Does the Genius Bar wipe your data when swapping iPhone?

DMB1 · Jan 11, 2013, 03:47 PM

My girlfriend went to an Apple store in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after problems with her iPhone5 and they switched it for her. But he never got her to wipe the data from the phone? When she questioned the fella about her stuff and wiping it, he said he done it for her.

The original phone was completely functional and once he brought out the replacement he directed her to a work bench in the store so all her apps could download and told her once that's done give me a shout and you can clear this phone, as he said it he put the original phone in a white box. He came back over 10 mins later and said you can leave once your phone is synced, this is when she asked about the stuff being deleted and he said I just done it. The phone had a pass code etc.

Does this sound normal and is she being too sceptical?

Mark...

1080p · Jan 11, 2013, 03:50 PM

They claim to wipe it, but I always insist on doing a "Reset All Content and Settings" before they take it away.

Brian Y · Jan 11, 2013, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1080p

They claim to wipe it, but I always insist on doing a "Reset All Content and Settings" before they take it away.

Depends on a) the person b) how busy it is and c) whether they remember.

They'll be wiped when they go back anyway.

Yujenisis · Jan 11, 2013, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB1

My girlfriend went to an Apple store in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after problems with her iPhone5 and they switched it for her. But he never got her to wipe the data from the phone? When she questioned the fella about her stuff and wiping it, he said he done it for her.

The original phone was completely functional and once he brought out the replacement he directed her to a work bench in the store so all her apps could download and told her once that's done give me a shout and you can clear this phone, as he said it he put the original phone in a white box. He came back over 10 mins later and said you can leave once your phone is synced, this is when she asked about the stuff being deleted and he said I just done it. The phone had a pass code etc.

Does this sound normal and is she being too sceptical?

Mark...

At my old store we would *always* wipe the phones. We would also try as much as possible to have the customer wipe their own phone prior to leaving as we found this minimized worry and eliminated customers calling back hoping we hadn't deleted their stuff yet because of that one photo they wanted. "Remember when we wiped your phone together?"

For extra redundancy, the Genius Admins, who managed the service inventory, would double-check all phones that were still able to power on before transferring them to Back of House for shipping.

I cannot speak for how things went at other stores. Where I worked was a flagship, and by all accounts those are significantly better run than your average shop.

I hope this helps!

ericg301 · Jan 11, 2013, 03:53 PM

I swapped mine yesterday and the Genius had me "pull the trigger" on the ERASE ALL button. He said it was policy for customers to clear their phone themselves.

jrswizzle · Jan 11, 2013, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB1

My girlfriend went to an Apple store in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after problems with her iPhone5 and they switched it for her. But he never got her to wipe the data from the phone? When she questioned the fella about her stuff and wiping it, he said he done it for her.

The original phone was completely functional and once he brought out the replacement he directed her to a work bench in the store so all her apps could download and told her once that's done give me a shout and you can clear this phone, as he said it he put the original phone in a white box. He came back over 10 mins later and said you can leave once your phone is synced, this is when she asked about the stuff being deleted and he said I just done it. The phone had a pass code etc.

Does this sound normal and is she being too sceptical?

Mark...

All my experiences have been yes - they make ME press the button. I assume so they aren't liable for any lost data and so they can prove it was wiped since I did it.

----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericg301

I swapped mine yesterday and the Genius had me "pull the trigger" on the ERASE ALL button. He said it was policy for customers to clear their phone themselves.

+1 - didn't see this before I posted. I've had the same experiences.

DMB1 · Jan 11, 2013, 03:59 PM

Thanks for the replies, he did say he wiped it himself. It's just as he put it in the box he told her once your phone has stopped syncing, I will get the phone for you so you can clear the data yourself. Then it changed to him doing it himself without her seeing him do it.

corys00 · Jan 11, 2013, 09:11 PM

Two possible scenarios with this one:

Hot Chick - Data wiped after every guy checked the photo gallery
Ugly Chick - Data wiped after original rep checked for a hot girl in the gallery

eddyecb · Jan 11, 2013, 09:13 PM

everytime ive had a phone replaced at the vic square apple store, the guy has had me press the button to erase everything, so ive no doubt that he did do it.

scaredpoet · Jan 11, 2013, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB1

Thanks for the replies, he did say he wiped it himself. It's just as he put it in the box he told her once your phone has stopped syncing, I will get the phone for you so you can clear the data yourself. Then it changed to him doing it himself without her seeing him do it.

I doubt the correct procedure is different in Ireland than it is here, but at least in the US, the Genius is supposed to let you know the the phone needs to be wiped, and make sure that YOU press the button and see that's being wiped.

If he didn't do that, I wouldn't have trusted him. I would've made him bring it back out and wipe it in front of you, at best.

Since it's already too late to do that, the first step should be changing all ofer her e-mail/social networking/banking passwords, right away.

Was Find My iPhone enabled on it? If so, I would log in and see if by chance it still shows up. If it does, then he DEFINITELY didn't wipe it, and you should do a remote wipe ASAP.

AFDoc · Jan 12, 2013, 12:05 AM

Why would any rational person turn over a device that has all their info still available? YOU should go to settings --> General --> Reset --> Erase all content and settings.

