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Iphone took a quick dip in the ocean...*sigh*

T

thedollylala

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 30, 2011
5
0
So I was at the beach yesterday, standing near the shore with my phone my son is playing in the water, all of a sudden i hear this shrill cry "MOMMY!" my son got caught in a current and kicked him off his feet and he was near some small rocks, he's losing his footing, and I go charging in the water not even thinking my phone is in my hand, thats my kid and mama bear mode was in full charge, I go for him but the rocks trip me up and i go down phone goes down I get to my son a man had picked him up and took him to shore and i get to my son comfort him and we go back to our chairs, i wrap him in a towel and i sit down and i look at my iphone 4 , its in an otterbox, its still on, i take off the otter box, its saying on the screen 'this iphone is not optomized for this accessory' i dry it off with my towel, and look down in the charging dock its full of sand, i try to blow the sand out but theres a lot in there, we pack up our things and I go to find a store to get a can of compressed air, i try turning off my phone but it just automatically starts back up. I see an att store i stop in and the man tries a few things to reset it, so far at this point the ringer is stuck in headphones mode and service is not to be found and my ipod portion keeps playing tracks. He says to take it to the apple store, well they are closed by this point. I get my can of compressed air and blow the sand out of the charging port and the headphone jack....Now its out of headphone mode and my speakers are working fine on it and the error for accessory mode isnt coming on. Phone still wont shut off...So I get hom (i live like an hour from the beach) and I read up on putting it in rice and turning itoff so it doesnt short circut well I plug my phone into itunes make a backup and do a restore, so phone is now shutting on and off normally and is off and in a bag of rice, It is still able to pick up wifi and stay connected to that.....

So all in all my phone is working properly aside from trying to find service it will look and then say no service, it was able to pick up service a few times on my ride home but now it wont just does searching then goes to no service so basically i got a pretty fancy ipod. o.o any suggestions would help.... Sorry for the long windedness :/

*edit* i looked at the charging dock the little red water indicator is on its like a faint pink but yeah its triggered im not suprised it had wet sand all in there for atleast 45 minutes till i was able to get to the compressed air*
 
well i dont know how well i saved it since im not connecting to the edge or 3d networks. Like it seems it was slowly getting better as I babied it and what not but now its just bleh.
 
Not being sarcastic, but that sounds like a great story to tell a Genius. Maybe they'll feel sympathetic and give you a once time exception (free replacement).
 
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thedollylala said:
Hmm I wonder If i show them all the cuts on my legs from the rocks it will work.
Click to expand...

Depends on how sexy those legs are ;)
 
yep go to Apple be honest with your story. Be nice polite etc just ask them the best thing to do. Don't even ask for a exchange. Let the genius lead you will end up with three options. Oh as a parent I will add great job. Many would still have worried about there phone. 1 vote for super mom!

1. Genius says great story and hands you a refurb.
2. Genius will say sorry and offer to replace it for $199
3. Thank Genius take it home hope for the best. Salt being corrosive I/m guessing even if it gets better it's going to get worse again.
 
You should send this story to Otterbox as well. It's a good example to solidify the Defender's protection :)
 
well, the closest I can come to that is I fell in our inground pool a few years back with my newly purchased Nokia E-71. Was right at the edge skimming some stuff off the water and took one too many steps to the right.

I was amazed at how well these phones do in the water. :eek:

Same as you, in the end the phone still worked, but the screen developed a fog of moisture that never went away. From that day forward, all of my phones are now insured thru my home owners policy.
 
iPhone: expensive
kid: priceless

In any case, sometimes simply allowing the phone to dry out can work wonders. Try putting the phone in a jar with moisture-absorbing silica gel bags (those little white bags you get in electronics packaging) and then putting the jar in a warm but not hot place. I had a Samsung clam-shell that made two trips through the laundry but was resurrected each time with this method. We also managed this once with my kid's Blackberry. The key is getting the phone dried out before corrosion or damage due to shorting the battery.

If you have any signs the iPhone hasn't completely recovered, then you should take it to an AppleStore - the phone could be dangerous due to leakage from the battery etc.

EDIT: if there is no joy from Apple, I'd write the makers of otterbox....
 
Well I took everyones advice, and took the hour and a half drive to the apple store, it was worth it. I went in it was PACKED wow, and I got an appointment time and waited maybe 10 minutes a girl came up and I told her my story and she nodded and said well we normally charge 200 dollars for accidental damage but your story sucks and im going to replace it for free...I honestly was shocked even tho you all said it was a chance, Im so glad i took the trip up there, they took my old phone and gave me a brand new one...and secured me as a client thats for sure.
 
They should honestly give you a free phone for the effort. Like I'm not even ******** you that's allot of work grabbing your kid and saving your phone. Pretty sure apple has enough funds to give you a replacement phone ;)

EDIT: Just saw your post...damn wow..gotta love apple!
 
I am happy the apple store loved on you. They are a great bunch I have found. You should be rewarded for choosing the son over the phone.

If you decide to go back to the coast with the kid maybe leave the phone in the car? I think I would!
 
the.sheepdog said:
I am happy the apple store loved on you. They are a great bunch I have found. You should be rewarded for choosing the son over the phone.

If you decide to go back to the coast with the kid maybe leave the phone in the car? I think I would!
Click to expand...


mhmmm i agree and normally do, boyfriend is deployed in the navy so lately ive kept my phone right near me in-case he gets online. And there is no question ever choosing the kiddo over anything and any material object, he always comes first.


Thankyou guys for convincing me to go to the apple store cause I wasnt going to because I believed I wouldnt have gotten the service I got today, im very happy. My son is safe and up to his usual ruckus and i have a phone thats working. :]
 
Wow! Seems like a great story, if Apple is good at anything -- it's customer service and satisfaction.. that's for sure! Glad everything worked out!
 
IMO the genius seams to do things case by case which is pretty cool :) I've had more than a few apple products out of warrenty still fixed/replaced.:cool::cool::):apple:
 
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