Apple products are as ubiquitous as they are expensive and frustrating whenever they start to break down, often within a few years of purchasing them. One customer recently took to Reddit to share their extremely irritating experience with trying to get their AirPods repaired.
"We need laws on this ... ASAP," they wrote, sharing with the other members of the r/Anticonsumption subreddit. The post shows a text message exchange with Apple support where they inform the customer that the repair will cost $250.11.
The customer pointed out that the repair costs were more expensive than simply buying a new pair, and support agreed. When the customer asked why this was, the response was, "I have no clue."
While Apple likes to tout itself as an environmentally responsible company, many of its business practices, including that of "planned obsolescence," which forces customers to consistently throw away products that are a few years old and replace them with brand new products, belie that claim.
All of Apple's products and much of its packaging contain plastic, and some, like AirPods, are made almost entirely out of plastic. When those products are routinely thrown away and sent to landfills, it is certainly not a positive outcome for our planet.
And though Apple claims that future products will be carbon neutral, a report from The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs shows how the company is using misleading Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to make that claim when, in reality, its net planet-overheating gas pollution remains far from neutral.
"Companies should stop making — and we should stop buying — products that are this difficult to repair," wrote one commenter on the thread about the AirPods. "Or if they want to make their products this way, then they should be required to take back the old ones for recycling or disposal. If they're going to make a bunch of short-lived items, they should deal with the repercussions."
"I'd say we need transparency (which I suppose might require laws). I'd be interested to see if that quote lines up with the material price and labor rate to repair," wrote another.
Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
