Unbelievable Poor Apple after care!

[The-Real-Deal82]

Some stores in more seedy parts of towns are less forgiving than ones in more upscale places.

The Apple Store in St Davids 2 in Cardiff is main store in the capital. I'm yet to have a problem with them, but it could be the person the OP got that made a mistake etc. It may be flagged on their system now too in case the device is taken elsewhere.

https://www.apple.com/uk/retail/stdavids2/

 

[nostresshere]

You have to consider all possibilities with an open mind, three possibilities:

1.apple refurb had a non-oem screen,
2. daughter might have had it replaced.
3. Apple genius made a mistake.

When one takes all these possibilities into play, you realize how difficult this is. I am sure Apple gets lots of damaged phones that are "repaired" but then need more repair.

Not saying Applie is right, or wrong. Just that it is not clear cut.

 

[Serelus]

When one takes all these possibilities into play, you realize how difficult this is. I am sure Apple gets lots of damaged phones that are "repaired" but then need more repair.

Not saying Applie is right, or wrong. Just that it is not clear cut.

Jup was thinking the same thing. People probably swap third party screens all the time, and then their "daughter" couldn't have done so. They probably think you're trying to get a genuine screen out of them. Because if they swap it obviously they will end up with the part that's useless to them.

You find it bad customer service, and they think you're trying to scam them out of a new screen.

 

[titans1127]

As a former Sprint Retail tech, I came across this issue more times than you would think. It usually involved Asurion (Insurance provider for the major American carriers) refurbs. From what I knew, Asurion got their supply of phones from either 14 day returns along with phones that we bought back. So it is entirely possible that a customer breaks their screen and replaces it at a kiosk with the same color screen, the phone gets sold back to Sprint and it eventually winds up in Asurions hands for refurbishment. That phone now winds up in the customer's hands again when they file an insurance claim.

Customer then has issue with phone and takes it to Apple. Apple says sorry but the phone has non-OEM parts and we can't service it, take it to Sprint. We then get stuck replacing the phone because we aren't allowed to open up iPhones to verify any internal damage aside from the liquid indicators.

I highly doubt the OP's daughter broke the screen and got it fixed. It sounds like an uninformed genius who just wanted to get rid of the customer. It's odd to think that a phone from Apple could have non-OEM parts but just like brand new phones that are DOA out of the box, a few can always slip through the cracks.

 

[nostresshere]

It's idiotic they wouldn't provide proof of their claim when asked.

In my line of work I take detailed pictures that way it's documented and I don't have to do anymore work to provide evidence if asked.

You'd think a company the size of Apple would do the same. There are thousands of cameras in an Apple store. Lol

This assumes the picture would prove anything.

A "fake" screen probably looks just like a good screen until you look VERY close.

 

[GeniusAdvisor]

Ok so It sounds like youve given the person a bit of grief asking about your consumer rights and all that jazz.

Someone mentioned before that they have 2 years warranty or something with apple products which again isn't true.

If the device is purchased from Apple (THIS IS KEY) Then you could potentially be covered by EU Consumer Law, however if the device has been opened or tampered with then EU CL won't apply.

Also, you were complaining about them trying to replace the vibrate. Why? It was a quick repair. 30 minutes is NO TIME... To be honest you're coming across like a bit of a moan. If they can replace the vibrate (its two screws), then why should they replace the whole phone (£500+) for a part they can replace (a few pence) - It doesn't quite make sense from the companies point of view... Phones are becoming more repairable, so your going to see fewer replacements required.

To be honest, when a phone is opened, its EXTREMELY easy and quick to notice which screens are fake and which are real. Fake ones have plenty of finger prints missing on the inside, they have stamps and stickers where they shouldn't, they don't have QR codes where there should be QR codes... If they say its fake... Then Id take their word for it its fake... Giving the person grief isn't in your best interests.... If I was in your shoes, Id be going home, sitting down with the owner of the phone and asking them when they had the screen replaced and why.

Just my two cents worth

 

[charlituna]

We are covered for 24 months on iPhone's should they experience hardware faults through normal use just for your information.

