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iPhone out-of-warranty replacement story

M

mrbrown

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 27, 2004
567
241
Springfield, Missouri
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

So, I got a call at work today from my wife, crying. The dog came in from outdoors all muddy and got some blankets muddy. Wife put the blankets in the washer... 60 minutes later, she takes em out and finds her white iPhone 4 amongst the clean laundry.

Tried all the normal stuff to save it but it's pretty much a total loss, so I tried to do an out of warranty replacement at apple.com. The website wanted over $400, despite Apple's own documentation indicating $199.

Called em up. CSR saw the same thing and couldn't override it and sent me to a senior rep. Senior rep figured out the problem - for some reason, they show an abused iPhone 2G on my account and are charging for replacements for the 2G and 4. Can't override it and Apple's own tech people are gone for the evening. Senior rep tried everything - even trying to give me a free replacement, but it won't let him override the 2G phone on the account!

Supposedly I am getting a callback tomorrow afternoon. I've never had this much trouble trying to give Apple my money!
 
Didn't know you can get OOW replacements through Apple.com. Are you sure you weren't buying a new iPhone with early upgrade pricing ($399?)
 
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Yes. Positive - OOW replacement "cost" was $398.00 (199x2), not the early upgrade pricing of $399. Couple that with Apple's acknowledgment of the problem and the fact I'm not a moron... Well, you get the picture.

You can get an out of warranty replacement through their Online Service Assistant by answering "My iPhone is not eligible for warranty service."
 
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Givmeabrek said:
Out of warranty replacements have always been $200.
Click to expand...

I don't believe anybody is disputing that...
 
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Not to sound like a jerk, but are you just sharing the story or do you want our input? You're giving snarky responses to everyone that comments in here so if you're just venting let us know so we don't waste our time responding.
 
I don't understand how it's out of warranty- didnt the white iphone just come out a couple months ago?
 
lionqueen said:
I don't understand how it's out of warranty- didnt the white iphone just come out a couple months ago?
Click to expand...

It came out 2 weeks ago and it is out of warranty because its damaged. Warranty doesn't cover accidents (drops/Water).
 
Ahh, didn't think of that. That does suck. I've got my iphone 4 insured- might want to think about that for next time, OP. It's worth it imo.
 
xbuddycorex said:
Not to sound like a jerk,
Click to expand...
Ummm...

but are you just sharing the story or do you want our input?
Click to expand...
Both? I obviously thought it was interesting that my original iPhone which was purchased way back in 2007 is now affecting getting service on a totally different iPhone in 2011. I was wondering if anybody else had ever experienced a similar problem in regards to an out of warranty repair.

I'd also be concerned if maybe the person I sold the original iPhone to through eBay tried to get an OOW repair and wasn't able to because (s)he destroyed it "beyond economic viability" and it's now affecting my replacement.

You're giving snarky responses to everyone that comments in here so if you're just venting let us know so we don't waste our time responding.
Click to expand...

Snarky? Me? Never. :cool:
 
Givmeabrek said:
Out of warranty replacements have always been $200.
Click to expand...

On my original iPhone my power button was stuck down so I tried to pull it out with a pushpin. The genius said that the holes in the power button are what caused it to stick down and I told him that it's from me trying to pull it up. He offered me an out of warranty replacement for $269. So they haven't always been $200. I ended up taking the phone apart and shaving off some of the aluminum. Good as new.
 
Ok, not always. I wasn't going back that many years. :)


And to the OP: Sometimes a comment is not necessarily directed to you. It's often information for all posters. If you are aware of the info and actually want help or even someone to listen to you it's best to leave the wise a$$ comments out. Next time you might be talking to yourself.
 
jason72780 said:
The genius said that the holes in the power button are what caused it to stick down and I told him that it's from me trying to pull it up.
Click to expand...

Bull-hookey. I had the same exact problem with mine and I never tried to pull mine out in a way that caused holes... it was a design flaw with the original phone, IMHO.

(for the record, I used pliers - button would just get restuck... and they replaced it in warranty).
 
mrbrown said:
Bull-hookey. I had the same exact problem with mine and I never tried to pull mine out in a way that caused holes... it was a design flaw with the original phone, IMHO.

(for the record, I used pliers - button would just get restuck... and they replaced it in warranty).
Click to expand...

Yea. The holes weren't what caused it, but that's what they blamed it on. I would've gone straight to the apple store, but was working 7 days a week at that time and had no time, plus I needed my phone for work. They wouldn't fix it, but it worked great after I shaved it down.
 
Update: Very happy ending!

After over 2 hours on the phone with AppleCare and having the folks there talk to people "at the highest levels" (Steve?? lol), they can't override the iPhone 2G on my account. NOBODY can - still wants to charge me for two OOW replacements @ $398.00 + tax & S&H.

So, they're giving the wife a complimentary replacement. She's a heck of a lucky lady. :D
 
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So does that mean you'll have to go through all of this again if you have another problem?
 
Can someone shoot me please? Put me put of my misery. HEY OP, cool story bro!!!!!!!
 
xbuddycorex said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

So does that mean you'll have to go through all of this again if you have another problem?
Click to expand...

Well, I'm assuming since the people at the top weren't able to fix it that I'm screwed if I ever need to get another repair/replacement done...

Then again, "screwed" is entirely subjective. Two hours on the phone for a free OOW replacement versus 5 minutes and $199... lol
 
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