Apple Extends Free Repairs of First-Generation Apple Watches With Detached Back Covers

[j.dstasio]

I actually just shipped my 1st gen SS off for repair this morning. the Apple support rep I spoke with last week didn't have any info on any sort of improved adhesive, which I was hoping was being used now. He did ask me a lot of very specific questions about what brands of soap/ lotion I used & how often I used lotion on my hands. My back cover was pulled off when removing from the charger puck.

 

[44267547]

riiight, sell an overpriced flawed product then "loose" money by repairing it 3 years later. They must be loosing a lot of money and know customers love to repair their products.

You clearly don't get it. Apple sells millions of the Apple Watch around the world and is likely the most successful Smart Watch on the market. However, An issue arose with the Apple Watch, which they acknowledged and Apple is extending the warranty repair for free up to three years. Please Tell me what other company is going to give you this type of service AND stand behind their product to make the situation right.

But you seem to know Apple intentionally sells "Flawed" products by your claim.

 

[zantafio]

what do you think is going to be the issue with the first generation homepods??

 

[usarioclave]

Sigh, my Gen1 died and Apple wanted to charge me $250 to diagnose and fix it. I wish I could somehow get the back cover to fall off so I could get it repaired.

 

[diddl14]

Couple hours ago I've sent in a 2 year old Series 1 Watch where the font cover (aka screen) spontaneously popped off due to inflated battery..

Will also be repaired/replaced by Apple out of warranty without further costs.

 

[goobot]

I wonder if this would have been addressed without the voice of John Gruber.

I doubt it, his tweet was from a year ago.

 

[CarlJ]

Aluminum (On body)

Apple is a Global Company, they should use international English, it's aluminium.

Nope, sorry, adding random extra vowels to words is a trait of English as used in the British Empire. You may recall we removed ourselves from that a few centuries back. "British English" and "American English" have diverged a bit since then ("two nations separated by a common language"). Apple was founded and built in the USA. Heck, they proudly put "Designed in California" on everything (and furthermore you're reading this coverage on a website created in the USA). Aluminum is the proper spelling.

If you'd argued that they should give all dimensions and weights in millimeters and grams, I'd be more sympathetic. (Note that they do use millimeters every keynote when they breathlessly exclaim how thin the latest devices are - nobody wants to know that the iPhone is 37/128th of an inch thick.)

 

[5105973]

I have a 6 Plus that bent in the spot they are known to bend at, and the screen also stopped responding and I was told at the local Apple store they wanted 329 to fix it. I left.

I've no doubt that is frustrating and infuriating. But from what I understand of the Touch Disease and the free repairs now offered on it, the problem comes of defective soldering points disconnecting due to flexing of the original softer aluminum and weaker design on those models.

When they actually see a bend in the case, though, then it opens up the argument that there was abuse by the owner above and beyond the inherent manufacturing defect of solder pops due to run of the mill flexing (that doesn't cause lasting deformity of the chassis). At least that was my understanding of earlier discussions of this topic on the forum--if I remember correctly.

Have you tried getting service online or made any other attempts at getting service since Apple decided to be more public about responding to Touch Disease claims? Maybe you would get a different response with some persistence???

 

[CarlJ]

Same experience here. Had an out of warranty iPhone with an intermittent home button. It was replaced on the spot.

Had a friend accidentally drop his older iPhone 5 into a toilet, which caused it to fail. He went to an Apple store, explained what happened, and the phone was replaced on the spot.

Two months after AppleCare+ ran out on my iPad Air, I accidentally smashed the screen. Took it in, said, "well, this is totally my fault, and my coverage has expired, so what are my options?" - they replaced it for the cost it would have been had it still been under AppleCare+, $50. I like Apple's service.

 

[pdmpolishing]

This happened to me two weeks ago, Apple replaced it with a new series 0 watch. I took it to the Apple store and showed the back coming away with the magnetic charger, they said Apple knew about the problem and would send it away to be repaired free of charge instead of the £190 fee. After a few days I had a call to say it was back and it had been replace with a new watch.

