Apple out of warranty replacement phones!

[yankintx]

My Iphone has had problems with the screen shutting off ( maybe proximity sensor) , so I contacted the genius bar at the closest apple store to me last week ( 45 minute drive)and spoke to someone. They made an appointment for me to come in and have them look at it at 745pm at the Cherry Hill Mall apple store. I get there and was greeted. They examined my phone and ran a diagnostic on it and confirmed a problem. This is where the problem starts...The apple rep tells me my phone needs replacement but the store is all out of replacement phones. I ask him then why would someone have me even come into the store at 745pm if they had no replacements. He apologized but told me I'd have to come back the next day or I could call Apple care. I told him I wasn't about to drive another 2 hours round trip, and that I'd call Apple care. I asked him to note my account so that Apple care would be aware that I was in the store and that there was an actual issue with the phone. He did so and I left. No biggie.
I called Apple care the next morning and got a very nice person who looked up my account and stated that they would ship me an advance replacement phone without the usual charge and it would go out overnite on Friday. I was very impressed.
This morning I called Apple because I saw the fedex truck driving dowen my street without stopping at my door. I waited 15 minutes to get a live person who took another 15 minues trying to find my account and then finally told me that there is nothing in the system for my replacement Ipod. I told them it was an Iphone 4, and I told them that several times. She asked me to hold, and took another 15 minutes to get back to me and told me she was connecting me to a supervisor. I had the feeling it was bad news and she couldn't tell me what it was.
The supervisor gets on the line and says" so your waiting for your new Iphone"? I asked him if he even knew why I called, and he said he did. I told him I was waiting for my replacement Iphone, noit a new customer waiting for his new phone. He then then told me that Apple doesn't have any phones to send out because of the massive returns they have received, and that my phone would ship at the earliest possible date.
I thought I was hearing him incorrectly. I asked him when that date would be and he couldn't tell me. I asked for his full name for my notes, and then asked him for his supervisor. He put me on hold and after 10 minutes or so he came back on and told me he contacted the "shipping depot" and has a phone ready to ship to me in the next day or so. I wanted a firm committment and tracking number, but he couldn't give it to me.

How the heck can Apple sell phones and not have enough replacements for defective ones? Why are their support people giving bad information? I purchased 2 Ipads and 4 iphones in the last 6 months, and have been happy with Apple products, but this is the first time I needed service and I must say that it sucks!
Had I not insisted on speaking to his supervisor, how long would I have waited for a replacement phone for the one I purchaed?

Has anyone had any similar problems like this one?

 

[ducktales]

My Iphone has had problems with the screen shutting off ( maybe proximity sensor) , so I contacted the genius bar at the closest apple store to me last week ( 45 minute drive)and spoke to someone. They made an appointment for me to come in and have them look at it at 745pm at the Cherry Hill Mall apple store. I get there and was greeted. They examined my phone and ran a diagnostic on it and confirmed a problem. This is where the problem starts...The apple rep tells me my phone needs replacement but the store is all out of replacement phones. I ask him then why would someone have me even come into the store at 745pm if they had no replacements. He apologized but told me I'd have to come back the next day or I could call Apple care. I told him I wasn't about to drive another 2 hours round trip, and that I'd call Apple care. I asked him to note my account so that Apple care would be aware that I was in the store and that there was an actual issue with the phone. He did so and I left. No biggie.
I called Apple care the next morning and got a very nice person who looked up my account and stated that they would ship me an advance replacement phone without the usual charge and it would go out overnite on Friday. I was very impressed.
This morning I called Apple because I saw the fedex truck driving dowen my street without stopping at my door. I waited 15 minutes to get a live person who took another 15 minues trying to find my account and then finally told me that there is nothing in the system for my replacement Ipod. I told them it was an Iphone 4, and I told them that several times. She asked me to hold, and took another 15 minutes to get back to me and told me she was connecting me to a supervisor. I had the feeling it was bad news and she couldn't tell me what it was.
The supervisor gets on the line and says" so your waiting for your new Iphone"? I asked him if he even knew why I called, and he said he did. I told him I was waiting for my replacement Iphone, noit a new customer waiting for his new phone. He then then told me that Apple doesn't have any phones to send out because of the massive returns they have received, and that my phone would ship at the earliest possible date.
I thought I was hearing him incorrectly. I asked him when that date would be and he couldn't tell me. I asked for his full name for my notes, and then asked him for his supervisor. He put me on hold and after 10 minutes or so he came back on and told me he contacted the "shipping depot" and has a phone ready to ship to me in the next day or so. I wanted a firm committment and tracking number, but he couldn't give it to me.

How the heck can Apple sell phones and not have enough replacements for defective ones? Why are their support people giving bad information? I purchased 2 Ipads and 4 iphones in the last 6 months, and have been happy with Apple products, but this is the first time I needed service and I must say that it sucks!
Had I not insisted on speaking to his supervisor, how long would I have waited for a replacement phone for the one I purchaed?

Has anyone had any similar problems like this one?

cliffs?

