iPad Apple Repair Service Lost my iPad Air 1

[Bootleg Gucci]

My first letdown by Apple customer service.
Historically, I have had nothing but top notch service from Apple with repairs, appointments, ordering.

Recently, my iPad Air wifi/cellular started displaying “No Sim installed”. The unit has no damage or water exposure, just some rare bumps here and there from 5 years of use. I figured the contact pins or the SIM tray port were the issue, since testing different SIM cards and none being detected. Reset all network settings, etc, appears to be physical hardware issue.

I called Apple and the rep said I could send it to them and pay a $249 + tax + 6.95 secure deposit. Upon receipt, their repair center was supposed to contact me with repair cost or option to return my iPad Air to me.

However, I just got an email saying that Apple shipped a replacement iPad Air unit (and the $280 charge sticks).

If you’re still reading this rant, this is the kicker.
That original iPad Air (now “scrapped”) had an IMEI tied to my T-Mobile 200mb/month free for life account. You can google this promo, which ended in May 2017, and T-Mobile does not grandfather these accounts with new iPad devices.

So basically the replacement iPad Air (different IMEI) will not work with my T-Mobile 200mb/account. I tried using this account’s nano sim with my iPad Pro 10.5” and T-Mobile rejects the lte data use on this IMEI. I called them twice and they said nothing they can do. Their system will not register any new IMEI devices on the 200mb promo account. I actually had great use of and utility on this plan.

Apple rep transferred me to 2 supervisors up the chain of command.

The 2nd tier supervisor said the old iPad Air has already been scrapped and unretrievable.

She offered to wave the $280 service fee and for me to keep the replacement unit.

I told her that’s not equitable. She said the Repair center never gave me an option or contacted me because they ASSUMED I just wanted a working device back.

Just another volume transaction for the Wall Street driven Apple. Apple didn’t treat my personal legacy device as if there’s any value (sentimental or otherwise) to the customer (was running good on iOS 10.3.3 with 200mb free lte, battery still good, and my FIRST iPad).

What would you ask Apple to do as reasonable compensation?

 

[rui no onna]

My first letdown by Apple customer service.
Historically, I have had nothing but top notch service from Apple with repairs, appointments, ordering.

Recently, my iPad Air wifi/cellular started displaying “No Sim installed”. The unit has no damage or water exposure, just some rare bumps here and there from 5 years of use. I figured the contact pins or the SIM tray port were the issue, since testing different SIM cards and none being detected. Reset all network settings, etc, appears to be physical hardware issue.

I called Apple and the rep said I could send it to them and pay a $249 + tax + 6.95 secure deposit. Upon receipt, their repair center was supposed to contact me with repair cost or option to return my iPad Air to me.

However, I just got an email saying that Apple shipped a replacement iPad Air unit (and the $280 charge sticks).

If you’re still reading this rant, this is the kicker.
That original iPad Air (now “scrapped”) had an IMEI tied to my T-Mobile 200mb/month free for life account. You can google this promo, which ended in May 2017, and T-Mobile does not grandfather these accounts with new iPad devices.

So basically the replacement iPad Air (different IMEI) will not work with my T-Mobile 200mb/account. I tried using this account’s nano sim with my iPad Pro 10.5” and T-Mobile rejects the lte data use on this IMEI. I called them twice and they said nothing they can do. Their system will not register any new IMEI devices on the 200mb promo account. I actually had great use of and utility on this plan.

Apple rep transferred me to 2 supervisors up the chain of command.

The 2nd tier supervisor said the old iPad Air has already been scrapped and unretrievable.

She offered to wave the $280 service fee and for me to keep the replacement unit.

I told her that’s not equitable. She said the Repair center never gave me an option or contacted me because they ASSUMED I just wanted a working device back.

Just another volume transaction for the Wall Street driven Apple. Apple didn’t treat my personal legacy device as if there’s any value (sentimental or otherwise) to the customer (was running good on iOS 10.3.3 with 200mb free lte, battery still good, and my FIRST iPad).

What would you ask Apple to do as reasonable compensation?

Imho, waiving the fee is reasonable compensation. Iirc, replacing the non-working device with a new or refurbished iPad in case it can't be repaired is part of the warranty terms.

