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Is Apple getting softer on replacements?

T

TallGuy1970

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 16, 2010
323
0
I was in the Apple store today to let the Genius Bar look at my wife's phone. It wouldn't power up and trying to restore it in iTunes only resulted in an error. I was expecting to have to defend what caused it (I still don't know), but the GB tech didn't even ask. He just ran a few tests, was able to duplicate the error, and said it would be replaced. Luckily, I had 8 days of warranty left and the replacement was free.

While I was there, a young lady brought in 5-day-old iPod Touch. It had clearly been dropped and had a cracked screen. She was also given a replacement device free of charge.

Maybe Apple finds it better to keep a happy customer who will buy more products in the future than haggle over replacements. Interesting!
 
I wouldn't necessarily say they've gotten softer. I'm guessing you're basing that conclusion based on other stories that have been written here (and elsewhere) regarding "poor" treatment from Geniuses and/or refusals to honor warranty service for various reasons. That's obviously not representative of everyone's experience, as people are much less likely to do what you did and write about positive experiences.

Still, glad to hear that you had a great experience! :)
 
I complained again about my home button being stuck and the girl at the Topanga Apple store barely looked at it and swapped me out. It was busy and there were a couple of crazies complaining but it was 5 minutes at most
 
I'd like to think that they work with the old adage of customer service.

You have two customers.
One comes in once and buys $100 of product.
One comes in ten times and buys $10 of product each time.
You've sold the same amount for each.
Which customer do you want?

The second customer has shown customer loyalty by his constant returns to buy more product. Over the life of the customer, he is more likely to return to purchase more product.
Providing good customer service and making happy customers, you're more likely to have them return for more purchases. Thus you make more $$.
 
My years of experience reveal that Apple's always been exemplary with customer service, returns and exchanges.

The only change I've personally experienced is having to return five of the last six new laptops and three of the last iPhones I've purchased all due to a distinct reduction in quality.

Each defective product was confirmed by a store genius, who was dealing with other defective products belonging to the customers in line ahead of me.

I believe that Apple may have found its getting hard to maintain consistently good build quality. A problem that Dell is familiar with. At least Apple is aware, now the question becomes; are they going to deal with it...thus far the answer is not so much.
 
DeaconGraves said:
I wouldn't necessarily say they've gotten softer. I'm guessing you're basing that conclusion based on other stories that have been written here (and elsewhere) regarding "poor" treatment from Geniuses and/or refusals to honor warranty service for various reasons. That's obviously not representative of everyone's experience, as people are much less likely to do what you did and write about positive experiences.

Still, glad to hear that you had a great experience! :)
Click to expand...

You're right!

I have been to the Genius Bar for a couple of issues with a brand new Macbook Pro, but never for a potential replacement like this. I had heard horror stories about cracked screens, water damage, jailbreak issues and people being refused warranty service, but I saw nothing like that. :)
 
Have the best customer service going and your customers will come back.

I know I did ...
They replaced my 3GS last year and since then
I've bought a iPhone 4 iPad 2 and a MacBook pro lol.
 
I had top notch service today at the Brandon Mall Apple Store.

Step one is to always treat the employee helping you with respect.

The rest is anybody's guess. But I would imagine they would be more lenient now than at the beginning due to lower demands
 
i know 2 very recent experiences of a broken screen on iphone 4 and an ipad 2, and both were replaced without charge.
 
Anybody got an iPhone 3GS replaced? My daughter's phone fell in the pool. I'm trying a new battery to see if that will work after putting it in rice.
 
I have a white iPhone i swapped myself (so when it plugs into iTunes it still shows a black iPhone) do you think i could get away with swapping it for a new "Apple-Official" white iPhone?:D
 
Mackbook702 said:
I have a white iPhone i swapped myself (so when it plugs into iTunes it still shows a black iPhone) do you think i could get away with swapping it for a new "Apple-Official" white iPhone?:D
Click to expand...

Eh, it's a possibility. I was in the other day and another customer next to me was complaining about something to do with his white iPhone 4. However, it was obviously a custom job, because it had the old not-so-visible proximity sensor bar above the earpiece. Genius even mentioned something like "oh that's strange, all the ones I've seen have a big black bar there instead. They must have gotten a few out early that are like this." He replaced it on the spot with a legit white one.
 
Based on my experiences with other companies and Apple, I believe they are one of THE BEST when it comes to customer service. It always helps to be nice to the reps too!!
 
