directly on the website and had a problem with the camera.  It was past the 14-day return policy but still under warranty and when I called Apple directly about it, they told me that at here in Thailand they do not repair anything and will just give you a new phone if its under warranty, even if bought from an official retailer.

 

So had to take it to anyone of the iCare, iMedic or whatever they call them here and got a new one in about 2 days.

 

I think Studio7 is giving you the run around about it taking 3-4 weeks, because from what I hear Comseven (company that own Studio7 and BananaIT) are one of the worst companies to deal with in regards to after sales service.

You are correct. Buy from Apple.co.th if you're going to buy Apple from within Thailand. There is no actual Apple Store in Thailand, which is probably a surprise to some people. You're dealing with resellers who for some reason aren't interested in developing brand loyalty whatsoever.

[ChiangMaiThai]

3 hours ago, SooKee said:

I've always been interested as to how these re-seller stores would stack up in the event of a problem.  Not very well it seems.  Given that their prices are the same as Apple Online I think I'll go the online route next time.  Sorry to hear about your problems - PITA.

 

Trouble is unless Apple get their own physical presence here their brand guarantees don't count for sh*t IMO.  Folks often tell me they'd rather buy from places like iStudio than MBK for the national support in the event of a problem.  Clearly that's a misconception.

Actually a seller at MBK might be more willing to stand behind a defective product than these big resellers. There is a huge misconception here I think that the nice shiny stores that look like Apple stores are run by Apple. They aren't. And when you buy from them you are at the mercy of their insane policies. Anyway, Apple.co.th is the way to go.

[jonw8uk]

2 minutes ago, ChiangMaiThai said:

Actually a seller at MBK might be more willing to stand behind a defective product than these big resellers. There is a huge misconception here I think that the nice shiny stores that look like Apple stores are run by Apple. They aren't. And when you buy from them you are at the mercy of their insane policies. Anyway, Apple.co.th is the way to go.

 

And why is there no real apple store? Because like you and I, they would have to snuggle up with some thai company to be the majority owner. I dont blame them. 

 

I recently bought from an MBK seller, the reason being i wanted a honk kong version as they have the qualcom modem (better performance). The seller says i should be able to claim at the apple certified service centres if i have warranty issues. So far so good and i hope i dont need to test that claim....

 

I have heard that buying from the phone operators (same prices) have a better policy on returns, i.e. They will swap for a new one on the spot. 

[samsensam]

 

35,500 baht for a telephone?!

 

bought my trusty nokia 4 years ago for 900 baht, it has been through many scrapes and works just fine.

 

i have a samsung tablet that cost 5000 baht 3 years ago and works just fine.

 

35,500 baht for a telephone... what on earth does the machine do to justify such a price tag?!

 

or is my life somehow devalued by not having such a machine? i've yet to be convinced.

[SooKee]

 
And why is there no real apple store? Because like you and I, they would have to snuggle up with some thai company to be the majority owner. I dont blame them. 
 
I recently bought from an MBK seller, the reason being i wanted a honk kong version as they have the qualcom modem (better performance). The seller says i should be able to claim at the apple certified service centres if i have warranty issues. So far so good and i hope i dont need to test that claim....
 
I have heard that buying from the phone operators (same prices) have a better policy on returns, i.e. They will swap for a new one on the spot. 

Not sure about all but that's certainly not the case with one of the big 3. Numerous complaints about them not exchanging DOAs or devices developing problems in a day or so. Friend was telling me that either their Facebook page or own message boards were swamped with complaints. If it works, great, and you can get some great discounts on new contracts. If there's a problem though.....

I'm not that keen on Android but it's partially because of this 'Not really Apple' set up here that I'd seriously consider Samsung again, even though I tried an S4 a couple of years ago and didn't like it much. I definitely agree about the shiny Apple lookalike stores that aren't. For phones it'd be Apple Th or a service provider and hope it's OK, for anything else, Apple TH.


Sent using Tapatalk

[jonw8uk]

9 minutes ago, SooKee said:

 

Not sure about all but that's certainly not the case with one of the big 3. Numerous complaints about them not exchanging DOAs or devices developing problems in a day or so. Friend was telling me that either their Facebook page or own message boards were swamped with complaints. If it works, great, and you can get some great discounts on new contracts. If there's a problem though.....

I'm not that keen on Android but it's partially because of this 'Not really Apple' set up here that I'd seriously consider Samsung again, even though I tried an S4 a couple of years ago and didn't like it much. I definitely agree about the shiny Apple lookalike stores that aren't. For phones it'd be Apple Th or a service provider and hope it's OK, for anything else, Apple TH.


Sent using Tapatalk

 

 

Fair point. My opinion was based on two friends who were given new phones from true after warranty issues. Clearly its not the norm. 

