Kudos apple

[Tenorsaw]

Yes, I like sour grapes, but I guess I'm just a fair kind of person. A company should treat it's customers the same, not giving some people benefits, and others "grief". It just isn't fair.

It's just like getting a CS rep on the phone. I don't care which company. Some will give you what you want, others won't. The same rules apply. I'm happy for the OP.

Actually, Logitech operates the same way and they will always have me as a customer. They are very professional.

 

[bartelby]

Someone got treated incredibly well by Apple and other people aren't happy about it.

That's all there is to get.

 

[samiwas]

Sorry, Nick...usually I agree with your posts, but this one I just don't agree with you. I'm tired of hearing people whine about how something isn't "fair". Not everything is fair in life. That's why kids' teeball teams stopped keeping score...because it wasn't fair to the kids on the losing team and they would feel bad. Wah. Wah. Wah.

The OP isn't gloating at all about his fortune, so I don't see why there should be any issue with him. He didn't TRY to get a free phone, he just did.

When you have a company with thousands of retail employees, you are going to get different service from every one of them. There may not be hard and fast rules in place, and they may give them a little leeway depending on the situation and the customer. That's perfectly fine business I think.

Give up the fair thing. Not everything is fair and it never will be. A friend of mine grew up in a home where everything was 100% evenly divided amongst the four children in the house, down to having the same number of each color of M&Ms divided from a pack. That person has grown up with this idea that everything should be 100% evenly fair at all times, and has no comprehension of how things can vary. Needless to say, that person gets upset quite a bit at how unfair things can be.

Give it up, move on.

 

[nikhsub1]

haha both times?
Mr. Butterfingers did you even consider a case after you threw your first phone to the ground?

🙄 I have cases on my phones thanks. Both broken glass incidents were my wifes doing, not mine. The first time, she was crossing the street and literally fell on her face with the phone in her hand. Thank goodness she was not injured, but the phones glass was shattered. Let me add that my wife was COMPLETELY honest about the situation, she actually started crying because she was so upset over the fall. I paid $249 to have it 'fixed'. The next time, (about 3 months ago), the phone was on the kitchen counter and a bowl slipped out of her hand and landed right on the phone. This time, the screen was not actually broken, but it looking like the MBP video issue... This time it was $199 to have 'fixed'. Am I upset that I had to pay to have these fixed? Not really because they were not DEFECTS. Sure I hate to spend money that I don't have to, but Apple didn't cause these problems.

Should it matter that the only product the OP has ever bought from Apple is ONE iphone? Should it matter than I have been an Apple customer since 1981 and have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars with them since that time? Should it matter than I bought TWO iphones on launch day for $599 each? In reality it should not, and that is what all of you are basically agreeing with. However, it does make question why Apple gives some things away for FREE to some, but not to others.

 

[nickspohn]

Sorry, Nick...usually I agree with your posts, but this one I just don't agree with you.

It's okay, and i understand. I'm done with this thread, moving on. 🙂

 

[dukebound85]

Okay, when i careless trash my objects, I'm going to try the best I can to get a free iPhone in return.


Seriously, this amazes me. Yeah everyone's happy he got a free phone, lets all hold hands, but he didn't get one for the right reason, and I'm standing by that. There have been other people that dropped their phone, and they had to pay the price. That's not fair. Did he learn his lesson about dropping a glass phone again? Hopefully since it didn't cost him anything, but i've dealt with over 20 iPhones, and have 3 of my own, and to this day, I have never dropped 1. I work out with it, I carry it everywhere I go, wherever I go, my iPhone goes, and amazingly it has never dropped yet.

what is your issue?

you dont know the situation in its entirety so how can you judge? it doesnt affect you so why get all worked up over it. the op simply went to the apple store in regards to his iphone. he didnt know they would give him a new one and was prepared to pay to have it fixed

its like complaining when a cop gives someone a warning when you got a speeding ticket. not every situation is handled the same

 

[deimos256]

Yes, I like sour grapes, but I guess I'm just a fair kind of person. A company should treat it's customers the same, not giving some people benefits, and others "grief". It just isn't fair.

your point has been stated a thousand times, go push your black poison cloud over another thread

 

[ratattak]

Okay, when i careless trash my objects, I'm going to try the best I can to get a free iPhone in return.


