Best way to get an iphone battery replaced under warranty

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › Best way to get an iphone battery replaced under warranty

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#248640 3-Apr-2019 17:57

I have an iphone that is about 11 months old. The battery has degraded significantly recently compared to how it was initially, and it has already self activated the peak performance capability to slow it down after it crashed when being used at abut 20% battery.

It also regularly dies when at around 10%, and the percentage can drop from 60% to 30% with just 10 minutes of use. The maximum capacity of the battery is 87% , but if it gets to 80%, it is considered by apple as worn out by apple and needs replacing.

I contacted the retailer about getting it fixed (battery replacing) under warranty, and they said I would need to bring it into the store and they would see what they can do. But guessing that means they would then send it off to be looked at and have the battery replaced, which could be a good amount of time away, and I now live about 1.5 hours from the retailer so don't want to have to make two separate special trips.

Although I had heard that I could take it into one of the Wellington service agents to get the battery swapped out in a single trip and it could be done in a few hours, but I would need to pay for that.

Has anyone else been in this situation getting the battery replaced under warranty? What was the best way to do it, through the retailer, or via Apples offshore support line? NZ really needs to get some apple stores, as I believe in the US we can just go in and get the phone looked at and the battery swapped out instore, and considering we pay a premium in NZ, we don't seem to get that level of after-sales service here.

JPNZ

1542 posts

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#2210412 3-Apr-2019 22:30

I had a similar issue with a 6S from Vodafone, they WTY it for 2 years even though apple is just one year. I took it into Vodafone and they replaced the battery free of charge. Took about 4 days and I got a loan phone.

This was about 3-4 years ago though

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MadEngineer

4271 posts

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#2210424 3-Apr-2019 23:06

Ring Apple. Very simple.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

WolfChop

152 posts

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#2210427 3-Apr-2019 23:27

I purchased my iPhone 6S Plus from JBHifi. I wanted to get the battery replaced (it was about at 86% health, but was draining battery faster than I'm used to). So instead of bringing it into JBHifi, I went onto the official Apple website and went through the support page to set up a battery replacement appointment (no need to call anybody, its all done online). It was at Fonefix near Sylvia Park, Auckland - an Apple Authorised Service Provider. Booked a time, showed up with my phone, handed it over after some paperwork. Was advised that the repair might take at most, a week if they didn't have a fresh battery in stock.

Received a call two days later telling me my phone has been repaired. I went to go pick it up and was surprised to find that the repair was completely free. Turns out that we get two year warranty in NZ for iPhones, not one year like advertised on Apple. I think because of the Consumer Guarantees Act, we're given two years. I asked the guy specifically why I didn't have to pay for the repair and he confirmed the two year warranty for sure.

Now, since your phone is only 11 months old and with a battery in much worse condition in mine, I'm almost positive that you'll get a free battery replacement if you book through Apple support. Hopefully there should be some Apple Authorized Service Providers down there in Wellington for you to book.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#2210436 4-Apr-2019 00:19

MadEngineer: Ring Apple. Very simple.

I have been through that before a few years ago with a family members phone where I phoned apple for them. I ended up wasting over an hour on the phone to an overseas call centre, as I was shifted between different staff members. They got someone who remotely accessed the phone to check things and said they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary and I should give it another week to see how it went. I emailed them back after a week after things hadn't improved and the email got ignored, despite followups. In the end the family member took it to the retailer who sent it off to the repair agent and think they were without it for over a week. So I don't really want to waste hours with apple on the phone, and would prefer to either deal with the retailer or the NZ service agents. But I would need to get some sort of authorization from apple in order to get it done under warranty.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#2210438 4-Apr-2019 00:29

WolfChop:

I purchased my iPhone 6S Plus from JBHifi. I wanted to get the battery replaced (it was about at 86% health, but was draining battery faster than I'm used to). So instead of bringing it into JBHifi, I went onto the official Apple website and went through the support page to set up a battery replacement appointment (no need to call anybody, its all done online). It was at Fonefix near Sylvia Park, Auckland - an Apple Authorised Service Provider. Booked a time, showed up with my phone, handed it over after some paperwork. Was advised that the repair might take at most, a week if they didn't have a fresh battery in stock.

Received a call two days later telling me my phone has been repaired. I went to go pick it up and was surprised to find that the repair was completely free. Turns out that we get two year warranty in NZ for iPhones, not one year like advertised on Apple. I think because of the Consumer Guarantees Act, we're given two years. I asked the guy specifically why I didn't have to pay for the repair and he confirmed the two year warranty for sure.

