Dear Mr. Jobs: Broken iPhone Screen and Apple Store Ripoff

[hyeok]

Here is the letter I sent to Mr. Jobs today after being ripped off at an Apple Store. I also posted the letter on my blog: www.maxxworld.co.cc
-- - --- - -

Hello Mr. Jobs,
I recently dropped my iPhone and the glass screen broke. I brought it to my local Apple Store (King of Prussia, PA) to get it fixed, and it cost me $299 (the same price I paid for the new phone back in September)!
I am a poor college student, and this price is too much for me. I do not mind paying lots of money for quality products and service. (In fact, I love it!) But $299 to replace a glass screen on a phone that works perfectly well otherwise? This is too much!
I do not understand why it would cost any more than $150 to replace a glass screen. And why does it cost more to replace the glass screen on a 16GB iPhone as opposed to the 8GB model? ($299 vs. $199). Does the 16GB iPhone have better glass?
I realize that I am receiving a refurbished different iPhone in place of by broken iPhone. But if I don’t get to keep my broken iPhone anyway, why should it cost more for 16GB iphone users?
I love my iPhone, and I spend money on the iPhone app store almost every week. I am a loyal and passionate Apple fan, but today my faith in this little-big great company has been greatly diminished.

-Maxx
www.maxxworld.co.cc
--- - -

Visit my blog for a picture of the broken iPhone. I put this charge on my credit card, but I don't know how I'll pay for it!

[dissdnt]

Let the flaming begin...

[staccato83]

haha oh man...

1.

2. You dropped the phone = you suffer the consequences.

3. You are a "poor college student" and yet you still manage to "spend money in the app store every week."

People like you act like society owes them something for their misfortunes... get real

[skwoytek]

The $299 you paid in September was discounted significantly by AT&T. If you went to buy a new 16GB iPhone today it'd cost you $699.

So, I'd say you did pretty well for someone who dropped and broke their $700 phone and only had to pay $299 for a replacement.


And I believe Apple's policy is that they don't repair customer damaged iPhones; they simply charge you a replacement fee, hence the $199/$299 prices.

[esaleris]

He does make a good point re: the glass on the 16 GB vs. the 8 GB, if that is indeed the case.

[marine610610]

Let the flaming begin...

:D:D:D:D:D

[hyeok]

The $299 you paid in September was discounted significantly by AT&T. If you went to buy a new 16GB iPhone today it'd cost you $699.

So, I'd say you did pretty well for someone who dropped and broke their $700 phone and only had to pay $299 for a replacement.

And I believe Apple's policy is that they don't repair customer damaged iPhones; they simply charge you a replacement fee, hence the $199/$299 prices.

Hmm, interesting. I know that it would have cost me $699 to buy a new phone and $299 to buy a refurbished model. But that's not what I wanted: I wanted my phone fixed. If it's Apple's policy that they do not repair broken phones, they should have told me that at the Apple store.

Instead, the Apple Store employees told me that, in fact, they do fix broken iPhones, and that it will cost me $299. And from my viewpoint, that is exactly what they did. I gave in my broken one, and I received a fixed one.

I would not mind the $299 price as much if I got to keep my old broken phone. But the fact that I traded-it in means that Apple has the responsibility to charge me the cost of parts, labour, and a little extra for profit for fixing the broken screen. But instead, they took my broken-screen iPhone for nought, and sold me a refurb iPhone. That is my complaint.

And with regards to the other obnoxious post,
haha oh man...

1.



Haven't you learned that Ad Hominems are not valid arguments? Maybe you need to review the list of logical fallacies here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy


2. You dropped the phone = you suffer the consequences.


What is this, high school? It's irrelevant whether the broken screen is my fault or not. I expect to pay a fair price for a service on the free market. Of course, Apple has the right to charge any ridiculous price they wish. But that's not my point. I never said they didn't have the right to charge what they did. Maybe you need to read my original post again.