You were getting a No SIM message so chances are even if you got your first iPad back, the T-Mobile SIM with 200MB free data wouldn't have worked anyway. It's not as good a deal but T-Mo does offer a 5GB/150 data pass for $10. Or maybe you can look into FreedomPop. I think they use T-Mobile's towers.

 

[spiderman0616]

Tough to say here.

Apple offered to give you free replacement hardware on something WAY out of warranty to make up for the SIM card issue. Sucks about the 200 MB a month, but if it were me, I would just weigh that against the fact that I just got a new free iPad. Do you have an iPhone you can tether to? I haven’t bought a cellular iPad in years, because it became illegal for phone companies to charge extra for tethering. I’m never going to leave the house without my iPhone anyway, so I always have it as my hotspot.

As for the “Wall Street driven” stuff, I don’t share that perspective at all. Yes, Apple has shareholders to answer to, but I remain convinced that they do care about customers a great deal. They have always taken very good care of my family’s devices and I feel fortunate that I can always just call them about issues or go to an Apple Store if needed. They recently just replaced my wife’s Apple Watch free of charge—it was also very much out of warranty and needed a new battery. The rep I worked with couldn’t get her system to charge us the right amount and felt bad that I was waiting on hold for all of 2 minutes so she just waived the fee. And the replacement unit was at our door 2 days after I sent the malfunctioning one to Apple.

I had a lot of issues with my iPhone 4 back in the day, and I once got an unsatisfactory experience at the Apple Store. The guy helping me just wouldn’t budge, so I gave up and left. But when I got the survey in my email asking how my visit was, I was honest and said I was unhappy with the resolution. A supervisor called me within hours and took care of everything. I suggest you try that route next.

 

[NoBoMac]

Going to go with take the free iPad and be done with it.

If they had contacted you and said it could not be fixed, then what? They send back the iPad and now you have an iPad that can't be used with the data plan due to broken sim circuit. Back in same boat as now.

Per the teardown on iFixit, in theory, the sim circuit is replaceable, but, need to unglue the display, then melt the glue holding the sim circuit in place. Basically, not a simple repair. And that is assuming they still have spares for that particular model (it is an old tablet that will be going end-of-life soon, so won't be stocking up on parts).

 

[Richard8655]

I agree with the above responses. I would add that Apple inadvertently cancelled 5 years worth (average lifespan of a new iPad) of 200mb/mo data service, however that dollar amount can be quantified. I don’t know how many years an Air would typically have left at this pount, maybe 2 or 3?

The best here is just accept the free iPad. The original iPad could have been lost or damaged beyond repair at anytime, and the plan would then completely end right then and there.

 

[azentropy]

Going to go with take the free iPad and be done with it.

Agree. They made you a very generous offer that they didn't need to. Don't have the docs in front of me right now, but I'm sure the Apple's terms of service for the "repair" laid out that a replacement could happen (and reading others experiences that it most like would happen). You are in a much better spot than before the "repair" as you have a refreshed iPad now (with new battery). Just take the $280 you were going to spend and apply it to a regular plan.

It sucks that T-Mobile discounted that plan. I used it myself on 5 of my iPads and it actually caused me to just skip going cellular this last time.

If you really want one with an "active" T-Mobile 200mb plan I'm sure people are selling them. Heck I'd consider selling my old iPad Air (128gb) with an active T-Mobile 200mb plan for the right price.

 

[spiderman0616]

Agree. They made you a very generous offer that they didn't need to. Don't have the docs in front of me right now, but I'm sure the Apple's terms of service for the "repair" laid out that a replacement could happen (and reading others experiences that it most like would happen). You are in a much better spot than before the "repair" as you have a refreshed iPad now (with new battery). Just take the $280 you were going to spend and apply it to a regular plan.

It sucks that T-Mobile discounted that plan. I used it myself on 5 of my iPads and it actually caused me to just skip going cellular this last time.

If you really want one with an "active" T-Mobile 200mb plan I'm sure people are selling them. Heck I'd consider selling my old iPad Air (128gb) with an active T-Mobile 200mb plan for the right price.