Seriously, this amazes me. Yeah everyone's happy he got a free phone, lets all hold hands, but he didn't get one for the right reason, and I'm standing by that. There have been other people that dropped their phone, and they had to pay the price. That's not fair. Did he learn his lesson about dropping a glass phone again? Hopefully since it didn't cost him anything, but i've dealt with over 20 iPhones, and have 3 of my own, and to this day, I have never dropped 1. I work out with it, I carry it everywhere I go, wherever I go, my iPhone goes, and amazingly it has never dropped yet.

ok, so if you ever drop your phone or whatever, and you go in the same way the OP did with full intention of paying for your mistake and Apple offers to replace/give/whatever for free, I want you to tell them no, and tell them you will pay for it. Then, please come back and post your experience?

 

[ajwchin]

You're telling me what I would post?

Sorry,

1) I'm not going to drop my iPhone. I guess I'm just careful? Or is it luck.
2) If i break my iPhone, I'll pay to get it fixed. I won't learn my lesson if i get a free one for being careless.

All the people that have had to pay because of their mistakes agree with me.

1) You don't know that. I too am extremely careful with my phone; I have never dropped it. But it could slip out of my hands tomorrow. Who knows. It may be luck. Just because you have not yet dropped your phone does not mean that you are not ever going to.

2) If I break my phone, I am 100% willing to pay to get it fixed. But if I'm offered a free replacement by a genius, I sure am going to take it. Are you saying that you're going to force them to take your $300 even if they offer to replace your phone completely free? Hell, give me the money; I'll put it to good use.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

OP, congratulations! That is a really cool story with a great outcome!!! I'm happy that happened to you. Sometimes, greatest moment are surprises like this one.

Please don't worry about the rest of the whiny, sniveling comments on this thread. Ironically, you would think that this forum would be full of Apple lovers, but it's not. The iPhone forum is full of some of the most negative, self-serving crybabies I have ever seen. Not all, but most. Just look around...

Again, congratulations! And be careful...once you try a Mac, you'll most likely never go back to PCs again.

Bryan

 

[jybute]

Lots of people to quote here, so forgive my vaguness.

To the people that have a problem with someone getting something for what seems like nothing, if someone... anyone gave you something for "nothing"...no strings attached, what would you do?

To the people/person who thinks I am clumsy for dropping it... you're probably right. But should apple maybe, just maybe come up with stronger glass???? I dont know. But if they can come up with something like this phone... I dont see why not. And trust me, it would not add more than $20-$50 to the price of this phone. And Im sure you, the one who has purchased... what was it now?? 3 of these phones? would buy one. You obviously have a high opinion of apple, so I am sure you would. And thats another thing. If you are such a humanitarian, take that $699, however many times you bought an iPhone when they were first released. And do something usefull with it.

Im not saying its apples fault for my clumsiness, Im only proving a point.

And to suggest that Im a "retard" for dropping my phone....... Man... get real. Do you prefer mac ove pc because of its ease of use?? Well then.. youre "lazy"

I bought this phone because its practical and fun. Not because its made by "Apple". I have a pc, because the software I use to feed my family does not run on a mac. So what should I do? Find another carreer? Oooohhh, I know. I should get rid of the family, right? That way I can enjoy all of the benefits of a mac. Man.. if and when I do buy a mac, Ill be careful what I say to those few who might be mad that I didnt have a mac all along.

I could go on for hours, but I only came here to tell of my good experience.

To everyone who was happy for me, thank you. I have told all of my friends about this, and I will continue to tell people about this. I think people should know about my experience.

 

[ajwchin]

Lots of people to quote here, so forgive my vaguness.

To the people that have a problem with someone getting something for what seems like nothing, if someone... anyone gave you something for "nothing"...no strings attached, what would you do?