I've always been treated well except when my iPhone 4's home button stopped working correctly. I could never get it to mess up in the store, and I kept getting the same genius at my appointments. He just wouldn't budge and I had to call Apple Care. They sent me a new phone still sealed in the retail box and apologized profusely.
 
DeaconGraves said:
Seeing that you probably voided the warranty when you swapped it yourself, no.
Click to expand...

Darn, because i was going to walk up and state "Hey, i voided my warranty by completing an unauthorized hardware swap, but do you think you can somehow unvoid my voided warranty and give me one anyway?"
 
djon41 said:
Eh, it's a possibility. I was in the other day and another customer next to me was complaining about something to do with his white iPhone 4. However, it was obviously a custom job, because it had the old not-so-visible proximity sensor bar above the earpiece. Genius even mentioned something like "oh that's strange, all the ones I've seen have a big black bar there instead. They must have gotten a few out early that are like this." He replaced it on the spot with a legit white one.
Click to expand...

Thats the reaction I'd hope for :D thanks!
 
I have had recent success with Apple replacements as well. I foolishly dropped my phone in a glass of water and it died on the spot. I decided to go to the Apple store and just ask if there was anything I could do, or if I would have to buy a new one. My Genius was really nice and helpful and asked what happened because he saw the water sensor had changed, and I just told him the truth: I was being stupid and it fell in water. Awesomely, he replaced it for me with a brand new one still in the box [this was the week after the white iP4 came out].
 
The girl was probably young and good-looking. Just a pretty smile and a low cut top will get you just about anything at the Geek, I mean Genius bar where if you were some old guy or lady they would make you pay for the cracked screen.

One of my friends was a "Genius" (and I use that term VERY lightly for him :) ) and he pretty much confirmed that.
 
TallGuy1970 said:
I was in the Apple store today to let the Genius Bar look at my wife's phone. It wouldn't power up and trying to restore it in iTunes only resulted in an error. I was expecting to have to defend what caused it (I still don't know), but the GB tech didn't even ask. He just ran a few tests, was able to duplicate the error, and said it would be replaced. Luckily, I had 8 days of warranty left and the replacement was free.

While I was there, a young lady brought in 5-day-old iPod Touch. It had clearly been dropped and had a cracked screen. She was also given a replacement device free of charge.

Maybe Apple finds it better to keep a happy customer who will buy more products in the future than haggle over replacements. Interesting!
Click to expand...

Apple seems to have started, not too long after the intro of the iPhone 4, having an "unofficial" policy of one free replacement per customer in regards to screen breakage. I just last week shattered my iPhone 4 (my own fault, dropped it), and upon telling the genius I dropped it/broke it myself (went in fully expecting to have to pay for repair), I was told "well, with most customers, we can offer a one time free repair of a broken screen, with approval from the manager". He slipped into the back, and sure enough, came out with a refurb replacement that I paid nothing for. This has been reported happening many times since the iPhone 4's intro. There's even a forum poster here in the last week that had his iPad 2 screen replaced free of charge after he dropped it and broke it. Apple seems to be pretty lenient with it.
 
chris975d said:
Apple seems to have started, not too long after the intro of the iPhone 4, having an "unofficial" policy of one free replacement per customer in regards to screen breakage. I just last week shattered my iPhone 4 (my own fault, dropped it), and upon telling the genius I dropped it/broke it myself (went in fully expecting to have to pay for repair), I was told "well, with most customers, we can offer a one time free repair of a broken screen, with approval from the manager". He slipped into the back, and sure enough, came out with a refurb replacement that I paid nothing for. This has been reported happening many times since the iPhone 4's intro. There's even a forum poster here in the last week that had his iPad 2 screen replaced free of charge after he dropped it and broke it. Apple seems to be pretty lenient with it.
Click to expand...

I can vouch for the "one-time" replacement due to dropping. Sadly all my friends are clumsy and 5 out 5 got it replaced. And of course 2 of them dropped it again and Apple does keep track of replacements. Both were told they were already given a replacement and they can't do it again.

Also, I noticed a lot of early adopters have had issues with the home button and Apple knows about it. People just go in and say the home button rarely works and they get a replacement after checking for water damage.
 
Going in today because the home button does get confused sometimes. Well see how lenient they are cause today it's working fine however the other day I felt like throwing it into a wall it was messing up so much!
 
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