Apple refused to fix my iPhone 4 home button

[Sensamic]

Hey.

Today I received back my iPhone 4 which I sent to repair last month because the home button started to fail. Apple has told me that they didn't felt it was broken, just natural use over time that makes the button less responsive... So now I keep having this problem. Clicking twice the button for multitasking almost never works unless I hit really hard and really fast. One click works normally.

I have tried other iPhone 4 in different shops to see the responsiveness of the home button and I could see that they felt more firm and strong than mines.

So now what? What can I do? I don't really want to change phone (neither 4S or Android).

I hoped Apple service could have make it better but nothing, its still bad.

Any suggestions?

 

[lordofthereef]

Are you able to take it into an Apple store and actually show someone the issue? Is it out of warranty?

 

[APtalent]

Hey.

Today I received back my iPhone 4 which I sent to repair last month because the home button started to fail. Apple has told me that they didn't felt it was broken, just natural use over time that makes the button less responsive... So now I keep having this problem. Clicking twice the button for multitasking almost never works unless I hit really hard and really fast. One click works normally.

I have tried other iPhone 4 in different shops to see the responsiveness of the home button and I could see that they felt more firm and strong than mines.

So now what? What can I do? I don't really want to change phone (neither 4S or Android).

I hoped Apple service could have make it better but nothing, its still bad.

Any suggestions?

Go to an apple store and try again.

 

[Sensamic]

Apple warranty is over, so I went to the carrier shop where I bought it. My carrier offers a second year of warranty. They sent the iPhone to Apple and then back to me, so I can't try going again. I tried to see if they would exchange the iPhone for a new one but nothing.

 

[lordofthereef]

Apple warranty is over, so I went to the carrier shop where I bought it. My carrier offers a second year of warranty. They sent the iPhone to Apple and then back to me, so I can't try going again. I tried to see if they would exchange the iPhone for a new one but nothing.

Then, you are SOL. Sorry.

 

[DroidRules]

So your button works, just now how you think it should. Your phone is out of waranty yet you think apple should swap it out.....

You don't think that sounds a bit on the crazy side?

 

[thesiren]

^ this. Quit being a cheapskate and just upgrade to the 4S. bam. problem solved.

 

[Sensamic]

So your button works, just now how you think it should. Your phone is out of waranty yet you think apple should swap it out.....

You don't think that sounds a bit on the crazy side?

The button works... barely. Hit twice and nothing happens. Hit once and multitasking bar opens. Hit once and nothing happens... Its not okay.

You think I wouldn't notice problems until now? I have the iPhone 4 since it launched last year and never noticed any problems... until 1 month ago.

I shouldn't have to try like 4 times to get the multitask bar to open, right? Then theres a problem.

I wont upgrade to the 4S having just 4 new things. I don't need Siri, I don't need the better camera and I don't need better 3G speeds. Its not worth the money and even less considering it would attach me to another 18 months of contract!!!! If I did this then next year I would not be able to upgrade to the iPhone 5, which I hope makes a bigger difference.

Also, the 4S has the same hardware button than the 4, so it would be pretty stupid to buy it and 1 year later have the same problem I have now..........

 

[AndrewR23]

^ this. Quit being a cheapskate and just upgrade to the 4S. bam. problem solved.

Horrible horrible advice.

OP, try again once more. If it doesn't work out, try getting used to it.

 

[rocknblogger]

So your button works, just now how you think it should. Your phone is out of waranty yet you think apple should swap it out.....

You don't think that sounds a bit on the crazy side?

So you're saying that the iPhone I just bought in September will possibly break 18 or 20 months from now and I should be okay with that? If that's the case I may have bought my first and last iPhone. I for one expect it to last at least two years trouble free and maybe three.

I think he has a legit complaint. If the home button begins to work improperly within two years Apple should fix it. We're not talking about a budget phone, this is the iPhone which is supposed to be the best of the best. I think we have every right to expect the phone to last a good long time.

 

[zigzagg321]

Seems like your only option is to pay the $158.00 for an out of warranty replacement at the Genius Bar.

 

[lordofthereef]

Horrible horrible advice.

OP, try again once more. If it doesn't work out, try getting used to it.

No offense, but your advice is pretty bad too. If it's out of warranty, they aren't going to do anything for you. that's why a warranty period exists in the first place.