Now, since your phone is only 11 months old and with a battery in much worse condition in mine, I'm almost positive that you'll get a free battery replacement if you book through Apple support. Hopefully there should be some Apple Authorized Service Providers down there in Wellington for you to book.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

Thanks, that is very useful info. I think up till the end of last year they were also doing heavily discounted battery repairs on iphones due to this slowdown problem. I had seen that page a few days ago on the official apple website, and actually accidentally booked a time at a local agent. But I cancelled it because I thought I would need some sort of authorization first in order for it to be covered by the warranty, and that step wasn't part of the process. I don't want to take it in and then they tell me it is going to be $150 to do the repair and install a new battery. I may contact the repair agent directly, or may ask the retailer to, so they can then just do a straight battery swap, hopefully within a few hours, as I think some do them that quickly. I don't think Apple realize how much of a hassle it is for customters when they seal in the battery into the device, and it needs a repair to replace what is normally a user replaceable consumable in a phone. Although they do have Apple stores in the US which make battery replacement less of a hassle.

MadEngineer

4271 posts

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Trusted

#2210445 4-Apr-2019 01:26

mattwnz:

MadEngineer: Ring Apple. Very simple.

I have been through that before a few years ago with a family members phone where I phoned apple for them. I ended up wasting over an hour on the phone to an overseas call centre, as I was shifted between different staff members. They got someone who remotely accessed the phone to check things and said they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary and I should give it another week to see how it went. I emailed them back after a week after things hadn't improved and the email got ignored, despite followups. In the end the family member took it to the retailer who sent it off to the repair agent and think they were without it for over a week. So I don't really want to waste hours with apple on the phone, and would prefer to either deal with the retailer or the NZ service agents. But I would need to get some sort of authorization from apple in order to get it done under warranty.

i've been contacting apple support for lots of devices for work since the first 3g iphone. have never had problems with them. have never spent hours and has always been minutes.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

lxsw20

3552 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2210450 4-Apr-2019 04:08

MadEngineer: Ring Apple. Very simple.

With your previous dealings or not, to get the ball rolling, this is going to be the fastest way.

mattwnz: NZ really needs to get some apple stores, as I believe in the US we can just go in and get the phone looked at and the battery swapped out instore, and considering we pay a premium in NZ, we don't seem to get that level of after-sales service here.

You can't just go into an Apple Store. You have to make an appointment, which in my experience in the UK will take a week or more. Then they want to the phone for 4 hours or so, maybe overnight. Some laptop repairs have taken a couple of weeks for us, even on a business account.

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MadEngineer

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#2210653 4-Apr-2019 11:45

These guys are close enough to an Apple store: https://www.dtsl.co.nz/ and will provide an authorised service. Can recommend.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#2210846 4-Apr-2019 16:47

MadEngineer:

mattwnz:

MadEngineer: Ring Apple. Very simple.

I have been through that before a few years ago with a family members phone where I phoned apple for them. I ended up wasting over an hour on the phone to an overseas call centre, as I was shifted between different staff members. They got someone who remotely accessed the phone to check things and said they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary and I should give it another week to see how it went. I emailed them back after a week after things hadn't improved and the email got ignored, despite followups. In the end the family member took it to the retailer who sent it off to the repair agent and think they were without it for over a week. So I don't really want to waste hours with apple on the phone, and would prefer to either deal with the retailer or the NZ service agents. But I would need to get some sort of authorization from apple in order to get it done under warranty.

i've been contacting apple support for lots of devices for work since the first 3g iphone. have never had problems with them. have never spent hours and has always been minutes.

I contacted the retailer, and they told me to contact Apple support, which I did. I spent 1.5 hours with them today going through with them the problem, and while they did diagnostics on it. Pretty much the same painful experience I had the first time I did it for someone else, They said they couldn't find any hardware problem with the battery, so they wouldn't approve me taking it to a local apple service agent to get the battery replaced, which is exactly the same result as last time. So if I took it into a local apple agent, they wouldn't cover the cost of it's battery replacement under warranty. This is despite the fact that they had slowed the phone down due to the battery not being able to deliver enough power, causing an unexpected shutdown. Also despite the depleted amount of time the battery lasts for, and it only has 7% before the battery must be replaced (when it reaches 80% capacity), which is probably in 6 months time, when the phone will be out of warranty. Although some people on here said Apple provide 24 months warranty in NZ, in iOS 12.2 the iphone now has a section in the settings that shows the warranty end date, and it is only stated to be 12 months. So frustrating.

However eventually after stating to them the facts above, they agreed to a repair to replace the battery . They would send me a courier pack from TNT so I could sent it back to them, but I could be without it for up to 3 weeks while it is being repaired, and they wouldn't provide a loan phone. I think is a long time for something as simple as a battery replacement, but it appears that Apple will do this repair themselves overseas, rather than use one of their local agent, so a lot of that time is in transit . So I am going back to the retailer to see if they can get it done locally, so I am not without it for up to 3 weeks. Not a great experience for what is supposed to be a consumable part. Really tempted to only buy phones that have user replaceable batteries, but I am locked into the apple eco system at the moment.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#2210849 4-Apr-2019 16:54

lxsw20:

You can't just go into an Apple Store. You have to make an appointment, which in my experience in the UK will take a week or more. Then they want to the phone for 4 hours or so, maybe overnight. Some laptop repairs have taken a couple of weeks for us, even on a business account.

