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I have NEVER been so ****ing angrey with customer service in my Life than today. My poxy ****ing apple ****ing iPhone 4S, all of 1 year, 2 weeks old (thats right kids - out of warranty by two whole weeks) has broken. Thew power/sleep button is physically stuck - I'mve not dropped it, not been flushing it down the toilet. not fed it to my dog. It just BROKE.
I went in to the ****ing apple store last week to speak to one of their blue t-shirted ****s and he looked, said - "ah yes - it's out of warranty, you'll need to come back to speak to a ****ing genius" So i make an appointment to come back today to speak to one of their ****ing apple ****ing geniuses and what does the smug, halfwit ****ing **** tell me. "Sorry it's out of warranty - there'll be a charge to fix it of 140 ****ing pounds"
HOW MUCH? THAT@S LIKE ASKING ME TO BUY THE ****ING IPHONE AGAIN. ****ERS!¬!
After severalspeechless attempts at comprehending how a company that reckons it's all about the USER EXPERIENCE can treat it's users with suchg utter ****ing comptempt I had to walk about. I mean - ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ****ING POUNDS - has their ****ing apple money p[rinting maching run out of ink of or something? Why the **** couldn't the first blue tishirted **** have told me that? Why did i have to go back again to speak to a different blue t-shirted ****. Had the first blue t-shirted **** not been on the special 'How to be smug and patronising to customers' training course? ****ing Apple. ****ers.
NB: Yes it's out of warranty, yes i knew that if it broke after the 1st year i'd be the one to pay for it to be fixed, yes it's all my own fault, yes ****ing Apple are evil and you've all been saying so for ages. None of those things remove the need for me to vent my rage... And I feel a lot better now. Thanks.
They do apple care which would have extended the warranty to 2 years.
The customer service for Apple was the only thing that meant I kept an iPhone as long as I did.
£140 for an out of warranty replacement is better than you'd get out of any other smartphone manufacturer.
Isn't the EU mandated warranty for consumer goods 2 years ?
I thought that 2 years was the minimum warranty period in Europe.
HOW MUCH? THAT@S LIKE ASKING ME TO BUY THE * IPHONE AGAIN. *!¬!
not in any sense is that like asking you to buy the phone again
but now its out of warentee theres absolutely nothing to stop you taking it elsewhere to get it fixed. Its always worth trying apple first as even out of warrantee some repairs and replacements get done for gratis. I had the body on my laptop replaced for free this year even though its 3 years out of warentee and I'm not even the first owner. No questions asked- they provided me with backup even though I wasn't their customer.
Go back. Mention the Sale of Goods Act. This over-rides any manufacturers warranty and can be up to 6 years (5 years in Scotland). Also mention the EU Directive that gives you a minimum of two years on electrical goods.
when my son broke his (dropped it whilst pished)they replaced FOC, I was told to go in and be chatty and nice to them previously .
You obviously went in as an angry man. 😉
not seen a rant like that in a while. good man. 8/10, only marked down for the fact i could understand what you were typing.
HOW MUCH? THAT@S LIKE ASKING ME TO BUY THE * IPHONE AGAIN. *!¬!
Nope, list price for a 4S seems to be £449 at the moment, so it's a lot cheaper than a replacement. You could also try a friendly local iPhone repair shop who will no doubt do it for less. Maybe calm down and resume breathing before you call them though.
Where can you get a 4S for £140?
Common fault anyway, there's plenty of DIY fixes for it. Blowing dust out, flexing the case and so on. Hit google.
Also, there's a software version of the Home button in accessibility options if all else fails.
As above - thought Apple had been taken to task somewhere/ how regarding EU 2yr warranty on goods.
And ahem, just saying like .... but Samsung and HTC do 2yr warranties on their smartphones.
That charge seems pretty steep. I remember a work colleague getting the glass front replaced on his 3GS replaced a couple of years ago and it cost less than £100.
I was kind of impressed at the time (normally not an Apple fan) but agree that £140 is a bit steep. Would also be peeved if not told by the first "genius"
Here you go, I bet they don't hand this out as a flyer 😀
http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/
I wonder if an stw ban for swear filter avoidance will improve the OP's mood 😉
Good assessment, Philly. I was erring towards and 8.5, but as you say, that underlying current of coherence just took the edge off it.
£140 for an out of warranty replacement is better than you'd get out of any other smartphone manufacturer.
