If anyone is willing to read my story, go ahead. This is a story of my quest to find the perfect iPhone 3G and tonight I did. Check this out.
On Sept. 21st, I went to Best Buy and bought an iPhone 3G. I was so excited and I couldn't wait to take it home... but my excitement quickly turned to disappointment with the quality of my iPhone. It had wavy lines on the screen if you moved the iPhone around, the glass was no level and there was light leaking out of the side a little.
The next day, I brought my iPhone 3G back to Best Buy to return it because I was not happy with this one. The stupid lady there refused to see anything wrong with it and she said there was nothing she could do except for letting me pay a $50 restocking fee to return it and buy a whole new one... I was going to spend money on a case so I decided to use that money on a new iPhone instead. I figured, if I get one that's better, I'll be happy.
Well, iPhone #2 had quite a few problems with it. The backlight was leaking from the left side in 3 separate places, the buttons were wobbly, the screen still had the wavy scan lines and my volume rocker switch was sunken on the bottom. Also, after having iPhone #2 for about 2 weeks, small cracks developed on the side.
About this time, I was pissed. I couldn't believe the build quality on the iPhone 3G and I was starting to think that there could be no perfect iPhone 3G in existence. So, this time I decided to skip Best Buy's crapfest and drive to my local Apple Store in Salem NH. I showed the lady at the Genius Bar my 2 cracks and the light leakage and she swapped it out for me (after stating that it is within spec, but she'll swap it anyway). Now onto iPhone #3.
iPhone #3 seemed fine. The buttons were nice and tight, the volume rocker wasn't sunken, the glass was not raised or sunken and there was zero light leaks coming from the bezel. I was happy, so I went home. That night, I was examining my iPhone a little more and I found that the chrome bezel was misaligned with the plastic housing creating a sem-sharp edge that was really easy to feel and I could see the white back from the front of the iPhone. Also, the wavy lines/scan-lines were still there... even worse than iPhone #2. I figured I'd deal with this problem (even though I did try as hard as I could to squish the plastic back into the bezel and it didn't even budge... which is kind of a good think because that tells me that these things are put together tight). After a full day of using my iPhone #3 I began to get pissed off at the raised edge because my other 2 iPhones didn't have this problem.
Luckily, while I was at the Apple Store the day before in Salem, a kind employee told me that they just opened an Apple Store in Portland Maine and what do you know... it's actually closer to my house by a 20 minutes. So tonight I decided to return my iPhone #3 to the Apple Store in Portland.
When I got to the Maine Apple Store, the employees were very nice (expected at an Apple Store) and they let me hang around until my Genius Bar appointment. I got a little lucky because a half hour later, they had a spot open and I could sneak in early... sweet! I showed the kind man the misaligned edge on my iPhone and he quickly looked it over and agreed with me that he should swap it out. I thought, cool. I'll get ANOTHER iPhone. This time I handled the situation MUCH differently than the times before. He processed my information and serial number and grabbed a refurbished iPhone from a drawer FULL of refurbished iPhones. He opened it up and I nicely asked if I was allowed to check it over to make sure I'm 100% happy with this one. (I told him about the other 3). He agreed that I should be satisfied with it before leaving.
The first iPhone he handed me had the same misalignment issues so I gave it back. The second iPhone he gave me was smooth around the edges, but the glass was raised up on one side and he let me take it into the bathroom to check for light leaks and there was a HUGE light leak on this one. (As a side note, the first 2 had the wavy-line issue I mentioned a few times). The 3rd iPhone he gave me was the winner. He let me take this into the bathroom too. Here's what I found:
1. No misaligned edges
2. No wobbly buttons
3. No sunken buttons
4. Glass is perfectly flush with the bezel
5. No cracks
6. No dust under glass
7. Very SMALL light leak near the volume switch
8. Best of all NO WAVY LINES on the screen!
I told the man that I have found the iPhone that fit my requirements and he happily inserted the SIM card and sent me on my way. I just upgraded it to 2.1 and I'm very very satisfied.
Note: I am 100% happy with my new replacement iPhone #6!
If anyone is having problems with your iPhone, take it to an Apple Store and try out 10 refurbs, if you need to, before you take it home.
