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andyjslin

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 12, 2009
57
0
Canberra, Australia
Hi all,

It seems like my run with my iPhone 5 has been a bit of a nightmare. I received this phone as a gift from mum, whom she asked my cousin to purchase it from the Apple store in America, for finishing and graduating with my PhD.

So the phone was purchased on the 16th December and given to me on the 21st December in Taiwan. On the 22nd of December, on a trip to Hong Kong, I realised the Home button was become non responsive and required numerous presses to get back to the home screen. On the 25th I got frustrated with the issue becoming prevalent, but fortuitously I passed an Apple store in Causeway, HK, and went in.

[Review]
My Cantonese speech is poor and all the staff looked Asian, so I thought 'crap!' Anyhow I bumped into a Caucasian, Manager (David Hall), and described my issue. He then took my phone and played around with it and came to the same conclusion and was really happy to help me, remember I had not made an appointment on the busiest day of the year! He directed me to one of his staff who tried to replace my phone (as it was under 2 weeks old). This swap however was unsuccessful as my phone was American (CDMA) and all of the phones in HK were GSM, due to Apple policy direct replacement was not possible. Also I learnt that Apple doesn't really have an international warranty per se like most mobile phone companies. GREAT! However the Genius, William, suggested that he would replace the Home button and that it would take 10-20 minutes. I thought 'Win!'. They took my phone and came back with a new button and the phone worked perfectly. They also told me that my phone was missing two screws, and I quickly quipped I didn't open it.

So overall, this store is one of the best I've been too. I've made it a habit to visit as many Apple stores around the world, for giggles, and found this store very professional and made me feel that the extra money was worth the service.

[/Review]

Anyhow a week after my replacement my home button started to play up and now its pretty dead, requires 20 presses before being registered. I have resorted to using the assistive touch button. I will be flying back home to Australia in the coming few days. I will then see if I can another home button replaced, but I doubt they'll have the same efficiency as HK.

But what did I learn during the course this saga:

- Apple warranty is not really 'international' so I expect a ShXt fight in Australia. The peeps in HK were nice enough to replace my button despite this technicality.
-If this phone is reliant on the button for everyday function, shouldn't it be resilient to a million presses? Or is it there as a 'token'?
-Boy has Apple's QC gone down...
 

haruhiko

macrumors 604
Sep 29, 2009
6,529
5,874
They should've exchanged your phone with a new one instead of giving you a new home button. The problem may not lie in the button itself but the base on the motherboard of your phone. That's why the problem appears again. Design-wise the iPhone 5 *should* have a stronger home button than the iPhone 4S (which is in turn much better than the iPhone 4), so you've got a faulty device and should be replaced.
 

AFDoc

Suspended
Jun 29, 2012
2,864
629
Colorado Springs USA for now
Hi all,Boy has Apple's QC gone down...

Yeah you're right..... to the crapper. Out of millions of phones produced some have issues.... yeah, big time crapper.

They should've exchanged your phone with a new one instead of giving you a new home button. The problem may not lie in the button itself but the base on the motherboard of your phone. That's why the problem appears again. Design-wise the iPhone 5 *should* have a stronger home button than the iPhone 4S (which is in turn much better than the iPhone 4), so you've got a faulty device and should be replaced.
Reading isn't your stong suit is it.
 

Chris092881

macrumors 6502
Dec 26, 2012
409
3
Yeah you're right..... to the crapper. Out of millions of phones produced some have issues.... yeah, big time crapper.

Problem is, he isn't the only one complaining about some kind of issue with the 5. It seems to be a common thing.
 

pat park

macrumors 6502a
Nov 29, 2011
716
26
California
Yeah you're right..... to the crapper. Out of millions of phones produced some have issues.... yeah, big time crapper.


Reading isn't your stong suit is it.

AFDoc,
You post antagonizing, pointless drivel. Please go find some self esteem and stop with your put downs.

Please grow up and treat the other forum members with some respect. So tired of your teenage attacks on our members here.
 

andyjslin

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 12, 2009
57
0
Canberra, Australia
thanks guys for reading my drivel.

I still feel cursed (and blame myself for screwing up the phone) cause when my cousin purchased the phone on behalf of my mum she purchased another for her brother. His phone is flawless.