As a side note, you are definitely correct when saying "repair". So many Apple repairs now are just replacements because it's faster for the customer and easier for Apple. My wife's Apple Watch battery "repair" was a new Apple Watch. My iPad Pro battery "repair" was a new iPad Pro. I think it was that way even when the very first iPads were released. Someone asked "What happens when the batteries go bad on these things?" and Apple said they'd be charging $30 for a battery replacement, but that you'd essentially just be getting a fresh iPad for $30.

 

[Freakonomics101]

What I would do....

Take the $280, apply that towards the Cellular iPad 2018 then sell the new iPad Air you just got and make most of that money back. Then you'll have the 2018 Cellular iPad that has the fantastic A10 chip for less than $200.

Will last you for years more than the new iPad Air would.

 

[darkarn]

My iPad Pro 2 was replaced with a new one when its screen went bonkers weeks ago; Apple staff gave me a contract to sign to specifically confirm that I am aware that only replacements will be done (i.e. you will never get same device with same IMEI back)

But still, sucks that you cannot be grandfathered back to the plan. Do you still need to pay for it in this case?

 

[andrewmarich]

Take their offer..

How long was 200MB lasting you ?

I have T-Mobile and I get 14GB of hotspot per line per month included.. I think iPads with cellular are redundant when you have an iPhone with you at all times that you can tether to..

 

[rui no onna]

Take their offer..

How long was 200MB lasting you ?

I have T-Mobile and I get 14GB of hotspot per line per month included.. I think iPads with cellular are redundant when you have an iPhone with you at all times that you can tether to..

Depends on where, what for and how often you use the cellular iPad. Connecting to hotspot on the iPhone still won't put a GPS on the iPad. Hotspot isn't much help either when trying to locate a misplaced iPad using Find My iPhone.

 

[darkarn]

Here's my breakdown of your situation:

1. You are displeased that you are not getting what you are used to before (your iPad Air + your grandfathered T-Mobile plan). This we can understand for sure!

2. You are also displeased that no one contacted you before going ahead to give you a new iPad. This we can understand since miscommunication issues like this are bad too, but then again, is there specific black and white agreement about this from the service center, or was that an assumption you are making?

3. Either way, both Apple and T-Mobile are not responsible for each other's actions and therefore cannot do much in this scenario. The best they can do is to try to do what they can in the limits of their contract to you.

4. Sounds like you are getting a new iPad Air without costs despite you being out of warranty and also nothing will happen on T-Mobile's side. You can treat this as a chance to change devices and even mobile plans if you desire. An iPad Air with a broken SIM slot is harder to fix/sell compared to say, an iPad with just cosmetic damage or even a bad battery

5. No sense blaming this on a company being driven to be on Wall Street; companies are usually profit driven first anyway

 

[rui no onna]

3a. Apple's obligations to you is to ensure you can have a working device back somehow
3b. T-Mobile's obligations to you is to ensure you can use their services somehow

T-Mobile is under no obligation to the OP.

For a limited time, T-Mobile offered a free 200MB data plan tied to a specific tablet for the life of said tablet. They had the promo in order to promote their network. Not being able to transfer the plan to another device was stated in the fine print when signing up. If anything happens to the original tablet, T-Mobile isn't required to offer a free plan for the replacement.

 

[darkarn]

T-Mobile is under no obligation to the OP.

For a limited time, T-Mobile offered a free 200MB data plan tied to a specific tablet for the life of said tablet. They had the promo in order to promote their network. Not being able to transfer the plan to another device was stated in the fine print when signing up. If anything happens to the original tablet, T-Mobile isn't required to offer a free plan for the replacement.

Good point, I stand corrected!

 

[Banglazed]

200MB/month free? That would prolly last only a few minutes or less if you’re watching YouTube or streaming music. Logically, if you kept the other iPad, you can’t even use cellular which you can’t even utilize that 200MB. Apple, generally, issue remanufactured device to avoid delays and devices like yours will eventually be refurbished / remanufactured sold or use as replacement. I would be more than happy to trade a normal wear and tear device for a like new iPad any day for free! I think it’s more than reasonable for them to waived the service fee. Plus, do you know the internals on the device? Certain defects can’t be repaired if the fault is on the logic board which would require a new logic board and maybe reprogramming to ensure components registers as Apple authorized repair.

