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Other applecare is saying "water damage" but this phone hasn't been in contact with liquid?

What happened to Apple?

Sent this letter to Apple executive care and still no help?

> I am writing this letter to complain in the strongest terms about
> the poor service that I have received from your company. Last summer
> I purchased two iPhones for myself and my wife. I have enjoyed your
> product so much that since purchasing I have actually started
> studying programming for applications. Unfortunately during the
> first three months of ownership the volume switch broke off of my
> phone. I manage a local business and haven't had time until
> recently to go to an Apple store for repair. Last week I called
> technical support and was pleased to hear that several customers had
> similar problems. An appointment was made and I was assured the
> problem would be resolved. When I arrived at the Apple location a
> technical support specialist looked my phone over and told me that
> the phone had water damage (indicator strip was red). I explained
> that it had not been exposed to water and the phone worked fine. I
> asked the representative to consider that the switch being broken
> had nothing to do with water, but was told the warranty was void and
> nothing could be done. I was then offered to purchase a new iPhone
> for full retail price. After leaving the store I contacted a
> customer service representative who agreed with my concerns and put
> me in contact with another technical support specialist. This
> specialist also insisted that the warranty was void and nothing
> could be done. I cannot effectively express how dissappointed I am
> in the customer service I received from Apple. I have been an avid
> supporter of your products and hope that you address this concern so
> that I may continue to do so. I would appreciate it if this
> situation could be resolved and a replacement phone is offered.
>

Executive care has since called and refuses to work with me! So long Apple!:mad::(
 
Sounds eerily similar to me! But I haven't been able to get anyone to call me back. Awesome. :confused:
 
Okay, So I've owned my 3G phone now for two months. Love it, pamper it, on the verge of a obsessive compulsive disorder. Last night while cleaning my phone I noticed the cracks that I heard about from other iPhone owners. You know the ones I'm talking about. They mysteriously appear next to the mute button, then run along the top over to the headphone jack.
No problem. It's under warranty. I'll take it two hours away to the Apple store. They'll replace it for free, so I've been told.
Like I said, I pamper my phone. I wipe the prints off every night before charging it. I keep it in a hard shell case in my pocket. It's mounted on my dash when I'm in the car, and left on the dresser while I'm home.
So when the Apple Nazi at the store told me "subjected to water, warranty void! NEXT!" I nearly fell of the stool. But wait, for a mere 299.00 I can purchase a replacement phone. Thanks but no thanks.
My phone was not exposed to any water.
If humidity or sweat from being in my front pocket is enough to effectively damage the phone, maybe Apple needs to go back to the drawing board. Maybe the phones aren't durable enough for daily use, thus should not be marketed as portable phones. Maybe they should only be used in a sterile environment. Or perhaps their indicator is just to sensitive and they need to rethink the submersion indicator.
After buying an iPod Classic 60gb a couple years ago, I became a Mac fan. I followed up by purchasing three more iPod Classics for each of my daughters. I bought a iPod Nano for my wife and then later purchased a iPod Touch for her. Last year I bought a MacBook, but now I'm a bit soured by the support aspect. I had to drive two hours to get to the closest Apple store just to be turned away because of a color changing dye.
I wont pay the 300.00 and I wont buy anymore Apple products.
I'll crack open my phone an refurbish it myself, Why not. The warranty is void anyway. And I guess my wife will buy the LG Vu.
 
Let them know

Be sure to write a letter! The more people they hear from the more likely they are to change their policy!
 
jgord026 said:
Sent this letter to Apple executive care and still no help?

> I am writing this letter to complain in the strongest terms about
> the poor service that I have received from your company. Last summer
> I purchased two iPhones for myself and my wife. I have enjoyed your
> product so much that since purchasing I have actually started
> studying programming for applications. Unfortunately during the
> first three months of ownership the volume switch broke off of my
> phone. I manage a local business and haven't had time until
> recently to go to an Apple store for repair. Last week I called
> technical support and was pleased to hear that several customers had
> similar problems. An appointment was made and I was assured the
> problem would be resolved. When I arrived at the Apple location a
> technical support specialist looked my phone over and told me that
> the phone had water damage (indicator strip was red). I explained
> that it had not been exposed to water and the phone worked fine. I
> asked the representative to consider that the switch being broken
> had nothing to do with water, but was told the warranty was void and
> nothing could be done. I was then offered to purchase a new iPhone
> for full retail price. After leaving the store I contacted a
> customer service representative who agreed with my concerns and put
> me in contact with another technical support specialist. This
> specialist also insisted that the warranty was void and nothing
> could be done. I cannot effectively express how dissappointed I am
> in the customer service I received from Apple. I have been an avid
> supporter of your products and hope that you address this concern so
> that I may continue to do so. I would appreciate it if this
> situation could be resolved and a replacement phone is offered.
>

Executive care has since called and refuses to work with me! So long Apple!:mad::(
Click to expand...