 

Another thing with apples warranty (worldwide) is that they can give you a refurb phone as a replacement. I think that stinks, and a court in demark recently agreed, after they gave a danish guy a refurb replacment after his new purchase died

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/danish-court-iphone/amp/?client=safari

 

should be new for new, and really makes Apple look bad

 

having said all that, coming from a 6 to a 7 plus is a great upgrade.....so far :)

[DaveBKK]

49 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

35,500 baht for a telephone?!

 

bought my trusty nokia 4 years ago for 900 baht, it has been through many scrapes and works just fine.

 

i have a samsung tablet that cost 5000 baht 3 years ago and works just fine.

 

35,500 baht for a telephone... what on earth does the machine do to justify such a price tag?!

 

or is my life somehow devalued by not having such a machine? i've yet to be convinced.

 

Let's see, can your Nokia take near DSLR quality photos? Can you do photoshop quality photo editing right on the phone? Does your Nokia take 4K quality videos? Can you do video editing on the phone? Can your Nokia handle modern encrypted communications.... or all your calls and SMSs out there for anyone with a bit of competence available for intercept?  

 

Can your phone markup a PDF for work "on the go"? Can it hold a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation than you can connect to any monitor and run a presentation on the go? Can you make quick edits on that presentation before hand if need be? Can your Nokia download podcasts, music, etc to listen to on the go? Can in hold high quality movies again where you can plug in to a HD TV and see anywhere? Can it handle Netflix? 

 

Can it securely store important files and documents you can access if need be almost anywhere? That's for your Samsung....is it secure? Answer: no it's not. 

 

Everyone has different needs and resources. 35k is literally like nothing to me for all I do with my iPhone. Totally justified.  

[Wiggy]

Agree with the OP. I've bought every Apple product I own from the official Apple online store. Only once had a problem when a MacBook Pro arrived with a slight defect with the LCD display. Called Apple and they said they'd replace it. As soon as they were aware the courier had collected it from me they dispatched a new one, which arrived in three days. You also get worldwide warranty and some telephone support (freephone).

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, ChiangMaiThai said:

There is a huge misconception here I think that the nice shiny stores that look like Apple stores are run by Apple. They aren't.

 

I always assumed that those stores were indeed official Apple stores that provided proper official manufacturer support. As I would never buy an Apple product I've never needed to into it any deeper but I am surprised.

 

I recently bought a top of the range electrical item made by a big Korean manufacturer in a well-known Thai electrical chain store. It blew up (literally) after about three weeks. The vendor wanted nothing to do with it as it was more than seven days old. Eventually the official manufacturer's service centre did give me a new replacement rather than attempt a repair, but it required a huge amount of coming and going and phone calls from the branch shop to head office in Bangkok and a lot of polite bitching on my part. Had the same thing happened in Europe I know that the vendor's service van would have been out the next day with a new replacement and would have taken the broken one away. I was decidedly unimpressed with the Thai notion of service. I should just be thankful it was a major brand, I suppose.

[Jeffrey346]

I would never buy anything from Studio 7.  They have no clue about the products they sell, nor do they honor any warranty. 

I just bought my wife the iPhone 7 Plus [ 128 gig.. 29,000B ] at DTAC. The mobile providers do honor the Apple warranty.

[nongsangcity]

Wife had a problem with an iphone bought in the uk...tried at many shops to get help....but it was a waste of time...the world wide warrenty didnt apply to Thailand ????....we were told take it to an official apple store...the nearest 2 from Thailand are Singapore or Hong Kong....just like to add my True phone from my local jungle store cost me 1990 baht 3 years ago and i have no problem with it ....and i am on AIS network not true network and i was told True Phones only work on True network....

[recom273]

I don't think this applies exclusively to Apple.

 

Big brands should be aware by now that No one is accountable in Thailand and their brand reputation will suffer .. They don't care.

 

I have a similar problem with a Korean tech, the little Thai distributor tells me I will need to wait 3 months for a replacement as he is too busy to send it to Korea now. ??

 

I was in McDonalds the other day, I waited 15-20 minutes to get served for breakfast. I wasn't fussed but there was a whole restaurant full of Malaysians who were taking video of the un-manned counter.

 

No accountability and the brands don't care.

[Apiwan2]

 
Let's see, can your Nokia take near DSLR quality photos? Can you do photoshop quality photo editing right on the phone? Does your Nokia take 4K quality videos? Can you do video editing on the phone? Can your Nokia handle modern encrypted communications.... or all your calls and SMSs out there for anyone with a bit of competence available for intercept?  
 
Can your phone markup a PDF for work "on the go"? Can it hold a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation than you can connect to any monitor and run a presentation on the go? Can you make quick edits on that presentation before hand if need be? Can your Nokia download podcasts, music, etc to listen to on the go? Can in hold high quality movies again where you can plug in to a HD TV and see anywhere? Can it handle Netflix? 
 