My nokia broke after 18 months, they fixed it free of charge, no questions. 😀
It's only really a 7 maybe 7.5 for me
What I feel holds it back - as well as the coherence - is the limited use of non alphanumeric characters.
A liberal dosing of !#$ etc. would have seen a better return IMO.
Here you go, I bet they don't hand this out as a flyer
My wife ran up against this issue.
Apple's stance is that the issue had to exist when the phone (macbook air in our case) was sold, and it's on the customer to prove this - i.e. not up to Apple to prove the item was flawless when sold.
[url= http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1999:171:0012:0016:EN:PDF ]EU Consumer Law[/url]
Read Article 3 & 5, basically its up to you to prove the fault is something inherent on the Phone, if you can prove this then it should be repaired under Warranty, you have 2 months to file a claim from the point you originally reported the fault.
I agree with Phil, excellent rant well done. I think you were a bit stingy on the score though Phil, while I could mostly understand what he was saying I did have to work at it in places. Also, very classy use of random capitalisation and odd characters.
A very worthy 9/10 from me.
Similar also happened to my colleague when his iMac packed up after 18 months. They quoted £160 to repair the power source which had failed, he quoted various consumer rights/sales of goods acts but was told he would have to prove it failed and was not damaged by dropping/movement etc...
I recently had my Time capsule replaced which was bought in 2010 as i found out it was covered under my iPad applecare warranty, the guy at the genius bar did try and wriggle out of it though.
On high value Apple stuff i always extend the warranty now, and on my iPhone i get insurance as if it ever packs in "hammer time" the screen for replacement
You obviously went in as an angry man.
Nah - i was all cheerful cos I'd been playing with the iPad mini and decided i was getting one (for MrsH - not me obviously) for Christmas.
Good assessment, Philly. I was erring towards and 8.5,
Why thank you - that means a lot. I'll work on the cohernace next time 😳
I wonder if an stw ban for swear filter avoidance will improve the OP's mood
I'm stumped - where's the swear filter avoidance? I deliberatly went with lots of nice recognisable sweareys so the filter would pick them up for me...
Where can you get a 4S for £140?
When i bought it on 2 year contract, I paid something like £150ish - so not that far off the £140 they're asking for...
When i bought it on 2 year contract, I paid something like £150ish - so not that far off the £140 they're asking for...
Yes, but you're actually paying for it through your monthly charges no doubt.
When i bought it on 2 year contract, I paid something like £150ish - so not that far off the £140 they're asking for...
are you really that naive?
helios i understand your disappointment, maybe try someone like this though for a reasonably priced repair.
http://iphone-surgery.co.uk/collections/iphone-4s-repairs
a general lack of coherence would've afforded you a higher score, taking in other judges comments we could settle on an 8.5/10
top tips for the future: try and build up towards the end of the rant, increasing the use of ANGERCAPS as you go and less punctuation creates the image of a man smashing the keyboard and spitting fire, try to never end on 'thanks'.
a worthy rant sir, well done 🙂
When i bought it on 2 year contract, I paid something like £150ish - so not that far off the £140 they're asking for...
Two years, at, what, £30/month? So that's £860 in total.
By that logic, you can get a free one now. Result!
helios i understand your disappointment, maybe try someone like this though for a reasonably priced repair.
Frankers, have you used them? I smashed the back glass on my 4S about 6 months ago and I might be tempted to finally replace it for the bargain price of £25!
Talking of naivety, when you take a, say, 2 year contract out, don't they cover faults on the phone for the duration?
I've never really thought about it, just presumed they would, I've never had a contract mind.
I think he starred the swearies out himself. Hence 7.5.
There's a swear filter, use it.
are you really that naive?
Thanks, I'm actually INCREDIBLY naive.
Wait - Are you trying to say that maybe, just maybe it was cheaper because I was also paying through the nose for my monthly bills? 😉
I was making the point that their charge for fixing it is the same as the charge i paid to "buy" it in the first place - i wasn't figuring the bills into the equation... My big CAPITAL rant would have been somewhat weakened if i'd applied some kind of logic to it.
wrecker - MemberI think he starred the swearies out himself. Hence 7.5.
There's a swear filter, use it.
Nope - all courtesy of the filter - It picked up on my nice array of "Fs", "Ws" and "Ts" even a "C" I think... Now that i've calmed down slightly and taken to some self-criticism, I do regret not using more compound swearies. Will try harder next time to reach that all important 10/10...
