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Should This Have Been Replaced?

cambookpro

cambookpro

macrumors 604
Original poster
Feb 3, 2010
7,237
3,398
United Kingdom
Hi

So I went into the Apple Store today to see if they could do anything about my Lightning cable. It seems to have overheated or something as there is lots of discolouration and the wires are exposed on the inside.

I took it to one of the retail staff and they took one look at it and immediately said it was [direct quotes] 'obviously user damage' caused by 'you bending it at the top'. This has been plugged into my display since July last year, and it's never been moved or bent, always stayed straight.

I've had many, many cables in the last 10 years and none of them have done this except this one, so I think it's more likely there was a fault.

It's not the cable I'm too worried about - sure I would like a new one as it's useful not to have to unplug my other one all the time, but it's more the principle. I paid £15 for this cable less than a year ago. If I had an Android phone with micro USB I could've bought 30 cables for that price. To have it a) fail and potentially cause a safety risk and then b) have someone insinuating that it was my fault isn't that great to be honest.

I understand his position - there must be thousands of people who break these things and come in wanting a replacement. It just really sucks that all he could do was take one glance and then say where I can buy a new one (like I'd be buying another one of these from Apple... :rolleyes: ). He seemed to just want to get back to chatting with his mate.

They sell these things with phones on two year contracts, so I expect the cable that's required for it to work to last that long too. It's just a shame that the person in the Apple Store showed so much disinterest and didn't even listen to me when I tried to explain what'd happened. I've attached a picture of the cable below.

FzjAzP9.jpg
 
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Is there an official warranty for the cables or is the exchange program that some people have talk about more of a good customer service thing?

Either way, they should have at least explained that they couldn't do anything about in a better, more polite way.
 
It's just my personal opinion/observation that the quality of Apple's cables has gone downhill the past few years. I have 30 pin cables from years ago that have seen far more use but are in much better shape than any of the cables I currently use. The cable on my MagSafe is split in multiple spots just from the strain of coiling/uncoiling it to take it around (I'm a college student, I literally take that thing everywhere) and honestly I believe it's contributing to my failing battery in my 2012 MBA. I didn't have ~$80 to spend on a new MagSafe while at school and had to keep using the shoddy one I have. Steep price for a power brick anyway made even more painful by the fact that mine is falling apart just from wrapping it on the "wings," which is normal use. One of the two lightning cables I use for my iP5 also randomly split mid-cable, but since it's just one spot it was easily rectified with some (although ugly) black electrical tape.

This post makes me sound really rough on my cables, but I really do take care of my stuff. Like I said, I still have a working 30 pin cable that still had the squeeze tabs to remove it (along with many others). Don't know whats up with my newer cables.

Some of my friends have convinced apple to replace their cables, but a lot of the time if it's split like mine is they'll just say "it's user damage" and tell you to buy a new one, unless its an acknowledged problem like the old T-shaped MagSafe adaptor.

Long post is long, sorry :D
 
I don't know what the policy is in the U.K., but as long as the phone is under warranty the cable is too (the contract is irrelevant). Sounds like your iPhone 5 is out of warranty.

However, if you bought this cable separately less than a year ago shouldn't it be under Apple's one-year warranty?
 
TWO2SEVEN said:
Is there an official warranty for the cables or is the exchange program that some people have talk about more of a good customer service thing?

Either way, they should have at least explained that they couldn't do anything about in a better, more polite way.
Click to expand...

Should be covered under AppleCare for the product I think.

JayLenochiniMac said:
I don't know what the policy is in the U.K., but as long as the phone is under warranty the cable is too (the contract is irrelevant). Sounds like your iPhone 5 is out of warranty.

However, if you bought this cable separately less than a year ago shouldn't it be under Apple's one-year warranty?
Click to expand...

In fact, I may have got that wrong. It came with my iPad Air I bought in December - that's even worse in failed in so short a time period to be frank!
 
cambookpro said:
In fact, I may have got that wrong. It came with my iPad Air I bought in December - that's even worse in failed in so short a time period to be frank!
Click to expand...

