I am hoping somebody can give me advice on how I can handle a dispute I have been having with apple over the past week.
My mum took out a 2 year contract for me through an online deal with carphone warehouse (for some reason I didn't pass their security checks so couldn't take it out in my own name)
I was happy with the phone, except for an issue with the power button which was very loose, creating a rattling sound when it was moved, that was very audible in video/ voice recordings. This is a well documented problem with the 5S, many people have complained about this issue online. The carphone warehouse policy is that if you return within 28 days they will replace for a brand new model, but as my mum is the account holder she would have to do this herself, not practical given that she works full time and is hundreds of miles away in a different part of the UK. I would be without my phone for at least a week if this was to be an option.
I phoned up apple and checked whether I was covered by them as well, and the advisor I spoke to told me I was, and that she was happy to arrange a replacement for me. I asked her for a case number to quote if needed and told her I live near an apple store so I could visit in person rather than having it picked up etc.
When I went into the Covent Garden (London) apple store the advisor or "genius" so to speak, told me that he had never heard of the rattling issue before but would happily replace my phone. When I asked him, he told me I would be able to return the device again if the issue were to arise again, or if I would prefer, the next step would be a refund. He said that the defective power button was part of a sealed unit within the phone and therefore opening it for a repair would destroy the touch ID fingerprint scanner.
I had brought the box and accessories with me thinking they would need them and replace the whole thing, but it turned out he just had to replace the handset. He asked me to draw my signature and enter my email address on his ipad to confirm I had received a replacement, and then sent me on my way. I took it home in the box and then started setting it up when I got home. When I took off the protective plastic I noticed that the back and sides of the phone were marked with little dings and scratches. After a little google search I discovered that apple routinely replace their consumer's defective products with open box returns that are reformatted and reboxed, and also with refurbished phones / parts.
I was fuming that they had palmed me off with a refurb of a two week old phone that will be costing me over 700 pounds throughout the next two years. It felt like a complete slap across the face, especially as this one had the rattling issue as well, which I was unable to hear in the crowded store but was loud and noticeable in a quite room.
I phoned apple up for the second time as I couldn't make it back to the store that day in time to complain. I spoke to an obnoxious "genius" over the phone who claimed that the rattling was "perfectly normal behaviour" and I would be unlikely to get another replacement. When he was unwilling to help, I asked him to make me an appointment at another London (regent st) apple store near to where I was located the next week.
Meanwhile it occurred to me that initial option of sending the phone back to carphone warehouse with my mum may have been invalidated by my replacement through apple. Turns out this was in fact the case, as they would need the original handset to be returned to them, and advised me to call the apple store and see if I could get it back. I called only 24 hours after my initial visit and they had apparently already sent it back to the factory (I seriously doubt this was true)
So I attended my second genius bar appointment, this time at the regent st London store. I was told that although the poor cosmetic condition and rattling power button was noticeable and was considered a defect, (contrary to what the advisor said previously over the phone) I would be given another generic-boxed refurbished parts model and was unable to get a brand new one despite the original iphone only being 2 weeks old and was faulty right out of the box.
Despite my protests that this was completely unreasonable, the advisor wouldn't budge and I had him call the manager over. She repeated exactly what he had said and told me that because I had purchased it through another company I was covered by their warranty but am only entitled to a refurb. (Again, I doubt this is true because I read online that this happened to customers that bought their iphones directly from apple.) Despite sounding apologetic, she insisted that this would have been explained to me when I signed the permission slip on the ipad during my previous appointment. This was not the case, however, the apple genius had not mentioned or quoted anything from the terms and conditions like they do when you place an order over the phone. In fact I had not even been been made aware I was signing a list of T&C at all.
Rather than taking her offer of a second refurbished replacement, she printed me a letter stating that I have had the phone replaced under apple warranty and she included the serial number of the replacement one, telling me that it may be possible to appeal to carphone warehouse for a brand new one if they understood what had happened. I visited them on my way home and they were all ready to go ahead and do this until I told them that it was under my mother's name, and that it had indeed been replaced previously by apple.
My last resort (that same day) was to return to the covent garden london store that originally sent me away unknowingly owning a refurb, and trying to appeal to their better nature, telling them that it was not explained to me in the slightest that their terms and conditions state they are able to do this. The guy I spoke to this time was probably the most unhelpful of all the people I have had to deal with - he not only told me that the rattling phone was not defective despite me showing him that the noise is picked up in video recordings, but he also implied that the second-rate cosmetic condition it was in was my own handiwork or due to a lack of care on my part (even though I had presented it to him in their own apple brand £35 microfibre lined case). Despite him even trying to turn me down a second replacement with a refurbished 5S, I lost my temper at this point and he backed down and let me inspect one to see if it rattled. When I found one that wasn't as bad, I figured I was out of options and begrudgingly took it home feeling severely cheated.
So I've just brought this thing home and again, it is a second rate machine. It has serious lag when scrolling through texts and entering passcodes etc. I am going to try and fix this if it is a software issue but this whole situation is stressing me out and I'm not enjoying using this supposedly "state of the art" phone.
Needless to say I am at a complete loss as to what to do, I have just committed myself to a very expensive contract and I am being continuously misled and screwed over by apple, being told to settle for something that is sold at a largely reduced price on their website. It seems like every different employee of their company has told me something different and I only used their warranty service due to false / withheld information.
Has anyone else had a similar problem or can anyone offer advice as to whether I would have a leg to stand on if I made a case against them?