 

[newtestleper]

Thank you for explaning what three years is. Bizarre.

 

[TechGeek76]

I've no doubt that is frustrating and infuriating. But from what I understand of the Touch Disease and the free repairs now offered on it, the problem comes of defective soldering points disconnecting due to flexing of the original softer aluminum and weaker design on those models.

When they actually see a bend in the case, though, then it opens up the argument that there was abuse by the owner above and beyond the inherent manufacturing defect of solder pops due to run of the mill flexing (that doesn't cause lasting deformity of the chassis). At least that was my understanding of earlier discussions of this topic on the forum--if I remember correctly.

Have you tried getting service online or made any other attempts at getting service since Apple decided to be more public about responding to Touch Disease claims? Maybe you would get a different response with some persistence???

I haven't. I can take it another one further away from me and see what they say.

 

[sdf]

If you have a first-generation Apple Watch with a separated back cover, Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will repair it free of charge, according to an internal service policy obtained by MacRumors.

The same is true of the screen if it detaches due to an expanding battery. We left a broken rose 38mm sport in the store, and they mailed the repaired unit back to us about a week later (to save us a half hour drive). Looked basically new.

 

[kemal]

Aluminum (On body)

Apple is a Global Company, they should use international English, it's aluminium.

I bet you drive on the wrong side of the road, too.
[doublepost=1499792531][/doublepost]Adhesive sensitive to human perspiration. Suppose they forgot to test for that?

 

[bbotte]

My microphone doesn't work anymore on my 1st gen watch.

 

[Thunderhawks]

what do you think is going to be the issue with the first generation homepods??

You won't be able to buy any for a while!

 

[bbeagle]

This is pretty late in the game to issue repairs now. There were tons of people who had this issue originally only to be turned away. Nice to see them issue repairs now but those who had the issue were left paying for it.

Apple will refund their money if they had repairs earlier - like Apple always does. This is one of the reasons Apple customers are loyal.

 

[imwoblin]

Aluminum spelled backwards is munimula!

 

[djalice]

Has happened twice to me. They said they replaced, rather than repaired, my Apple Watch. Same I had to be without for a week though. The guy who served me said it's covered by my consumer rights for at least 4 years anyway.

 

[joueboy]

Nice attempt at snark. Because excellent customer service is a major reason we stay loyal.

More like Apple is avoiding bad publicity of their customer service. Don't get me wrong they have a good customer service. But for quite sometime now they try to avoid fixing their own fault, like MacBook graphics and Touch Gate and the list goes on. Try to blame customers and charging them for a fix which is been faulty to begin with. Until someone from tech industry will bring these out Apple would rather deny things. I used to remember when people got their devices fixed out of warranty. Now that people are paying for Apple Care they are becoming more greedy as if they're losing money.

 

[erporsche]

Happened to me as well about 8 months ago, took watch into Apple. no questions, left watch and picked it up in one week. No charge. Excellent customer service.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Aluminum (On body)

Apple is a Global Company, they should use international English, it's aluminium.

Although there is a movement called "International English," I'm not aware of its adoption anywhere. It seems, "International English" in this context is British usage vs. U.S. "American" usage. The sun never sets on the Empire, so that must make it "International." (As the U.K. seems dead set on removing itself from the international community...)

To quote the Wikipedia article on International English:

As far as spelling is concerned, the differences between American and British usage became noticeable due to the first influential lexicographers (dictionary writers) on each side of the Atlantic. Samuel Johnson's dictionary of 1755 greatly favoured Norman-influenced spellings such as centre and colour; on the other hand, Noah Webster's first guide to American spelling, published in 1783, preferred spellings like center and the Latinate color. The difference in strategy and philosophy of Johnson and Webster are largely responsible for the main division in English spelling that exists today.