 

[AndrewR23]

No offense, but your advice is pretty bad too. If it's out of warranty, they aren't going to do anything for you. that's why a warranty period exists in the first place.

O rly? My advice isn't bad at all. You know how many people had replacements from water damage and cracked screens? My girlfriend got her phone replaced 2 months after warranty because of a broken sleep wake button.

Op, give it another try. Try bringing a girl too.

 

[lordofthereef]

So you're saying that the iPhone I just bought in September will possibly break 18 or 20 months from now and I should be okay with that?

No. What he is saying is you can either pay up since you're out of warranty, or you can choose to go with another company, who will tell you the same thing about fixing a phone out of warranty.

----------

O rly? My advice isn't bad at all. You know how many people had replacements from water damage and cracked screens? My girlfriend got her phone replaced 2 months after warranty because of a broken sleep wake button.

Op, give it another try. Try bringing a girl too.

Point is, they don't have to. Can they bend the rules? Sure they can. Do they have to? Not at all. And if they look up the serial number and see that it was an attempted repair already, you are even less likely to get help. Furthermore, it seems Apple doesn't even think it's a problem. If they don't think it's a problem, they aren;t going to swap the phone out just because.

And why on earth are they replacing phones with water damage or cracked screens on their dime. They aren;t supposed to be doing that, EVER.

 

[zigzagg321]

O rly? My advice isn't bad at all. You know how many people had replacements from water damage and cracked screens? My girlfriend got her phone replaced 2 months after warranty because of a broken sleep wake button.

Op, give it another try. Try bringing a girl too.

This is silly. There are strict rules about what can be swapped outside of warranty and it has nothing to do with the appearance of the customer or a tag along.

 

[iSayuSay]

Since the problem is only on home button responsiveness, how about have your iPhone checked and replaced by paying labor and parts fees?

Since OP's out of warranty, I think that's a pretty fair option, unless you have to replace the whole iPhone unit? But I suspect it's only a mechanical problem. Annoying, yes ... but can be solved with a few parts replacement, I guess?

 

[dotme]

Since the problem is only on home button responsiveness, how about have your iPhone checked and replaced by paying labor and parts fees?

Since OP's out of warranty, I think that's a pretty fair option, unless you have to replace the whole iPhone unit? But I suspect it's only a mechanical problem. Annoying, yes ... but can be solved with a few parts replacement, I guess?

Exactly. I'm guessing that Apple didn't really refuse to work on the phone. They just declined to do it for free. If the OP calls Apple and arranges for a repair, or visits an Apple store, I'm pretty sure they will help. For a charge.

 

[SurferMan]

Just replace it yourself, it's not that hard and cheap to do. Ifixit and others have instructions and some have videos showing how to do it.

 

[scaredpoet]

My carrier offers a second year of warranty. They sent the iPhone to Apple

Are you absolutely sure of that?

If that extra year of warranty is in fact Applecare, then you can take it yourself to a Genius Bar and get it swapped out direct.

If it's something else, then chances are they aren't sending it to Apple for repair. They're more than likely sending it to a third party repair shop like Flextronics for service, because any iPhone out-of-warranty repair through Apple will be at least 1.5 - 2 times the cost of Applecare, regardless of issue. And they aren't gonna do any side-agreements with resellers to sell their own extended warranties, because Apple would rather just sell you Applecare.

And so, if they really are servicing through Apple, then they're losing a ton of money if they aren't doing Applecare.

 

[Primejimbo]

So you're saying that the iPhone I just bought in September will possibly break 18 or 20 months from now and I should be okay with that? If that's the case I may have bought my first and last iPhone. I for one expect it to last at least two years trouble free and maybe three.

I think he has a legit complaint. If the home button begins to work improperly within two years Apple should fix it. We're not talking about a budget phone, this is the iPhone which is supposed to be the best of the best. I think we have every right to expect the phone to last a good long time.

The iPhone comes with a 1 year warranty, not a 2 year, so again why should Apple fix it for free? Get Applecare if you want a longer warranty.
My transmission died, it's out of warranty, So I shouldn't have to pay to have it fixed? Yes it was only 65,000 miles, but still out of warranty. Should they have fixed it just because I thought it should have lasted longer?
Sorry, I am amazed at people who expect things to be given to them for nothing.

 

[vitzr]

I have had four iPhone 4's fail, as in stopped working due to defective home buttons, unable to use the phone. Each phone was less than one year old, therefore Apple replaced them.