Sorry for the very long post, any help would be greatly appreciated.
My mum took out a 2 year contract for me through an online deal with carphone warehouse (for some reason I didn't pass their security checks so couldn't take it out in my own name)
I was happy with the phone, except for an issue with the power button which was very loose, creating a rattling sound when it was moved, that was very audible in video/ voice recordings. This is a well documented problem with the 5S, many people have complained about this issue online. The carphone warehouse policy is that if you return within 28 days they will replace for a brand new model, but as my mum is the account holder she would have to do this herself, not practical given that she works full time and is hundreds of miles away in a different part of the UK. I would be without my phone for at least a week if this was to be an option.
I phoned up apple and checked whether I was covered by them as well, and the advisor I spoke to told me I was, and that she was happy to arrange a replacement for me. I asked her for a case number to quote if needed and told her I live near an apple store so I could visit in person rather than having it picked up etc.
When I went into the Covent Garden (London) apple store the advisor or "genius" so to speak, told me that he had never heard of the rattling issue before but would happily replace my phone. When I asked him, he told me I would be able to return the device again if the issue were to arise again, or if I would prefer, the next step would be a refund. He said that the defective power button was part of a sealed unit within the phone and therefore opening it for a repair would destroy the touch ID fingerprint scanner.
I had brought the box and accessories with me thinking they would need them and replace the whole thing, but it turned out he just had to replace the handset. He asked me to draw my signature and enter my email address on his ipad to confirm I had received a replacement, and then sent me on my way. I took it home in the box and then started setting it up when I got home. When I took off the protective plastic I noticed that the back and sides of the phone were marked with little dings and scratches. After a little google search I discovered that apple routinely replace their consumer's defective products with open box returns that are reformatted and reboxed, and also with refurbished phones / parts.
I was fuming that they had palmed me off with a refurb of a two week old phone that will be costing me over 700 pounds throughout the next two years. It felt like a complete slap across the face, especially as this one had the rattling issue as well, which I was unable to hear in the crowded store but was loud and noticeable in a quite room.
I phoned apple up for the second time as I couldn't make it back to the store that day in time to complain. I spoke to an obnoxious "genius" over the phone who claimed that the rattling was "perfectly normal behaviour" and I would be unlikely to get another replacement. When he was unwilling to help, I asked him to make me an appointment at another London (regent st) apple store near to where I was located the next week.
Meanwhile it occurred to me that initial option of sending the phone back to carphone warehouse with my mum may have been invalidated by my replacement through apple. Turns out this was in fact the case, as they would need the original handset to be returned to them, and advised me to call the apple store and see if I could get it back. I called only 24 hours after my initial visit and they had apparently already sent it back to the factory (I seriously doubt this was true)
So I attended my second genius bar appointment, this time at the regent st London store. I was told that although the poor cosmetic condition and rattling power button was noticeable and was considered a defect, (contrary to what the advisor said previously over the phone) I would be given another generic-boxed refurbished parts model and was unable to get a brand new one despite the original iphone only being 2 weeks old and was faulty right out of the box.
Despite my protests that this was completely unreasonable, the advisor wouldn't budge and I had him call the manager over. She repeated exactly what he had said and told me that because I had purchased it through another company I was covered by their warranty but am only entitled to a refurb. (Again, I doubt this is true because I read online that this happened to customers that bought their iphones directly from apple.) Despite sounding apologetic, she insisted that this would have been explained to me when I signed the permission slip on the ipad during my previous appointment. This was not the case, however, the apple genius had not mentioned or quoted anything from the terms and conditions like they do when you place an order over the phone. In fact I had not even been been made aware I was signing a list of T&C at all.
Rather than taking her offer of a second refurbished replacement, she printed me a letter stating that I have had the phone replaced under apple warranty and she included the serial number of the replacement one, telling me that it may be possible to appeal to carphone warehouse for a brand new one if they understood what had happened. I visited them on my way home and they were all ready to go ahead and do this until I told them that it was under my mother's name, and that it had indeed been replaced previously by apple.
My last resort (that same day) was to return to the covent garden london store that originally sent me away unknowingly owning a refurb, and trying to appeal to their better nature, telling them that it was not explained to me in the slightest that their terms and conditions state they are able to do this. The guy I spoke to this time was probably the most unhelpful of all the people I have had to deal with - he not only told me that the rattling phone was not defective despite me showing him that the noise is picked up in video recordings, but he also implied that the second-rate cosmetic condition it was in was my own handiwork or due to a lack of care on my part (even though I had presented it to him in their own apple brand £35 microfibre lined case). Despite him even trying to turn me down a second replacement with a refurbished 5S, I lost my temper at this point and he backed down and let me inspect one to see if it rattled. When I found one that wasn't as bad, I figured I was out of options and begrudgingly took it home feeling severely cheated.
So I've just brought this thing home and again, it is a second rate machine. It has serious lag when scrolling through texts and entering passcodes etc. I am going to try and fix this if it is a software issue but this whole situation is stressing me out and I'm not enjoying using this supposedly "state of the art" phone.
Needless to say I am at a complete loss as to what to do, I have just committed myself to a very expensive contract and I am being continuously misled and screwed over by apple, being told to settle for something that is sold at a largely reduced price on their website. It seems like every different employee of their company has told me something different and I only used their warranty service due to false / withheld information.
Has anyone else had a similar problem or can anyone offer advice as to whether I would have a leg to stand on if I made a case against them?
Sorry for the very long post, any help would be greatly appreciated.