3. You are a "poor college student" and yet you still manage to "spend money in the app store every week."


Spending .99 cents on the App Store every week is different from shelling out $300 at once.


People like you act like society owes them something for their misfortunes... get real


Misfortunes? Society owing something? I don't see your point here. I hardly consider a broken iPhone screen a "misfortune". It's more of a "inconvenience" at best. And is asking for a fair price "acting like society owes me something"? Society doesn't owe me anything - I'm just complaining about exorbitant prices at the Apple store.

[svndmvn]

Why take it to Apple? You're free to do it yourself for something like 5$ or take somewhere else.
BTW, I smashed my M3, why does it cost more to fix than a regular 3 series?
http://germancarscene.com/wp-content/uploads/m3-20-08-07.jpg

[filman408]

He does make a good point re: the glass on the 16 GB vs. the 8 GB, if that is indeed the case.

Um... There is no difference in the glass.
He broke a 16GB phone, and received a 16GB phone in return. He had to pay the price to get a new 16GB($299) phone (versus an 8GB($199) phone).
Plus, user damage (dropping, water, etc) is not covered under warranty or AppleCare. It a mute point to argue here.

If I drop my iPhone and the glass breaks, is it really Apples fault? No. Its mine. If you spill grape juice on your clothes (and it cant be removed), do you blame the designer/seller??

[.Andy]

I'd suspect you'll hear from Steve Jobs shortly with an apology and a free glass replacement given it was entirely your own fault.

[hyeok]

Why take it to Apple? You're free to do it yourself for something like 5$ or take somewhere else.
BTW, I smashed my M3, why does it cost more to fix than a regular 3 series?
http://germancarscene.com/wp-content/uploads/m3-20-08-07.jpg

You also seem to be missing my point. Of course, it costs more to fix a regular 3 series than to buy a new one. It's more labour-intensive to fix a car than to build a new one.

I would not mind even paying x10 the price of the original iphone to fix the glass screen, if that is indeed a fair price. I am saying that price is not fair, precisely because, as you say, it would have cost me much less elsewhere.

Can you take your regular 3 series elsewhere to get it fixed for less? Probably not.

[svndmvn]

You also seem to be missing my point. Of course, it costs more to fix a regular 3 series than to buy a new one. It's more labour-intensive to fix a car than to build a new one.

I would not mind even paying x10 the price of the original iphone to fix the glass screen, if that is indeed a fair price. I am saying that price is not fair, precisely because, as you say, it would have cost me much less elsewhere.

Can you take your regular 3 series elsewhere to get it fixed for less? Probably not.

of course I could fix my 3 series or my M3 elsewhere for less, I could even fix it myself, same thing goes for the iPhone, but the thing about the cost is that if you or whoever fixes it "eff"s it up you gotta throw something of a bigger value away, compared to an 8 gig iPhone. You understand, right? Fixing something of a bigger value costs more, it's really simple.
another point is that Apple doesn't force you to pay that amount just like it doesn't force you to not have a case on it, or make them fix it.
It is how it works, they accelerate replacement/repair times giving you another one, refurbished usually. They told you how it worked and you weren't forced to accept the conditions, have you asked around here if it was possible to fix it by your own means? No, you preferred to go to Apple and then moan, sorry for the term, on your blog and here.
One last point, and I'm just trying to help, if Apple only had 8GB iPhones it wouldn't have cost this much to "fix" yours, but having the risk of effing up, as I was saying, a 16GB iPhone costs more than effing up an 8GB one. Plus, they probably don't even fix them at Apple, and yours is a fixed one, that probably came from China or Europe, and your old one will get fixed as well.
So, did I really not get the point?

[ataboc]

you should have spent 299 fixing your face.

[iBecks]

Visit my blog for a picture of the broken iPhone. I put this charge on my credit card, but I don't know how I'll pay for it!

The answer to you paying off the charge on your credit card is to go out and get a Job.

[Babybandit]

Firstly, you said you wouldn't mind the 299 price if you could keep your phone.