 

[Starship67]

What would you ask Apple to do as reasonable compensation?

The $280 fee refund is compensation enough considering they aren't even obligated to do that.
You sent in broken device they returned a working device Apples job is done. Everything else is on you.

 

[andrewmarich]

Depends on where, what for and how often you use the cellular iPad. Connecting to hotspot on the iPhone still won't put a GPS on the iPad. Hotspot isn't much help either when trying to locate a misplaced iPad using Find My iPhone.

Agreed, but I do find that feature Find My Mac/iPhone/iPad doesn’t work when the device is off either.. Useless for theft ..

 

[mk313]

I agree with the above responses. I would add that Apple inadvertently cancelled 5 years worth (average lifespan of a new iPad) of 200mb/mo data service, however that dollar amount can be quantified. I don’t know how many years an Air would typically have left at this pount, maybe 2 or 3?

The best here is just accept the free iPad. The original iPad could have been lost or damaged beyond repair at anytime, and the plan would then completely end right then and there.

Completely agree with Richard. I have the 200 megs for life free on one of my iPads & on the other I use the 5gigs of data for 150 days for $10 from T Mobile. Since you're only getting 200 megs free, that equals 1 gig of data over the course of 5 months, which is roughly the same thing as the 5 gigs for $10 deal though T Mobile. By purchasing those packages, it would take you 11.5 years (not even including the time value of money) to come to a place where you are behind (also not including the fact that you are now getting 5X the data as before). I'd just put the $280 into a separate account & keep buying those 5 gig packages from T mobile until the iPad dies. There is almost no conceivable way that you would still be using the same iPad 11.5 years from now anyways so you really did come out ahead.

 

[Bootleg Gucci]

Update: the customer relations rep initiated the refund, and the replacement unit is still otw.

I appreciate the responses here and am surprised by the number of replies. They actually make me feel better about the situation.

Deep down, the issue that bothered me was being told twice (by 1 Apple chat rep and 1 phone rep) that I would have a choice to know the repair cost and option to decline service so my original ipad can be returned.

If Apple simply sent an email stating my repair case could only be a replacement (costing $280) or return my original unit (I pay cost of shipping), then I would’ve opted for Apple to return my iPad (because I definitely wouldn’t pay $280 to get an almost 5 year old iPad model replacement).

Now that they offered this replacement free of charge, I will likely sell it and put it towards a newer iPad model (refurbished iPad Air 2 cellular or similar).

With the 200mb/month free data, I had good use of it for reading news on trains, buses, car rides, checking emails, stocks, and also as a free service gps tracking device in the diaper bag of my 2 yr old.

Our nanny takes our son out to different classes, playgrounds, and events, so his diaper bag is required to go with him. I slip the iPad in a flat pocket of the bag and use Find Friends or Find my iPhone to track approximately where they are at a given time.

If you look at the top seller gps trackers, they require monthly fees ranging from $20-60. Using the iPad cellular as a free location tracker might be bulky but the battery life lasts long and the 200mb service is free.

 

[rui no onna]

Again, try looking into FreedomPop. Iirc, they also offer 200MB free data.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

I lost mine the other day when I traded in the Air1. RIP 200mb my child used... lol

I had my Apple Watch battery replaced and it came back updated. I haven’t been able to use it because I hadn’t updated my phone. Ugh. Oh and it was lost.... took a day for Apple and ups to figure out what happened to it.

 

[charlituna]

Deep down, the issue that bothered me was being told twice (by 1 Apple chat rep and 1 phone rep) that I would have a choice to know the repair cost and option to decline service so my original ipad can be returned.

from what my ex told me about his time as a Genius, you have a valid complaint with that one because you were not told clearly that that "deposit" was signing off on them your busted iPad. because they do NOT test and then ask you for your permission. you gave it when you gave your credit card number. and the rep should have been clear about that and that all service on iPads is a swap.

apple isn't responsible for T Mobile cutting that freebie or making sure you can still use it, but they are responsible for giving you correct information. You'll likely get a survey about your service and you should totally downvote the rep and politely note that you were not given clear information