Dear Apple, I dropped my phone in some water and I want it Replaced for free


I don't care how nice you sugarcoat your message, whether it was dropped in water or not ( the strip is red, so you are screwed) that's what I read your letter
 
berchman said:
Wondering... what if you touch the headphone plug with a sweaty hand and insert the plug into the jack? False positive? As for the other indicator at the bottom of the phone I am not sure.
Click to expand...

False positive.. wow are you serious

Here I found A link that will enlighten you


http://******.com/?q=Electrical+short
 
Liquid damage is liquid damage. Only liquids can make those sensors go off...whether it be humidity or anything. Unfortunately, the manufacturers have to have a fine line as to where they replace it and to where they don't. With cellphones...its pretty simple. If the LD indicator goes off...the phone is out of warranty...thats it.
 
jrm27 said:
These are my thoughts as well.

Does Executive Customer Services always write back? I dropped an email to the address provided here earlier last Thursday and haven't heard back from them. I'm not expecting a quick reply (or necessarily one at all). Just wondering if anyone had any experience with emailing Executive Customer Services at all. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I wrote to the steve address and got a phone call from a Apple Executive 3 days later, they worked out my problem (took about a week with lots of research) but they gave me a new x1900 free of charge even though its over a year out of warranty. Are you in canada by any chance?
 
Built-in obsolescence

I brought my 3 month-old iPhone into the Apple Store in LA when it would not charge. They showed me that the water damage indicator was red. They said this was caused by the introduction of "a lot of water". I was surprised. The phone was never spilled on or submerged in water. They recommended I buy a new phone.

I went to another Apple store for a second opinion. Same recommendation. In fact, the worker recited the same script.

I took the phone to the AT&T store. There, an AT&T rep told me the phones were "very sensitive to moisture". This is a very different explanation than Apple's claim that only a large amount of water could damage the phone. The AT&T rep gave me the number of a cell phone repair shop.

The repair shop fixed the phone in 10 minutes. This was after Apple told me my only option was to buy a new phone.

Apple's policy is lazy, greedy, and wasteful. According to their policy all moisture-damaged phones should be trashed. They are asking their customers to spend several hundred dollars on a new phone rather than performing a simple repair. This is unacceptable. It's bad customer service and harmful to the environment to boot.
 
JForestZ34 said:
I would definatly tell them to BITE ME.... Why would they put moisture sensor in there for them to be that sensitive... I would call back and see if you could talk to a supervisor and see if they can help.. My phone has never been close to water so who knows if they are telling you the truth or not.. If I ever have to bring my phone in, I WANT to see the sensor for myself, not any of this taking it into the back room for a couple of minutes and then coming back out and then checking the sensor.. NO WAY... I wouldn't doubt that at some store's they do this so they can deny some claims...


James
Click to expand...

Exactly. With this logic, if you took the phone outside in the summer from an air conditioned building - bingo, you'd have water damage.

Which we all know is a crock of BS. Having lived in high humidity and places that were extremely hot (Saudi Arabia hot enough? Try Riyadh at 39 centigrade in July!) most of my life, I can tell you that's not the case at all.

I'd be livid.
 
johnd24 said:
I brought my 3 month-old iPhone into the Apple Store in LA when it would not charge. They showed me that the water damage indicator was red. They said this was caused by the introduction of "a lot of water". I was surprised. The phone was never spilled on or submerged in water. They recommended I buy a new phone.

I went to another Apple store for a second opinion. Same recommendation. In fact, the worker recited the same script.

I took the phone to the AT&T store. There, an AT&T rep told me the phones were "very sensitive to moisture". This is a very different explanation than Apple's claim that only a large amount of water could damage the phone. The AT&T rep gave me the number of a cell phone repair shop.

The repair shop fixed the phone in 10 minutes. This was after Apple told me my only option was to buy a new phone.

Apple's policy is lazy, greedy, and wasteful. According to their policy all moisture-damaged phones should be trashed. They are asking their customers to spend several hundred dollars on a new phone rather than performing a simple repair. This is unacceptable. It's bad customer service and harmful to the environment to boot.
Click to expand...

If they're that sensitive, I damn sure don't want one. Sounds like a faulty sensor lot to me - because otherwise, folks in Florida would be screwed.
 
Litmus test to avoid fixing the real problem

I have just been through the water damage spiel a "genius" gave me.

My phone has not been in water. It has been inside my pocket when I was sweating, but that's it. I do live in a humid climate.

The indicator inside the power/data connector is pink. The indicator in the headphone jack is white.