If you kept your phone, how'd they fix it for you?

You assume they're giving you a new one because of the 299 pricetag? Funny.

You then say later the price is - and I quote "I am saying that price is not fair, precisely because, as you say, it would have cost me much less elsewhere."

Front Panel : http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-3G-Front-Panel/IF137-000

Costs 70

Display : http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-3G-Display/IF137-001

Cost 100

They are exchanged together no matter which is the problem, I know someone who has broken it, and both are replaced.

That's 170.
You said you wouldn't mind if the price was fair "I would not mind even paying x10 the price of the original iphone to fix the glass screen, if that is indeed a fair price" and since that's the price, what's not fair about it?

You dropped the phone, you deserve to pay whatever the fee is. And no, 299 is not the phone's price. It's the price subsidized. The real price is around 699.

[svndmvn]

http://cgi.ebay.com/OEM-iPhone-3G-Outer-Glass-LCD-Screen-Lens-Replacement_W0QQitemZ360149555524QQihZ023QQcategoryZ20336QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Not sure it's the best one.. but definitely one of the cheapest

[thomahawk]

or you coulda fixed it yourself.. >.>

other than that, its your fault for breaking the glass. how could it be apples fault? your paying for a new or refurbished one. be thankful. im sure other people would want an iphone with broken glass.

[sparkyms]

of course I could fix my 3 series or my M3 elsewhere for less, I could even fix it myself, same thing goes for the iPhone, but the thing about the cost is that if you or whoever fixes it "eff"s it up you gotta throw something of a bigger value away, compared to an 8 gig iPhone. You understand, right? Fixing something of a bigger value costs more, it's really simple.
another point is that Apple doesn't force you to pay that amount just like it doesn't force you to not have a case on it, or make them fix it.
It is how it works, they accelerate replacement/repair times giving you another one, refurbished usually. They told you how it worked and you weren't forced to accept the conditions, have you asked around here if it was possible to fix it by your own means? No, you preferred to go to Apple and then moan, sorry for the term, on your blog and here.
One last point, and I'm just trying to help, if Apple only had 8GB iPhones it wouldn't have cost this much to "fix" yours, but having the risk of effing up, as I was saying, a 16GB iPhone costs more than effing up an 8GB one. Plus, they probably don't even fix them at Apple, and yours is a fixed one, that probably came from China or Europe, and your old one will get fixed as well.
So, did I really not get the point?

This is the best explanation so far...

You MUST remember that instead of fixing your unit and making you wait days without a phone and mobile service you are getting an IMMEDIATE fix, they will then go and fix your phone and give it out as a refurb to the next guy who breaks their screen.

You are also paying to keep your warranty... you broke the phone hence voiding the warranty so you're paying the "out-of-warranty" repair price.. this allows you to follow your warranty right through to where it would originally finish.. so if you have genuine problems with this phone you will get a replacement for nothing.

I dropped my 8GB in september last year and it cost me £139 to get that replaced by apple. When I was at the store they explained that they weren't going to fix the phone but replace it, and if I wanted the phone to be fixed there are several mail-in options or do it yourself options, but it would void the warranty.. I said that I'd rather keep my warranty by paying the £139.

I don't think it's unfair at all.

[kage207]

Why do you want your original iPhone so badly anyway? It's no different, it's an iPhone. Get over it.

First, they took your iPhone and gave you a refurbished iPhone, one that was broken at sometime and sent off your old iPhone to get fix so it can go back into the system. So, I'm guessing in parts, cost them about $170 or more depending all that was damaged inside the phone. Secondly, they pay someone from China, USA or Europe or where ever they send it to get fix, for their labor. I'm guess around average of 30mins of work to check it and make sure it works fine. So that's two phones an hour, maybe around $25 for all the time it is spent there at the facility, meaning utilities for that place and etc. Then you slap about $15 for shipping and that it's safely shipped. Placing this around anywhere from $200 to more fix your original iPhone and that takes time to do all that.

