So here's the update on my adventure today;
I went to the Apple Store to visit the Geniuses, gave them the run down and my story about the declining functionality of my Home Button. After my story and giving it a test drive, the only thing my assistant had focused on was the my phone was 37 days past it's one year (since I re-newed from my iPhone3).
The only thing he said he could physically do was to blow air up there and see if there are any objects/particles causing such performance issues. He had done this, and I pleaded to see if there would be any good graces gifts - too much dismay, there were not. I asked if there would be any way to write into someone locally or if going to AppleCare, etc would be a good idea and he had recommended to do so.
On my way out the door, I dialed AppleCare and went through the whole run down again, to which my first assistant seemed very non-chalant about saying sure, just put a deposit on a Credit Card and we can ship one, the hold will release when we receive the current phone. I was excited, not going to lie. I had to call back however to make sure the one credit card I had on hand would hold the amount of $600 and then call back. As I called back, I spoke with a different rep, and then another who refused to believe that we were going to simply swap the phones. After one full hour I went through the Help Desk, Supervisor, Supervisor Lead and Customer Service. Eventually after letting them know that I was now disappointed, as it seemed we would easily take care of this, I was told that although there are great customer service stories on here (and from personal experiences with co-workers, etc.) that they only do these things on case by case basis.
That being said, the Customer Service individual who I spoke with put me on hold to review my past I suppose, came back and let me know that they would honor the original statement of a replacement phone if we only placed a hold on a credit card.
All and all, somewhat of an annoying process, HOWEVER - Technically I was out of date on my one year plan, and while this post seems like arrant ranting, it is not. I am very pleased with the eventual outcome and that the AppleCare center had handled the situation.
