Thought i would write about my experiences in the last week with Apple & Vodafone NZ

Generally i love the iPhone and have had every model since the original 2G but my experience in the last week has left me scratching my head and really pissed off.

I purchased an iPhone 4 from Vodafone on contract only to find that when i got home and went to use the camera a day later it did not work. The shutter would not open and the buttons were grayed out. 

I power cycled the phone a few times and still no luck so i reinstalled the latest OS. No dice.

I rang Apple Support who went through a few tests with me before confirming that this was indeed a faulty phone. They told me they would set up a repair request for the phone and i would need to send it to Auckland to be repaired. 

So lets get this straight a brand new iPhone 4, little over a day old with an obvious manufacturing defect and they want me to send it off and wait for it to be repaired. WTF? No thanks.

I rang the Vodafone store and luckily they said they would swap it.

Four days later im loving my new iPhone 4 when i go to make a call and i cant hear anything. Theres no sound. 

I take it back to Vodafone and this time they tell me they can't replace it. They will need to send it away to be repaired. Im pretty dark about it and on this note i decide to surrender the iPhone and cancel my contract. Had it been a few months i would have happily gone through the repair process but this is a brand new phone with an obvious factory fault and ive wasted so much time already.

I leave the phone with them and am told i have to ring 777 to cancel the contract.

Back at home i phone Vodafone on 777 and ask to cancel my contract. The guy there pulls out the "no dont go" card and tells me he will ring the Vodafone store and sort it out. He phones me shortly after and tells me that although he couldnt get hold of the store, go back to the store and get them to phone him and that he has left notes on the file and it will all be sorted out.

Back at the store Vodafone staff try and get hold of this guy in egypt. They cant. They phone Vodafone HQ who re-confirm that i am unable to swap the faulty phone and my only option is to wait for it to be sent away and repaired, or to cancel my contract.

I canceled the contract.

So what did i learn from this experience?

If you buy a brand new iPhone from Vodafone NZ or Apple NZ and it is faulty then you can't swap it. You must send it away for repair.








PS/ Not that it should make any difference but i had signed up for the $250 a month plan which was $6000 over two years. I was later told today that Vodafone policy was not to swap the phones and i was lucky the first time it was swapped. It will be interesting to see if Vodafone try to invoice me for this crappy experience. 

Also i phoned apple sales NZ and they said that their policy should i buy one outright from the apple store is the same - send it away for repair.