Secondly, why should you get to keep your broken one? If you want your broken one, buy one for $699 or get one at a discounted price (so they can make money off of it still) and give your old one a fix up and sent back out to be someone else's refurbished iPhone. So in turn I think they are doing you a service and giving the consumer a little pocket money.

Yeah, your little joke with fallacy logic is kinda stupid and against the rules here since you are a newbie I thought I'd be kind and be nice enough to point this out for you.

[wfiphone]

Dude like OMG like dude how could u like OMG ahdjshdkanbsn


Stop freaking out people. Sure what he says doesnt make any sense but who cares. Leave hime alone.

[TheSpaz]

It's pretty easy to fix the screen on the iPhone 3G. Search YouTube. There's tons of videos explaining how to replace the screen. Just order the new parts on eBay and fix it yourself. Never take anything to Apple to get out-of-warrantee repairs. You could also go to a website like www.iresq.com

[Requiemm]

To the OP, while I won't resort to any bashing or name calling I do agree with those who pointed out that it is quite unlikely that the folk at the apple store stole your phone, gave you a refurb one and charged you $299 whilst holding you down. Based on that I can only conclude you might have had some small amount of choice in whether or not they exchanged it. As a result, the fault lies on you, not on them.

When I don't like a store's prices, I go to a competitor. If enough people dop that the store is forced to re-evaluate their pricing.

Now on to a pet peeve of mine.

It a mute point to argue here.

Aaaarghh! This one gets me worse than the misuse of "Couldn't Care Less"

Mute = Unable to vocalize, as certain animals.
Moot = Of no practical importance; irrelevant.

[ucfgrad93]

To the OP, while I won't resort to any bashing or name calling I do agree with those who pointed out that it is quite unlikely that the folk at the apple store stole your phone, gave you a refurb one and charged you $299 whilst holding you down. Based on that I can only conclude you might have had some small amount of choice in whether or not they exchanged it. As a result, the fault lies on you, not on them.

When I don't like a store's prices, I go to a competitor. If enough people dop that the store is forced to re-evaluate their pricing.


Agreed, if it was too much to pay, you should have looked for alternatives.

[bigmouth]

Haven't you learned that Ad Hominems are not valid arguments?
Uh...yes they are. They may not be valid for logical proof, but only a fool fails to pay attention to the source of a claim. Or do you believe those hack scientists for the tobacco industry when they tell you that smoking doesn't cause cancer?

[chrono1081]

Wow the OP got REALLY lucky only paying $299. I used to sell cell phones and if you broke your phone, and it didnt have one of those monthly warranty things and your contract wasnt up you had to pay full price to get a new phone which was usually at least double, mostly triple of what you paid when you first signed up.

[Sweetbike40]

Are you sure they replaced the glass on your phone? Since there is a price difference, i'd imagine that they gave you a refurbished phone and didn't actually fix yours.

ps. actually, you got a good deal because you didn't pay retail for the phone. don't they go for around $500 without a contract? and there's nothing wrong with refurbished.

[buccsmf1]

first off... this is a $700 phone, not a $300 phone

2nd, you knew you were buying an expensive phone when you bought it (or apparently you didnt because you don't even know what the retail value of something you purchased is). and when you buy expensive things...... NEWS FLASH - IT COSTS MORE TO FIX THEM THAN INEXPENSIVE THINGS.

this is like buying a porsche and then complaining that it costs more to fix the stereo than it would to fix the stereo in a honda..... this isn't an isolated occurrence here.... if you wanted something that would be cheap to fix and maintain then why the hell didn't you buy a razr? and you complain about being a "poor college student" yet you own a phone that costs at least what, $70-$80 a month to use? i have friends in college that actually are poor and guess what they use? crappy go-phones. they cant AFFORD iphones. if you CANT AFFORD to own/maintain an iphone then DONT BUY ONE.

one again - this is like someone stretching their money to buy a porsche when they should buy a honda. then when the repair/maintain/insurance bills start piling up they complain that it isnt as cheap to maintain as a honda would be.

these are the types of things you need to know and understand BEFORE you make a purchase. it's YOUR FAULT for not doing the research and knowing what it would cost if something were to happen to your phone.