You might want to check that. Because most of the trading standards laws are about issues that existed or are presumed to have existed at the time of sale. And the cut off is often six months for the assumption that the issue was there when delivered. After six months you would have to be able to prove the issue was always there and frankly unless you went into an Apple store with a complaint about it during that six months you might have a lot of trouble convincing a court. And that whole trading standards thing might only apply to the original phone that had the home button issue. That is the one that you bought that had a failure within six months and could be presumed to have been defective when delivered. And it was remedied by the full unit replacement. Because you didn't buy the replacement, Trading Standards might not apply.

I'd be sure about that before you start tossing 'the law' around. You might find yourself getting schooled about your error if you are wrong. Or told to have your lawyer contact theirs and until then, you aren't getting jack.

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Yes it made no difference as soon as the manager came out he was determined to get rid of me. You could tell it in his tone it was like he was reading off a script with every sentence he said to me.

Lets see what the guys in Apple care from Austin Texas, who I spoke to, come back with today.

According to my BF who is an Apple Genius and has access to a number of systems, the phone techs are under instruction to back up what the stores say. Why? Because the stores see the actual devices. Also phone support isn't superior to in store. So they can't order a store to do jack or get involved with legal issues like the Trading Standards. At most they might be able to arrange for you to send them the phone and have it inspected by an engineer but if they find the same as the store did then they will ship it back to you, possibly at your cost for said shipping and potentially bar it systematically for hardware service etc.

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"They replaced my device, but it wasn't from a brand new box, so I told them I wasn't happy."

"They said they could fix it, but it would take 30 minutes, so I told them I wasn't happy."

Both if which are agreed to when you sign the terms of service. And even in the oft referenced Trading Standards the retailer has the right to repair or replace (and they are the ones given the power to decide when not the consumer). So really Apple has done nothing wrong in either case.

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Your daughter broke it and panicked and got it fixed without telling you? Could be the case.

my first thought was that she misplaced it, perhaps at a friends, and it was broken and fixed before it happened to come back to her. I was always living stuff at my friends by accident, sometimes for a whole weekend. And I didn't want my parents to find out that I misplaced it so I didn't say anything right off. Especially if my friend confirmed it was with them.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

You might want to check that. Because most of the trading standards laws are about issues that existed or are presumed to have existed at the time of sale. And the cut off is often six months for the assumption that the issue was there when delivered. After six months you would have to be able to prove the issue was always there and frankly unless you went into an Apple store with a complaint about it during that six months you might have a lot of trouble convincing a court. And that whole trading standards thing might only apply to the original phone that had the home button issue. That is the one that you bought that had a failure within six months and could be presumed to have been defective when delivered. And it was remedied by the full unit replacement. Because you didn't buy the replacement, Trading Standards might not apply.

I'd be sure about that before you start tossing 'the law' around. You might find yourself getting schooled about your error if you are wrong. Or told to have your lawyer contact theirs and until then, you aren't getting jack.

I wasn't 'tossing the law around' but just commenting from personal experience, sorry but that sounds a little dismissive and abrupt from yourself. My wife had a home button issue on an iPhone 4 and this came about after 15 months of owning the device. She stated that 15 months was an unreasonable amount of time to expect the device to last, to which the staff in St David's 2 Apple store had to agree. The home button issue is also a known common fault for this particular model of iPhone. She suggested it was a known design flaw and under the sale of goods act the device had not been fit as the button had continued to deteriorate over a 6 month period. It didn't take much discussion and Apple accepted fault and replaced the device. They usually only honour a warranty for 12 months as we well know. I had a Samsung television replaced in 2011, 5 years after I purchased it after it failed in similar circumstances and my statutory rights were not affected.

I know under EU warranty law you have to prove the fault existed in the first 6 months, but in my wife's case they believed her thankfully and it depends who you deal with. In future it might be worth covering yourself by reporting faults in the first 6 months even if a solution is not sort at that time. I know Apple have been in hot water here in the EU for attempting to push US laws to consumers rather than following the guidelines of the region they are in. They were forced a couple of years back to provide these guidelines on their website in a statement.

https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

If you are paying £600+ for an electronic device, you at least expect it to last for the duration of your contract and I believe if you are polite and honest when reporting such issues, you should get the service you deserve. I am yet to be 'schooled' but you never know.