I understand that, but that is still a lot better than the NZ experience. Although I could book an appointment with one of their NZ service agents to replace the battery, they wouldn't have covered the cost under the warranty, as I understand that only apple can approve whether they will cover the cost under warranty or not. In this case they need to carry out the repair themselves, rather than via a third party, where I have to send it back to them, which I am guessing is the equivalent of sending it to an Apple store. The amount of time would depend on the repair work needed and parts. But a battery replacement is just the replacement of a consumable part, so parts should be readily available and it should be a quick job to do.

littleheaven

2130 posts

Uber Geek

#2218159 16-Apr-2019 13:55

Doesn't the CGA apply in this instance? Was it a new product purchased less than a year ago from a normal retailer? If so, 11 months is not what I would consider to be "last for a reasonable time". My understanding is that the retailer is required under the CGA to manage the repair/refund for you. Telling you to go to the manufacturer is avoiding their obligations under the CGA and misleading you about your consumer rights, which is a breach of the Fair Trading Act. Unfortunately they are not obliged to provide you with an alternate device while it's being fixed.

My iPhone 6S was part of the faulty battery recall from Apple and I got it replaced via an authorised retailer free of charge last year. The replacement battery is already dropping huge amounts of charge so goodness knows what they put in there.

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MadEngineer

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#2218206 16-Apr-2019 14:20

Yes, retailer may be able to look after this but with Apple products it’s just so much simpler to go direct yourself rather than have the retailer play piggy in the middle.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

CYaBro

4582 posts

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#2218211 16-Apr-2019 14:28

mattwnz:

MadEngineer:

mattwnz:

MadEngineer: Ring Apple. Very simple.

I have been through that before a few years ago with a family members phone where I phoned apple for them. I ended up wasting over an hour on the phone to an overseas call centre, as I was shifted between different staff members. They got someone who remotely accessed the phone to check things and said they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary and I should give it another week to see how it went. I emailed them back after a week after things hadn't improved and the email got ignored, despite followups. In the end the family member took it to the retailer who sent it off to the repair agent and think they were without it for over a week. So I don't really want to waste hours with apple on the phone, and would prefer to either deal with the retailer or the NZ service agents. But I would need to get some sort of authorization from apple in order to get it done under warranty.

i've been contacting apple support for lots of devices for work since the first 3g iphone. have never had problems with them. have never spent hours and has always been minutes.

I contacted the retailer, and they told me to contact Apple support, which I did. I spent 1.5 hours with them today going through with them the problem, and while they did diagnostics on it. Pretty much the same painful experience I had the first time I did it for someone else, They said they couldn't find any hardware problem with the battery, so they wouldn't approve me taking it to a local apple service agent to get the battery replaced, which is exactly the same result as last time. So if I took it into a local apple agent, they wouldn't cover the cost of it's battery replacement under warranty. This is despite the fact that they had slowed the phone down due to the battery not being able to deliver enough power, causing an unexpected shutdown. Also despite the depleted amount of time the battery lasts for, and it only has 7% before the battery must be replaced (when it reaches 80% capacity), which is probably in 6 months time, when the phone will be out of warranty. Although some people on here said Apple provide 24 months warranty in NZ, in iOS 12.2 the iphone now has a section in the settings that shows the warranty end date, and it is only stated to be 12 months. So frustrating.

However eventually after stating to them the facts above, they agreed to a repair to replace the battery . They would send me a courier pack from TNT so I could sent it back to them, but I could be without it for up to 3 weeks while it is being repaired, and they wouldn't provide a loan phone. I think is a long time for something as simple as a battery replacement, but it appears that Apple will do this repair themselves overseas, rather than use one of their local agent, so a lot of that time is in transit . So I am going back to the retailer to see if they can get it done locally, so I am not without it for up to 3 weeks. Not a great experience for what is supposed to be a consumable part. Really tempted to only buy phones that have user replaceable batteries, but I am locked into the apple eco system at the moment.

There is an Apple repair centre in Auckland where a lot of iPhone repairs are done, when they can't be done at an Apple Authorised Service Provider, or if you deal with Apple directly.
EG: Display replacements (Although that is changing), iPhones that won't power on, charging port issues etc
Also if an AASP attempts to do a battery replacement and the adhesive tabs break they have to stop the repair and send it to the repair centre. THey're not allowed to pry the battery out for safety reasons.

I doubt you'll be without it for 3 weeks.
When we had to send iPhones to the repair centre they would usually only take 3-5 business days.

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