Need to replace unlocked iPhone w/o AT&T service

[hElLoHiNes]

sorry if i posted this in the wrong thread, long story short....

family vacation last week, pushed my sister in the pool she had her iphone in her pocket, phone works but has water damage to screen. i now need to replace her phone. problem is her phone is unlocked and she doesnt have at&t service. what are my options? any chance apple will exchange it for the $200 out of warranty replacement?

thank you in advance to anyone who leaves a response! cheers....

i tried using the search feature and came up with nothing.

 

[emptyCup]

any chance apple will exchange it for the $200 out of warranty replacement?

Out of warranty and you admit that you broke it, your chances don't look good. You could hope that it will be fine when it dries out or you could ask Apple. You have nothing to lose and repair might be cheaper than buying your sister a new phone. Good luck.

 

[hElLoHiNes]

Out of warranty and you admit that you broke it, your chances don't look good. You could hope that it will be fine when it dries out or you could ask Apple. You have nothing to lose and repair might be cheaper than buying your sister a new phone. Good luck.

i thought i read that apple would exchange phones for a flat $200 fee?

 

[mrbash]

The phone may still work. Try sticking it in a bag of rice for a few days.

 

[velocityg4]

If it's just the screen you can find replacement LCD's on eBay for pretty cheap. Most come with the tools. You may want to get the digitizer as well.

 

[hElLoHiNes]

seems she is having more troubles with it, anyone have any answers as far as the exchange at apple store?

 

[old-wiz]

Apple store won't have any unlocked phones.

 

[hElLoHiNes]

Apple store won't have any unlocked phones.

what if i set it back to factory settings? will they exchange a phone if you aren't a at&t customer?

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

They may exchange it but it will be a locked phone. You will have to unlock it.

 

[hElLoHiNes]

anyone exchanged a iphone without at&t service?

 

[iceblade]

They may exchange it but it will be a locked phone. You will have to unlock it.

To the OP, even if it is locked, unlocking it is not too expensive, as long as you get it done somewhere legit or get a legit code. Otherwise, you'll have another messed up phone. There are apparently some legit ones out there if you do your research (I was looking for unlocked phones for when I leave the country).

 

[velocityg4]

From iPhone Service: Frequently Asked Questions

1. Out-of-Warranty Service
   
   If you own an iPhone that is ineligible for warranty service but is eligible for Out-of-Warranty (OOW) Service, Apple will service your iPhone for the Out-of-Warranty Service fee listed below.
   iPhone 4 Out-of-Warranty Service 16GB & 32GB $199 iPhone 3GS Out-of-Warranty Service 8GB, 16GB & 32GB $199 iPhone 3G Out-of-Warranty Service 8GB & 16GB $199 Original iPhone Out-of-Warranty Service 4GB, 8GB & 16GB $199 A $6.95 shipping fee will be added if you arrange service online or by calling Apple Technical Support. All fees are in US dollars and are subject to local tax.

For example, an iPhone that has failed due to damage or liquid damage is eligible for Out-of-Warranty service. However, certain damage is ineligible for OOW service, including catastrophic damage, such as the device separating into multiple pieces, and inoperability caused by unauthorized modifications.
Apple reserves the right to determine whether or not your iPhone is eligible for Out-of-Warranty service. iPhones that are repaired or replaced have a 90-day limited hardware warranty or assume the remainder of your standard warranty or AppleCare Protection Plan for iPhone coverage, whichever is longer. Please see Apple's Repair Terms And Conditions for further details.

You should be fine. Just reset the phone to factory settings so that it is no longer jailbroken and unlocked, as that is likely what they mean by an unauthorized modification.

Though it does not explicitly say so in the FAQ. From what I have read the iPhone exchange does not require an AT&T contract. The FAQ makes no mention of a service contract either way.

Note: You can only exchange for a like model (if you were considering an upgrade).