PS: My name isn't Jack

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Finally my last input for this thread before I unsubscribe, I will say to the OP:
If you are totally convinced your daughter has not had the screen replaced without your knowledge and this is a device that slipped through Apple's strict QC procedures, then you might want to consider the small claims court should you not get a solution from Apple. The decision will be taken away from both yourself and Apple however and a judge will decide on the outcome. Apple may be asked to repair the phone, replace it, or you will be told you don't have a case. Good luck

 

[Cymru2014]

Finally my last input for this thread before I unsubscribe, I will say to the OP:
If you are totally convinced your daughter has not had the screen replaced without your knowledge and this is a device that slipped through Apple's strict QC procedures, then you might want to consider the small claims court should you not get a solution from Apple. The decision will be taken away from both yourself and Apple however and a judge will decide on the outcome. Apple may be asked to repair the phone, replace it, or you will be told you don't have a case. Good luck

Thanks sound advice there. I have thought about small claims its only a small cost but to get a satisfactory outcome it might be worth it.

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You find it bad customer service, and they think you're trying to scam them out of a new screen.

This was why I remained calm and polite with them. I understood it from their perspective thats why I asked for evidence. What narked me was the fact they wouldnt attempt to show me proof.

They didnt call me yesterday which hasnt surprised me one bit. Although they did email me a survey to ask how their service was in dealing with my issue hahahaha

 

[GeniusAdvisor]

Thanks sound advice there. I have thought about small claims its only a small cost but to get a satisfactory outcome it might be worth it.

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This was why I remained calm and polite with them. I understood it from their perspective thats why I asked for evidence. What narked me was the fact they wouldnt attempt to show me proof.

They didnt call me yesterday which hasnt surprised me one bit. Although they did email me a survey to ask how their service was in dealing with my issue hahahaha

Evidence? Why would you doubt them? They have no reason to want to lie to you. Their goal is to repair the relationship between yourself and them as a company. They will bend rules as best they can. There is nothing stopping you from opening the phone yourself, posting up pictures here and I will tell you if its a fake screen or not.

 

[Azzin]

Thanks sound advice there. I have thought about small claims its only a small cost but to get a satisfactory outcome it might be worth it.

The problem is how do you go about proving that the screen hasn't been replaced?

I don't think you can, but if the store employee is right, then it's easy for them to prove it's not a genuine screen.

This was why I remained calm and polite with them. I understood it from their perspective thats why I asked for evidence. What narked me was the fact they wouldnt attempt to show me proof.

This will certainly go in your favour IMO, as you can simply claim any non genuine screen they put forward as "Exhibit A" could have been added after your visit.

They didnt call me yesterday which hasnt surprised me one bit. Although they did email me a survey to ask how their service was in dealing with my issue hahahaha

Again, this goes in your favour, but please, please make 100% sure that the screen has never, ever been replaced-not necessarily by your daughter, but by ANYONE.

She may not have done it and will not be lying when she says that she didn't, but she just may know of how a non genuine screen came to be...

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Evidence? Why would you doubt them? They have no reason to want to lie to you. Their goal is to repair the relationship between yourself and them as a company. They will bend rules as best they can. There is nothing stopping you from opening the phone yourself, posting up pictures here and I will tell you if its a fake screen or not.

So why not simply show the customer the non genuine screen?

 

[GeniusAdvisor]

So why not simply show the customer the non genuine screen?

Opened iPhones are not supposed to be taken out onto the shop floor. You are supposed to be grounded every time you inspect a phone - you have enough static electricity to damage components inside the device. I would assume thats why they can't show.

 

[Azzin]

Opened iPhones are not supposed to be taken out onto the shop floor. You are supposed to be grounded every time you inspect a phone - you have enough static electricity to damage components inside the device. I would assume thats why they can't show.

Ok, then why not take the customer to see the (alleged) 3rd party screen?

Refusing to show evidence of something in general says there's no evidence.

In law, no evidence of 3rd party screen=no 3rd party screen.

 

[Cymru2014]

Another reason I can say that the phone has never had a screen replacement is when I got the original refurbed phone earlier in the year I immediately put a screen protector on it. The very same dust speck air bubbles are on the phone now as they were back in the year.

As most of you know when applying a screen protector these bubbles are a nuisance to get rid of. You spend quite a bit of time trying to gently push them out and in doing so you get to know where they are on the phone. The very same air bubbles are on there.

To a Apple guy this means nothing but it strengthens my intentions to take this further. There is no way in the world anyone can replace the screen without my knowledge and then also make the air bubbles exactly in the same place.

