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so.. my birthday was yesterday and my iPhone was water damaged..

gdeputy

gdeputy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
839
86
New York
Guess I'll entertain you guys with the story.

I went out last night as wayne and garth with a buddy, it was awesome until the end of the night.

We stopped by a local joint in Buffalo (Jim's Steak Out) and I enjoyed my delicious sub. As we left two of my friends got into a 'fight' i guess and one of them had previously had my phone to make a call.. They were sort of wrestling around and one of the idiots knocked over a drink and it drenched my iPhone 3G. (it was inside the car)

Now I have a useless phone (that is in a box of rice.. no sim card ).

I don't have high hopes because although it wasn't SUBMERGED it was wet for sure and kept flickering the apple logo.

It stayed on for 20-30 minutes because i couldn't turn it off and finally i got it off and haven't turned it on since. I'm pretty sure it will be dead though.

Now that you know my story, the important question I need to ask is:

DOES ANYONE WITH EXPERIENCE know what I will be charged for a new iPhone? I've seen rumors that I might be able to sign a new contract and get the same pricing? I saw on another forum someone was able to do this..

If anyones replaced their iPhone 3G yet let me know the pricing!

Also, although one of the guys involved offered to help cover the phone we are all students and he doesn't have 4-500 dollars to just hand over, it would be like 50-100 dollars here or there.

I'm so sad my iPhone is dead especially because I don't really have that kind of money to replace it, but I'm going to have to. I would be alot less upset if I had broken it and not 2 morons, but as it stands i'm sour.
 
I think the cost is 499 for the phone now. sorry but there is no way around that. te warranty doesnt cover damage that is your fault. I wold make the friend pay for it.
 
As previously mentioned, pay the prorated ETF to cancel your contract. Sign up for a new contract, and it'll be ~$300 (200 for iphone 100 for ETF).
 
Sorry about that. But like others have said, you are probably going to be out a couple hundred dollars. Hopefully your friends will feel some remorse and chip in. If not, that certainly tells you something about them.
 
Since there is no way warranty is going to cover it why don't you try poping it open and cleaning it out? Really the only part of the phone that might "fry" would be the motherboard. The rest of it should only need a good cleaning.
 
You know even bonked like it is, you might be able to recoup a good portion of cash to buy a new one if you sell it on eBay. Maybe your friends could drop a few dollars in the buy you a new phone fund and then you might want to think about an OtterBox if you are going to your friends borrow the new one.
 
You shouldve told them to stop fighting for one second and then get your phone and then let them continue. Retail price is very expensive. I'm always careful who I let see my iPhone.

Have you tried googling what to do if you wet your iPhone so you can get all the drink and moisture out?
 
It's for situations exactly like this that I always take a crappy little Nokia with me when I go out on the drink. Saves the hassle of waking up the next day with a water damaged phone, smashed screen, etc.

Water damage is pretty much unrepairable, and if a repairer is willing to give it a go, the costs to fix it will probably outweigh buying a new one, or cancelling your account and signing a new one.
 
I've seen a lot of stories about people who were able to salvage their iPhones after getting them wet. You should try google and see if you can find anything that helps before buying a new one.

Was it just water?
 
motoracer1486 said:
As previously mentioned, pay the prorated ETF to cancel your contract. Sign up for a new contract, and it'll be ~$300 (200 for iphone 100 for ETF).
Click to expand...

are you sure you can just cancel, pay the etf and sign up again. I thought you had to wait 90 days or so, if not it will just reopen your closed account.
 
Tell your 2 friends they can split the cost of your new iphone. But
they do have adhesive patches on the inside that will confirm liquid
contact. You will have to pay the $499 or $599 for a new one depending
on whether its a 8 or 16 GB.
 
why dont you go to the apple store and see what they say too. maybe they'll feel bad for you and make you pay like 199 for another one. i think someone in another thread said that happened to them.
 
yeah.. I'm going to let it dry out for a few days and if it doesn't work I'll ebay it. Seems like people are getting 100+ for water damaged phones.

Still sucks pretty bad and your right that I should have had a diff phone or something.

It's just too bad
 
Hi, noob here. My wife put her iPod nano through the wash and it still works perfectly. I know an iPhone is a little more sophisticated than that, but don't lose all hope yet.
 
First, I agree with the other posts here regarding your letting your friend hold your iPhone. I'm not trying to be cute or funny...I actually am being sincere. Clearly, if you are out late and partying (drinking) and you hand your friend your iPhone to hang on to you are asking for trouble. Just the fact that you did this without any concern for the safety of this delicate and expensive device tells me you deserve to have to pay for a replacement...whatever that may be. Again, this is not meant to be harsh or critical but actions have consequences. If you value something you take care of it. Rice may help to partially restore the functionality of the phone but it is unlikely to fully recover.
 
rotobadger said:
First, I agree with the other posts here regarding your letting your friend hold your iPhone. I'm not trying to be cute or funny...I actually am being sincere. Clearly, if you are out late and partying (drinking) and you hand your friend your iPhone to hang on to you are asking for trouble. Just the fact that you did this without any concern for the safety of this delicate and expensive device tells me you deserve to have to pay for a replacement...whatever that may be. Again, this is not meant to be harsh or critical but actions have consequences. If you value something you take care of it. Rice may help to partially restore the functionality of the phone but it is unlikely to fully recover.
Click to expand...

How do you know I had no 'concern for safety of this delicate and expensive device'?

My iPhone looks like the day it came out of the box, not a single scratch never been dropped always been inside a case with a BodyGuardz as well.

Save me the no concern bs. Obviously I told my friend to be careful, how the hell did I know someone was going to get attacked and a drink would be spilt all over my phone ?

I never in this thread asked for sympathy, but you don't have to be an arrogant ass either.
 
gdeputy said:
I never in this thread asked for sympathy, but you don't have to be an arrogant ass either.
Click to expand...

I don't know if you were looking for sympathy or comments on how wacky your story was but it is clear you were looking for a reaction. If your only concern was what the cost of a replacement would be you would not have told the story. You would have simply said that your phone got wet, no longer works and you need to have it replaced. If we are to believe that your only interest in posting was to get advice on a replacement, your story as to why you need a replacement is completely irrelevant.

And I did not insult you with name calling...I'd appreciate you offering me the same courtesy.

So, in short, if you don't want comments on your "story", don't post it.
 
rotobadger said:
I don't know if you were looking for sympathy or comments on how wacky your story was but it is clear you were looking for a reaction. If your only concern was what the cost of a replacement would be you would not have told the story. You would have simply said that your phone got wet, no longer works and you need to have it replaced. If we are to believe that your only interest in posting was to get advice on a replacement, your story as to why you need a replacement is completely irrelevant.

And I did not insult you with name calling...I'd appreciate you offering me the same courtesy.

So, in short, if you don't want comments on your "story", don't post it.
Click to expand...

In contrast, if you're going to be a dick about it, don't reply.
 
That sucks man:(, one rule I swear by NO ONE touches my I phone. I learned the hard way with the 2G. I think your best route is ETF and start from scratch(like others mentioned). Your first bill is gonna suck but Att will work out payment arrangements and at least you don't have to fork out 5 bones for a new one on the spot. Good Luck and hopefully your buddies help you out and chalk it up as a lesson learned. Take Care.
 
what, are your friends penniless hippies? tell 'em to man up and help out on the cost of a new phone.
 
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