I sent my 128GB iPhone 6s plus unlocked in for repair a few weeks ago , and that's where al the trouble started . A few days after sending it off I receive a email stating the box was empty . I panic, I call them and explain the email that I received. The customer service was great , my case was taken over , I was asked to upload my receipt from shipping which I did and I was assured it would be figured out . After not hearing anything for two weeks I call them up again and get connected to a senior advisor , who now was taken over my case . I answered a few questions and was told the case would be escalated (whatever that means) and was expecting a call back on a Thursday afternoon ( didn't happen) but instead I get a email stating the investigation was over , but my device would not be replaced as they could not see that any tampering was done . To me that's a slap in the face. We all know how expensive these devices are , and not everyone can just go out and continuously purchase them . I feel like they are calling me a liar and after 5 weeks of emailing and phone calls , and a 2 day investigation , I no longer have a phone . Does anyone have any advice on what to do ? Is this a legal matter ?
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Advice ..apple will not replace my phone
- Thread starter Savagethekidd
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They are basically trying to tell me I never sent them a phone because the box they sent , which I sent back did not seemed tampered with , so their investigation is over and at this time they will not be replacing my phone ...So now I just don't have a phone , well a iPhone ..And personally I think that's a slap in the face
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And I only sent it in to get the buttons repaired ( home,lock) because in my area the store is always swamped and you will be their for hours even trying to drop off a device .
That's the issue , I bought it unlocked in cash so that I wouldn't have to deal with a contract , in order to send your phone in for repair you have to back it up ,set it back to factory , remove sim and turn find my iPhone off
Like Yogi Berra said "no one goes there anymore, it's too busy". If you make a Genius Bar appointment, then regardless of how many people are in an Apple Store, you get service. I'm typing this while in my local Apple Store to get my iPhone replaced (the vibrate stopped working), and the store is packed.
Your timeline is: You called Apple who sent you a box to put your iPhone in, and return to them.
Did they pre-pay the postage back? What carrier did you ship with, FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc?
When you sent Apple the iPhone for repair, did you bring it to the shipper, or drop it into a mailbox, UPS dropbox, etc?
If you brought it to a shipper, what was the weight on the slip that the shipper give you? And I assume that you purchased shipping insurance on the iPhone, because as you said, they're expensive.
It shipped through fed ex and apple paid for the shipping. It went into a cart with other stuff being shipped , it was never weighed in front of me. Sent my shipping receipt to apple , no weight on receipt
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Apple paid for the shipping themselves , if I was paying I would of gotten insurance , I've been to the FedEx store and supposedly they have no records of apple contacting them about the issue
File a police report. It is not that uncommon for thieves to steal iPhones during shipment (some of them are fedex/UPS people themselves). Best you can do is file a police report, and then try to escalate to Apple again. I wonder if you can still set the phone to be "lost."
I'm not savvy enough to give you sage advice here but curious - if you backed up the phone, that backup should carry the serial of the iPhone. If someone else activates the phone, is there any way to trace it (see if Apple can access your backup to get the information).
Again, this is unfamiliar territory for me so just hoping what I am saying is helpful.
Again, this is unfamiliar territory for me so just hoping what I am saying is helpful.
Just to get this straight you sent:
your phone
in a box
to Apple.
As Apple supplies the box for repairs, this was definitely their box with their shipping label.
When they received the box it was empty.
A box that was returned empty made it all the way up to a Senior Advisor.
As my experience as a systems admin I'm left with several conclusions.
1) You didn't include the phone
2) It was taken out of the box before it was shipped by a family member
3) USPS/UPS/FedEx tampered with your box and took your phone out
4) Apple is lying and they took your phone.
5) You are extending the truth about something in this thread, in case you'd like to submit it as evidence.
As I have shipped things back to Apple and never had a problem with their shipping, nor has anyone else I've talked to had issues with Apple like this, we might take Apple out of the equation. However, extending the truth is more likely in this situation due to the senior advisor/empty box equation.
If you don't live with anyone else, and you surely put the phone in there and you've searched everywhere in your house for it, you did this right?, we can take 1 and 2 out of the equation.
This leaves us with 3 and 5. You might call Apple and ask if the box that had been shipped to them looked like it had been opened previously, other than you putting the phone in the box. If so this leaves all of the blame on the shipping company.
Now if you want to litigate, you need to provide evidence that you did ship the phone from your house with receipts and weights of the package, as well as your receipt from the sale of the iPhone and any and all support transcriptions from Apple.
Here are your outcomes.
If it is Apple's fault and you win against their A-team lawyers then you get a new phone for free, or the equivalent monetary value of that model, with Apple paying your court fees if you are smart about it.
If it is the shipping company's fault and you win against their A-team lawyers then you get the monetary value of the iPhone and again court fees paid if you are smart.
If you lose because you cannot provide substantial evidence to back up your claim, or the defendant is not found guilty, you will pay your court fees ~1500 plus your lawyer fees ~2000 and you'll still be out of a phone, while incurring the same fees if you want to test your luck against the other company.
your phone
in a box
to Apple.
As Apple supplies the box for repairs, this was definitely their box with their shipping label.
When they received the box it was empty.
A box that was returned empty made it all the way up to a Senior Advisor.
