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Apple No Longer Offering Free Out-of-Warranty Repairs of iPhone 7 Models With Grayed-Out Speaker Button

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A few months ago, in an internal document obtained by MacRumors, Apple acknowledged that some iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus users may experience a grayed-out speaker button during phone calls, or not be heard during phone calls or FaceTime chats. Apple didn't identify a cause for the issues.

iphone-7-call-800x436.jpg

If an affected iPhone is no longer covered by warranty, Apple's document said Genius Bars or Apple Authorized Service Providers could escalate the case to Apple, and the company would grant an exception, resulting in a free repair for the customer. Of note, this was never a full-out service program.

"I just had my wife's iPhone 7 replaced this morning," said one MacRumors forum member, in a discussion thread about these issues. "Out of warranty and Apple took care of the bill. The mic on the device had failed."

As of last week, however, Apple appears to have stopped offering that exception. Reliable sources at multiple Apple Authorized Service Providers informed MacRumors that Apple has now deleted its internal document related to these issues, and they are no longer able to put through free repairs via Apple's system.

Instead, if an affected iPhone is past its warranty period, Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers must charge a standard out-of-warranty fee for the repair to be completed, according to the sources we spoke with.

While only a limited number of customers are affected, one source told us that the microphone issues are still prevalent, and do not appear to have been resolved, so it's unclear why Apple chose to stop offering exceptions. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the matter -- we'll update if we hear back.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus devices still within Apple's limited one-year warranty period or covered by AppleCare+ should remain eligible for a free repair.

Repairs can be initiated by booking an appointment at a Genius Bar, or at an Apple Authorized Service Provider, via the Contact Apple Support page: iPhone -> Repairs & Physical Damage -> Unable to Hear Through Receiver or Speakers -> Built-in Speaker -> Bring In For Repair and select a location and time.

Article Link: Apple No Longer Offering Free Out-of-Warranty Repairs of iPhone 7 Models With Grayed-Out Speaker Button
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/17/apple-ends-free-oow-iphone-7-mic-repairs/
Kinda bad timing imo in light of Apple standing firm they won’t replace 2016/2017 keyboards with the “fixed” new keyboard

Between this And $299 for a screen replacement $549 for a whole x phone if you crack the back... it’s feeling like they’re milking customers more than ever these days

Excellent support, for the most part, support wise. But the price you pay is getting outlandish even by Apple pricing standards.
 
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That’s too bad. It was thanks to the MacRumors article that I was able to help a coworker with this issue and get their phone replaced for free (after initially being told she would have to pay). She had to show the Genius the article so they could look it up.

Makes me wonder if the average joe wasn’t able to take advantage of this “program”.
 
Part of me thinks Apple is making support situations expensive as heck because they realize people hold onto laptops and devices longer than Apple would like them to; so when they break, Apple still needs a “top off”
 
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MTW said:
Tim Cook strikes again! Always about Wall Street, never about customers.
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When you think about it though why would they?
You, I and countless others will fancy our chances and still go out and buy their products.
 
H2SO4 said:
When you think about it though why would they?
You, I and countless others will fancy our chances and still go out and buy their products.
Click to expand...

Treating people right (like Apple used to) benefits Apple more than it benefits the customer. People who are happy come back. It's a more reliable way to make money than to raise prices on everything, make AppleCare suck a lot, generally nickel and dime people to death.

It's a long term play. Something Tim has zero patience for, he is beholden to Wall Street in a way Steve never allowed himself to become.
 
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MTW said:
Treating people right (like Apple used to) benefits Apple more than it benefits the customer. People who are happy come back. It's a more reliable way to make money than to raise prices on everything, make AppleCare suck a lot, generally nickel and dime people to death.

It's a long term play. Something Tim has zero patience for, he is beholden to Wall Street in a way Steve never allowed himself to become.
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I'm not disagreeing with you, however the evidence would suggest......
 
My biggest issue with Apple Genius Bar reps is they’re not empowered to grant exceptions. They’re supposed to be the highest level of support 99% of customers will interact with let them make these decisions.
 
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H2SO4 said:
I'm not disagreeing with you, however the evidence would suggest......
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The evidence would suggest that raising prices and nickel and diming people works for a period of time. What the evidence doesn't show is the cost to Apple - the slow draining of customer satisfaction. It's not something you can really discover through market research. The transition from satisfied to dissatisfied historically happens all at once, there are no stages in between.

It's an exchange on Apple's part, a massively stupid one. They are exchanging customer satisfaction for cash. You can only do that so many times to the same people before they've had enough.
 
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My son's iPhone 7 has been replaced about a month ago. It is covered by AppleCare+, though. The speaker worked, but mic failed so that phone call and facetime did not work. Since there had been no physical impact it was very frustrating if would be blamed to customer's burden.

Besides, my original iPhone also failed that way. I brought it to my table while doing a game on it, and it stopped working suddenly. No drop or physical impact at all.
 
I've been bit twice by this. I think it's happening more than they'd like to admit. Unfortunately a class action will be the only way to get them to step up to the plate on this. Even then users will still be screwed while lawyers make a bunch of money.
 
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Pyrhonen said:
They should replace every single defectuous phone.
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My bet is this is a result of weak solder points that come loose on impact.
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MTW said:
The evidence would suggest that raising prices and nickel and diming people works for a period of time. What the evidence doesn't show is the cost to Apple - the slow draining of customer satisfaction. It's not something you can really discover through market research. The transition from satisfied to dissatisfied historically happens all at once, there are no stages in between.

It's an exchange on Apple's part, a massively stupid one. They are exchanging customer satisfaction for cash. You can only do that so many times to the same people before they've had enough.
Click to expand...

Any sources that customer satisfaction is waning? It is my impression reading these forums but the again people who post here are a selective group already.
 
JohnDoe98 said:
My bet is this is a result of weak solder points that come loose on impact.
Click to expand...

For me - it was tied to the 11.3 update. One day everything is fine, next day 11.3 hits and none of the microphones in the phone work. My replacement phone needed to be updated to 11.4 from something prior. It to worked fine before the update and broke after. It's shameful that Apple is going to make people pay for their screw up.
 
So, did they figure out and address whatever it was that was causing the issue to appear for some? Did they also figure out a way to resolve it for those that were affected (that doesn't require the free repair/replacement they offered, or a paid replacement that they would offer now)?
 
Planned Obsolescence with a capital P. Bendgate, Throttlegate, Touch Disease, Error 53. Tim Cook just never ceases to amaze.
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vipergts2207 said:
@gnipgnop @TimmeyCook

This iPhone 7 issue is just user mistreatment and conspiracy too, right...?
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Anyone who speaks against the almighty Apple is a hater
 
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