Different policy in your country or you got the wrong person? I'd try again and explain you bought it with your iPad Air less than a year ago. I just swapped out a cable for my kid's iPad that she obviously bent way too much and they swapped it out no question asked.
 
I had the same problem ...yellowing and bending and anyone who sees me with my iPhone knows I take care of my stuff. Always grasp the hard plastic to insert or remove cables (except MagSafe)

But the Apple employee did replace mine - after implying the same thing yours did - so maybe you just got an especially mean one
 
Yup my lightning cable has ripped in same spot. But since it's from my launch iPhone 5, can't replace it under warranty. Taped up with electrical tape now.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
Different policy in your country or you got the wrong person? I'd try again and explain you bought it with your iPad Air less than a year ago. I just swapped out a cable for my kid's iPad that she obviously bent way too much and they swapped it out no question asked.
Click to expand...

Double checked, and it should definitely be covered under AppleCare.

g35 said:
I had the same problem ...yellowing and bending and anyone who sees me with my iPhone knows I take care of my stuff. Always grasp the hard plastic to insert or remove cables (except MagSafe)

But the Apple employee did replace mine - after implying the same thing yours did - so maybe you just got an especially mean one
Click to expand...

I'm going to go back on Wednesday - busy tomorrow - and try and find someone else. It's just annoying more than anything, in the past the service I've received has been great. Just not this time :(
 
Went back today - same result.

The person I talked to was a lot more polite, but even then he said I couldn't prove it had never been bent, even after walking over to a Thunderbolt Display and demonstrating how I'd plugged it in for every day since December.

What really annoys me though is it had a kink in at the top when it came with the iPad. I took it in when I was passing the store one day and they said they won't replace it as it's not defective. I told them that day that it'll tear or rip in that spot as it then becomes a weak point. They weren't having any of it.
Fast forward six months, here I am :(

It's not the cable that's the big problem - I have a lot of better things I could spend £15 on, yes - but the way whenever I spoke to someone they just presumed it couldn't be anything else but user negligence.
I pressed and asked that surely a cable should last more than six months, and the person I was talking to claimed 'we're a business, we can't just swap the cables all the time.'

Yeah, you're a business with hundreds of billions in the bank who doesn't value my custom over a cable that costs you pence to make in China. :rolleyes: I'm not saying I'm particularly special - anyone who comes in with an issue as small as this, in my opinion, should get the problem resolved.

Sorry for the long post, I guess I'm just a bit pissed after spending money I've worked hard to earn (and I'm still a student, so I don't earn masses) that it breaks after less than half a year then isn't fixed.

TL;DR: Still have cable. Still a bit miffed.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
Well, the U.K. is certainly different from the typical experience in the U.S.
Click to expand...

I've had great experience with the staff on numerous other occasions, but they just seem like they won't budge on this issue, as the person I talked to said almost exactly the same thing.

Oh well :( I've left feedback on the Apple Retail feedback section, so we'll see if anything comes of that.
 
If that cable has not moved in 6 months I would be worried about the rats that you have!!!!

I can see why they told you to do one tbh that looks like it's been in a food blender
 
Not a huge surprise - they do the same thing at my local store (In NY)

Friend had a cable that completely stripped off the connector when he went to unplug his iphone (exposing bare wires and leaving the connector still plugged in). He's also insanely careful with his electronics - so I know for a fact it wasn't "user-abused" (him and I used to fix computers all the time). His iphone/cable was 3 weeks old (got it shortly after the 5s launch). His previous original iphone/cable was still intact and working fine.

It took the threat of a lawsuit to finally get the manager to budge. It's sad it takes something like that to get support to do the right thing.

It's well documented their new connectors suck... someone is literally going to die from a shock if this keeps up. Instead of fixing it - Apple is too busy blaming 3rd party connectors when their own are just as bad.
 
jeremysteele said:
Friend had a cable that completely stripped off the connector when he went to unplug his iphone (exposing bare wires and leaving the connector still plugged in). He's also insanely careful with his electronics - so I know for a fact it wasn't "user-abused" (him and I used to fix computers all the time).
Click to expand...