To the people/person who thinks I am clumsy for dropping it... you're probably right. But should apple maybe, just maybe come up with stronger glass???? I dont know. But if they can come up with something like this phone... I dont see why not. And trust me, it would not add more than $20-$50 to the price of this phone. And Im sure you, the one who has purchased... what was it now?? 3 of these phones? would buy one. You obviously have a high opinion of apple, so I am sure you would. And thats another thing. If you are such a humanitarian, take that $699, however many times you bought an iPhone when they were first released. And do something usefull with it.

Im not saying its apples fault for my clumsiness, Im only proving a point.

And to suggest that Im a "retard" for dropping my phone....... Man... get real. Do you prefer mac ove pc because of its ease of use?? Well then.. youre "lazy"

I bought this phone because its practical and fun. Not because its made by "Apple". I have a pc, because the software I use to feed my family does not run on a mac. So what should I do? Find another carreer? Oooohhh, I know. I should get rid of the family, right? That way I can enjoy all of the benefits of a mac. Man.. if and when I do buy a mac, Ill be careful what I say to those few who might be mad that I didnt have a mac all along.

I could go on for hours, but I only came here to tell of my good experience.

To everyone who was happy for me, thank you. I have told all of my friends about this, and I will continue to tell people about this. I think people should know about my experience.

Good post. I applaud you.

 

[mrkgoo]

Okay, when i careless trash my objects, I'm going to try the best I can to get a free iPhone in return.


Seriously, this amazes me. Yeah everyone's happy he got a free phone, lets all hold hands, but he didn't get one for the right reason, and I'm standing by that. There have been other people that dropped their phone, and they had to pay the price. That's not fair. Did he learn his lesson about dropping a glass phone again? Hopefully since it didn't cost him anything, but i've dealt with over 20 iPhones, and have 3 of my own, and to this day, I have never dropped 1. I work out with it, I carry it everywhere I go, wherever I go, my iPhone goes, and amazingly it has never dropped yet.

See, the difference is you're TRYING to get it for free. No doubt you will be very difficult with them if this were ever the case.

When someone receives a small bonus in life, degrading that is just sour grapes, pure and simple.

Sure it's not fair, but you win some you lose some - one day you may win. Don't begrudge it.

Congrats to the OP.

 

[Bernie-Mac]

Yes, I like sour grapes, but I guess I'm just a fair kind of person. A company should treat it's customers the same, not giving some people benefits, and others "grief". It just isn't fair.

Dude get over it. How do you know he was careless with it? Mistakes happen, you dont know what happened. You bitching about it isnt going to make Apple call and say "Hey about that replacement..." the guy got lucky, if you didnt break a screen on yours then why are you crying? Here, call Apple, tell them to run an IP Address check on the guy, find out who he is and have Apple bill him the $250. Would that make you feel better?

 

[Vegastouch]

A few weeks ago, I dropped my iPhone. As I'm sure you can imagine, the glass shattered. With my lower lip trembling, I went online to search for a solution to my big problem. I discovered that the cheapest way to fix this was to buy a new glass face and install myself for around $100. Not feeling confident in my iPhone repair skills I called the only apple store we have in my city. They told me for around $250 they would exchange the phone for a refurbished one. I settled on this option.

Not wanting to spend the money at the time, I put it off until last night.

I went into the apple store with the full intention of shelling out $250. After talking with the "genius" behind the counter for a few minutes, recounting for him what I had done. He, out of nowhere told me they would exhange the phone for me free of charge for a brand new one. I have to say, this changed my view of apple completely. I had seen nothing from them before to make me think that they took care of there costumers like this. All the ads on TV with the apple guy and the pc guy just gave me the idea of another advertising gimick.

Being a pc guy, I will have to seriously reconsider my next computer purchase.

And kudos to apple, you won me over.

Do you need to show those guys a reciept? I bought mine from a relative and dont have AT&T. Would they help me if i broke my screen?

 

[dubels]

Approaching them with honesty? You mean, why do i deserve a FREE PHONE WHEN I SHATTERED MY OWN PHONE.