I was hoping for a direct replacement, but due to Apple policy my phone is of American setup (CDMA) and all the phones outside of the US of A is of GSM setup. So I can not get a direct phone replacement.

Yes, I believe that a phone of 2-3 weeks old should not require assistive touch.

Chris...The Aussie stores seem to treat me as just another customer, i.e. sell me stuff and then get out. While in HK, the manager made me feel that i was of utmost important and tried to accommodate me on a 3 day trip. Also, I find that in Australia the stores take their time to repair stuff, last time i had a hard-drive replaced it took a few days (for something that would take half an hour). While in HK it took 20 minutes to get a button replaced.

I sense that me getting my phone repaired in Australia wont be trivial. But, ill get it a fair crack.

Again guys thanks for listening. This forum has helped me when i have issues and hope to return the favor in the future.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
I was hoping for a direct replacement, but due to Apple policy my phone is of American setup (CDMA) and all the phones outside of the US of A is of GSM setup. So I can not get a direct phone replacement.
To me, it doesn't make much sense for every Apple Store around the world to have a stock of Verizon (US CDMA) iPhones sitting on-hand for direct replacements.

I'm also wondering where in Hong Kong you could have gone for a direct replacement if you had a malfunctioning Verizon (CDMA) Nokia or Samsung phone. Reading through their warranties, they don't seem to offer direct replacements, and require you to mail them your broken device first. :confused:

Having said that, don't you still have that option with Apple? To mail your broken iPhone back to them in the US, and have them ship you another one?
 

AFDoc

Suspended
Jun 29, 2012
2,864
629
Colorado Springs USA for now
Problem is, he isn't the only one complaining about some kind of issue with the 5. It seems to be a common thing.
No, it's not. You hear about it here on macrumors.... maybe some other iPhone related sites right? IF it was a "common thing" like you said, the interwebs would be blowing up with stories about "button gait". It is an apple product after all.


AFDoc,
You post antagonizing, pointless drivel. Please go find some self esteem and stop with your put downs.

Please grow up and treat the other forum members with some respect. So tired of your teenage attacks on our members here.

If memebers would stop acting like, because their one phone (and a few others) have an issue out of the MILLIONS of phones produced, is the end of apple's QC then sure, I would stop. Over dramatic posts deserves the exact response I gave it. Now if OP would of simply told his story I would not of written anything. OP decided to bring drama into his thread by saying " -Boy has Apple's QC gone down..." which is an ignorant statement to make when millions of devices are produced.
Sorry I don't have time for overdramtics and hyperbole, and sorry if my straight forward way of doing things hurts your inner child.
 
Last edited:

cpthk

macrumors member
Sep 23, 2009
32
1
Also I learnt that Apple doesn't really have an international warranty per se like most mobile phone companies.

That's not true, most companies do not offer international warranty. I would never suggest people buy oversea products. That guy William is mostly likely not following the Apple's guideline on warranty, he should be fired. Never open up the phone yourself to try to be smart. The iphone 5 is very hard to build that contains lots of small components. It's very hard to take apart and put in back well.
 

Chris092881

macrumors 6502
Dec 26, 2012
409
3
No, it's not. You hear about it here on macrumors.... maybe some other iPhone related sites right? IF it was a "common thing" like you said, the interwebs would be blowing up with stories about "button gait". It is an apple product after all.




If memebers would stop acting like, because their one phone (and a few others) have an issue out of the MILLIONS of phones produced, is the end of apple's QC then sure, I would stop. Over dramatic posts deserves the exact response I gave it. Now if OP would of simply told his story I would not of written anything. OP decided to bring drama into his thread by saying " -Boy has Apple's QC gone down..." which is an ignorant statement to make when millions of devices are produced.
Sorry I don't have time for overdramtics and hyperbole, and sorry if my straight forward way of doing things hurts your inner child.

Scuffgate wasn't enough of an issue for you? Come on. The iPhone 5, albeit a great device, has certainly had it's share of bad press. And my research habits aren't exclusive to MR.

