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Iphone hairline cracks - blamed on impact damage

C

craigyboy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 26, 2008
6
0
hi

Bought my iphone on launch day, has lived in plastic case all it's life, had one small crack at bottom of case i noticed a few days after purchasing, ignored this because wasn't very significant, however after a few months and until a few weeks ago i went into the vodafone store, they sent the iphone in for repair.
Now i hear back from them that the unit needs replacing and will not be covered under warranty because they have said it has received 'impact damage' However i have never dropped the phone the phone is usually kept at home because i have an 021 phone for a run around phone.

I rang the repair company and explained this to them they didn't want a bar of it and they told me to ring the apple service center in Australia, think i've talked enough now so what happened here is the repair center has emailed pictures to the service center and they say it is impact damage and that for the final decision it will be sent to their engineering team i am still waiting on this so far have been waiting a month in total.

Here are the pictures of the so called 'impact damage' I however believe i am not in the wrong and i have treated the phone like a queen and this is the hairline cracks iphone problem.

I'll let you guys decide, thanks for listening :)


 
I had the problem with my White iPhone 3G (it stood, literally, on a desk for about two-three weeks) went to the Apple store and he said that it's "normal wear and tear." Although the guy on the phone I made the Genius appointment with said "Oh is it the white one? Okay go to the Apple store."
 
Yeah, same thing happened here.

You could pay to get the back replaced, either though Apple or iResQ, but that's usually at least $100.
 
Ok thanks.

Yeah i suppose, it should be covered under warranty though surely, it is the iphones defect, too many cases for it to be the users fault :( So unfair! I don't think i have any other avenues to go down though really?

Thanks guys for replying so fast :) Just wanted to get others opinion.
 
What? Don't give up on this one. There are hundreds of pictures of this all over the internet. It is not your fault, you shouldn't pay for it.
 
I agree...this is a well documented problem especially with the white iPhone around launch time.....it seemed to be a problem with manufacturing...print out a bunch of the forum posts and then see if they still bother you....can you call an Apple?
 
Just make another appointment at the Genius Bar. Go to another Apple Store, maybe, or another phone call with Apple Care. Cracking on white iPhones is pretty well-known and documented. Plenty of users have gotten replacements for this issue.
 
No I have see cracks like these on two friends black AND white iphones.

Thye went to the apple store in Chatswood and Sydney and got no questions asked replacements.

apple had a problem with initial batches of some case mouldings.

OK its fixed now and all new iphones will be OK but apple admitted they made a boo boo. It is all over the internet anyway

Besides, impact should not have done this anyway. If you dropped it and it cracked like this then it shows inherent weakness due to poor moulding causing weld lines..

Dropping it should have maybe scratched it but not it should not have cracked as its polycarbonate which is poor mans bullet proof glass.

If they do not give you a replacement then make a big fuss..
 
Just an update

Hey

Thanks to everyone for the replies, has helped me not to give up on this!

* Update *

It is now the 9th January and i haven't been contact by the customer service representative for 7 days.

The last email he sent sorry about the delay of the 'engineering team' and that it was because of the holiday season. He also recommended that i could contact the vodafone store and ask them to speak to the repair team about them not seeing any gap in the phone when i brought it in for them to inspect the cracks.
I have done this and vodafone store said they would do this, i waited a few days and then contact repair centre to see if they had heard anything and they told me that the vodafone store would not contact them apparently.

So it sums up that i am still waiting and no phone, it feels a lot like i am being beat around the bush here, apple blaming not being able to give a replacement due to it being 'out of their power' it almost sounds like which has got to be a load of crap!

Anyway, thanks everyone for your knowledge and help i will keep you all updated :)
 
Vodafone's email support is appalling; it took them 11 and 14 days to respond to my latest two messages. Vodafone of course is not Apple, so it's probably a good idea to find a few websites acknowledging the cracking problem and take printouts into the Vodafone store with you. Hopefully you can convince them that it's a manufacturing defect and would therefore be covered by warranty.
 
Hey,

Vodafone's email support is appalling; it took them 11 and 14 days to respond to my latest two messages. Vodafone of course is not Apple, so it's probably a good idea to find a few websites acknowledging the cracking problem and take printouts into the Vodafone store with you. Hopefully you can convince them that it's a manufacturing defect and would therefore be covered by warranty.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reply, when i brought in my iphone to the vodafone store i told them i had never dropped it and that i had heard stories about apple iphones cracking, the guy seemed like he understood there was a problem and that's why he sent it away he assumed i would get a replacement under warranty it is the repair center who has blamed it not being under warranty because they are on orders from Apple in Sydney who have reviewed pictures and claimed it is impact damage. So I'm stumped what else i can do!
 
:O sucks

Hay mate... thats pretty astonishing ay but you can kinda understand from apples stand point.. given that in NZ repairs replacements are done by vodaphone... and apple can only go from photos sent to them to make a judgement.. do you really expect this guy you have been speaking with can change that policy? and the fact his actually taken it to this engineering department means his at-least trying to help you out yeah? my white 16-gig phone had hair line cracks that were quite small like in the pictures of you phone and it was replaced without a hassle.. spoke with their product support specialists and i had a phone in about 4 days.. even tho i had to provide my cc details... for there so called non-return policy (security bond) what ever...

just out of curiosity... did you take those pictures... because im pretty sure i saw them on the apple site or google.. when i had my phone replaced in september last year..

all the best mate..
 
Hey thanks for the reply, yeah i appreciate his efforts but they seem not to acknowledge there is a problem and it is taking forever i would prefer a straight answer instead of excuses running me round and around.

The pictures were emailed to me by Apple it was the pictures they received.

Thanks for your reply, Craig
 
craigyboy said:
Hey thanks for the reply, yeah i appreciate his efforts but they seem not to acknowledge there is a problem and it is taking forever i would prefer a straight answer instead of excuses running me round and around.

The pictures were emailed to me by Apple it was the pictures they received.

Thanks for your reply, Craig
Click to expand...

No problem Craig just trying to help you out... i was quite frustrated myself swaring and cursing and what not... till i realized they are just doing their job...

are you sure they said it was pictures of your phone not just a reference of what a hairline crack is? i found the same picture thats been hosted on another site for awhile.. found it in google.

white-iphone-cracks.jpg


maybe you should email them or call them getting this cleared up.. because it does sound quite strange to me..

cheers

Mike.
 
Hey man,

Oh really what the hell is going on then! He sent it in an attachment lol and he said this in part of the email:

hairline cracks, from the photos that i have its more of a split, i have attached a photo for reference.I have been looking at the photos that have been sent to me and have also had two of my colleges review them.

EDIT : Oh maybe i've got my wires crossed and he is saying that the photos he sent are an example of hairline cracks and mine aren't? I'm unsure.
 
craig going off what you have already said i would say yeah his sent you that picture as an example of what apple deems is a hairline crack.

do you have pictures of your phone?
 
i recently noticed the same thing in my black 8gb. took it to the apple store and the genius stared at it for a minute or two and then gave me a new one
 
Hairline Cracks

I noticed some Hairline cracks appearing on my phone near the silent switch and the headphone jack. Went into the Telstra store were I bought it and they had a look and compared my phone with the exact pictures I see on this website. (So they must be a part of Apple material) I also checked Google like PCsforthewin was suggesting and found other websites with the same pictures.
Anyway they told me to go into the Apple store were I had my phone replaced in 5 Minutes after they looked at it. :D

So how bad is your phone??
 
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