On a serious note - I'd be interested if you've actually used that repair service Frankers - The nice man in the market said he would fix it for £40 but that he'd take it off to London to see the "technicians" which scared me slightly...
Does anyone here think a £140 charge is reasonable for the repair?
Meh. I had a (rather expensive) PowerBook that stopped working just outside the warranty. Took it to a "genius" who confirmed that the power board inside, a small circuit board about 1"x2" with no expensive chips on it, had failed.
Then he asked for £650 to fix it.
I walked out and sold it on eBay for £800 🙂
Normally they don't repair. They just replace. So its £140 for a new phone (albeit a refurb).
Nope - all courtesy of the filter - It picked up on my nice array of "Fs", "Ws" and "Ts" even a "C" I think...
Instant upgrade to 8.5. That's a score to be proud of.
just go to one of the walk in repair places wait 20min, give them £35 and walk out with repaired phone.
+1 for the Sales of Goods Act!
Put your complaint in writing, stating if they don't repair you will get an Engineers Report done. If its found the phone was faulty, they'll have to pay the cost of that too. Be very clear you're claiming under the Sales of Goods Act, NOT the Apple Warranty.
The only way you'd be at fault is if the Engineers Report found the you'd damaged the phone in such a way as to directly cause the fault with the switch.
i.e. if they find water ingress, but it didn't damage the switch, Apple would still need to pay.
.. or just go to those walk-in phone repair places.
Why on earth do apple need to do anything without charging an excessive premium when they have legions of iFanbwoys?
Same happened to mine a few weeks back but I'm in warranty so was replaced but there is a fix for it on YouTube if you don't mind opening the phone since its already out of warranty.
Obviously a last resort but just to make you aware
Hmm... I managed to brick my iPhone 4 while doing an iOS update.
Took it to Genius Bar, who couldn't fix it either, and they gave me a replacement phone on the spot. I was well out of warranty but it was a goodwill gesture 😀
Obviously they recognise a fanboi when they see one. 🙂
Does anyone here think a £140 charge is reasonable for the repair?
It is a very reasonable price for a new phone which is what the OP will get. It's not a reasonably price to pull some pocket fluff out of the button contact - but if you want that done then take it to another shop.
I smashed the back glass on my 4S about 6 months ago and I might be tempted to finally replace it for the bargain price of £25!
Don't waste your money. A replacement back is less than a tenner and takes roughly 2 minutes to fit, 1:30 of which is looking for your screwdriver.
Undo screws, slide off back, slide new back on, tighten screws. Done.
also +1 for SOGA (even though at less han 2 years it's still within the EU warranty period).
Since they're usually/often sold as a 24 month bundle, and you can't just upgrade without buying you way out of that bundle, then surely the phone must be reasonably expected to have a lifetime of 24 months or more (even if you're on a 18 month bundle).
Does anyone here think a £140 charge is reasonable for the repair?
If damaged by the user, then maybe.
If failed due to fluff ingress due to reasonable typical use, or wearing out of the button due to typical use, then it's a design failure. And it's both still under warranty, and well within the reasonable expected lifetime. In which case I'd be getting it replaced or repaired at their expense. edit: or if they won't, and payment was via credit card, I'd be using the consumer credit act.
It is a very reasonable price for a new phone which is what the OP will get.
His phone will be sent off and refurbished. He will receive either a brand new or refurbished phone.
If it's a new phone, he (and every other Apple customer) have already paid for it, with his £140 covering some of the cost.
If it's a refurbished phone, he's paid Apple £140 to repair someone else's phone, and someone else will pay the £140 to repair his phone.
Is [i]any[/i] repair really worth £140?
They've managed to charge an arm and a leg for a ten minute job in a way that customers think is reasonable.
Should've got a htc/Samsung 😛
Is any repair really worth £140?
I'd say yes, if the only other course of action is to buy a brand new phone at ~£600.
The OPs fault doesn't sound serious enough to warrant it - but it'd be the same price if he'd smashed the screen or put it through the washing machine on spin cycle.
I was happy to get a new phone for just £140 after mine took an unexpected dive into a pint glass.
Should've got a htc/Samsung
Yeah then he could have taken it to the HTC/Samsung shop where experts would look at it for free and offered him a heavily discounted handset...
...oh no wait.. I'm thinking of Apple. 😀
Can't you use the 4 or 5 fingers coming together on the screen move on the iphone like you can on the ipad? The saves using the home button. It's going to wear out eventually if you use it. I always thought it was a daft Idea having it there in the first place as its not needed anyway on an ipad.