Thank you for reading my story and I wish you all the best of luck!
On Sept. 21st, I went to Best Buy and bought an iPhone 3G. I was so excited and I couldn't wait to take it home... but my excitement quickly turned to disappointment with the quality of my iPhone. It had wavy lines on the screen if you moved the iPhone around, the glass was no level and there was light leaking out of the side a little.
The next day, I brought my iPhone 3G back to Best Buy to return it because I was not happy with this one. The stupid lady there refused to see anything wrong with it and she said there was nothing she could do except for letting me pay a $50 restocking fee to return it and buy a whole new one... I was going to spend money on a case so I decided to use that money on a new iPhone instead. I figured, if I get one that's better, I'll be happy.
Well, iPhone #2 had quite a few problems with it. The backlight was leaking from the left side in 3 separate places, the buttons were wobbly, the screen still had the wavy scan lines and my volume rocker switch was sunken on the bottom. Also, after having iPhone #2 for about 2 weeks, small cracks developed on the side.
About this time, I was pissed. I couldn't believe the build quality on the iPhone 3G and I was starting to think that there could be no perfect iPhone 3G in existence. So, this time I decided to skip Best Buy's crapfest and drive to my local Apple Store in Salem NH. I showed the lady at the Genius Bar my 2 cracks and the light leakage and she swapped it out for me (after stating that it is within spec, but she'll swap it anyway). Now onto iPhone #3.
iPhone #3 seemed fine. The buttons were nice and tight, the volume rocker wasn't sunken, the glass was not raised or sunken and there was zero light leaks coming from the bezel. I was happy, so I went home. That night, I was examining my iPhone a little more and I found that the chrome bezel was misaligned with the plastic housing creating a sem-sharp edge that was really easy to feel and I could see the white back from the front of the iPhone. Also, the wavy lines/scan-lines were still there... even worse than iPhone #2. I figured I'd deal with this problem (even though I did try as hard as I could to squish the plastic back into the bezel and it didn't even budge... which is kind of a good think because that tells me that these things are put together tight). After a full day of using my iPhone #3 I began to get pissed off at the raised edge because my other 2 iPhones didn't have this problem.
Luckily, while I was at the Apple Store the day before in Salem, a kind employee told me that they just opened an Apple Store in Portland Maine and what do you know... it's actually closer to my house by a 20 minutes. So tonight I decided to return my iPhone #3 to the Apple Store in Portland.
When I got to the Maine Apple Store, the employees were very nice (expected at an Apple Store) and they let me hang around until my Genius Bar appointment. I got a little lucky because a half hour later, they had a spot open and I could sneak in early... sweet! I showed the kind man the misaligned edge on my iPhone and he quickly looked it over and agreed with me that he should swap it out. I thought, cool. I'll get ANOTHER iPhone. This time I handled the situation MUCH differently than the times before. He processed my information and serial number and grabbed a refurbished iPhone from a drawer FULL of refurbished iPhones. He opened it up and I nicely asked if I was allowed to check it over to make sure I'm 100% happy with this one. (I told him about the other 3). He agreed that I should be satisfied with it before leaving.
The first iPhone he handed me had the same misalignment issues so I gave it back. The second iPhone he gave me was smooth around the edges, but the glass was raised up on one side and he let me take it into the bathroom to check for light leaks and there was a HUGE light leak on this one. (As a side note, the first 2 had the wavy-line issue I mentioned a few times). The 3rd iPhone he gave me was the winner. He let me take this into the bathroom too. Here's what I found:
1. No misaligned edges
2. No wobbly buttons
3. No sunken buttons
4. Glass is perfectly flush with the bezel
5. No cracks
6. No dust under glass
7. Very SMALL light leak near the volume switch
8. Best of all NO WAVY LINES on the screen!
I told the man that I have found the iPhone that fit my requirements and he happily inserted the SIM card and sent me on my way. I just upgraded it to 2.1 and I'm very very satisfied.
Note: I am 100% happy with my new replacement iPhone #6!
If anyone is having problems with your iPhone, take it to an Apple Store and try out 10 refurbs, if you need to, before you take it home.
Thank you for reading my story and I wish you all the best of luck!