The problem with my phone is it gets very hot, and the battery does not last longer than an hour. I suspect a problem with the battery. The "genius" claims it is because it got wet, thus out of warranty thus I must pay for a replacement. I claim BS.

It seems to me that Apple uses this easily triggered litmus paper to avoid addressing the real defects with many iPhones. They don't even diagnose the real problem, they just blame it on you as soon as they see that little pink strip.

I think the thing that bothers me most about it is they are accusing me of lying. I am not lying, the phone has not been wet. At least not beyond what would be considered normal operating circumstances. But then it' my word against that little pink strip, and Apple chooses to side with the pink strip.

This is my first Apple product. Apple do make user friendly devices, but based on this experience they are not friendly to their user's.
 
It seems that water sensors are being misused (not just by Apple, but by the industry in general) - they should be used as an indication that there may be water damage to the phone, not as proof positive because there do appear to be isolated cases where they have triggered erroneously.

IMO, what should happen is that if they see a triggered sensor they should refuse immediate service because it "appears there may be water damage to this device", and then send it off for further diagnostics: I'm sure there is a way of saying for definite if a device has been destroyed or damaged by water that doesn't involve a simple color change.

If those diagnostics show water damage, then by all means refuse service but if they don't the water sensors should be replaced and the device repaired under warranty.

The whole purpose of the sensors is to avoid the situation where someone drops their phone in the sink and then takes it back claiming it just stopped working. In this situation, the sensors would stop immediate repair and the diagnostics would pick up the damage.

Just my 2 cents...
 
Things must have changed, because last year I dropped my first-gen iPhone into my dog's water bowl, rendering 1/3 of the touchscreen useless. I sent it in, got a new one no problem.
 
I've lost all faith in Apple...

I got my iPhone in the end of December. The sometime in March I got off of work and tried to call my friend. However, even though the phone was making the call and the call connected, I could not hear my friend and he could not hear me. Two hours later the phone worked fine like there was never an issue. For about three months, it would work sometimes, and not others. Being a busy college student I didn't have the time to go to the Apple store (which is 25 minutes away and I don't have a car).

Yesterday, I finally found the time and a ride. A nice woman got me an appointment at the ill-named "Genius Bar" even though they were booked until Monday. It reminded me of why I love Apple. That love was soon dashed to pieces. The woman who helped me looked at the moisture sensor on the bottom of my phone and told me there was "liquid damage." I told her that had to be wrong because I have NEVER dropped my phone in any liquid nor have I spilled any liquid on it. And I think I would remember doing something like that. She kept implying that I was lying, suggesting that some people drop it in the toilet or let their kids chew on it. Or maybe I put it in the cup holder of my car. I told her I don't have a car and she said maybe I let a friend borrow it and they did something to it and then didn't tell me about it.

I told her none of that happened and that the only about of moisture that could have gotten into the phone would have had to have been from regular daily use, not from misuse. I then went on to say that if this product malfunctions based on regular use, it's a bad product. She told me that in order to have the damage that I have (though she never looked at the so-called damage inside, just at the sensor) I would have had to have fully submerged the bottom half of my phone in water since the top sensor was still white. I told her I did NOT submerge my phone in anything. She insisted I did.

I went down to the AT&T kiosk and they told me that moisture/condensation from a shower can trip that sensor. I went back up to Apple and spoke to a manager this time. He told me that AT&T was lying about that and that he goes so far as to bring his phone into the shower so he can watch videos and listen to podcasts (no joke). He also said that my phone wouldn't have to be fully submerged as I was previously told but a lot of liquid would have to be on/in it. He also told me that the woman I spoke to earlier was simply trying to "jog my memory" about what might have happened, like I would forget dropping my phone in the toilet.

Now, EVERYTHING else on my phone works perfectly. I can send and receive texts. The screen is perfect. It lasts for days battery wise. It never shuts off, freezes up, nothing. Other than not being able to hear anything when I make/receive phone calls, it's perfect. I can also hear my voice mails, which would indicate that the top speaker is not broken like they say it is. To me, that seems like really selective "liquid damage." I could be wrong but it seems highly unlikely that only one function would be affected if I submerged it in water. When I told the men at AT&T that I can still hear my voice mails they look thoroughly puzzled, claiming they had never heard of a phone behaving like mine before. Isn't water damage pretty common? Shouldn't there be a lot more wrong with it?

I want to see the supposed corrosion inside. I can promise you I would shut right up if they had popped my phone open and showed me. But they didn't they just kept referring to the sensor that is so close to the outside of the phone that I can see it with my own two eyes, no flashlight needed. The manager did say they the bottom of my phone looked corroded when compared to his phone (which look brand spanking new, the newest version perhaps?). I blew into it to show him that it was only dust. He reminded me that wasn't good either. Well, yeah, but what am I supposed to do? Carry it around in a vacuum I guess.