----------

Andy, I hope you get your issue resolved soon.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
Scuffgate wasn't enough of an issue for you? Come on. The iPhone 5, albeit a great device, has certainly had it's share of bad press. And my research habits aren't exclusive to MR.
Hasn't every generation of iPhone had their own set of issues that generated bad press, going back to the very yellow screens that some of the original iPhones came with back in 2007? Antennagate, Batterygate, Scuffgate, Bendgate.

I can see someone with a failed iPhone 5 making the point that Apple's QC isn't perfect, but objectively looking at Apple's QC/design blunders since 2000, it's really hard to say how they're doing today is a decline from some mythical point in their past where their QC was "better".

I also hope that Andy can get his iPhone issue resolved easily and quickly.
 

andyjslin

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 12, 2009
57
0
Canberra, Australia
cool replies. sorry about my tone at the start.

i apologise to AFDoc and others for my response of poor QC practices. I wrote the text in an angry state, as one would expect on repair should be enough. However, for a problem to reoccur it is frustrating.

cpthk...William took my phone into the back for the techies to replace it. He was merely a messenger.

aristobrat...ill try to get another button in Australia, I am currently in taiwan and they don't have an apple stores on resellers.

Sorry guys for my whiny post at the start. **** happens and being a chemist i should know this. It was just that the replacement broke again that made it very frustrating. Compounding this, seeing another phone purchased the same time makes me feel like I'm culprit.

For those who ask why not get a non-American phone? It was a gift that was part of a group buy, if my mum had known she wouldn't have purchased it.
 

AFDoc

Suspended
Jun 29, 2012
2,864
629
Colorado Springs USA for now
For those who ask why not get a non-American phone? It was a gift that was part of a group buy, if my mum had known she wouldn't have purchased it.

No need to apologize to me.... You didn't do anything wrong except get a bit over dramatic with the qc part (which I responded with my typical sarcasm which does rub some wrong but as Popeye said, I yam what I yam) I have returned many phones for "small" issues, dust under the screen, power button not working 100%, dust under the screen (yes it was that bad of an issue with the Oi, 3 and 3gs so that's why I put it twice), ect ect. I however never thought that Apple's QC was going down the crapper. Poo happens and not every issue can be caught.
Congrats on your PhD, that's a big deal. (if you're a chemist you can have tons of money in no time!) Just need to follow this simple plan!
 

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zybersniper

macrumors member
Jan 2, 2013
90
0
The Causeway Bay store is really new so the staff are still quite nice. Try the IFC store and they won't be so courteous, especially if you speak mandarin. The Festival Walk store is pretty nice too and when I had scuffs, they opened a couple phones for me to look at.
 

andyjslin

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 12, 2009
57
0
Canberra, Australia
Well ill call up the peeps at apple when return at the end of the week. Somehow i want to be positive about an outcome i would like but knowing my luck the might say no. Due to the warranty clauses that i lazily accepted
 

AFDoc

Suspended
Jun 29, 2012
2,864
629
Colorado Springs USA for now
Well ill call up the peeps at apple when return at the end of the week. Somehow i want to be positive about an outcome i would like but knowing my luck the might say no. Due to the warranty clauses that i lazily accepted
Well if Apple is as cool as every one thinks then they should help you out IMHO. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 

sou1 so1di3r

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2008
779
13
Denver, CO
my question is, why would you get a verizon iphone if you live in australia?

You should have purchased an unlocked one, or AT&T (which are the same right?)


why not just buy it in Australia to being with....
 

Lunfai

macrumors 68000
Nov 21, 2010
1,566
519
Sheffield
my question is, why would you get a verizon iphone if you live in australia?

You should have purchased an unlocked one, or AT&T (which are the same right?)


why not just buy it in Australia to being with....

...Please learn to read.

I received this phone as a gift from mum, whom she asked my cousin to purchase it from the Apple store in America, for finishing and graduating with my PhD.

In other news, I'm glad they helped you with the problem, too bad it didn't last long.
 

sou1 so1di3r

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2008
779
13
Denver, CO
...Please learn to read.



In other news, I'm glad they helped you with the problem, too bad it didn't last long.

I know how to read thanks. :rolleyes:

Not really answering the question. I'm assuming the OP would have mentioned that he would like an iPhone as a christmas present, maybe he failed to realize there are different versions as for as working globally.

Or maybe the OP's mother didn't know... most likely.
 
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