iPhone warranty - replacement

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Geektastic

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#32016 8-Apr-2009 14:32

Here is an annoying issue:

I rang Apple because my iPhone 3G stopped giving me audio on phone calls. After a 25 minute wait (for which Apple apologised) I was advised that they would replace the phone, given a case number and told to take it into any Vodafone shop for replacement.

My wife happened to be going to Wellington today, so she took the phone into what she assumed was a VF store (but is actually First Mobile masquerading as VF).

They said "That is not what we do - give us $80 and we will send it off and you'll get the money back if it is not your fault."

My wife rang me and now I have no phone and am down $80!!

To say I am livid is putting it mildly - and Apple have had me queueing for 15 minutes so far to try and get it sorted out properly!!

Grrrrr!!

Geektastic

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#206116 9-Apr-2009 00:07

Here's an update.

I rang Apple again who said that the CSR I spoke to first had "got it wrong".

So much for that. I do object strenuously to a warranty programme that requires me to pay
$80 before I can get the fault fixed.

If that is not illegal, it certainly should be - and Apple certainly should not be associating with such antediluvian and shoddy retail practices: it is not good for their brand.

rscole86

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#206128 9-Apr-2009 06:24

That $80 is a bond, as far as I know ALL companies/retailers who repair cellphones charge this bond. It covers the large group of people whos phone is a liquid or physical damage job. Basically its there to cover the freight and insepction charges on your phone.

Solong as you have not done either of those, then you will get your $80 back.

As for Apple's call centre, what time of day did you call? Unless it was during 11am or 12pm til 7pm?? You will get diverted to the US call centre, instead of the Australasian one, you would not be the first person to have this happen, and get mis-informed as to the repair process.

Geektastic

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#206133 9-Apr-2009 08:24

But if I take my car for warranty repair (or most other things) they do not demand a "bond" before looking at it, do they?! It is quite ridiculous. Why should they need a "bond"? They have my $1200 phone as a hostage against getting their bill paid! Most other transactions do not require "bonds" either - do New World demand $100 before you can go fill your trolley?!

It just smacks of a scam - we take $80 then tell you it was water or impact damage and you have no way to disprove our contention because the phone is already fixed! We keep your $80...and send the warranty work bill to Apple as well...!!

Also, why should they have my money up front? I frankly find the quality of most of the cellphone shops here to be about one notch above incompetent and hopeless - usually staffed by kids with little or no interest in customer service etc and I have an equally low opinion of the likely quality of any "repair service" not actually being carried out with proper Apple backing.

If there is a hardware fault, Apple ought to be 100% responsible for fixing it in my view, just as they are with my Mac Pro, Mac Book Pro, Airport Extreme, Airport Express and iPod!!

marmel

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#206147 9-Apr-2009 09:46

Geektastic: But if I take my car for warranty repair (or most other things) they do not demand a "bond" before looking at it, do they?! It is quite ridiculous. Why should they need a "bond"? They have my $1200 phone as a hostage against getting their bill paid! Most other transactions do not require "bonds" either - do New World demand $100 before you can go fill your trolley?!

It just smacks of a scam - we take $80 then tell you it was water or impact damage and you have no way to disprove our contention because the phone is already fixed! We keep your $80...and send the warranty work bill to Apple as well...!!

Also, why should they have my money up front? I frankly find the quality of most of the cellphone shops here to be about one notch above incompetent and hopeless - usually staffed by kids with little or no interest in customer service etc and I have an equally low opinion of the likely quality of any "repair service" not actually being carried out with proper Apple backing.

If there is a hardware fault, Apple ought to be 100% responsible for fixing it in my view, just as they are with my Mac Pro, Mac Book Pro, Airport Extreme, Airport Express and iPod!!

Unfortunately being mobile devices cell phones are commonly exposed to water/moisture etc and this is the most common fault found as someone else has previously pointed out to you.

The problem is that if retail stores send a phone away for a "warranty" repair a lot of customers will refuse to pay the inspection fee if they are told that the phone is water damaged and will not be covered under warranty. This leaves the store having to foot the bill which isn't fair.

Using the vehicle anology is a bit silly really considering the average repair cost maybe around $500 or so and the average value of a vehicle may be $5,000 and have considerable value in parts even if it cannot be repaired. A phone that is water damaged may have very little residual value and even if some parts could be salvaged this may not cover the cost of the inspection fee.

I also think you are being a bit silly accusing the repair agents of fixing phones and then claiming a warranty from the manufacturer. 99% of the time service agents will simply inspect the item and then report back to you via the retailer before doing any repair work at all unles you have signed some sort of authority giving them permission to repair if the total costs are under $XX dollars.

I do agree with you about the sales staff in most retail stores, they are only really interested in sales and after sales service is definately lacking.

brentbart

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#206150 9-Apr-2009 09:49

You'll find that people will bring phones in for repair, be found to have been dunked in their coffee ... and when they are told that they will need to pay the assesment fee, will vanish like a magician. Its then up to the store to pay the repair agent.

If the phone is found to be a warranty repair, you get all the money back.

If its outside of the warranty conditions, you can ask for proof and they will send the details to you along with the handset. If its liquid damaged, they won't repair it.

IMHO not a big deal if you are the honest type.

djpaubes

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#206151 9-Apr-2009 09:51

First mobile are shockers! Never heard a good story about them and I tell everyone to avoid them and go direct to VF. They nearly caught me out and they have certainly screwed over a few people I know.

But I can understand the bond if your a pre-pay customer otherwise I'm sure they could just charge the account?

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Geektastic

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#206195 9-Apr-2009 15:01

"Unfortunately being mobile devices cell phones are commonly exposed to water/moisture etc and this is the most common fault found as someone else has previously pointed out to you.

The problem is that if retail stores send a phone away for a "warranty" repair a lot of customers will refuse to pay the inspection fee if they are told that the phone is water damaged and will not be covered under warranty. This leaves the store having to foot the bill which isn't fair."

I have never - even once - managed to get a cellphone to suffer "water damage" since I got my first one in 1992!! How do you do that?!

I am personally - as a consumer - not even remotely interested in whether the store has to foot the bill. If Apple can manage to have Apple Care on everything else, there is no reason that they could not have it on the iPhone.

I presume that Apple Care excludes repairing iPods, laptops etc that have this mythical "water damage" so there is no reason to presume that they could not weed out claims from those who deserve Darwin Awards for cellphone use incompetence using the same methods they use already.

A simple way around it would be to take a credit card imprint (rather than the actual $80) - although I personally still find the implication and assumption that lies behind this (ie that I may not be honest) offensive.