This must be nonsense. No huge company with competent legal experts are going to allow a policy of blatant personal property theft.
They're evil but they're not stupid.
You didn't read the article, did you? It's in their repair contract that you must agree to before sending things in for repair.
From a legal perspective, they didn't steal it...
...you gave it to them.
Depends. Where I live even signed contracts can be deemed illegal in parts if a clause is still seen as unexpected or surprising for the customer.
If Google included a clause that states the customer loses a kidney to them, wouldn't make it legal just because it's written there.
It's legal in the United States where consumer protection laws aren't as strong as in some other places.
You could be a serial killer making contracts with your victims, it would still be illegal.
This one isn't though. There's no law against it in the United States, thus it is legal.
Murder contracts specifically are illegal because they contract for an illegal activity. Giving your phone to Google isn't an illegal activity. Yes, it sounds and feels like theft, but it doesn't meet the legal definition of theft.
When is this shit pulled by Samsung and now Google considered stealing?
It is actualy legally considered stealing. There might be countries where their service centre TOS are allowed to overwrite common law, but that would be outliers. In virtually all countries it's just theft.
When you live in a sane country. I can't imagine this applying anywhere in Europe for example.
Why don't they just replace the non-OEM parts and make the repair bill larger? Keeping the device is just theft.
If you send in a phone with non-OEM parts it's safe to assume that it's a bit on the older side. You're probably sending it in instead of buying a new phone because you can't find a repair shop that will work on your device because sourcing parts can be difficult for older devices. If you're suddenly hit with a bill that costs more than the value of a new phone, or at least a replacement, suddenly paying becomes questionable. But yeah, you're right. It feels like theft.
Okay but there is a thing called Estimate and either the customer agrees with the bill or they need to give the item back.
Customer: my phone doesn't charge
Estimate:
$100 USB charge board
$50 labor
$10 shipping
$160 total
Actual price:
$120 Screen (OEM replacement)
$75 fingerprint reader+assembly (OEM replacement)
$40 speaker (OEM replacement)
$100 USB charge board
$120 labor
$10 shipping
$465 total
I think most people would swallow the loss and use it as an excuse to upgrade. Use that same money for a new phone instead of a fixed phone
Nothing a good class action lawsuit can't handle.
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