Recently, the reporter of Nanduwan Finance Agency learned that the mophie three-in-one travel charger (supporting MagSafe) with the label "Apple Exclusive" launched on Apple's official website once reported "overturning", and many netizens even found that they could not add the product to the shopping cart on Apple's official website.
However, when the reporter checked Apple's official website and Mophie's Taobao flagship store on July 20, he found that the product was still sold online normally.
Many consumers reported quality problems with the product
Nanduwan Finance Agency reporters noticed that since late June this year, more and more discussions have emerged on the product issue of "Mophie three-in-one travel charger" in forums supported by Apple's official website.
According to public information, this mophie three-in-one travel charger was launched on Apple's official store in February 2022, with dedicated charging positions for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods/AirPods Pro, supporting MagSafe, and comes with a USB-C cable and wall power adapter.
Mophie, the company behind the product, has a long history. According to public information, in 2016, Zagg, a global mobile device accessories and technology company focusing on various fields in the mobile phone peripheral products industry, acquired it for $100 million; Since then, mophie has become Zagg's brand focusing on the design and manufacture of mobile smart devices and accessories.
Mophie's product categories mainly involve fast charging devices, wireless charging devices, power banks, car chargers, etc.; Its product, Juice Pack, is the first Apple-certified "Works With iPhone" portable battery solution. For a long time, Mophie has been an important partner of Apple, and many products have been launched in the Apple Store.
However, recently, many users said that when using the "mophie three-in-one travel charger" product, they encountered problems such as iPhone, Apple Watch or AirPods cannot be charged consistently, or the device is disconnected and reconnected to the charging source, and the device will continue to send ping signals.
The Nanduwan Finance Agency reporter noted that these problems are not unique. For example, in the "Ask everyone" column at the bottom of the product's homepage in Mophie's Taobao flagship store, some consumers asked, "Is it common to not be able to charge electricity?" A consumer replied below: "The mobile phone charging module has been broken for less than three months"; Many consumers also left messages under this reply: "Yes, I used it for half a year", "Mine is also broken" and so on. It is worth noting that these messages talking about product quality problems were generally posted in early July this year.
In addition, many consumers reported on social media platforms that there were after-sales problems with this "Mophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger". If a consumer posts that the product he purchased on Apple's official website, "the mobile phone charger in the middle cannot be charged after a long time"; The phone asked Apple after-sales, and the after-sales said that this was not their product, allowing consumers to contact Mophie by themselves, but could not provide Mophie's after-sales contact information. Some netizens said: "After-sales is super troublesome, can only call, write emails this original way, and then wait for two days to call again, there is no solution." ”
It is worth noting that in the introduction information of this mophie three-in-one travel charger on Apple's official website, Apple is accompanied by the caption: "Note: Products sold through this website that do not bear the Apple brand name will only be provided and supported by their manufacturers in accordance with the terms and conditions on the product packaging." The Apple Limited Warranty does not apply to non-Apple branded products, even if the product was packaged and sold with an Apple product. For technical support and customer service, please contact the manufacturer directly. ”
Is the product removed but still available for purchase?
For this charger, some media reported that on July 19, the Mophie three-in-one travel charger was once "removed" from Apple's official website - it was impossible to add the product to the shopping cart on Apple's official website.
However, on July 20, the reporter checked Apple's official website and found that the product named "mophie three-in-one travel charger (support MagSafe)" is still on sale. The reporter immediately tried to place an order, and then Apple's official website sent an "order confirmation" email to the reporter's contact email.
The reporter also checked mophie's Taobao flagship store and found that there is a category called "Apple's official website with the same model" under its homepage, and "mophie three-in-one travel charger (support MagSafe)" is prominently listed. The reporter also tried to buy, and the page successfully jumped to the payment page.
The reporter further asked Apple customer service and the customer service of Mophie Taobao flagship store about the removal of the product from Apple's official website on July 19. Apple customer service said that the product has indeed been removed from the official website, and the reason why the official website is still displayed may be that the relevant interface has not been updated; At the same time, it is not recommended to place an order for journalists who consult as consumers, because the product may not be shipped after the order is placed.
Mophie customer service said that Mophie's Taobao flagship store had not removed the product, and provided screenshots of relevant media reports, saying that it was "false information."
The reporter checked the official website of Mophie's parent company ZAGG and found that the official website had removed the product, with a text description, indicating that it had found a problem in this product, and this problem "may cause intermittent charging of the device." But after investigation, the problem has been determined and it said that the firmware update will be released as soon as possible.
The reporter consulted the customer service of the mophie Taobao flagship store about the quality of the product. The customer service said that the product has a 2-year warranty, and mentioned that the product problems caused by Apple's system upgrade some time ago "have all been upgraded." When the reporter confirmed to the customer service whether the problem would not occur again if it was purchased now, Mophie customer service replied "no" and said that "you can contact us at any time if you have any questions".
On a social platform, the reporter noticed that some netizens posted that "mophie's travel MagSafe three-in-one has overturned and can be refunded." The reporter consulted Apple customer service on this matter, and Apple customer service said that as long as the receipt and invoice purchased through Apple's channels can be presented, the return can be handled at the original price.
Not only third parties, Apple's official charger has also been criticized
Apple's charging device has long been controversial. In addition to the above-mentioned third-party chargers, Apple's own chargers have also been criticized by the outside world for charging speed and not supporting Type-C and other issues. For example, many consumers have many complaints about Apple's insistence on the Lightning port, and the incident has even evolved into many countries and regions to speak out about it.
For example, in response to this issue, member Ding Lei put forward the "Proposal on Unifying the Standard Port of Intelligent Electronic Device Chargers to Further Reduce E-Waste and Help Carbon Neutrality" in 2022, and received a reply from the mainland Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: "We will continue to promote the formulation of relevant national standards and promote the integration and unification of charging interfaces and technologies." ”
In the same year, the European Union also reached an agreement on a common charging port for all smartphones. The agreement requires that from autumn 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras in the EU will have a common USB Type-C interface; At the same time, the protocol will also be applied to other electronic devices such as e-readers.
Or because of this, Apple has also begun to "compromise" to abandon the Lightning port that has been stuck to for many years - according to industry news, the iPhone 15 that will be launched this year will use USB-C.
Written by: Nandu Bay Finance Agency reporter Kong Xuexiao Intern Yuan Jiajing