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Resolved Close to giving up on owning an iPhone altogether

Kariya

Kariya

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 3, 2010
1,820
10
Went to my local Apple store to get my 4S swapped out because the screen had some light bleed and the first half of the screen was duller/dimmer than the second half. Genius recognised it immediately and swapped out.

However the new screen he game me was not great either and was very dingy/browinsh yellow. I told him i didn't want this one and to return my old one (whilst unevenly lit was more colour neutral) if he can't do another swap. He refused...saying terms and conditions don't allow...blah blah blah.

I told him "You can see for yourself this screen is yellow and not great" to which he agreed but said there was nothing he could do because they can't reverse transactions and you're only allowed one swap if no physical defect. He then proceeded to feed me the glue drying line and to come back in a week if i'm still not happy.

In the end i had no choice but to leave the store with a crappy screen. I can't use the phone knowing what i know cos i keep getting reminded yellow yellow yellow. Now i'm worried because convincing a genius of a light bleed problem is far easier than a yellow tint one.

I'm tired and frustrated. I'm thinking of selling off the phone altogether and forget owning an iPhone because i really don't like dealing with Apple's CS staff and i'm fed up of the screen lottery bullcrap...and no, i'm not picky. Far from it. I just want a decent screen.

Rant over.

TLDR: Swapped out iPhone and got something worse than what i went in with but wasn't allowed another swap or to take back my old one. And the new one will likely be harder to get replaced.
 
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Men chilax.
Focus in the good product. Call Apple Care get a replacement.
Ask the genius to make a new claim and swap it again for a good one, be kind appreciate the service and get a good working iPhone, no flaws are allowed.

The fact you wanted to I back to the original defective one is confusing.

Focus on getting a good iPhone and enjoy.

Ask for the manage when needed, be kind to the genius they most of the times are cool people, and simply limited to higher authorities or dependent on the crappy quality coming out of the Chinese factories.
 
Stop being baby and just live with it. Oh on, the screen has a more yellow hue! It's a phone, just relax :rolleyes:
 
Post a photo of said yellow screen, I'm curious to see it.

If the problem is genuine Apple will help you out. If you're being anal over every detail and slight tinge then you're likely on your own.
 
I'm in the same boat, but my wife's iPhone 4s has actual problems. She's on her fourth iPhone in three months.

The mic crapped out on her original phone in five weeks after purchase.

Her first replacement iPhone had issues with staying powered on. It would inexplicably shutdown or lock up. When the geniuses try to run diagnostics by hooking up the phone to one of their computers, their machine didn't even recognize the phone.

Her second replacement (3rd phone) had the mic die on it just like her original phone.

Her 4th and current phone seems to be doing ok....... Her first Apple product didn't make a good impression on her.... We've never had to return a phone so many times, especially in such a short period, since we used to buy those feature phones six years ago.
 
Wait...So u took ur phone back because it had a faulty screen. You got it replaced with a phone that had a yellow screen. So u want ur old phone (with the bad screen) back? That doesn't make any sense. It sounds like ur a little OCD to me. If the replacement screen is in fact bad then u should have absolutely no problem walking into apple, holding ur bad screen next to a store display screen and the genius should see it immediately. I mean, after all, it has to be HORRIBLY faulty since u can't even stand to look at it. Why do u think it would be hard to "convince" a genius of such an obvious defect?
 
sulpfiction said:
Why do u think it would be hard to "convince" a genius of such an obvious defect?
Click to expand...

Geniuses more often than not believe/will tell you yellow screens are 'within spec' just visit the iPad section and see for yourself.

I feel for the OP and think he shouldn't throw in the towel yet but try again next week. If push comes to shove then have them compare with phones on the floor in the store.
 
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The yellow hue screens are easier on the eyes I find. It's still an amazing phone with a gorgeous screen, try to enjoy it anyway.
 
Kariya said:
However the new screen he game me was not great either and was VERY dingy/browinsh yellow.
Click to expand...

My 4S is the same and I don't like it. The wifey's is the nice bluish-white that I prefer. A personal preference is not OCD (which isn't the right term anyway but I digress). Between my work laptop and my PC and the kid's / wifey's mac and the other iOS devices, I have around 10 screens in the house and they are all about the same color temperature. Go back 15 years and there would be dozens and dozens of screens. I pick up my iPhone and it looks like it's sitting at the bottom of a glass of tea. Defective? Maybe not. Different than any other LCD screen I've seen? Yes. Different than other iPhones? Yes and why? Personally, I would call it defective but I assume it's in some sort of spec. I'm waiting to see if Apple eventually acknowledges it and gracefully replaces them. With AppleCare I'm in no hurry.

OP. I cranked up my brightness and it's less noticible. I've posted before that my wife's brightness is on 50% and mine is closer to 80% to get the same brightness (minimizing the yellowish brown tint).

entatlrg said:
Post a photo of said yellow screen, I'm curious to see it.
Click to expand...

