Xiaomi TechnologyItaly, the Italian subsidiary of the Chinese technology giant, has received a fine of 3,2 million euros from the Antitrust of our country. According to the Authority, the company of the Asian giant has hindered the exercise of rights of legal guarantee on Xiaomi-branded electronics products.
Warranty interventions refused in case of "defects"
In particular, the Antitrust explains in a release that the company refuses to repair products under warranty that have any other defect, even if only aesthetic: for example, if a phone has more than one scratch on the screen (even if the size does not exceed 5 hundredths of a millimeter in width and 5 millimeters in length), the warranty benefit is subject to repair of out-of-warranty damage.
Repeated repairs instead of replacements
Furthermore, the Antitrust investigation revealed that Xiaomi prefers to repair the same product several times instead of replacing it, a practice that forces the consumer to deprive himself of the purchased good on several occasions. In this regard, the Authority recalls that repair is an acceptable solution only if the product defect is promptly corrected.
Xiaomi charges verification and shipping fees
But that's not all: according to the Antitrust, when Xiaomi analyzes a product without finding defects for which the warranty can be claimed, it sends the customer an estimate of the intervention out of warranty and, if the latter refuses the repair, imposes to pay the costs of verifying the defect plus the shipping costs, under penalty of failure to return the product. "On the other hand, it is up to Xiaomi to verify the possible existence of the reported lack of conformity - clarifies the Italian Authority - without charging any verification or shipping costs".
Read the Antitrust provision.
