How many dead pixels for an exchange?

[dharrison9]

I went to my local Apple Store (Chestnut Hill) with my iPhone and asked them about my dead pixel. I've only got one, but it does get annoying when I can see it. It's quite nitpicky, but like most people say, it's $600 and that should be enough to see one pixel as a problem.

They told me that one pixel doesn't qualify as affecting the usability of the phone, so it's not eligible for replacement. Does anyone have a work around or experience with ONE dead pixel?

On a side note. Yes, we all know that they SHOULD replace it. The question is, have you had this problem, and what did you do about it.

 

[applehappy]

Dude, your apple store rep is full of it. ANY defect should result in replacement or repair. Don't let some loser give Apple a bad name. Most genius bar employees are awesome, but that one gave you a bad answer. Call Apple about it right now, or talk to the store manager at that same store. You have 14 days to get a no questions asked return on it. I returned my first phone because the external speaker didn't work and they gave me great service, even cloning the new phone for me. Then my headphones that came with the phone were crackling in the right ear, so they swapped those out for me. It's not nitpicking when they want $600 for these things.

 

[siurpeeman]

yesterday i went to the apple store in brea, ca, and they replaced my iphone without question. i talked to the genius. he looked at it, told me to wait a bit while he went to the back and came back with a new iphone for me. he put my old sim card into the new phone, gave me an exchange receipt, and i was on my way.

 

[DiamondMac]

Call 1800MYAPPLE if the store isn't helping you.

Sounds fishy to me if you didnt cause it.

 

[dharrison9]

I managed to get an appointment for tomorrow at 11:15 so hopefully good news will happen.

 

[millerrh]

I got the same runaround about one dead pixel not being enough to exchange it. I wonder what the official policy is. Maybe I should try calling that 800 number and asking them...

Also, the 14 day return policy. They make you pay the 10% restocking fee right? Cause that's what the genius guy told me.

 

[SMM]

So, what does a dead pixel look like? I have never seen one.

 

[millerrh]

So, what does a dead pixel look like? I have never seen one.

Mine shows up as a bright spot when viewing dark/black images. I see it along the bottom bar when in iPod mode. I took a close up picture of my black wallet in the dark to make a full screen black image to test the rest of the phone. Luckily it is just that one that doesn't turn black.

 

[madagi]

Honestly, you're rolling the dice when trying to return something with 1 dead pixel. I don't know what Apple's policy is on dead pixels for the iPhone but with their laptops it all depends on how many and the location of the dead pixels. When I bought my MBP it had 2 dead pixels in the center but they told me it had to have 5 or more I believe. After calmly rationing with them, they agreed that it was an annoyance and they decided to replace the laptop for me anyway. My advice would be to just try again and don't give them hell, just talk to them calmly and firmly and hopefully you'll get someone that will be willing to help you out. Good luck!

 

[Noumenon]

Why not try to replace the pixel yourself, how hard could that be?

 

[aatawm]

i just had mine replaced for having 1 bad pixel. the genius said it wasn't like the ipods/laptops/displays, and that all returned iphones were being shipped back to engineering to be dissected. they just pulled out another 8gb fresh out of the box popped in my sim card and i was good to go. the tech also mentioned having been on a conference call with engineering yesterday and it appeared that they are handling dead pixel differently on the iphones as he told the tech next to him that they aren't handled the same as other equip.

 

[kkachurak]

I went in today because I have two dead pixels right next to each other. They turned me away - said I needed to have five dead pixels. Any ideas on how to kill three more pixels?

 

[shortelvis]

Dead pixels suck, but...

what are you going to do? It's bound to happen to ANY lcd screen throughout the life of the phone/tv/monitor, anyway. Unless you have a cluster or a stuck pixel, I'd just deal with it. You'll just drive yourself crazy and will probably get an exchange that is worse the the original. I've been there, after a while, you just don't care anymore. My iMac was shipped to me as a replacement, and sure enough, a black pixel 3 inches of center on my screen that I use heavily for photos. It drove me nuts at first, now I barely even notice it (or really care). Don't get me wrong, stuck pixels blow, dead black pixels are lame, too, but those shiny little stars on the black screen...just stop looking, you'll just find more. My girlfriends has at least 5-10, but they aren't clusters, and I probably won't even tell her.

 

[PennState4Ever]

I have one dead pixel. Should I take it back?

It doesn't really bother me but is it going to get worse?

Do dead pixels beget more dead pixels?

 

[p0intblank]

My iPhone has a few dead pixels, but they're so small you can barely see them. They're green, but like I said... they're so tiny, they are barely noticeable. I thought about it and I decided to live with it. It's not like my PSP where that one is actually noticeable.

 

[Daiden]

I don't have dead pixels, but in the upper left corner of the phone there's a yellowish haze that is really noticeable on white backgrounds. It's about where the headphone jack is. Anyone else have this?

 

[youyou]

Guys are you serious!!!!
Just go to the Apple Store , tell them your phone is freezing conatantly or your battery dies out really quickly or you get distortion on the screen sometimes or whatever the hell you want!!! Who the hell would go and try to exchange by saying you have 1 dead pixel!!
If it's within the first 14 days they will exchange it 100%.
I bought a 4gb played with it a couple of days , decided i wanted to get an
8gb. Went to the store told them I was having battery issues with my phone. They took it and exchanged it right away without a restocking fee (obviously) and i upgraded to an 8gb...

 

[madagi]

I don't know about where you live but the Apple store near me will attempt to reproduce any problem you say you're having and if they can't they're very unlikely to replace the device for you.