Google created controversy by claiming to be able to keep smartphones sent for repair under certain conditions, but the firm has just backtracked.
A lightning 180 degree turn. This is the maneuver that had to be carried out Google following the explosion of a controversy regarding its repairability policy. We told you about it right here: in the United States, a clause in the conditions relating to the firm’s after-sales service makes users furious. It indicates that if a smartphone sent for repair contains one or more unofficial piecesthe company reserves the right to keep the device and “not to send it back” to the sender.
It doesn’t take much for Internet users to cry out organized hostage takingwhich they had already done some time previously with Samsung. The Korean manufacturer had in fact attracted the wrath of its customers by demanding that repairers destroy the smartphones they received if they contained third-party parts. Following this affair, iFixit had moreover broke off his partnership with the manufacturer. For its part, Google obviously wants to avoid the situation getting out of hand since a spokesperson announced a complete turnaround on the issue.
Google will not be able to confiscate your Pixel sent for repair, the company is changing its repairability policy
The statement is very clear: “If a customer sends their Pixel to Google for repair, we will not keep it, whether it contains parts or not [non autorisées par Google]. In some situations we will not be able to perform a repair due to safety concerns. In this case, we will send it back to the customer or work with them to determine next steps. […] We are updating our terms and conditions to clarify this“.
This change mainly concerns the United States. In France, the repair program conditions clearly states that “you must not send any device containing parts not authorized by Google“, but that “if you send a device containing such parts, [le SAV] will return it to you without repair“. Throughout Europe, the right to repair is the subject of a provisional text which should rule on this point for all manufacturers.
Source: Android Authority