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iphone 4 (International problems)

chris217 said:
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I was home for one day between usa and russia... That's when i had my genius appoi tment. Re read what i said. I have no time to return it because every single day i'm up at 4am, travelling until about 5pm to the next town, performing a show at 7pm til 9pm with soundcheck before that and afterwords waiting for the crew to take apart the stage and head back to the hotel to start it all again! I practically lie on a moving bus... I don't have the time!

I'm also PHONELESS so i can't phone them. The internet in all the hotels i've been at is woeful anx when i try to skype the apple care line i can't get reception! I've emailed them though and explained everything and they said i need to get a refund from best buy and there are a few in England. I'm in Russia with the phone, the packaging is in ireland where i'm from and to be honest i really don't feel like all this should be my reaponsibility! I thought the apple store in belfast would just exchange it :( but no!
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Looks like the internet is good enough for you to keep posting on here. I'm pretty sure they have normal, landline phones in Russia, especially at hotels. Why don't you use that to make a phone call?

Besides, if you found out that the phone wasn't going to work before you left for Russia, why the hell would you take it with you? Or why didn't you take the packaging with you in case there was some way for you to return it? Apple has no responsibility whatsoever to take your phone back because you didn't buy it from them and there is nothing defective about it. Frankly, no one here cares whether or not you think it's your responsibility or not, because it is! YOU bought the wrong phone, found out it doesn't work in your country, then proceeded to travel 1000's of miles away for an extended amount of time knowing that there were no Apple stores or Best Buys where you were going.

Have someone in your entourage mail it while you're performing, or christ, stop for 10 minutes at a shipping center between towns and send it out yourself.
 
chris217 said:
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and to be honest i really don't feel like all this should be my reaponsibility! I thought the apple store in belfast would just exchange it :( but no!
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You're funny! Whose responsibility is it then? It's your purchase after all! :rolleyes:

You say you are a very busy person - no time to return the phone, no time to sell it. Yet you're wasting several hours here arguing with people who give you advice on how to solve your problem.
 
chris217 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Right i'll try and get a refund sortes with best buy in the UK! i just fear that i won't make the return so i'm wanting to hear some good news that even if i don't make it in time for their return policy it might still work! The reason why i bought it in the States is simply because it's cheaper!

It's not something i can afford to lose. I'm 19 and touring with a dance show, not a millionaire. As i say, i don't know how i'm gonna organise the refund with anyone coz skype is so slow! :( but thanks anways for all your help! Think i'm just confused as to what option to take!
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There's no guarantee that Best Buy UK will exchange it.
 
chris217 said:
It's not something i can afford to lose. I'm 19 and touring with a dance show, not a millionaire. As i say, i don't know how i'm gonna organise the refund with anyone coz skype is so slow! :( but thanks anways for all your help! Think i'm just confused as to what option to take!
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Here's where you lose the rational adults in this thread.

If the cost (loss) involved is that important - one would think it would be more of a priority instead of trying to place the blame on someone else or expect someone else to fix a problem you created.

Are you sincerely trying to tell me that during the 3 weeks you've been in russia you couldn't send out an email to a family member or friend who you could send the phone back to and ask them for assistance?

That, to me, is incredulous. And here you are blaming skype for being slow?

I'm sorry - but that's one of the biggest BS excuses I have. Right up there with calling this a scandal.
 
chris217 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Right i'll try and get a refund sortes with best buy in the UK! i just fear that i won't make the return so i'm wanting to hear some good news that even if i don't make it in time for their return policy it might still work! The reason why i bought it in the States is simply because it's cheaper!

It's not something i can afford to lose. I'm 19 and touring with a dance show, not a millionaire. As i say, i don't know how i'm gonna organise the refund with anyone coz skype is so slow! :( but thanks anways for all your help! Think i'm just confused as to what option to take!
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If you're so straped for money, why did you buy an $800 phone?

Again, try using a normal phone line. you do realize there exists communication outside of the internet and cell phones, right?
 
This was an attempt to save money??? :confused:

How could that be? That's the part I couldn't figure out. Is it so hard to buy an iPhone in the UK??
 
Can't you just return the iPhone and pay a restocking fee. I believe you can even return it to an Apple Store in the UK, minimizing the cost of your error.
 