If he's that careful, why would he disconnect the cable like my kids do instead of grasping the connector part like most careful people do?
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
If he's that careful, why would he disconnect the cable like my kids do instead of grasping the connector part like most careful people do?
Click to expand...

Thanks for assuming.

He did grab the connector. As soon as he pulled on it the outer plastic came off and the metal part was left in the iphone - meanwhile he was left hanging onto live & bare wires. I've seen him built over 50 computers - the dude is ridiculously careful about dealing with connectors.

And on a side note - the cable was 3 weeks old. I don't care if you grab it from the cable 50 times a day for those 3 weeks - Apple should do the R&D to ensure the cable lasts. There are more complaints about their newer cables breaking than any other major consumer electronics manufacturer.

And as I also said above - his original iphone cable is still in perfect shape.
 
Last edited:
jeremysteele said:
And on a side note - the cable was 3 weeks old. I don't care if you grab it from the cable 50 times a day for those 3 weeks - Apple should do the R&D to ensure the cable lasts. There are more complaints about their newer cables breaking than any other major consumer electronics manufacturer.

And as I also said above - his original iphone cable is still in perfect shape.
Click to expand...

That's Apple's own problem because the cable is under warranty as long as the iPhone is. I agree it's more fragile compared to the old 30 pin connector but that's due to design and they've chosen form over function.

What troubles me though is why some Apple stores don't hesitate to replace them whereas other stores are giving trouble.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
What troubles me though is why some Apple stores don't hesitate to replace them whereas other stores are giving trouble.
Click to expand...

Yep, exactly. Not sure if its bad training, pressure from above, or something else.

I mean... you can't blame them completely - since they have to deal with some asinine people. Still... when a cable cleanly separates and comes apart after 3 weeks you gotta replace that without making the customer look like a criminal.

In the OP's case I can understand it a bit more - since the cable does look chewed. But even then - it is under warranty and it costs them a whole 50 cents to replace.
 
cambookpro said:
Hi

So I went into the Apple Store today to see if they could do anything about my Lightning cable. It seems to have overheated or something as there is lots of discolouration and the wires are exposed on the inside.

I took it to one of the retail staff and they took one look at it and immediately said it was [direct quotes] 'obviously user damage' caused by 'you bending it at the top'. This has been plugged into my display since July last year, and it's never been moved or bent, always stayed straight.

I've had many, many cables in the last 10 years and none of them have done this except this one, so I think it's more likely there was a fault.

It's not the cable I'm too worried about - sure I would like a new one as it's useful not to have to unplug my other one all the time, but it's more the principle. I paid £15 for this cable less than a year ago. If I had an Android phone with micro USB I could've bought 30 cables for that price. To have it a) fail and potentially cause a safety risk and then b) have someone insinuating that it was my fault isn't that great to be honest.

I understand his position - there must be thousands of people who break these things and come in wanting a replacement. It just really sucks that all he could do was take one glance and then say where I can buy a new one (like I'd be buying another one of these from Apple... :rolleyes: ). He seemed to just want to get back to chatting with his mate.

They sell these things with phones on two year contracts, so I expect the cable that's required for it to work to last that long too. It's just a shame that the person in the Apple Store showed so much disinterest and didn't even listen to me when I tried to explain what'd happened. I've attached a picture of the cable below.

FzjAzP9.jpg
Click to expand...

Talk to another Apple store employee lol. They are able to switch it out for free. I got a magic mouse replaced 3 years after buying the iMac.
 
I contacted Apple Support online and they said that as a one-off they'd send a replacement without me needing to return the old one, which is a nice gesture.

However, that was two and a half hours ago and they said they'd send a confirmation e-mail, but received nothing yet.
 
Just received my confirmation email, Apple are sending a new cable and the old one doesn't need to be returned.

Ah well, all's well that ends well. It's a shame the retail staff couldn't sort it, but I have to say the staff on the online chat were very polite and sorted the issue fairly quickly.
 
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