 

[maflynn]

Wall of text warning.

First bit of advice - use your enter key.

 

[GoCubsGo]

To summarize.

* OP lives a far far way away from an Apple store.
* OP had issue with phone.
* OP made appointment and assumed he'd get a new phone and was appalled when he got there and they didn't have replacements.
* OP called Apple where Apple rep said they'd send a new phone but didn't right away.
* OP saw FedEx and panicked, called Apple and found no phone was being shipped, pressed and pressed and phone is now on the way.
* OP would like to know why Apple would sell a phone and not stock enough replacements.


OP:
Apple made a phone and likely did not anticipate the level of anal retentiveness of their customers combined with actual real-life problems. You cannot fault Apple for not guessing that the failure rate would be so high. You will get a new phone but you need to be patient. In theory your phone is still functional. You also cannot fault Apple for not having a replacement on hand when you made the appointment. Their policy is to repair before replace. You must also know that your distance from their store is none of their concern, you made the choice to drive it when AppleCare could also take care of your issue as it takes care of issues for many other customers not within reasonable driving distance from an Apple store.

I hope it gets sorted but in the meantime practice patience, using your enter key, and understanding ...

 

[yankintx]

To summarize.

* OP lives a far far way away from an Apple store.
* OP had issue with phone.
* OP made appointment and assumed he'd get a new phone and was appalled when he got there and they didn't have replacements.
* OP called Apple where Apple rep said they'd send a new phone but didn't right away.
* OP saw FedEx and panicked, called Apple and found no phone was being shipped, pressed and pressed and phone is now on the way.
* OP would like to know why Apple would sell a phone and not stock enough replacements.


OP:
Apple made a phone and likely did not anticipate the level of anal retentiveness of their customers combined with actual real-life problems. You cannot fault Apple for not guessing that the failure rate would be so high. You will get a new phone but you need to be patient. In theory your phone is still functional. You also cannot fault Apple for not having a replacement on hand when you made the appointment. Their policy is to repair before replace. You must also know that your distance from their store is none of their concern, you made the choice to drive it when AppleCare could also take care of your issue as it takes care of issues for many other customers not within reasonable driving distance from an Apple store.

I hope it gets sorted but in the meantime practice patience, using your enter key, and understanding ...

Wow, do you work for Apple or what? I didn't assume anything other than getting a replacement phone if the Genius bar tech found mine to be defective, which they did.
I run a business and sure wouldn't make an appointment with a customer and have him drive an hour to my location if I knew I wasn't even going to be able to help him when he got here. Even the Apple Care supervisor stated that I should have not had to drive to a genius bar unless they were able to solve whatever problem I had with the phone.

Also, I did not panic when I saw the fedex truck. Why do you write that kind of nonsense?
I was told the phone would arrive today, and after it didn't I called Apple. Would I have been better off not calling? If I hadn't, who knows when they would have sent me a replacement.
Customer service is still important to me. Maybe it isn't to you, but I sure as heck wouldn't be so quick to read a post from someone who had a legitimate issue, and label him as you did.

 

[agoat]

I have similar situation, they ran out of iphones for exchange. The genius told me that an order was place for my exchange and they would call me when it available which he emphasized he does not know when that would be. So I left with a piece of paper outline my problem (camera) and needed to bring it back along with the iphone to exchange.

 

[studio¹³¹]

there is no panic issue.

 

[slippery-pete]

 

[jhatz]

To summarize.

* OP lives a far far way away from an Apple store.
* OP had issue with phone.
* OP made appointment and assumed he'd get a new phone and was appalled when he got there and they didn't have replacements.
* OP called Apple where Apple rep said they'd send a new phone but didn't right away.
* OP saw FedEx and panicked, called Apple and found no phone was being shipped, pressed and pressed and phone is now on the way.
* OP would like to know why Apple would sell a phone and not stock enough replacements.


OP:
Apple made a phone and likely did not anticipate the level of anal retentiveness of their customers combined with actual real-life problems. You cannot fault Apple for not guessing that the failure rate would be so high. You will get a new phone but you need to be patient. In theory your phone is still functional. You also cannot fault Apple for not having a replacement on hand when you made the appointment. Their policy is to repair before replace. You must also know that your distance from their store is none of their concern, you made the choice to drive it when AppleCare could also take care of your issue as it takes care of issues for many other customers not within reasonable driving distance from an Apple store.

I hope it gets sorted but in the meantime practice patience, using your enter key, and understanding ...

So glad I decided not to read the OP's post.

 

[dgstan]

So glad I decided not to read the OP's post.

Even the recap was too long for me.

 

[yankintx]

I have similar situation, they ran out of iphones for exchange. The genius told me that an order was place for my exchange and they would call me when it available which he emphasized he does not know when that would be. So I left with a piece of paper outline my problem (camera) and needed to bring it back along with the iphone to exchange.

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to know if it happened to someone else. Seems like most of the stupid comments were mostly from those who joined this forum within the last few weeks. Can't wait until they have a problem and post here!