IF you don't that's on you, no reason for the apple employee to do it for you.

zamudiovsky · Jan 12, 2013, 12:35 AM

i got a new iPhone after my lock button stopped working and I had to ask the guy if he erased all the data, he then took it out of the box, turned it on and made me "pull the trigger".

el3ctone · Jan 13, 2013, 05:03 PM

from my past experiences, they have me erase it personally in front of them. I like that.

tonyy · Jan 13, 2013, 05:38 PM

When I got mine replaced, the genius had me push the red button to confirm that the data is erased and iPhone restored.

adam044 · Jan 13, 2013, 06:02 PM

No they don't. I got my 5 replaced on once and they came out with the new one put my old one in the box and I was free to go. I didn't realize until I got home that everything was still on my phone, so I logged into find my iPhone and there it was sitting in the apple store so I remotely wiped it from on the website.

james948 · Jan 13, 2013, 06:14 PM

i'm a former genius.

It just goes back to the factory where they wipe it.

Unless of course your girlfriend is hot in which case we would always check for naked pictures.

Firestrife · Jan 13, 2013, 06:18 PM

When I went to swap my 4. The guy had pulled up the erase all button and had me press the button. I would assume it'd be for all customers.

Jan 11, 2013, 03:47 PM	#1
DMB1 macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2012	Does the Genius Bar wipe your data when swapping iPhone? My girlfriend went to an Apple store in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after problems with her iPhone5 and they switched it for her. But he never got her to wipe the data from the phone? When she questioned the fella about her stuff and wiping it, he said he done it for her. The original phone was completely functional and once he brought out the replacement he directed her to a work bench in the store so all her apps could download and told her once that's done give me a shout and you can clear this phone, as he said it he put the original phone in a white box. He came back over 10 mins later and said you can leave once your phone is synced, this is when she asked about the stuff being deleted and he said I just done it. The phone had a pass code etc. Does this sound normal and is she being too sceptical? Mark...
	0

Jan 11, 2013, 03:50 PM	#2
1080p macrumors 65816 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Planet Earth	They claim to wipe it, but I always insist on doing a "Reset All Content and Settings" before they take it away. __________________ 21.5" iMac (2011) \| Hackintosh HTPC with Intel C2Q 8400, Nvidia 7900GS \| Synology NAS \| iPhone 5 White 32GB (AT&T)
	1

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Jan 11, 2013, 03:53 PM	#5
ericg301 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2010	I swapped mine yesterday and the Genius had me "pull the trigger" on the ERASE ALL button. He said it was policy for customers to clear their phone themselves.
	2

Jan 11, 2013, 03:59 PM	#7
DMB1 Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2012	Thanks for the replies, he did say he wiped it himself. It's just as he put it in the box he told her once your phone has stopped syncing, I will get the phone for you so you can clear the data yourself. Then it changed to him doing it himself without her seeing him do it.
	0

Jan 11, 2013, 09:11 PM	#8
corys00 macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2011	Two possible scenarios with this one: Hot Chick - Data wiped after every guy checked the photo gallery Ugly Chick - Data wiped after original rep checked for a hot girl in the gallery
	0

Jan 11, 2013, 09:13 PM	#9
eddyecb macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2012	everytime ive had a phone replaced at the vic square apple store, the guy has had me press the button to erase everything, so ive no doubt that he did do it.
	0

Jan 12, 2013, 12:05 AM	#11
AFDoc macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Colorado Springs USA for now	Why would any rational person turn over a device that has all their info still available? YOU should go to settings --> General --> Reset --> Erase all content and settings. IF you don't that's on you, no reason for the apple employee to do it for you.
	0

Jan 12, 2013, 12:35 AM	#12
zamudiovsky macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2012	i got a new iPhone after my lock button stopped working and I had to ask the guy if he erased all the data, he then took it out of the box, turned it on and made me "pull the trigger".
	0

Jan 13, 2013, 05:03 PM	#13
el3ctone macrumors member Join Date: Jun 2008	from my past experiences, they have me erase it personally in front of them. I like that.
	1

Jan 13, 2013, 05:38 PM	#14
tonyy macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: St. Louis	When I got mine replaced, the genius had me push the red button to confirm that the data is erased and iPhone restored.
	1

Jan 13, 2013, 06:02 PM	#15
adam044 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Boston	No they don't. I got my 5 replaced on once and they came out with the new one put my old one in the box and I was free to go. I didn't realize until I got home that everything was still on my phone, so I logged into find my iPhone and there it was sitting in the apple store so I remotely wiped it from on the website.
	1

Jan 13, 2013, 06:14 PM	#16
james948 macrumors regular Join Date: Nov 2004	i'm a former genius. It just goes back to the factory where they wipe it. Unless of course your girlfriend is hot in which case we would always check for naked pictures.
	0

Jan 13, 2013, 06:18 PM	#17
Firestrife macrumors member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: 'MERICA	When I went to swap my 4. The guy had pulled up the erase all button and had me press the button. I would assume it'd be for all customers.
	1