Givmeabrek said:
This was an attempt to save money??? :confused:

How could that be? That's the part I couldn't figure out. Is it so hard to buy an iPhone in the UK??
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I too can't understand this?

A brand new, sealed and unlocked iPhone can be bought at an apple UK store for £499.

At todays exchange rate you paid £472... So you only saved £17... no saving at all if you factor in the customs that you should have paid bringing it back in to the UK :cool:

I think your best bet is to try to sell it to an AT & T customer on ebay?
 
I hate sensationalist titles, especially when they're from random Joe's who did something stupid, and then complain the world about it because it's magically not their fault, it's everyone else's.

Look, we get it, you messed up. Great. Next time buy in your own country and do some research; for $44 extra you wouldn't have this issue and it would be factory unlocked.

Your options now:
1) Cry about it (current)
2) Contact Apple US and see if they can do anything for you
3) Contact the place of purchase and see if you can return it for a restock fee
4) Jailbreak it
5) Sell it on ebay for a loss, but still recover some of your money
 
OllyW said:
For an extra £27 ($44) he could have got a factory unlocked 16GB iPhone 4 from the Apple Store in Belfast.
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Well mine is 32GB which is £599 so that's an extra £127...which in my opinion is a VERY significant saving!

ALSO...our tour manager here in Russia said that you cannot trust anything to be sent from Russia, especially things other than letters! He said it can take up to months because there are rigorous customs here. They don't let you out of the country if you are in possession of any of their currency. It's very backwards.

You people are so harsh! It's always easy to be horrible to someone who's just looking for some help when you're behind a computer! I was not the stupid person here...the people at Apple, AT&T and Best Buy Mobile in NC who all told me, and i swear to you, that because i was buying it outright with no commitment, my UK sim would just slip into it and work as normal! I'm not lying!!

Thankfully, I'm back from Russia on 26th November and my 30 day policy is up on 29th November.

I phoned Best Buy in UK and they said they couldn't refund it, so I phoned Best Buy USA and they weren't going to do anything because I couldn't bring it to the store in person!

I then proceeded to phone the headquarters and was put through to the corporate offices and the woman was very nice and spoke to the store in NC again and they've agreed to extend the refund til whenever it arrives with them but are still taking the 10% re-stocking fee.

I don't really care what your opinions are...it's not my fault that i'm in this situation...Matt from Apple, the guy he spoke to on the phone, the representatives at best buy in NC, and Christian in the apple store Belfast ALL told me it would be fine so i went ahead and bought it! (Although Christian was after the purchase).

What i don't get is...you're all saying that it's common knowledge; so how could people who are supposed to know so much about their company NOT KNOW THAT ANSWER???? They are the stupid ones, not me! I phoned FOR AN ANSWER (sensible) and got given the wrong one.

Thankfully, the one person who i needed to be empathetic with my situation was, and couldn't apologise more for the hassle it had caused me!

It's so typical for people in a forum website to gang up because they think they're wonderful knowing what they know about Apple and because they're not in that situation or whatever, but you need to realise that not everyone is obsessed!


Point is, it's sorted and for those of you who offered me advice I thank you so much!

For those of you who were rude and obnoxious...get over yourselves and try to be a bit more sympathetic in future!
 
You missed the point altogether. Read your subject line and original post. Now look at how easy it was to solve the "SCANDAL" and "DISASTER"

I called it in the first post. DRAMAQUEEN. And one that refuses to take responsibility for his own actions. Kudos!
 
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Hey Chris.

Glad to see you are getting your problem solved. Had you listened to the first few responses instead of going on and on about the drama of your situation and the increasing rudeness of the responses, this could have been the same resolution without the need to bore the rest of us with this sad tale of woe. You might consider this the next time you purchase a big ticket item somewhere thousands of miles away from home. I would also question the "need" of any 19 year old to own a $962.00 smartphone.

Your remedy is to sue the people who allegedly defrauded you to cover your out of pocket losses due to their fraud. Hire a lawyer and get your money back, assuming you can prove your case. I know a lawyer here that would be happy to take on your case for a $2,500 retainer deposit, plus hourly fees. Best of luck with that claim. Sorry you had such a bad experience here in the old U S of A.
 
