replacement phone- Apple or Verizon?

Without a doubt, Apple customer service is far superior to Verizon's. I have a horror story with Verizon and a phone exchange. I won't go into the details, but basically they charged me full retail for an even exchange and took 5 months to finally refund me. They are horrible.

 

I don't have any horror stories like that but I prefer to not deal with Verizon. It's really your call to make.

 

The iPhone has a 30 day return policy at Apple without a restocking fee and a 1 year warranty. The warranty is specific to Apple and is good so long as you bought the phone from an authorized reseller.

I would deal with Apple before VZW for sure.

 

I'm confused as to why they're charging you $30. If you're within warrantee, you should have two options.

1. Advance return where they put a hold on your card until they receive the phone.

2. Swap where you don't get the replacement until they receive the old phone.

 

Verizon does it flawlessly. You hear more about complaints because people don't go around praising Verizon. One of my relatives had a phone submerged underwater and the Verizon employee gladly exchanged it.

 

Apple replacements are insanely fast. I've done it several times and it's always exactly the same. FedEx picks it up, the next day Apple gets it, the next I receive my replacement. Even when they replaced the screen on my retina MacBook Pro it was the same turn around time. I would avoid dealing with the carrier as much as possible, personally. That's a big part of why I stick with Apple. If I have a problem they will fix it.

 

This is true for new purchases only. Replacements cannot be returned, but have the remainder of your original phone's warranty or 90 days, whichever is longer. I know this because I just exchanged my iPhone 4S at the Genius Bar on the last day of my AppleCare+ plan and was given a 90 day warranty against defects. A good thing, too, since the WiFi died on me and I'm headed in for a replacement again today.

OP: I would definitely deal with Apple. They've got insanely good service. They didn't bat an eyelash about replacing my phone on the spot even on the last day of its warranty, and they did it with a brand new phone (not a refurb!). I took my 2008 white MacBook into the Genius Bar in 2011 (a year and a half out of warranty!) with a cracked top case and they repaired it free of charge while I waited. They won a lifelong customer that day.