But of course, Apple refuses to do anything. I've only had this phone for 6 months and it's been acting up for four of them. I also don't see how it would take four months for a phone to fully corrode inside and destroy the logic board, even though there is no longer any water or moisture in the phone (this is what they told me) and only one function is affected. Especially when I never got any significant amount of liquid on it. I can tell you that I will not be purchasing the replacement for $199. I am pretty sure that I will never be purchasing another Apple product again. I'll gladly buy a Zune and go back to using PC's.

This is just ridiculous. They know what they are doing and they honestly don't care.
 
this thread scares the bejezzus out of me! :eek:

so you can't use this as a normal every day phone without tripping the water sensor? i guess my hubby's will be tripped the first time he goes on a bike ride with the iphone in his jersey back pocket (thus getting sweat near it)... nevermind that he's been through other phones over the years that he does that and they work just fine!

it almost scares me enough to want to cancel our 2 pre-orders!
 
It seems that a lot of people who have broken phones have the water sensor tripped.....

Maybe the phone was indeed damaged by those who got water into their phone?

OK, between a piece of testing equipment and person's claim, who should I believe?

It is almost like between a pregnancy test showing positive, and the person claiming "I have never had sex"...(Yes, that reminds me of a particular House episode).
 
johnqh said:
Maybe the phone was indeed damaged by those who got water into their phone?

OK, between a piece of testing equipment and person's claim, who should I believe?
Click to expand...

So technology never fails or is too sensitive?! People are not saying that the sensor is necessarily wrong, but that perhaps it is too sensitive because it is being tripped by every day use. You can see it from the outside of the phone. The one at the bottom is near an inch opening. Very easy for a drop of rain or sweat to get into and hit the sensor. Most liquid damage sensors are placed inside the phone, near the battery.

The people at AT&T told me and my step mom that it can be tripped by moisture from a shower. We both went to two different stores, in two different states at the same time and both said the exact same thing. Are you calling them liars as well?

Like I said, most people are just saying that the sensor is too sensitive. And it is if it can change color signifying water damage by daily, regular use. And if you think about it, it's resolving a lot of issues for Apple. The are denying warranties based solely on the color of a strip that is near an opening in the phone. And as I mentioned in my post previously, no one actually opened my phone to confirm water damage.

Would you let someone diagnose a problem with your car based on a strip of paper changing color without ever opening up the vehicle to make sure that is the problem? I don't think so!
 
Pregnancy tests are not always accurate either...

johnqh said:
It is almost like between a pregnancy test showing positive, and the person claiming "I have never had sex"...(Yes, that reminds me of a particular House episode).
Click to expand...

Also, pregnancy tests CAN (and DO) give a false positive or a false negative which is why women are always encouraged to take more than one or get a blood test which is the most accurate way of determining if a woman is pregnant.

So that example doesn't exactly prove your point. Nor does referencing House, a fictional show.
 
I got a hairline crack in my screen corner to corner (covered by warranty) went in to get it exchanged, what do you know was told there was liquid damage. The headphone jack sensor was not tripped the dock connecter one is. My response, bullllllshiiiiitttt, has never been in a situation where it has been wet. Was told that the sensor will only trip if practically submerged in liquid. I do work outside most of the day from just before dawn (so cold and dewy) but no way this should trip the sensor in my pocket. They would not fix the screen because the warranty is now void, the phone is in perfect working order in evey way, just updated to 3.0.

Anyway i stuck to my guns went through the right channels and now i have a case number to take it in and get the screen fixed once i get time, so seeing though they don't fix iphones another phone most likely.

I seriously question the accuracy of the liquid sensor in the iphone, and feel for people in the same situation :mad:
 
I finally got around to bring in my phone which has 4 of those cracks and is getting dust under the right side. I was told it was in water. I was not happy. Called over a manager and they just refused to help me.

Oh yeah, I forgot, apple doesn't have bugs or material defects, especially in these sensors! I am livid. They hide behind this to get out of their end of the warranty bargain.

I will call the 800 number, but after that I am going to the Better Business Bureau. This is abusive and needs to be reported.

Anyone have success getting their phone replaced, please post.
 
update: They replaced the screen not the phone, so i still have a "liquid damaged" phone so if anything else goes wrong I'm screwed. But i think i was lucky to get that, guess I'm happy. :rolleyes: Pictures beforehand
 

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MisterEdF said:
Some Chinese company needs to manufacture a waterproof plug for the headphone jack and bottom jack. It should be very cheap and easy to do.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I was thinking. Or make a case with removable plugs for the headphone and charging ports...
 
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