A few weeks ago I was riding my scooter in the rain, and when I got home I realized my 2G iPhone had gotten wet inside my jacket pocket. What's worse is that when I tried to turn it off, it slipped from my hands and landed in a puddle. After toweling it off, I figured I'd give it a night to dry out, neglecting to remove the slider case. Realizing this the next morning, I removed the case only to find it damp inside. Long story short, including various creative attempts to dry it out, the thing's toast.
So I got around to taking my phone to the Apple store yesterday with no real hope but just to see what they'd say (maybe it was something as simple as a dead battery). Well past its warranty, the genius made a gratuitous attempt to turn it on, plugging it in and holding the home and power buttons. When that didn't work, he checked the water sensor in the headphone jack. And I have no idea how, but it was still white. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when he gave me the two options: A) $199 to fix it. B) $199 for an 8GB 3G model.
I should mention that I've used my current iPhone unlocked on T-Mobile for the last year, and that since my contract expired this past January I've been planning on switching to AT&T but wanted to wait until the likely release of a newer model this summer. So I was honest with the genius and explained all this to him and, almost as if he didn't hear me say that I'm not currently on AT&T, he said that because he wasn't deeming it water damage, I wouldn't be required to extend or sign another contract. I said I'd think about it.
Is this possible? Was he going to let me walk out of the store with a brand new phone and under no obligation to sign a contract with AT&T? Of course I'd have to give them the old one, but I'd say that's worth the $199 upgrade. This didn't sink in until later and I'm definitely going to return to the store for clarification. That is, unless the good folks at macrumors tell me I'm nuts and that I misunderstood.
Yeah, I probably misunderstood.
So I got around to taking my phone to the Apple store yesterday with no real hope but just to see what they'd say (maybe it was something as simple as a dead battery). Well past its warranty, the genius made a gratuitous attempt to turn it on, plugging it in and holding the home and power buttons. When that didn't work, he checked the water sensor in the headphone jack. And I have no idea how, but it was still white. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when he gave me the two options: A) $199 to fix it. B) $199 for an 8GB 3G model.
I should mention that I've used my current iPhone unlocked on T-Mobile for the last year, and that since my contract expired this past January I've been planning on switching to AT&T but wanted to wait until the likely release of a newer model this summer. So I was honest with the genius and explained all this to him and, almost as if he didn't hear me say that I'm not currently on AT&T, he said that because he wasn't deeming it water damage, I wouldn't be required to extend or sign another contract. I said I'd think about it.
Is this possible? Was he going to let me walk out of the store with a brand new phone and under no obligation to sign a contract with AT&T? Of course I'd have to give them the old one, but I'd say that's worth the $199 upgrade. This didn't sink in until later and I'm definitely going to return to the store for clarification. That is, unless the good folks at macrumors tell me I'm nuts and that I misunderstood.
Yeah, I probably misunderstood.
