iPhone replacement stories...

[scootermaster]

People have been telling me all sorts of stories about all the horrible things they've done with thier iPhones, and how Apple has replaced them for free. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for how to approach the Apple Store. I dropped mine, and, of course, it broke the one single mechanical thing on the phone: the silent mode switch. Now my phone won't shut up (as a serious piece of irony: my friend spilled some water on it -- I didn't know until the morning -- and it made the phone go wonky for about 24 hours. The headphone jack was always activated, even if the headphones weren't in. So I went from a phone that wouldn't make noise to one that won't shut up. Sigh.)

Anyway, just looking for some tips.

One added wrinkle is the forthcoming hardware; I'd be happy if they'd just replace my current 3G iPhone, but I don't want them to think I'm taking it in for replacement because I want the new model. Not that I'd complain, mind you....

 

[aphex]

Although Apple will replace the phone for nearly everything, the one thing they seem to outright refuse to replace is any phone where the water "sensors" have been triggered. There are two on the 3G iPhone, in the headphone socket and in the dock port, they both turn red when water touches them.

 

[Tegeril]

Certain issues with the phone cause them to be suspicious of the litmus paper in the two locations aphex mentioned. Explaining that the rocker switch for the vibrate/silent mode is broken is not likely to be one of them, and ultimately it's going to come down to how thorough the Mac Genius you are working with is on that given day. I have had a few phones replaced (all for completely legitimate defects that I did not cause) and they each scrutinize differently. Outer case integrity was not met with a Litmus check, LCD screen defect was on the replacement.

 

[scootermaster]

Unless I'm completely missing it, I don't see any red in either place. I even shined a flashlight down the headphone jack. The cup of water that was spilled was sitting to the left of the phone, and kind of spilled outward. The phone was lying on its back, so it would be sort of hard for water to seep in to either of those places, I think.

But I guess we'll find out. Hopefully they'll take care of it. Thanks for the responses, and I welcome any more.

 

[Tegeril]

They utilize a flashlight/magnifying glass to look down the headphone jack. I haven't observed them checking the dock connector location, so I'm not sure where/what that will look like. If you see no red, I think you should be good to get a replacement. Just say the switch doesn't work anymore and let them fiddle with it. I honestly try to offer as little information as possible because with the two issues I had, I didn't want to give them a reason not to replace it when neither thing was something I caused.

 

[Illusio]

I have had 2 phones replaced. The first one I couldn't get any hand's free headphones to work with the phone. The genius just said ok and swapped my phone out. The second time I couldn't connect to any wifi networks, that time the genius spent about 30mins doing all kinds of tests trying to get it working and eventually swapped it out.

My friend had an exchange because her volume switch fell off. They replaced the phone without any hassle

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Do they replace it on the spot? What about your data?

 

[alevasseur14]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Do they replace it on the spot? What about your data?

That's where those handy iTunes phone backups come in handy. I had my phone replaced last summer and I just told iTunes to restore from an earlier backup and it was just like new - or old... however you want to look at it!

 

[scootermaster]

What about things like text messages?

 

[alevasseur14]

I lost those, unfortunately.

As far as I know, there's no way to backup text messages. There should be an app for that...

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
I lost those, unfortunately.

As far as I know, there's no way to backup text messages. There should be an app for that...

There's an app (actually, I think there are multiple apps) to back them up to websites/local. I'm just not sure if there's a way to restore them. Hmmm. I just figured I'd ask before I really searched about that.

 

[alevasseur14]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
I lost those, unfortunately.

As far as I know, there's no way to backup text messages. There should be an app for that...

There's an app (actually, I think there are multiple apps) to back them up to websites/local. I'm just not sure if there's a way to restore them. Hmmm. I just figured I'd ask before I really searched about that.

Of course there is! I don't know what I was thinking - there's an app for everything! LOL.

Let us know if you find an app that can backup as well as restore. That would be incredibly useful!