[waiwai]

hyeok are u looking for sympathy?

seriously, you're a tard. an iphone is not for poor college students. if you can afford it, then you are not poor. you do not know what being poor is if you can manage to pay for an iphone. and if u are really poor and managed to get an iphone, that tells u much about how messed up your priorities are. either way, it doesnt look good for you.

you broke the phone, man up and just pay the bill. hope u learned your lesson, so you can avoid the bill in the future.

[macfearless]

hyeok are u looking for sympathy?

seriously, you're a tard. an iphone is not for poor college students. if you can afford it, then you are not poor. you do not know what being poor is if you can manage to pay for an iphone. and if u are really poor and managed to get an iphone, that tells u much about how messed up your priorities are. either way, it doesnt look good for you.

you broke the phone, man up and just pay the bill. hope u learned your lesson, so you can avoid the bill in the future.

tard is a little harsh, man. did you really just join this forum to roast/judge people? give the guy a break...

[Demosthenes X]

You realize you answered your own question/complaint in your letter, right?

I do not understand why it would cost any more than $150 to replace a glass screen.
I realize that I am receiving a refurbished different iPhone in place of by broken iPhone.

They're not fixing your iPhone - they're giving you a new one. So of course the 16GB model will cost more - it costs Apple more to give you a new one. If you want to keep your old broken iPhone, then the new one would cost you $799 instead of $299. Apple takes your old phone, repairs it, and resells it for $299. That's how they're able to offer replacement iPhones for less than full retail.

Your letter reads like a kid who dropped his iPhone and is whining about the price. If you stopped to think about it for 30 seconds - or even read your own letter - you'd understand how things work and why you paid $299.

[iPhone Savvy]

After shifting through all of the replies it seems the point of his original complaint has been all but erased.

He is making the point, a valid one, that the iPhone 8GB screen and the iPhone 16GB screen should be the same price to repair.

Apple has decided to give you a refurbished iPhone, instead of actually replacing the glass. That is their choice. I do however disagree that the consumer should have to pay for the refurbished phone in whole.

If the price of a new screen, whether it be 8GB or 16GB was $299, then Apple would definitely be charging a fair price. I am sure that when looked at in a non-subsidized pricing scheme, a $699 phone could indeed have a $299 touch screen on it.

The point being made is that the rest of the iPhone is fine. The only thing needing to be repaired is the glass screen. There is no reason to replace the whole entire iPhone, therefore charging separate prices to repair the exact same screen is a little shady.

[dave006]

Wow the OP got REALLY lucky only paying $299. I used to sell cell phones and if you broke your phone, and it didnt have one of those monthly warranty things and your contract wasnt up you had to pay full price to get a new phone which was usually at least double, mostly triple of what you paid when you first signed up.This is standard Apple Out of Warranty support. As long as the original iPhone or iPhone 3G is in one physical piece and there is no liquid damage you pay the $199 / $299 for a refurbished iPhone.

Apple will charge you the Out-of-Warranty Service Fee if Apple receives your original and determines that is not eligible for service under the warranty or the AppleCare Protection Plan, but is repairable.

The generous part from Apple is that they allow you to have the remainder of your existing warranty or 90 days on the refurbished iPhone, which ever is longer evei if you drop your iPhone and cause the damage. "Get a Case" :eek:

Dave

[1Zach1]

After shifting through all of the replies it seems the point of his original complaint has been all but erased.

He is making the point, a valid one, that the iPhone 8GB screen and the iPhone 16GB screen should be the same price to repair.

Apple has decided to give you a refurbished iPhone, instead of actually replacing the glass. That is their choice. I do however disagree that the consumer should have to pay for the refurbished phone in whole.