However this is a tragic example of Apples declining quality.

I've owned every iPhone to date. My 3G which I used for two full years before setting aside as a spare, has a home button that works as good as new.

The iPhone 4 is the first iPhone I've owned that failed mechanically. The fact that Apple chose an old fashioned mechanical button for what is their only model of smartphone is rather questionable.

Then warranty aside, there is a legal concept known as "reasonable service life". To suggest that it's acceptable for a $600 phone to be rendered junk in 13 months is absurd at best.

Is this the best Apple can do? I don't think so.

If home buttons on Androids failed like this, the Apple fans would be all over it with thousands of critical posts.

Somehow "It Just Works" gets quickly forgotten and as usual Apple gets off scott free.

Funny how that goes...

 

[rocknblogger]

I have had four iPhone 4's fail, as in stopped working due to defective home buttons, unable to use the phone. Each phone was less than one year old, therefore Apple replaced them.

However this is a tragic example of Apples declining quality.

I've owned every iPhone to date. My 3G which I used for two full years before setting aside as a spare, has a home button that works as good as new.

The iPhone 4 is the first iPhone I've owned that failed mechanically. The fact that Apple chose an old fashioned mechanical button for what is their only model of smartphone is rather questionable.

Then warranty aside, there is a legal concept known as "reasonable service life". To suggest that it's acceptable for a $600 phone to be rendered junk in 13 months is absurd at best.

Is this the best Apple can do? I don't think so.

If home buttons on Androids failed like this, the Apple fans would be all over it with thousands of critical posts.

Somehow "It Just Works" gets quickly forgotten and as usual Apple gets off scott free.

Funny how that goes...

I don't agree with some of your comments around the forums but we see eye to eye on this subject.

I have read quite a few complaints around here and around the web about the home buttons going bad, if that's the case then I'm sure Apple knows that there's an issue with this. I don't think everything needs to be covered past the one year warrantee but the home button is an integral part of the phone and if defective can render the phone useless.

It should last the life of the phone and anything less than two years is within reasonable service life as far as I'm concerned.

Besides they didn't even offer to fix it for a fee but instead sent it back telling him it's fine the way it is. Not cool!!

 

[Sensamic]

I talked to the guys at the carrier shop where I bought the iPhone 4 last year and they told me that my carrier what it does is send the iPhone to the official apple service. Apple offers 1 year, yes, but here in Europe carriers offer a second year of warranty by law.

I checked several times and indeed my iPhone was sent to the apple official service center. They were the ones that decided not to repair my phone. My guess? They did so because its out of apples official warranty but inside my carriers warranty...

I could pay 60 euros for the home button to be repaired, but I don't know if to do that or change phone. I would prefer capacitive buttons. I can't know for sure that paying will make it better. What if they charge me and when I get back the phone it turns out it feels just as bad as before?

Right now I'm using Assistive Touch. I wanted to wait until iPhone 5 or some other smartphone next year. Thats why I wanted to keep my money until then. Now I have to seriously consider what to do:

- Keep using Assistive Touch until next year
- Pay for repair although theres the possibility that it will stay the same afterwards
- Buy another phone without hardware buttons


Some people say my iPhone is out of warranty. Let me be clear: it is under warranty. Here in Europe almost every electronics product has 2 years warranty. Its by law. My carrier all it did was arrange sending the iPhone to apples own official service.

The more I think about it the more I believe Apple didn't repaired it because they are not that flexible with carriers warranty. The home button is bad. While the screen is off I hit the home button 3 times for it to turn on the screen. If that is not bad.....

 

[sentinelsx]

The fact that Apple chose an old fashioned mechanical button for what is their only model of smartphone is rather questionable.

I think the fact that iPhone 4 is the first iPhone to have failing buttons is more questionable than using a mechanical button. I like the tactical button. But on the 3GS even after a couple years it works as new.

One of my co workers still uses an iPhone 2G and his home button works fine since he bought it.

On the contrary i had two iPhone 4 with faulty home buttons. Now the current one i got has a working one but I have it jail broken and using activator i can use simple and easy gestures instead of double tapping the home button since i use the phone a lot. I don't want it to wear out lol.

Something is fishy in the QC section nowadays. They better work that out.

 

[AlterEg0]

For such an expensive phone, one would expect better QC. Bad Battery, Bad antenna, patches that dont fix the problems they are supposed to fix. What next ?