As my experience as a systems admin I'm left with several conclusions.
1) You didn't include the phone
2) It was taken out of the box before it was shipped by a family member
3) USPS/UPS/FedEx tampered with your box and took your phone out
4) Apple is lying and they took your phone.
5) You are extending the truth about something in this thread, in case you'd like to submit it as evidence.
As I have shipped things back to Apple and never had a problem with their shipping, nor has anyone else I've talked to had issues with Apple like this, we might take Apple out of the equation. However, extending the truth is more likely in this situation due to the senior advisor/empty box equation.
If you don't live with anyone else, and you surely put the phone in there and you've searched everywhere in your house for it, you did this right?, we can take 1 and 2 out of the equation.
This leaves us with 3 and 5. You might call Apple and ask if the box that had been shipped to them looked like it had been opened previously, other than you putting the phone in the box. If so this leaves all of the blame on the shipping company.
Now if you want to litigate, you need to provide evidence that you did ship the phone from your house with receipts and weights of the package, as well as your receipt from the sale of the iPhone and any and all support transcriptions from Apple.
Here are your outcomes.
If it is Apple's fault and you win against their A-team lawyers then you get a new phone for free, or the equivalent monetary value of that model, with Apple paying your court fees if you are smart about it.
If it is the shipping company's fault and you win against their A-team lawyers then you get the monetary value of the iPhone and again court fees paid if you are smart.
If you lose because you cannot provide substantial evidence to back up your claim, or the defendant is not found guilty, you will pay your court fees ~1500 plus your lawyer fees ~2000 and you'll still be out of a phone, while incurring the same fees if you want to test your luck against the other company.
I work in shipping and receiving and things go missing weekly , who would I find the report against ?
Just file a report that you send your iPhone via whatever shipping companies that you dropped it off at, and the receiver (Apple) claimed the item is gone. Once there's a police report, then talk to Apple again. At the very least, there would be some investigation going. Right now, it's merely your word vs Apple's word. If you really lost your phone, file a police report so you have a standing when you talk to Apple.
"Sent my shipping receipt to apple"
1. Why would you send in your shipping receipt to Apple ? After it was supposedly stolen ? Or when it was first shipped ?
2. Shipped with other stuff as you said, but from your home, office or at the FedX store ?
3. Was the other stuff shipped with your phone from you, your office ?
4. Did you ship it or did someone else do it for you, or did you ship it with others around you ?
1. Why would you send in your shipping receipt to Apple ? After it was supposedly stolen ? Or when it was first shipped ?
2. Shipped with other stuff as you said, but from your home, office or at the FedX store ?
3. Was the other stuff shipped with your phone from you, your office ?
4. Did you ship it or did someone else do it for you, or did you ship it with others around you ?
I said that to apple. My last iPhone was stolen so I know for sure they can see if the phone is active
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Here is my guess how to proceed.
File a police report if you are able to with your local pd. Give all the facts in the report to the best of your ability.
Contact Apple again, including a copy of the police report. (This carries weight, as if you are lying to the police you have committed a criminal offense, so filing a police report lends weight that you shipped the phone out.)
If they tell you no to a replacement phone anyway, check out the fees for small claims court filing and serving, if low enough to file a court case. This is the kind of items small claims court is designed for, low fees, no lawyer required.
The case will be a he said/she said, bring any proof you have of phone purchase, serial number, shipping, communications with shipper and Apple. Hopefully you win, but no guarantee. I am not sure if court costs can be charged or not to the losing party in small claims either, find out first. (The clerk of the court can probably give you the information.)
File a police report if you are able to with your local pd. Give all the facts in the report to the best of your ability.
Contact Apple again, including a copy of the police report. (This carries weight, as if you are lying to the police you have committed a criminal offense, so filing a police report lends weight that you shipped the phone out.)
If they tell you no to a replacement phone anyway, check out the fees for small claims court filing and serving, if low enough to file a court case. This is the kind of items small claims court is designed for, low fees, no lawyer required.
The case will be a he said/she said, bring any proof you have of phone purchase, serial number, shipping, communications with shipper and Apple. Hopefully you win, but no guarantee. I am not sure if court costs can be charged or not to the losing party in small claims either, find out first. (The clerk of the court can probably give you the information.)
When you dropped the phone off at FedEx, dos you get a receipt? That receipt should show the exact, to the tenth of an ounce (or pound? I don't remember), weight of the box. An empty box will weigh significantly less than one with the phone in it.
I point this out because you could use this as further evidence from your case.
I recently read of this happening to someone else, however apple ruled that there was indeed tampering to the package.
The reality is that I don't imagine that these boxes and even labels would be hard to come by for an employee. A person with the rift but if knowledge could keep your box, reproduce the label, and slap it on another Apple box and it looks like a completely untouched shipment.
I point this out because you could use this as further evidence from your case.
I recently read of this happening to someone else, however apple ruled that there was indeed tampering to the package.
The reality is that I don't imagine that these boxes and even labels would be hard to come by for an employee. A person with the rift but if knowledge could keep your box, reproduce the label, and slap it on another Apple box and it looks like a completely untouched shipment.
This had a package weight that corresponded with the weight of the phone? If so, did you contact fedex in regards to this case?