Shattered iPhone 4 screen and Apple Store experience

You were expecting a freebie and were disappointed when Apple wouldn't give you one due to a problem you caused to begin with?

Ferny said:

Just wanted to relay my experience on having our local Apple Store replacing a screen on my wife's phone. I had read several posts that Apple would, as a one time courtesy, replace a broken screen. Reading these comments we made an appt at the Genius Bar....they looked up the purchase date of the phone and said it was out of warranty so, $199 to replace.

Obviously she dropped the phone which caused the damage but I have to admit that although the iPhone 4 design is nice to look it is not practical in use. We left with much disappointment. Our family is not a casual Apple user - we own two current iPods, two iPhones, two MBPs, an iPad 2, a MacMini and the current AppleTV.

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Because you own lots of Apple products, you think Apple should fix your accidentally damaged shattered iPhone screen for free...?

It is down to the Genius, but at the end of the day, you smashed it yourself, so how you can leave feeling disappointed is beyond me.

I'm not sure what you were expecting. If it was still under warranty then they probably would have just replaced the iPhone. I think a $199.99 replacement is the best you can expect for an out of warranty item. That's a pretty good deal in such a situation in my opinion.

Mr.C said:

I'm not sure what you were expecting. If it was still under warranty then they probably would have just replaced the iPhone. I think a $199.99 replacement is the best you can expect for an out of warranty item. That's a pretty good deal in such a situation in my opinion.

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even the 199 is a favor as that is really just for water damaged devices

So .... what's your point exactly?

$199 for a replacement was a good deal. Batteries they may do for free but shattered screens are iffy at best. But on the other hand you maybe able to upgrade to the new IPHONE for $199 in a couple weeks.

Ferny said:

Just wanted to relay my experience on having our local Apple Store replacing a screen on my wife's phone. I had read several posts that Apple would, as a one time courtesy, replace a broken screen. Reading these comments we made an appt at the Genius Bar....they looked up the purchase date of the phone and said it was out of warranty so, $199 to replace.

Obviously she dropped the phone which caused the damage but I have to admit that although the iPhone 4 design is nice to look it is not practical in use. We left with much disappointment. Our family is not a casual Apple user - we own two current iPods, two iPhones, two MBPs, an iPad 2, a MacMini and the current AppleTV.

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What, you expect a phone to survive a drop then get a free replacement because you've purchased other Apple products? Clue, get one.

YOU broke the phone AND are out of warranty, Apple owes you nothing.

I'll share 3 awesome experience w/ those Geniuses at Apple Store:
1. My friend broke his silent button on his iPhone because he likes to play with it a lot. We came to Apple and asked them if there's anything they can do. When the guy saw this he just laughed and said will be right back. And we got a replacement. Sweet - it was under warranty though.
2. Another friend has his macbook charger cable chewed off by her dog. Came to apple and the manager showed up and asked "what's your dog's name and what kind of dog is it?" and then gave a free replacement.
3. I tried to install the back then the not-yet-released iOS4 and failed. My iphone screen was all purple. Came to Apple and got it replaced in a jiffy.

Apple imo has the best customer service ever. Looking at the retention rate posted a couple of weeks ago, it doesn't surprise me. Apple is indeed taking good care of their customers.

He posted this thread to offset all the people who had out of warranty phones replaced. Thank you for the post so we can see this convenience is not always exercised.

Only a moron would think that every Apple store and in every situation would replace an out of warranty phone that was damaged by the owners negligence. It should be obvious it's at the stores discretion.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..."

Well so close to the next release I would have held off
also you could have checked a local repair shop and paid 1/2 or less

Ferny said:

To all the replies.....the post was to inform iPhone users that despite what some have conveyed online not everyone receives a free screen replacement...geez.

I did not feel entitled for a free replacement due to the negligent drop. I simply wish that Apple was consistent with their policies on these screen replacements.

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It was worth a try and we ALL have seen good and bad results. Apple is really being consistent, sometimes they do and others they do not.

Free would be nice but you can't beat $199 to get another iPhone 4!

Ferny said:

To all the replies.....the post was to inform iPhone users that despite what some have conveyed online not everyone receives a free screen replacement...geez.

I did not feel entitled for a free replacement due to the negligent drop. I simply wish that Apple was consistent with their policies on these screen replacements.

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Apple isn't consistent on their policies because Geniuses have some leeway to decide for themselves. This is sometimes great, but often depends on luck from the consumer point of view. People have had their cracked screens replaced for free by luck. Perhaps if they had made an appointment 30 secs later, they'd end up with a different Genius who'd not replace the screen for free.

From the Genius point of view - the amount of people who come in and try to get their accidentally damaged iPhone fixed for free (with an all inclusive sob story) is probably daily.

Let's call it the Genius Lottery - you aren't entitled to, nor does Apple say you ever will be entitled to, a free repair from accidental damage. But you might be lucky, a Genius might take sympathy with your sob story.

You say you want Apple to be consistent - consistent would be not replacing any accidental damage. I'd rather play the Genius Lottery with a little bit of hope that my sob story might actually work.

good experience

My 16 year old daughter got a 3gs in June of 2010. All was good until March of this year when she dropped it in water. It was a 1 second bath buy totally submerged. We dried it off and did the rice thing and it came back to life after 3 days. All was good until June when she dropped it and cracked the glass, the phone still worked fine. A month later she dropped it again and it shattered the glass some more and little pieces of glass were coming off near the top by the ear speaker. She was begging me for a new iphone 4, I said no. After a few days of using the phone more and more glass was starting to come off. We went to the Apple store and made an appointment with the genius bar. They said it would be 30 minutes so off to Starbucks we went. Got back to the store at the G bar and had her tell the whole story including the bath it took. The genius guy said it would be $199 for a replacement phone... but he would write it up under battery replacement which costs $80 bucks. He did not have to do that. I paid him and shook his hand and said thank you very much.

I do believe Apple gives the genius guys lots of flexibility on how they handle different situations. Be honest and polite. I could not have been happier with how they took care of our situation.

Ferny said:

Obviously she dropped the phone which caused the damage but I have to admit that although the iPhone 4 design is nice to look it is not practical in use..

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I have had an iPhone 4 since launch and I find the design very practical to use.

Definitely the best way to approach them is honesty. But, seriously, did you really think you were going to get a replacement even though some users got a free one here? We only represent probably less than 1% of the total iPhone user base.

Ferny said:

I did not feel entitled for a free replacement due to the negligent drop. I simply wish that Apple was consistent with their policies on these screen replacements.

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IMO giving the genius flexibility to decide some things on a case-by-case basis is much better then a consistant "one size fits all" corporate policy.

Ferny said:

To all the replies.....the post was to inform iPhone users that despite what some have conveyed online not everyone receives a free screen replacement...geez.

I did not feel entitled for a free replacement due to the negligent drop. I simply wish that Apple was consistent with their policies on these screen replacements.

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Whilst I appreciate some of the responses you got here were abrupt, harsh and in one or two cases down right rude and uncalled for you original post came across as the latter of those two comments and not the former. As already pointed out the Apple Geniuses tend to have discretion and judge each individual situation on a case by case basis. It's not a good idea to assume or expect that just because others have got better results you should too especially on a product that is no longer under warranty and the damage was on your wife's part all be it accidental.

Get a LifeProof case. Protects against water and drops. http://www.Lifeproof.com Not connected with the company, just an extremely satisfied user. You can order online and they are now selling them at Best Buy. They do cost more at BB. :-(

Ferny said:

Krandor, it is practical...unless it gets dropped. Her phone broke the first time it was dropped.

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Case?