 

[Tyranicus]

I did the same thing to my (out of warranty) iPhone a few months ago. When I need it to be quiet, I put it in pseudo silent mode by turning the volume all the way down. This means that you can't hear it when it is in my pocket. I was under the impression that text messages are in the backups that are done when you sync your iPhone. I have restored to factory settings a few times (After every time I flirt with jailbreaking for a while), and each time, all my texts are back after syncing and restoring the backup.

 

[alevasseur14]

Originally posted by: Tyranicus
I did the same thing to my (out of warranty) iPhone a few months ago. When I need it to be quiet, I put it in pseudo silent mode by turning the volume all the way down. This means that you can't hear it when it is in my pocket. I was under the impression that text messages are in the backups that are done when you sync your iPhone. I have restored to factory settings a few times (After every time I flirt with jailbreaking for a while), and each time, all my texts are back after syncing and restoring the backup.

I've been toying with the idea of going back to factory firmware from my jailbroken state and now I think I'll give it a crack just to see what happens to my texts... Interesting.

Maybe I'll give it a shot tomorrow morning. Don't have to work until 3 and I'm still on my class time schedule so I'll have time. I'll let everyone know what happens if I do...

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: alevasseur14

Originally posted by: Tyranicus
I did the same thing to my (out of warranty) iPhone a few months ago. When I need it to be quiet, I put it in pseudo silent mode by turning the volume all the way down. This means that you can't hear it when it is in my pocket. I was under the impression that text messages are in the backups that are done when you sync your iPhone. I have restored to factory settings a few times (After every time I flirt with jailbreaking for a while), and each time, all my texts are back after syncing and restoring the backup.

I've been toying with the idea of going back to factory firmware from my jailbroken state and now I think I'll give it a crack just to see what happens to my texts... Interesting.

Maybe I'll give it a shot tomorrow morning. Don't have to work until 3 and I'm still on my class time schedule so I'll have time. I'll let everyone know what happens if I do...

Thanks! Keep us updated on how it goes.

 

[alevasseur14]

I just finished restoring to factory settings and text messages are indeed recovered! It even says on the pop-up that you have to OK that they will be restored. Pretty snazzy. I don't remember that happening when I got my phone replaced. Maybe it's a new feature?

I think Kaido mentioned this the other day but man, the interface is so much faster on stock firmware. I wonder where the lag comes from?

 

[aphex]

The lag primarily comes from winterboard, but really any mobile substrate that runs all the time can slow the phone down.

 

[Kmax82]

Yup.. if you jailbreak and have anything that is always on, it eventually slows down. Intelliscreen, Winterboard, SBSettings, etc.. It really sucks too, because they're so useful, or pretty. I still have mine jailbroken but I have to restart every couple of days to get the "pep" back in my phone.

 

[alevasseur14]

I like the speed but man do I miss IntelliScreen. What to do, what to do...

 

[Tegeril]

Re: Text messages. Mine have always come back with the backups.

 

[scootermaster]

Went to the Apple store...20 minutes later had a brand new phone. Now I'm wondering if I shoulda waited a couple of weeks to see if they woulda given me the new Third Gen one. Oh well. At least I have 9 months of drops and scratches and whatnots gone, so if I did decide to sell it it's pretty much brand new.

Yay!

 

[alevasseur14]

Congrats on the new phone! It's always fun to have something completely new - even if you had an older one before!

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Congrats on the new phone! It's always fun to have something completely new - even if you had an older one before!

How did this response come before mine?!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Congrats on the new phone! It's always fun to have something completely new - even if you had an older one before!

How did this response come before mine?!

Let's just say it involved a Delorean, an American Express Black Card, and a whole lot of Ben and Jerries :Q

 

[Tyranicus]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Went to the Apple store...20 minutes later had a brand new phone. Now I'm wondering if I shoulda waited a couple of weeks to see if they woulda given me the new Third Gen one. Oh well. At least I have 9 months of drops and scratches and whatnots gone, so if I did decide to sell it it's pretty much brand new.

Yay!

I doubt you would have gotten a 3rd gen iPhone. I got my 30GB 5.5Gen iPod replaced 3 months after the iPod Classics came out, and I got a new 30GB 5.5Gen iPod. I presume it is the same with iPhones.