Apple charging for their free “no service” repair

[Rizzm]

So Apple has a repair program for the “no service” but. I’m within the time period to get it.

I sent the phone in and received a quote for additional required work for $150 + tax. Is there any way I can go about getting the repair for free? I don’t want to be taken advantage of if I’m supposed to be getting the full repair at no charge.

Any questions you’d ask to make sure I’m not being had? Should I ask details about the necessary repair? Any other advice would be nice. Thanks!

 

[maflynn]

So Apple has a repair program for the “no service” but. I’m within the time period to get it.

I'm confused, are you within the time period? If so why are they charging you?

 

[Rizzm]

I'm confused, are you within the time period? If so why are they charging you?

I only have details from my girlfriend, to whom the phone belongs to, who made a brief call. I guess they said they can’t do the repair without doing other repairs, and those OTHER repairs would cost since she’s out of warranty. It seems kinda fishy, which is why I’m here trying to get something I may be entitled to.

 

[Minorite]

Weird, from what I know they usually just replace the phone instead of actually fixing the Baseband IC. Maybe there was some specific damage?

Ask her to call again and ask for details. Apple employees are still humans and can say something stupid or related to another user case.

 

[jetsam]

So Apple has a repair program for the “no service” but. I’m within the time period to get it.

I sent the phone in and received a quote for additional required work for $150 + tax. Is there any way I can go about getting the repair for free? I don’t want to be taken advantage of if I’m supposed to be getting the full repair at no charge.

Any questions you’d ask to make sure I’m not being had? Should I ask details about the necessary repair? Any other advice would be nice. Thanks!

Note this condition in the "no service" free repair:

"If your iPhone 7 has any damage which impairs the ability to complete the repair, such as a cracked screen, that issue will need to be resolved prior to the service. In some cases, there may be a cost associated with the additional repair."
https://www.apple.com/support/iphone-7-no-service/

$149 is the out-of-warranty iPhone 7 screen replacement cost. Most likely, that's your "$150 + tax" charge.

 

[nieks]

Probably what jetsam said. The phone has some sort of damage that Apple will have to fix as well. Normally there is nothing 'fishy' with the Apple repair services.

 

[cashville2400]

Same thing happened to my daughter’s 7. I took it to the Apple store and they said it was one of the phones that had the no service issue. It was part of the program and they would fix it for free.They sent it off and Apple sent me an email today saying I needed to pay $319. So I called and talked to someone who escalated to another guy who told me it had no service. So I told him I wanted to know what was wrong. He really couldn’t tell me other than it has no service but he didn’t think it was the same issue as what the program fixes. I told him to send it back, no way in hell I am paying that.

I am beyond pissed. The man on the phone told me to take it back to the Apple store and try to get the manager to fix it for free. I know it is not a lot of money but it is just the principle of the matter. I keep hearing more stories like this everyday. I was looking forward to the new phones coming out next month but things like this really have me thinking about getting out of the Apple ecosystem altogether.

 

[thwdylm]

Same thing happened to my daughter’s 7. I took it to the Apple store and they said it was one of the phones that had the no service issue. It was part of the program and they would fix it for free.They sent it off and Apple sent me an email today saying I needed to pay $319. So I called and talked to someone who escalated to another guy who told me it had no service. So I told him I wanted to know what was wrong. He really couldn’t tell me other than it has no service but he didn’t think it was the same issue as what the program fixes. I told him to send it back, no way in hell I am paying that.

I am beyond pissed. The man on the phone told me to take it back to the Apple store and try to get the manager to fix it for free. I know it is not a lot of money but it is just the principle of the matter. I keep hearing more stories like this everyday. I was looking forward to the new phones coming out next month but things like this really have me thinking about getting out of the Apple ecosystem altogether.

I know this is late, but what ended up happening with this? I'm in the same situation right now.

 

[Minorite]

I know this is late, but what ended up happening with this? I'm in the same situation right now.

Find a trusted repair shop that does microsoldering. It will be cheaper and faster. $319 is almost the price of a new phone these days....

 

[Minho]

The problem is that a high percentage of those "No Service" iPhone 7's are caused by a faulty Baseband IC. You cannot change the BB IC as it is code-locked with the CPU/NAND and EEPROM. Most micro-soldering shops won't even touch them as it is time consuming to troubleshoot only to find out that 80% of them are unfixable. That simply is not a viable repair when you work on a no fix/no fee policy.

 

[cashville2400]

I know this is late, but what ended up happening with this? I'm in the same situation right now.

They told me that I would have to pay the money or have the phone sent back. I told them to send the phone back. Now I have a paper weight.