He's not broken the home button. It's the lock/sleep button
Ahhh my bad sorry.
Its the law.
[url] http://www.wak-tt.com/tt/2yearwarranty1.htm [/url]
I can't link to the title below as the link stops when it hits the squiggly symbol for and. But hit up this.
[i]DIRECTIVE 1999/44/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 25 May 1999[/i]
Basically, with the odd exception. ALL electronic good sold in the EU now have to come with a 2 year warranty.
Does this cover mobile phones ?. Not sure.
Don't waste your money. A replacement back is less than a tenner and takes roughly 2 minutes to fit, 1:30 of which is looking for your screwdriver.
Undo screws, slide off back, slide new back on, tighten screws. Done.
Intersting, thanks. Might have a look at that later...
So its £140 for a new phone (albeit a refurb).
I'm not completely convinced they're actually refurbs - the ones i've seen are indistinguishable from new. When I smashed mine the replacement was immaculate - not a mark on it anywhere, no sign of any dust around the ports.
More to the point a refurbished iPhone 4S sells for £350+ on eBay. Depending on the length of your contract it might be worth taking the refurb, selling it on eBay and talking to your operator about a new phone.
Given it's not broken the repair bloke in your local phone shops your best bet.
Seriously? No-one's graded the rant yet in 2 pages?!
8/10 for me, a few more CAPS and mis-types and it would grade higher...
🙂
Oh.......must read all of thread in future..... Still at least my scoring is in line with others!
Sorry.....
8/10 for me
not enough typos
but still a good effort
ime apple are great within the 1 yr warranty period but crap after it
i think its all part of their business model - to encourage you to 'upgrade' after a year anyway!
Not a fan of apple customer service at all but all the phones I've had on 2 yr contracts were covered for 2 years by the contract provider. Has the OP tried them?
Go here: https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action?locale=en_GB
select the appropriate options, If you select the product then "issue not listed" you get the option to write them an email (web form) and then explain the situation and that if you google "lock/sleep button broken iphone" it returns "About 8,050,000 results", to the point that apple have authorised an App as a work around to a KNOWN FAULT.
Request a replacement, foc.
thats what I'd try....
if you google "lock/sleep button broken iphone" it returns "About 8,050,000 results"
To be fair if you google "monkey banana iphone" you get 4,000,000 hits. 😀
http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/
/p>
Thats their new policty You have to take it back to wherever it was purchased. If it was from apple then them obviously with a copy of that. If not from the supplier.
My wife had the same problem and got it fixed at a privateer phone shop for £15.
and she didnt need a swear filter.
Not a fan of apple customer service at all but all the phones I've had on 2 yr contracts were covered for 2 years by the contract provider. Has the OP tried them?
i would imagine only if you paid about £15/month [s]extortion[/s] insurance charges...
Hey Stelios
If you strike lucky and they give you a new replacement, I'd like to offer you £85 for it.
Can't say fairer than as they only cost circa £150 new, it seems.
A good opportunity for you to bat for another team, phone-wise.
Only if it's unlocked though. I could possibly stretch to £90. Assuming it's 64 gigs.
Cheers
Well - the nice man on the phone at Apple sorted me out - a quick reference to SOGA and the EU Directive and he was helping to "restore my faith in Apple" with a one-off gesture to fix the phone for free. In fairness he was genuinely helpful, unlike the smug teenage blue t-shirted "Genius" who told me to sod off...
Hey Poodium - You can have the one they're sending me for £85 (as you say fair's fair - it was only £150 new) provided you also sign up to what I did back when I paid £150 for it - a 2 year contract at c. £30/month. Can't say fairer than that... Cheers.
I like Apple customer service, they dont charge me when my KIDS DO SILLY THINGS WITH MY IPHONE Grrrrrrrr
😉
😯 I admire your restraint! That would upset me somewhat!
a quick reference to SOGA and the EU Directive and he was helping to "restore my faith in Apple" with a one-off gesture to fix the phone for free.
I suspect it was. They make it pretty clear how they expect to apply the law, as [b]wysiwig[/b] kindly pointed out.
I forgot to add - thanks for all the advice from everyone on here - I was ready to start levering the back off the thing to (try to) fix it myself...
Also - the scores on my rant made my day - I'm not sure I'll ever get the level of incoherence needed for a 10/10 - but next time I'll certainly give it a go...
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