Apple repair critic Louis Rossmann takes on U.S. Customs 'counterfeit' battery seizure
Rossmann plans to fight the decision tooth and nail in a video he created outlining the situation.
Independent iPhone and Mac repair advocate and YouTuber Louis Rossmann is staring Apple down in a potential fight for a package containing 20 Apple laptop batteries that were seized by US Customs and Border Protection.
Rossmann had ordered said batteries from China, and they were making their way from China to the New York City-based Rossmann Repair Group store last month, which specializes in repairing Apple products, before they were seized. Rossmann is now without his batteries, and he's gearing up for a legal fight against Apple and CBP after receiving a letter on October 5 detailing what happened with the 20 laptop batteries, collectively worth $1,068.
“Apple and customs seized batteries to a computer that, at the Apple Store, they no longer service because they claim it’s vintage,” said Rossmann in a YouTube video where he details the alleged incident. “They will not allow me to replace batteries, because when I import batteries that are original they’ll tell me the they’re counterfeit and have them stolen."
Originally, the batteries were seized on September 6, leaving Rossmann to find out about them on October 5, via the case letter Rossmann showed off in its entirety in his explainer video. According to the letter, Rossmann has little he can actually do to fight the decision by CBP, which includes offering a compromise filing a petition, fighting the seizure in court, or abandon his claims to the property, none of which sound like fantastic ideas, or especially convenient, for any of the parties involved.
Rossman is willing to fight as long as he has to, citing a battle on "principle" with the massive electronics company. "I don't care if I have to spend $50,000 in legal fees to get back my $1,000 worth of batteries," Rossman said in his video. "This is principle. Apple, you are not going to get away with this." Stay tuned to Shacknews for additional information on the situation as it arises.
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Shacknews
replyBrittany Vincent posted a new article, Apple repair critic Louis Rossmann takes on U.S. Customs 'counterfeit' battery seizure
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So, this article written a week later is lacking some pertinent info:
Louis admitted on reddit that the company he ordered from was no longer licensed to sell those batteries, and he knew this. He wanted them to black out apple logos and they failed to do so. This is a practice he has done before.
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9pow06/louis_rossmann_admits_to_using_parts_from_a/
The post has screenshots of the comments because they have since been deleted.
I'm all for the R2R, I prefer working on my own cars and tech, but this is absolutely not the right way of doing it. You don't go publicly against a company calling them out for "screwing" you when you've done something illegal.
This article should be updated with an editor's note to clarify his statement because this really isn't a story about a corporation shafting the consumer.
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I'm not sure how much research Shacknews did on this story.
Louis Rossmann admitted to using parts from a factory in China that wasn't authorized to manufacture the batteries seized. He said so on Reddit twice. Rossman has since deleted his first admission. In his follow-up to that he says that he doesn't care that he's buying and selling batteries that aren't legit. Screenshots before the deletion below.
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9pow06/louis_rossmann_admits_to_using_parts_from_a/ -
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