It's one thing when my phone has an issue and i take it and get it replaced, but this is almost as good as: "Apple, i dropped my phone in a toilet. It doesn't work. Thanks for giving me a free new one because i'm a retard".

You can say I'm bitter, you can say I'm an ass, but getting something free for being careless is a joke.

I guess you don't appreciate genuine human kindness. Because the gesture has need been extended to you does not mean it does not mean the person is a retard. When I worked at AT&T if someone came in level headed and wasn't demanding anything I would go into the back to see if I could find phones that I could replace customer's phones with for free. Knowing that a customer has made a mistake and was not just super careless made me want to help the person out. AT&T sure did not like that I did that, but the customer was happy and came back so the company never found out. Should I have been fired? Maybe, but I sure felt like a better person. The people that serve you do have feelings to and they know how it feels to be on the other side of the counter so just maybe if your nice they will help you out, for some reason with your responses in this thread I don't see that happening.

 

[milani]

I actually would reject that option. 😛

Apple has been doing a limited number of courtesy replacements ever since they had the original fiasco with the first iPhone of having pre-release reviewers complain that it would break easily if dropped, and was too expensive for that to be justified. Then, Apple tempered the glass and told the press that it would make it fairly difficult to break. When people still found a way to break it, it was in Apple's interest to keep them from creating a negative buzz by humoring them. Good business sense, since making a completely unbreakable iPhone isn't very feasible.

Besides that, Apple and AT&T profit from your iPhone based on not only your purchase price but your projected contract expenditures over two years. Two years of a $100/mo contract is a lot more revenue than the sale price of the iPhone. So it is worth it to them to some extent.

OTOH, you could argue that it was a waste of a courtesy on a user who was prepared to pay, vs. a better investment with another user who would not have paid and would've gone to a lesser phone, and dropped their AT&T contract to one that cost a lot less / month, actually eating into AT&T/APple revenues. 😱

Everyone should read this... because its the most logical post made in this thread. And literally sums up the entire argument in 3 short paragraphs.

 

[Opie]

Man it all depends on the genius. I took my old 8g first gen in after i had already bought my 3g and it was all scratched up and and had damage to the volume rocker switch. He looked at it and his exact words were " Its not my money I dont care here is a new one." I was shocked but appreciative. I sold it and made a good penny selling a refurb over the one i had.

 

[Aurial]

Perhaps it's relative to the actual situation, ie how the phone was dropped and the damage caused. I would like to think if it was dropped on carpet or grass it wouldn't break but if it did they might take something like that into account.

I have to say though, I've never ever had a phone which would break after being dropped only once. Phones inevitably get dropped, it's unavoidable. There can't be anyone posting on here who at one time or another has not dropped a phone. To expect someone to pay $250 for what I would class as general wear and tear on a phone is completely unreasonable in my opinion.

 

[synagence]

I've worked in customer support before for a good period of time and i also now work in a team which provides 3rd line support (not our only duty) this is my take on things...

2 cases....
1. Someone walks into the store and is apologetic and sincere and recounts an embarrasing story of how the item/whatever is broken and could i possibly get it fixed (not digging for freebie or expecting more than a paid repair)

2. Someon walks into the store, slams item on counter and starts mouthing off about how the product is sub-standard and that he'll never buy from company X again etc

Tell me ..... who are you more inclined to push the rules for?

Yes the OP was probabily not entitled to get it replaced (i don't know their policies after all) ... but if it was clear that he was asking for a repair and was preppared to shell out cash for an embarrasing drop or whatever then a customer service rep would generally (unless you get some stickler for the rule book) try and help in the best way.

I've done it myself ... someone calls up and starts bad-mouthing I stick to the rules and stick to my guns .... someone calls up and is geniune, sincere and understanding .... i'll do my best to help them out.

Treat others the way you wish to be treated .... REALLY simple rule in life which in my experience tends to yield results

 

[dukebound85]

Perhaps it's relative to the actual situation, ie how the phone was dropped and the damage caused. I would like to think if it was dropped on carpet or grass it wouldn't break but if it did they might take something like that into account.