I don't have the link handy, but somewheres in this forum is a thread with comparison pics (including mine). :)

Edit: Found it - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1326781/ Again, the photo I took minimizes the color difference.
 
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ap3604 said:
That's being a little dramatic don't you think? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

This OP is full of the drama.

ap3604 said:
Close to giving up on owning an iPhone altogether
Click to expand...

ap3604 said:
I'm tired and frustrated. I'm thinking of selling off the phone altogether and forget owning an iPhone because i REALLY HATE dealing with Apple Customer Service and i'm fed up of the screen lottery bullcrap...and no, i'm not picky. Far from it. I just want a decent screen.
Click to expand...

The only thing I understand about his/her post is that he/she is frustrated.
All the rest is Drama. You really hate dealing with Apple Customer Service,
and yet they have continuously been voted best in customer service for something like 6 years.

Now I am not saying that your iPhones aren't bad and don't/didn't need to be replaced,
or that you are unreasonably OCD.
Go to The Apple Genius Bar, and show them your phone. Tell them you are unhappy,
without whining or threatening. Nine times out of Ten they will replace it.
So many times, I have had Apple genius' go above and beyond, replacing
things out of warrantee, replacing a phone when the screen was broken, at
no charge. Etc..
 
I did say i was ranting...

saving107 said:
Apple Care does not cover under warranty OCD.
Click to expand...

Read up on what actual OCD is before you make another ridiculous comment that may lead to embarrassment or worse, offend someone with the actual disorder.

ap3604 said:
That's being a little dramatic don't you think? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm no longer using the phone (tried to but no) and have reverted to my backup device. Dramatic? if you say so.

bri1212 said:
This OP is full of the drama

The only thing I understand about his/her post is that he/she is frustrated.
All the rest is Drama. You really hate dealing with Apple Customer Service,
and yet they have continuously been voted best in customer service for something like 6 years.
Click to expand...

If it comes across that way then thats fine. However, fact is the replacement screen wasn't as good as the previous and even the genius agreed but said his hands were tied at that point.

...and yes i don't like dealing with their customer service however well voted. If anything i much prefer Executive Relations. Have only dealt with them once a few years back (perpetually faulty PowerBook G4) and its probably the best service/experience i've ever come across. With the regular CS staff there's usually but not always "I'd like to help you BUT..." if the problem isn't 100% straightforward. You either fit into the 'system' or you're bust.

I'll try again next week but i'm not holding my breath.
 
Apple's customer service quality has gone under recently, I agree.

However, I don't think it's that hard to find a 4S with an excellent screen. I think... you should be nicer to the Genius guy and explain to him that you'd prefer to have a screen without any visible defect rather than having to come back later on to pester him about it.

If he insists on store policy, I think you can pull the "please let me talk to the manager" card. I've had to use that once, and it worked out quite well.
 
Kariya said:
However the new screen he game me was not great either and was very dingy/browinsh yellow. I told him i didn't want this one and to return my old one (whilst unevenly lit was more colour neutral) if he can't do another swap. He refused...saying terms and conditions don't allow...blah blah blah.
Click to expand...

That is one Apple policy that cannot be overrode because it was so relentlessly abused by bad customers who cherry-picked replacements so much that it caused inventory issues that made it so other customers could not get timely replacements.

I am sorry to hear that you got caught up in it, but I hope you might understand why such a policy might be in place and why they cannot override it. However, if you return or call AppleCare they should replace it due to the color issues.

I know it may seem frustrating from where you are now. But I assure you, Apple has consistently the best support you can possibly get. There's red tape and dumb rules but at the end of it they will usually do the right thing.

P.S I worked Apple Retail for awhile so if you want to talk strategies about your return trip PM me and I'll help you out. :D
 
No phone is perfect. At least Apple has good customer service (especially if you have a retail store within driving distance).

I'm a phone junkie. Try getting a bad Samsung, Motorola etc device. Some cell phone companies charge a $20 "fee" for warranty exchanges (cough cough T-mobile USA).

If you buy a second hand phone with ATT, good luck with that. ATT refused to honor a Motorola Atrix phone warranty problem I had even though the phone was less than 3 months old. I had to pay out of pocket to ship the device to Texas (cost me $18).

So the question is which phone will you go to?
 
aneftp said:
No phone is perfect. At least Apple has good customer service (especially if you have a retail store within driving distance).

I'm a phone junkie. Try getting a bad Samsung, Motorola etc device. Some cell phone companies charge a $20 "fee" for warranty exchanges (cough cough T-mobile USA).

If you buy a second hand phone with ATT, good luck with that. ATT refused to honor a Motorola Atrix phone warranty problem I had even though the phone was less than 3 months old. I had to pay out of pocket to ship the device to Texas (cost me $18).

So the question is which phone will you go to?
Click to expand...

I kinda feel the same. If I ever feel like there's an issue with my iPhone that I can't fix myself, I can go to the Apple store. I'm not sure where to turn to if there would be a problem with a Motorola or Samsung phone. There's no "Android store".

I guess I should ask my friends who have Blackberrys, those things break weekly. :p
 
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