So I've read the entire thread and come up with this:

1. the OP is a troll (very likely and this thread should be locked and deleted)

but, I'm gonna give him SOME benefit of a doubt and say...

2. he's trying to screw Apple over, somehow, someway.

but i'm leaning towards...

3. the OP is just an idiot. i'm sorry

- the fact that you think you can return a phone purchased in North America, in the UK? lol

What i don't get is...you're all saying that it's common knowledge; so how could people who are supposed to know so much about their company NOT KNOW THAT ANSWER???? They are the stupid ones, not me! I phoned FOR AN ANSWER (sensible) and got given the wrong one.
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I don't buy your story.

I find it very hard to believe that you were given the wrong information by 2 people.
 
TJRiver said:
Hey Chris.

Glad to see you are getting your problem solved. Had you listened to the first few responses instead of going on and on about the drama of your situation and the increasing rudeness of the responses, this could have been the same resolution without the need to bore the rest of us with this sad tale of woe. You might consider this the next time you purchase a big ticket item somewhere thousands of miles away from home. I would also question the "need" of any 19 year old to own a $962.00 smartphone.

Your remedy is to sue the people who allegedly defrauded you to cover your out of pocket losses due to their fraud. Hire a lawyer and get your money back, assuming you can prove your case. I know a lawyer here that would be happy to take on your case for a $2,500 retainer deposit, plus hourly fees. Best of luck with that claim. Sorry you had such a bad experience here in the old U S of A.
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LOL! Funny guy :p
 
10:47 AM
11:03 AM
11:18 AM
11:19 AM
12:19 PM
12:32 PM
01:28 PM
01:31 PM
04:11 PM
05:05 PM

those are all your posts. i thought you were busy?
 
acfusion29 said:
So I've read the entire thread and come up with this:

1. the OP is a troll (very likely and this thread should be locked and deleted)

but, I'm gonna give him SOME benefit of a doubt and say...

2. he's trying to screw Apple over, somehow, someway.

but i'm leaning towards...

3. the OP is just an idiot. i'm sorry

- the fact that you think you can return a phone purchased in North America, in the UK? lol



I don't buy your story.

I find it very hard to believe that you were given the wrong information by 2 people.
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4 people in fact. (Matt from Apple care line, whoever from AT&T, the woman who sold me the phone in Best Buy Mobile, and Christian from the Apple store in Belfast when i went in about my Sim card) and thank you...the fact that you don't believe this could actually happen makes me so happy because i know how unbelievable this sounds! It's ridiculous, atrocious and so so hard to believe! Hence why i was so upset, but i will tell you, right hand up to God, no crosses...it is the truth! I have my boyfriend who i've been sharing a room with every single night who can back me up! But none of that matters, i know what's true and it's sorted now anyways!
 
I hope it doesn't cost you much to return it to BestBuy USA. Maybe it is easier/cheaper to have it exchanged at Apple Belfast and treated as a "broken glass" replacement. Does that still cost £200? Apple Stores were doing that for international iPhones. I know £200 is a lot. But shipping it to the US with insurance, relying on Best Buy to refund you after their paperwork might take ages anyway, plus you lose 10% restocking fee. I would contact Apple and ask if you could do this.
 
It's interesting reading American's views.

Unfortunately the OP is from the UK where consumers have rights and he made the mistake of assuming that people had similar rights in other, supposedly civilised countries.

In the UK it's quite simple, if a salesman tells you a product will do something and it doesn't then the product has been miss-sold and you can get your money back. Salesmen are not allowed to lie.

The fact that he checked with Apple as well and they told him the same thing would be more than enough to ensure the accuracy of what he was told IF he was in the UK.

Unfortunately he was in the USA where 'Freedom of speech' seems to extend to salesmen being able to lie to get a sale. Caveat emptor in the extreme.

The OP is certainly a bit of a drama queen but he knew nothing about the iPhone and did everything that, in the UK, would have ensured he had the correct information.

I guess he's learned the hard way why people outside the USA can't understand people from the UK. Basic rights that appear normal to others don't to Americans - but conversely, Americans can't understand views from other parts of the world.

Most of us have to learn the pitfalls of buying abroad the hard way but I can see why he is upset.

He does have another option though, just wait for 4.21 and for UltraSn0w to be updated and he'll be able to use his phone.

An official solution? No. But it will work and is an option.
 
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