They could have used rocks. Much cheaper as you can offload an iPhone 5 for a couple hundred or so.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Being charged for Apple's mistake?
- Thread starter r03dz
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They could have used rocks. Much cheaper as you can offload an iPhone 5 for a couple hundred or so.
Well I'm certain this issue will be corrected but this isn't at all "Apple's Mistake" unless they picked up the wrong box and said it was yours, which if this is the case they most certainly will find the right box. Also I have to say that the many problematic Apple purchases I have made have resulted in a positive experience in terms of them swapping me. They would send the box for replacement. I would pack up my Apple product and take it to FedEx and a few days later I would get the replacement. Your experience is not the norm so there's no reason for people to beware.
cmichaelb
macrumors 68020
No, not really. I work in the transportation industry and it is normal in theft situations to put weight back in the box to replace what was removed- whether it be rock, brick, phone book, whatever. An empty box is a red flag.
You'd be surprised at the garbage that goes on. It's not a huge percentage, but it happens.
Its probably not Apple's mistake- it was someone in a local service center for the carrier, or customs.
lordofthereef
macrumors G5
I think the surprising thing is the theif placed an actual phone rather than the other options you, yourself, provided (rock, brick, etc). I suppose it could have been a "heat of the moment" thing where the theif dropped his/her own phone in the box instead of somethig else, but that just seems like a pretty stupid theif considering that is totally track able to its original owner should the right authorities get involved.
My phone magically turned up today at Apple..... They also said that the iPhone 5 is not on my account and if Fedex can't ship it back I can just pick it up and keep it. What do you think I should do? Send it back and do a good deed?
Somewhere, someone is going through what you went through, waiting for their 5 which was sent to you by mistake. Send it back because Apple will say someone signed for it and that person may have to deal with a runaround.
cmichaelb
macrumors 68020
Maybe it wasn't his phone.
----------
If Apple said to keep it, and if FedEx can't ship it back, then go ahead and keep it.
My point was why give away an iPhone 5 when a rock could do. That's the fishy part.
cmichaelb
macrumors 68020
Probably stole the iPhone. Then, decided to upgrade. At least I could see that happening. I've seen much weirder things.
bunnicula
macrumors 68040
Send it back. Someone screwed up at the shipping facility, which means someone else is probably going through the same mess you just did.
lordofthereef
macrumors G5
It's still rather strange imo. I'd rather keep two stolen ohones than one, if I'm in the habit of stealing things.
Plus the op just "uodated" that apple now has his iphone 6. The entire story is smelling more like BS every minute.
Upgrade to a defective iPhone? Well, anyway, we can put all the speculations to rest because the OP's iphone finally surfaced at Apple.
cmichaelb
macrumors 68020
Right... you don't know what the thief's purpose was, if it was thievery. It could be Apple's mistake and they got the phones mixed up.
My point is, strange things happen that make no sense, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least. I've worked in logistics on an off for 20 years and have seen some crazy &$%# stuff.
Well, seems like it wasn't apple's mistake, so you should probably correct the title of this thread.
Oh, and of course you should send the phone back. It isn't yours.
I sent the iPhone 5 back. Also, they concluded it was Apple's fault. When they phones were taken out of the boxes they mixed them up. All is good now and hopefully by returning the iPhone 5 I saved someone else this same trouble. Horrible experience.
zorinlynx
macrumors G3
I hope Apple tries to make good on it by offering you and the other person some freebies.
lordofthereef
macrumors G5
Obviously I can't know anything without all of the facts. And we won't get all of the facts here. I'm going to stand by my guy and say that it is very unlikely that a person with the intention of theft is going to replace one product with another when they could have easily placed something else in it.
Either way I have no skin in the game. We can all believe what we want lol.
Now that I think about it, it'd make sense to put in a stolen, activation-locked iPhone 5 and take the defective iPhone 6 that's not activation-locked, especially if you need to do the swap fast without making it obvious that you're handling a rock.
Not that it matters anyway because the OP already informed us that Apple misplaced his iPhone so it's a screw up on their part and no thievery is involved.
I've had pretty bad experience with Apple as of late as well.
I would've kept the device - it's Apple's mistake and the amount of time and energy you wasted to fix this, after they initially blamed you, is indicative that they really don't care. Apple messed up, told you to keep the phone if you wanted. That would've been the 'right' thing to do.
Want to hear the best part? I was told by Apple that I wouldn't have to pay any taxes or brokerage fees if I went and picked up the phone because they would charged and not me. This wasn't the case. Fedex confirmed that the fees would be charged to me because that's what was Apple's request. There hasn't been one speck of truth from Apple throughout this whole process.
----------
Apple is cheap. They won't offer me anything. Even though I have spent > 15 hours on the phone with them. One night I had to wait 2.5 hours just to get in touch with the warehouse to confirm they received a black iPhone 5.
Actually, probably what happened is that some poor warehouse rep was scanning in devices and got an iPhone 5 return mixed up with an iPhone 6 return. So it's good that the OP sent the iPhone 5 back because someone else is probably being told that his device was never sent back (or that he sent back a 6, lol).