To all of you thinking my daughter got this replaced herself somehow this will not ever happen. She is so "in love" with her phone she didn't even want me to take it to have the vibrate done because she thought she would lose everything on the phone if it was replaced ( I did it explain the backup process) or it would be away for a while if repaired. Mistakenly I told her it would be swapped if a hardware fault, based on the previous experience with the home button.

 

[localboy28]

If that's the case then is go back to the apple store ASAP and demand to be shown the evidence that its a dodgy screen.

Maybe try a different store?

 

[Cymru2014]

If that's the case then is go back to the apple store ASAP and demand to be shown the evidence that its a dodgy screen.

Maybe try a different store?

I did ask that on the day. I was denied that request. The apple care guy did say in the notes he saw there was reference to a picture attachment but there was nothing attached to the case.

 

[UKapple]

If they are accusing you if having non genuine apple components on your phone and this is the reason for them declining a repair then you have a right to see the suspect part, that's the bottom line, no ifs or buts. It's poor customer service to avoid doing so and just as they are alleging you've possibly been modifying the phone yourself and lying, what's to say they are not lying to you?

I wouldn't accept this at all if I were in the right.

 

[Defender2010]

Apples customer service has really went downhill this last couple of years. Rude managers, staff who are not tech minded, excuses. Pursue it until you get the desired result.

 

[cynics]

This assumes the picture would prove anything.



A "fake" screen probably looks just like a good screen until you look VERY close.

Then take a very close picture. If the techs eyes can see it then a camera can see. I do it all the time.

Only issue they may have is being unable to convey the differences to the customer (untrained eye). Regardless they would still have the technical evidence instead denying providing any proof of their claims.

 

[PNutts]

Ok, then why not take the customer to see the (alleged) 3rd party screen?

Refusing to show evidence of something in general says there's no evidence.

In law, no evidence of 3rd party screen=no 3rd party screen.

You should probably leave the law to the lawyers. He has the "evidence", it's the phone in his hands.

OP I'd take the phone to one of those third party screen repair joints, have them take the screen off, and you document every molecule of it with some good old-fashioned high-end macro photography. If the screen is non-genuine, they may be able to give you some insight on where it came from. If they tell you it's genuine it gives you leverage.

Also, if there is lint / hair / debris stuck to the screen protector and it's moved to a different phone the bubbles will be in the same places.

And who knows? Maybe someone swapped their fake screen in the back room with yours after you complained about their service. Twice. Too bad you destroyed your relationship with the Manager. I would have sat down with him and asked if he thought determinations of non-genuine screens were higher at his store than average, or if the Genius that looked at your phone have a higher rate of rejects, etc.

Something else you can do is go to a different store, put on a smiley face instead of the one you've used so far, and try to get them to open the phone and show you the parts. But I don't think your personality is suited towards making people want to help you. Is there a wife or someone else who can give that a try?

Personally I think the phone was fine when you got it and omething fishy happed while it was in your daughter's possession or at the Apple store when you took it in for repairs. But what do I know? You may have received a non-genuine screen in a white box. I once bought a box of batteries and they were dead so I returned them. I got a call from the store manager who read me the riot act about swapping the batteries and returning them as new. Later I got a call and he apologized to me because he had many more dead returned batteries on the shelf than the ones I returned. But even as he accused me of fraud I was calm and polite and he felt the need to call back when he discovered the problem was his. Maybe it was because I didn't demand he tell me my consumer rights?

 

[localboy28]

Open it up and take a few pics
I'm sure somebody here would be able to tell you if the screen is genuine or not.

 

[I7guy]

Open it up and take a few pics
I'm sure somebody here would be able to tell you if the screen is genuine or not.

If it's opened up and the innards get broken, ops chances of ever fixing the issue will go down to zero.

 

[localboy28]

Ok.
Open it up if you are confident enough with messing around with phones.
If not ignore my post lol

 

[Brian Y]

Could you post a close up photo of the top area of the screen where the receiver and front facing camera are, the home button and the top edge where the screen meets the casing? Then we can help look at it without you having to open the phone.

Ultimately, they won't bring an open phone onto the shop floor - they're not allowed to do that. They will most likely have taken photos and logged it as modified.

Not directed at the op, fyi - As for "evidence". You aren't entitled to "evidence". In fact, in the UK, since the phone is > 6 months old, Apple don't have to provide any evidence even if it goes to court. After 6 months, it's down to you to prove that the phone was inherently faulty, not the other way around.