iPhone 4 Waterdamage

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › iPhone 4 Waterdamage

Boeingflyer

643 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#84657 4-Jun-2011 15:19

My friend at work had a problem with her iPhone 4, took it into Brightstar or whatever they are called and straight away said it was water damaged and it would cost $385 to fix. She said that she would think about it and took it home. The next day she was venting it out to me at work about how much it would cost to fix. The problem was that it was stuck on the start up scren, the one where you first have to connect it to activate it. I said told her that i had the same problem one day and found out if you take the sim cardout and connect it, it would fix it.
She followed my directions and hey presto, it worked again.

So how sh*t are they for trying to charge her that ammount of money. If anyone wasn't worried of this whole 'water damage' false claim to make more money, this is one story to make you so.

boby55

1539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#477766 4-Jun-2011 15:28

Brightpoint don't "Fix" iPhones they replace with a refurbished model. so you will find the $385 is a standard fee for all non warranty faults

Boeingflyer

643 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#477776 4-Jun-2011 16:16

That's fair enough but how did they come to the fact it was 'water damaged'. Yes it is under a year old as well so it was technically still under warranty and such an easy fix.

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#477778 4-Jun-2011 16:24

There are moisture indicators inside the phone. All that needs to happen to void a warranty is one of those indicators turning pink (or whatever colour the iphone ones may be).

Boeingflyer

643 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#477780 4-Jun-2011 16:30

I realize that about the indicaters. What I'm wharring on about is that the fact that it had nothing to do with water damage.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#477784 4-Jun-2011 16:44

Fabian: That's fair enough but how did they come to the fact it was 'water damaged'. Yes it is under a year old as well so it was technically still under warranty and such an easy fix.

Virtually every phone these has a sticker in it that changes colour when it's exposed to moisture. One glance at this would have been enough for them to make the water damage assessment, regardless of any other factors.

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#477794 4-Jun-2011 18:06

Chlorine works wonders to bleach things ;)

Richard rich.ms

casewindow

310 posts

Ultimate Geek

#478066 5-Jun-2011 19:44

What is to stop a warranty firm simply putting a tiny amount of water on the indicator to turn it red & claiming it came to them like that?

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

boby55

1539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#478072 5-Jun-2011 20:06

casewindow: What is to stop a warranty firm simply putting a tiny amount of water on the indicator to turn it red & claiming it came to them like that?

Most companies will take a photo of the inside where it is corroded due to water damage to show you now. INAL but I think they can't deny your phone from warranty on the basis the little sticker has changed colour

robbyp

1199 posts

Uber Geek

#478080 5-Jun-2011 20:41

boby55:
casewindow: What is to stop a warranty firm simply putting a tiny amount of water on the indicator to turn it red & claiming it came to them like that?

Most companies will take a photo of the inside where it is corroded due to water damage to show you now. INAL but I think they can't deny your phone from warranty on the basis the little sticker has changed colour

It could possibly change colour from normal usage too. eg being in a humid climate, or a big change in temperature that couses condensation. Also perspiration from your hand.

bellapl1

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#478311 6-Jun-2011 20:07

Apple warranty policy has changed. They are supposed to have more evidence of water damage than just one indicator changing colour now.