If the price of a new screen, whether it be 8GB or 16GB was $299, then Apple would definitely be charging a fair price. I am sure that when looked at in a non-subsidized pricing scheme, a $699 phone could indeed have a $299 touch screen on it.

The point being made is that the rest of the iPhone is fine. The only thing needing to be repaired is the glass screen. There is no reason to replace the whole entire iPhone, therefore charging separate prices to repair the exact same screen is a little shady.

I guess I don't understand what else Apple could reasonably do? They aren't going to be able to fix the screen right there in front of you, so they would have to take the phone, send it to who ever they send stuff to for repairs, then get it back to you. Does anyone honestly think customers would be okay with not having their iPhone for 4-6 weeks?

[dave006]

After shifting through all of the replies it seems the point of his original complaint has been all but erased....

He is making the point, a valid one, that the iPhone 8GB screen and the iPhone 16GB screen should be the same price to repair.

The point being made is that the rest of the iPhone is fine. The only thing needing to be repaired is the glass screen. There is no reason to replace the whole entire iPhone, therefore charging separate prices to repair the exact same screen is a little shady.Apple did not replace the Glass, the OP got a good deal as I explained in my previous post. Apple does not repair individual iPhones for each customer. They would lose quality control (no laughing here..). The have chosen to go with a depot style exchange process. The OP is not covered by any warrany once they dropped the iPhone. The OP had the option to go to a local repair shop, mail order, eBay or other option to keep the cost to just parts and labor but that would not have provided any warranty from Apple. On a whole, the Apple Out of Warranty replacement process is very good for almost all customers. (Just don't get it wet...) :eek:

Dave

[txr0ckabilly]

MAN OH MAN...

i think most of you are all missing the point of the OP' post here.

we'll use the BMW that was mentioned earlier as an example. if you wrecked it, then you can get it repaired (if it's not totaled and that one in the picture was a total loss vehicle and i highly doubt it was repaired unless you now have a salvaged title- which makes your BMW worthless) when you go to your local BMW body shop, they don't give you a used BMW instead of fixing yours.

the point the OP was making (IMO) is that apple will repair that phone and sell it as a refurbished phone to the next person who breaks theirs. he went in to the apple store requesting a repair. now if they sent his phone off for repair (he would be without his phone for a while) and apple actually repaired it and sent it back to him then there would be a price for the repair (199, 299, 30,000, whatever) but if they replace all the broken glass with the same glass for both the models then it should be one price.

he didn't ask for an exchange, he asked to have his phone repaired. apple's policy is flawed in that their customers don't have that choice. we have it with our MPs, MBPs, MINIs, IMACs, etc. i know that apple's policy on these machines is to send them off for repair if they can't be repaired in house. they don't hand out refurbished computers for broken ones. if you break it, you can have it repaired for a fee.

if i break the case, or optical drive, or whatever on my mini with the 120gb HD or my mini with the 320gb HD is the cost different to replace common parts?

take you time and read through that...


and back to the BMW thing- the repairs are no more expensive for any model, whether it be a 1991 yugo or your precious 2009 BMW. the price of parts may be more expensive but the repairs are not. labor rate is the same, paint rate is the same, material rates are the same, frame/unibody repair rate is the same for all vehicles in a given area (these prices are set by the insurance companies) the parts for the 8gb and 16gb iphone are the same unless you're talking about the flash drive.

i'll leave it at that.

[natebookpro]

Let the flaming begin...

Haha couldn't be more right! But yea, I remember being a poor college student. It involved figuring out how I could eat for about $10 a week... ramen, peanut butter, bread, and cereal (sometimes with water, milks expensive). I definitely couldn't afford a $100 phone bill. Suck it up, your not a "poor college student".

[instaxgirl]

So, OP personally I'd also be pretty unimpressed if I was in your situation. But seeing as I'd be so unhappy with the Apple repair system I would have gone online, found someone to repair the screen for $100 and sent my phone off to them.

I can't see why anyone at Apple will be super concerned that you don't like their system since you've handed over the $300 already.