In Denmark, Apple loses court case over refurbished phone

Apple Inc. has violated a consumer law in Denmark by giving a customer a refurbished iPhone with used components in replacement for his new one that wasn't working properly, a Danish court ruled.

The Glostrup City Court says consumer David Lysgaard "had a legitimate expectation" to receive a new product, adding the replacement smartphone "can't be qualified as a brand new phone."

Under Danish consumer laws, a dysfunctional and unfixable product should be replaced with a new equivalent product or the money should be refunded.

The three-judge panel with the Copenhagen suburban court of law said Friday that Lysgaard had the right to declare the purchase voided and get his money back after several complaints about problems with the iPhone 4 he bought in June 2011.

"It is fantastic," Lysgaard told Ekstra Bladet tabloid about the ruling, adding that Apple "should follow Danish law, (and) respect that we have legislation in Denmark."

"If I hadn't insisted on my right, they would have continued to break the act on sale of goods," he was quoted as saying.

There was no immediate reaction from Cupertino, California-based Apple.

Apple sued Lysgaard after losing a 2014 ruling by Denmark's Consumer Complaints Board.

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