Can it securely store important files and documents you can access if need be almost anywhere? That's for your Samsung....is it secure? Answer: no it's not. 
 
Everyone has different needs and resources. 35k is literally like nothing to me for all I do with my iPhone. Totally justified.  

NO,

But it can make and receive calls with clarity 555+

[wwest5829]

My two cent experience in Chiang Mai. Retired here in 2011, within the first 6 months the MacPro, I brought with me failed. Electric spike, I think. Bought a new MacPro from iSudio and have had no problems that iStudio immediately addressed (one issue at software upgrade). Had a question about the iPhone I bought in the states from Apple in 2013 and iStudio did not hesitate to show me how to operate the app.

 

In a related vein, just had a conversation with another farang who told me of the excellent treatment by the consumer protection court in Chiang Mai. Purchased product was defective, seller refused to address, consumer court got the seller straightened out in short order.

[yardrunner]

1 hour ago, DaveBKK said:

 

Let's see, can your Nokia take near DSLR quality photos? Can you do photoshop quality photo editing right on the phone? Does your Nokia take 4K quality videos? Can you do video editing on the phone? Can your Nokia handle modern encrypted communications.... or all your calls and SMSs out there for anyone with a bit of competence available for intercept?  

 

Can your phone markup a PDF for work "on the go"? Can it hold a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation than you can connect to any monitor and run a presentation on the go? Can you make quick edits on that presentation before hand if need be? Can your Nokia download podcasts, music, etc to listen to on the go? Can in hold high quality movies again where you can plug in to a HD TV and see anywhere? Can it handle Netflix? 

 

Can it securely store important files and documents you can access if need be almost anywhere? That's for your Samsung....is it secure? Answer: no it's not. 

 

Everyone has different needs and resources. 35k is literally like nothing to me for all I do with my iPhone. Totally justified.  

each to their own

[TerrylSky]

Holy smokes, 35K for a telephone? Anyway, I buy nothing but Apple/Mac and have had no problems with anything, and have had great, repetitive, friendly helpful service with whatever. No major issues (yet); any minor problems, questions, issues were always dealt with enthusiastically. I can vouch for the Apple store in Chiang Mai shopping centre, and the store at Central Plaza in Chiang Rai. Sorry you had issues in any case. Good luck. I have a Mac guru who used to work there who now is my tech guy if you want to contact me for his advice / contact.

[ChiangMaiThai]

2 hours ago, jonw8uk said:

 

Fair point. My opinion was based on two friends who were given new phones from true after warranty issues. Clearly its not the norm. 

 

Another thing with apples warranty (worldwide) is that they can give you a refurb phone as a replacement. I think that stinks, and a court in demark recently agreed, after they gave a danish guy a refurb replacment after his new purchase died

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/danish-court-iphone/amp/?client=safari

 

should be new for new, and really makes Apple look bad

 

having said all that, coming from a 6 to a 7 plus is a great upgrade.....so far :)

Yep Studio 7 even informed me I may end up with a refurbished phone (the same phone taken apart and out back together again to be 'good as new'. That's not what I paid for and they don't seem to even be able to grasp that.

[ChiangMaiThai]

2 minutes ago, TerrylSky said:

Holy smokes, 35K for a telephone? Anyway, I buy nothing but Apple/Mac and have had no problems with anything, and have had great, repetitive, friendly helpful service with whatever. No major issues (yet); any minor problems, questions, issues were always dealt with enthusiastically. I can vouch for the Apple store in Chiang Mai shopping centre, and the store at Central Plaza in Chiang Rai. Sorry you had issues in any case. Good luck. I have a Mac guru who used to work there who now is my tech guy if you want to contact me for his advice / contact.

The 256GB version is even more :)

Yeah, generally they are nice and somewhat knowledgable, but if you have a serious issue like me, it's buyer beware.

[abrahamzvi]

20 hours ago, ukrules said:

Better still, I will avoid Apple completely.

I totally disagree. My experience with Apple products and with both I studios and I care I really had no problems whatsoever. On the contrary their service and attitude have been excellent!!

[ChiangMaiThai]

25 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

My two cent experience in Chiang Mai. Retired here in 2011, within the first 6 months the MacPro, I brought with me failed. Electric spike, I think. Bought a new MacPro from iSudio and have had no problems that iStudio immediately addressed (one issue at software upgrade). Had a question about the iPhone I bought in the states from Apple in 2013 and iStudio did not hesitate to show me how to operate the app.

 

In a related vein, just had a conversation with another farang who told me of the excellent treatment by the consumer protection court in Chiang Mai. Purchased product was defective, seller refused to address, consumer court got the seller straightened out in short order.

So we just have to go to court when Thai resellers sell us defective products and then we will get what we paid for. Easy! Thailand at it's best lol