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iPhone 4S dropped & damaged - what are my options?

ArkabaS

ArkabaS

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 3, 2004
91
0
The Moon
Hi everyone,

I apologize in advance if this is a common question. I'm posting on the behalf of a good friend who unfortunately lost grip of his brand new iPhone 4S and dropped it onto a concrete sidewalk. There is now a tiny crack in the front glass plus the metal antenna is all scratched to hell :eek: This was pre-ordered online and it arrived on Oct. 4th (release date).

What are my friend's options? Obviously he would prefer a new, unsratched and uncracked iPhone. I know this is technically the owner's fault, but come on people, **** happens and it absolutely sucks to have an expensive, brand new phone damaged, especially after waiting all this time to upgrade. Please don't post smart ass responses. Please have some sympathy and understanding.

Thanks in advance for any help. Again, neither my friend nor I are trying to cheat Apple. We are just trying to ameliorate an unfortunate situation. I have been an Apple customer since Macintosh Classic II and I showed my friend the light a few years ago and he now has an iPad, iMac, MacBook Air, and iPhone.
 
Last edited:
S

Sith Vol

macrumors 6502
Oct 7, 2011
301
5
Memphis, TN
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Buy AppleCare+ and take it into Apple Store and get a replacement for $50.
 
vitzr

vitzr

macrumors 68030
Jul 28, 2011
2,765
3
California
watchthisspace said:
Go to an Apple Store, tell an assistant the truth. Chances are they'll be nice and replace it.
Click to expand...
I've found that all one needs to do, is what you suggested above. It's my normal approach anyway. Apple has always has been very good to deal with. It's one of the reasons I've remained a very satisfied Apple customer.
 
M

maclook

macrumors 65816
Nov 2, 2008
1,146
40
watchthisspace said:
Go to an Apple Store, tell an assistant the truth. Chances are they'll be nice and replace it.
Click to expand...

I did that with my iPhone 4 but I read that Apple was going to stop giving away free replacements. It makes sense given their introduction of AppleCare+.
 
I

ijohnbro

macrumors regular
Oct 27, 2010
209
0
take a screen protector to crack, and some fine sand paper to work out scratches on antenna. Give you a chance to really fix er up
 
G

GTGeek88

macrumors newbie
Oct 15, 2011
8
0
Yeah, many credit cards have accidental breakage insurance that covers you for the first 30, 60, or 90 days. Some increase your warranty, also. My daughter broke her iPod Touch with 18 hours of getting it (ggrrrrr!!) and the CC company paid for the repair. I used MissionRepair.com and was very satisfied.
 
M

MayBee

macrumors 6502
Oct 21, 2011
320
0
get the applecare+... there is high chance it will happen again. I have dropped my previous phone like 3 or 4 times within 2 years...
 
O

oshia86

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2011
167
0
Hasn't Apple been getting away from doing one free replacement? Try your luck at the Apple store. If that doesn't work out, then pay the fee to get a new phone. I would suggest your friend get a good case as well, since he has broken a 4s so quickly.
 
N

nippyjun

macrumors 68000
Jul 26, 2007
1,638
323
vitzr said:
I've found that all one needs to do, is what you suggested above. It's my normal approach anyway. Apple has always has been very good to deal with. It's one of the reasons I've remained a very satisfied Apple customer.
Click to expand...

They shouldn't replace people's phones like this unless they have AppleCare plus.
It's not fair to those who have paid extra for the plus.
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,608
2,675
nippyjun said:
They shouldn't replace people's phones like this unless they have AppleCare plus. It's not fair to those who have paid extra for the plus.
Click to expand...

I'm all for good customer service, but I agree with you. Apple has a very fair non-warranty repair policy where you swap phones for $199. They have a quite reasonable $99 extended warranty with accidental damage coverage. They even allow you to buy AppleCare+ on your replacement phone for $49 if you have to do a non-warranty swap.

These are all reasonable and consumer-friendly policies, but some people (not necessarily talking about OP but others here on MR) seem to think they're "entitled" to more.
 
R

ransomed

macrumors newbie
Oct 27, 2011
7
0
Applecare+

Applecare+?

First thing is...I'm pretty sure they consider it fraud when you purchase insurance after an incident and then try to claim the incident.

Secondly, I was told you can't purchase Applecare+ separate from your phone's purchase. The rep at Sprint said that even if you walked out of the store and then decided to go ahead and get Applecare+, they couldn't sell it to you.

Do a quick search on the Goog and you should be able to find replacement parts for it. I think the screen assembly alone is gonne be $130-$150, and a replacement antenna is prolly gonna run a few bucks as well. It'll take some TLC, but it can be done.

Might be other ways to do it, but this is the most honest approach. Just my two cents.
 
S

scarez

macrumors newbie
Oct 26, 2011
11
4
My understanding as I just actually called Apple today to get AppleCare + for my phone is that if you did not purchase the extra coverage at the time of purchase on the phone, then you will have to call Apple to get it. You do have until Nov 14th according to their website.

In talking to them it sounded like they would be allowing a very small grace period for AppleCare+ even after the Nov 14th date. Normally AppleCare can be purchased up to a year after date of product purchase.
 
Z

ZipZap

macrumors 603
Dec 14, 2007
6,076
1,448
ransomed said:
Applecare+?

First thing is...I'm pretty sure they consider it fraud when you purchase insurance after an incident and then try to claim the incident.

Secondly, I was told you can't purchase Applecare+ separate from your phone's purchase. The rep at Sprint said that even if you walked out of the store and then decided to go ahead and get Applecare+, they couldn't sell it to you.

Do a quick search on the Goog and you should be able to find replacement parts for it. I think the screen assembly alone is gonne be $130-$150, and a replacement antenna is prolly gonna run a few bucks as well. It'll take some TLC, but it can be done.

Might be other ways to do it, but this is the most honest approach. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...

You can buy it until 11/14 as a special one time exception.
Also you have a 14 day return.
 
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