I have to say though, I've never ever had a phone which would break after being dropped only once. Phones inevitably get dropped, it's unavoidable. There can't be anyone posting on here who at one time or another has not dropped a phone. To expect someone to pay $250 for what I would class as general wear and tear on a phone is completely unreasonable in my opinion.

lol before my iphone, i would always leave my phone in my lap while driving and forget its there until i get out of the car and smashes in the ground.

i now make sure to NEVER have my iphone in my lap lol

I've worked in customer support before for a good period of time and i also now work in a team which provides 3rd line support (not our only duty) this is my take on things...

2 cases....
1. Someone walks into the store and is apologetic and sincere and recounts an embarrasing story of how the item/whatever is broken and could i possibly get it fixed (not digging for freebie or expecting more than a paid repair)

2. Someon walks into the store, slams item on counter and starts mouthing off about how the product is sub-standard and that he'll never buy from company X again etc

Tell me ..... who are you more inclined to push the rules for?

Yes the OP was probabily not entitled to get it replaced (i don't know their policies after all) ... but if it was clear that he was asking for a repair and was preppared to shell out cash for an embarrasing drop or whatever then a customer service rep would generally (unless you get some stickler for the rule book) try and help in the best way.

I've done it myself ... someone calls up and starts bad-mouthing I stick to the rules and stick to my guns .... someone calls up and is geniune, sincere and understanding .... i'll do my best to help them out.

Treat others the way you wish to be treated .... REALLY simple rule in life which in my experience tends to yield results

very wise words. people dont respond to anger well

 

[BaldyUK]

Yes, I like sour grapes, but I guess I'm just a fair kind of person. A company should treat it's customers the same, not giving some people benefits, and others "grief". It just isn't fair.

Stop acting like a petulant child.

Maybe you should have got insurance? I did and when I drowned my phone I had a new one delivered the next day.

 

[kdarling]

I've heard that Apple stores have a monthly discretionary fund, which can be used for acts of kindness. This helps to build customer loyalty, by allowing them to do things like free replacements (up to a limit).

This would help explain why sometimes people get extra help, sometimes not. Depends on if there are funds left. I'd be interested in charting what happens near the end of each month, when perhaps they need to use up the funds.

 

[Rat-Boy]

Yes, I like sour grapes, but I guess I'm just a fair kind of person. A company should treat it's customers the same, not giving some people benefits, and others "grief". It just isn't fair.

And Apple is the only company to do that don't cha know! 🙄

Dude, yes, you ARE being an ass.

I will pray every night now that you drop a phone and break it.

Why?

Because I too am an ass, but you DESERVE a karma bomb in the worst way for the amount of sour grapes in this thread.

In fact, your grapes are SO sour, I am starting to think you are LYING about never dropping your phone. In fact, I am thinking you actually DID drop one and had to shell out big bucks to get it fixed.

 

[cjbryce]

I've worked in customer support before for a good period of time and i also now work in a team which provides 3rd line support (not our only duty) this is my take on things...

2 cases....
1. Someone walks into the store and is apologetic and sincere and recounts an embarrasing story of how the item/whatever is broken and could i possibly get it fixed (not digging for freebie or expecting more than a paid repair)

2. Someon walks into the store, slams item on counter and starts mouthing off about how the product is sub-standard and that he'll never buy from company X again etc

Tell me ..... who are you more inclined to push the rules for?

Yes the OP was probabily not entitled to get it replaced (i don't know their policies after all) ... but if it was clear that he was asking for a repair and was preppared to shell out cash for an embarrasing drop or whatever then a customer service rep would generally (unless you get some stickler for the rule book) try and help in the best way.

I've done it myself ... someone calls up and starts bad-mouthing I stick to the rules and stick to my guns .... someone calls up and is geniune, sincere and understanding .... i'll do my best to help them out.

Treat others the way you wish to be treated .... REALLY simple rule in life which in my experience tends to yield results

Amen to that - a sensible and balanced post on why some people get treated differently to others.