 

[justperry]

No, they should use Esperanto: aluminio

In any case, aluminum is the original spelling in English...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium#Different_endings

Although there is a movement called "International English," I'm not aware of its adoption anywhere. It seems, "International English" in this context is British usage vs. U.S. "American" usage. The sun never sets on the Empire, so that must make it "International." (As the U.K. seems dead set on removing itself from the international community...)

To quote the Wikipedia article on International English:

Nope, sorry, adding random extra vowels to words is a trait of English as used in the British Empire. You may recall we removed ourselves from that a few centuries back. "British English" and "American English" have diverged a bit since then ("two nations separated by a common language"). Apple was founded and built in the USA. Heck, they proudly put "Designed in California" on everything (and furthermore you're reading this coverage on a website created in the USA). Aluminum is the proper spelling.

If you'd argued that they should give all dimensions and weights in millimeters and grams, I'd be more sympathetic. (Note that they do use millimeters every keynote when they breathlessly exclaim how thin the latest devices are - nobody wants to know that the iPhone is 37/128th of an inch thick.)

Here you go:

In 1808 Sir Humphry Davy, the British chemist who discovered the metal, named it “alumium.” With just one “i” and an “ium” ending, it straddled the two competing versions we have today.

Four years later, however, Davy changed his mind and gave the metal the name “aluminum” (yup, the one-“i” American version). In his book Elements of Chemical Philosophy, published in 1812, Davy wrote, “As yet Aluminum has not been obtained in a perfectly free state. “

But later that same year other scientists decided “aluminum” didn’t sound sufficiently Latin, so they began calling it “aluminium.” Here’s a quote from the Quarterly Review: “Aluminium, for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminum, which has a less classical sound.”

@CarlJ
Bold 1: It's on the Apple watch in the picture MR posted, it has nothing to do with this site.
Bold 2: Apple uses the metric system AFAIK.
Bold 3: Exactly

I bet you drive on the wrong side of the road, too.

No.

 

[grjj]

-

 

[Ted13]

If you have a first-generation Apple Watch with a separated back cover, Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will repair it free of charge, according to an internal service policy obtained by MacRumors.

Apple Watch with separated back cover via Reddit user PoorSpanaway​

Apple recently extended the service policy's coverage period to up to three years after the original purchase date. If you bought an Apple Watch in April 2015, for example, it is eligible for a free repair until April 2018.The service policy has been in effect since last year and applies to any first-generation Apple Watch, including Sport, Edition, and Hermès models, even if the device's limited one-year warranty or extended AppleCare coverage has elapsed.

Affected customers can call an Apple Store and schedule a Genius Bar appointment, or visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider, to initiate the repair process. Or, customers can call Apple Support to arrange shipment of the damaged Apple Watch to an Apple Repair Center in a postage paid box.

Apple advises customers inquiring about a refund for a previous Apple Watch back cover repair to contact Apple Support.

Several users have shared pictures of their first-generation Apple Watch with the back cover falling off on the Apple Support Communities, MacRumors discussion forums, Twitter, and elsewhere on the web. In many cases, the back cover detaches when the Apple Watch is removed from its magnetic charger.

Daring Fireball's John Gruber, for example, shared a picture of his wife's stainless steel Apple Watch with a detached back cover last October. He said the Apple Watch, purchased in May 2015, was providing erratic workout readings before coming apart after it was taken off of its magnetic charger.

​

While many customers report that Apple repaired their Apple Watch free of charge, some have been forced to pay out of pocket. Since the service policy has not been publicly announced, some Apple support representatives may be unaware of its existence. Escalating your request to a senior advisor may help.

Apple appears to have fixed the issue with its newer Series 1 and Series 2 models, perhaps by using a stronger adhesive.

Article Link: Apple Extends Free Repairs of First-Generation Apple Watches With Detached Back Covers

The exact same thing just happened to me a couple of days ago, but with the front glass: completely detached, just hanging on a cable. I'm guessing the glue failed