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How to get my Apple Store to replace my iPhone 3GS?

A

askfareed

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 14, 2009
76
0
Hi, basically my iPhone has a problem, it cant receive calls, most of the time it goes straight to voicemail. So i called o2 and they said everything is ok on their side. And i tried my o2 sim card in a friends iPhone and it worked fine. So there is definitely something wrong with the iPhone. Also whenever someone tries to call and it doesn't get through my balance pops up.

Anyway i restored it as a new phone and it still has the problem. I went to a Apple retail store and they said they can't do anything about it as its probably got to do with the network, even though i told them my sim works fine in a different iPhone. So they tried to call me and out of the million times people have tried to call, this one did actually go through. But now i home again and tried to call and it goes straight to voicemail. At home i have full signal, and it even doesn't work outside.

So what excuse can i use to get it replaced cause they are not accepting this one, so i know that means i will be lying, but if they don't know how to do their jobs and realise theres a fault with the phone as when i put my sim in someone else's iPhone it works fine.
 
Just keep going back.
Your original issue would have been recorded at the genius bar - keep getting them to test again and eventually they'll replace it.

Its pointless making up another issue because they'll likely think you're trying to pull a fast one.
 
i have two apple stores that i can get to, both roughly 1 hour away and on different sides of town. So im not gonna keep going as thats going to waste too much time. I just want to go to the other retail store and get it replaced, so i need a different excuse, please i have already booked to go on friday, so i need a good excuse before then.
 
askfareed said:
i have two apple stores that i can get to, both roughly 1 hour away and on different sides of town. So im not gonna keep going as thats going to waste too much time. I just want to go to the other retail store and get it replaced, so i need a different excuse, please i have already booked to go on friday, so i need a good excuse before then.
Click to expand...
No offense, but we dont usually help people try and scam Apple. I know you think its a problem, and it is unfortunate that they didnt replicate the issue, but go back on Friday and tell them you are experiencing the same issues, and you'd like them to test again. Go to the other store, not the one you went to before.
 
askfareed said:
i have two apple stores that i can get to, both roughly 1 hour away and on different sides of town. So im not gonna keep going as thats going to waste too much time. I just want to go to the other retail store and get it replaced, so i need a different excuse, please i have already booked to go on friday, so i need a good excuse before then.
Click to expand...

Dude, just do what acfusion suggested and have them call you until the problem is replicated. Also, does this problem occur at certain areas? If it's only happening at home or specific place, it might just be a connection issue.
 
Mischka07 said:
Dude, just do what acfusion suggested and have them call you until the problem is replicated. Also, does this problem occur at certain areas? If it's only happening at home or specific place, it might just be a connection issue.
Click to expand...

it happens anywhere. Also they disregarded the problem and said it was my networks fault not the iphone's as they called and it went through.
 
...30% dropped calls is normal....;)

Sadly to say that I had success with an uncommon problem. Maybe 8/10 times my home button would work and the other 2/10 times would be random chance. I was worried that the Apple Genius would not be able to replicate it. When he tried it happened once, pretty sure, but that was good enough for him.

Just keep going back and wish for luck.
 
askfareed said:
i have two apple stores that i can get to, both roughly 1 hour away and on different sides of town. So im not gonna keep going as thats going to waste too much time. I just want to go to the other retail store and get it replaced, so i need a different excuse, please i have already booked to go on friday, so i need a good excuse before then.
Click to expand...

Don't want to go to an Apple store? Call AppleCare.
You're making this much harder than you need to be.
 
You have updated to 3.1.2 havnt you? With 3.1 I was losing upto 75% of calls now I'm back to normal :D
 
yes i have updated to the latest firmware, but still i have this problem. Also if i call applecare wont they take £540 from my account until i return the old one? I dont have that much money to lend out to apple and i dont want to give them my phone and wait days or weeks for them to send me a new one.

I have thought about it a lot, so thanks for u guys trying to be helpful and give me alternate routes, but the only help/advise i need is on Which excuse can i use to get my iPhone replaced at a apple retail store on the spot, not coming a million times hoping they may accept it once.
 
They typically send a replacement out, and then if they get yours back and find nothing wrong with it, they'll charge you.

There is no excuse Apple is going to buy at this point. You can try saying all kinds of things, about battery life etc... but they have ways to test pretty much any excuse you have, that is a lie. Your only option is to keep on them and eventually someone will replace it.
 
askfareed said:
So can no one just give me a good reason for them to replace it?
Click to expand...

Yes - make an appointment with an an Apple Genius.

HONESTLY explain the problem and demonstrate it. If your problem is genuine, they will be sympathetic and help you.

If you resort to using "excuses" (lies!), they will see through that (they've had plenty of experience of dishonest idiots trying to con them!) and send you packing with a proverbial flea in your ear!

Honesty is always the best policy.

Personally, I've found Apple to be extremely helpful.
 
Do not even entertain the idea of lying to Apple. Not only is this a scumbag move, but they WILL find out and will be less than willing to accommodate you then, and perhaps in future.

Do as the others have said - be honest. It's not that difficult. Don't leave until you have been able to demonstrate the problem - Apple have a fantastic policy when it comes to problems with your purchase, don't abuse it. If, after a reasonable amount of tries, your problem isn't apparent while you're there, then your beef is with O2, or perhaps you just have a coverage issue in most of the places you go to, in which case you might consider unlocking your phone and trying a carrier with coverage better suited to your needs.
 
theres no problem with the coverage, as my friend has a iphone 3g s and his works perfectly all the time. Even when i have full signal i dont get calls!!!
 
I'm surprised that the Apple store would not replace it. They are known for good service without hassle. 3GS would still be covered under the warranty. I guess you just got a crappy store rep.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

Just call up Apple and tell them the issue. They can make a note of it under you serial number then the store can replace it
 
askfareed said:
theres no problem with the coverage, as my friend has a iphone 3g s and his works perfectly all the time. Even when i have full signal i dont get calls!!!
Click to expand...

Go back, and try to replicate the problem again. Keep trying, be persistent, be polite and do not be rude. If they say no, ask to speak with a supervisor/manager in charge and explain to him/her what the problem is. The problem should have been documented on their systems, so maybe if they see you came back again, they might not be so quick to tell you they can't do anything about it.
 
Have you considered going back to the carrier and asking for a new sim card or trying a different one in your iphone to test? It may fix the issue?

My wife's did this same thing, and it was the phone. I know, because I took her sim out of her old phone that had the problem and put it in her new iphone the night before christmas, and she hasn't had any problems since. Keep going at it with Apple...
 
I've had limited experience with in warrenty apple gear. A couple of weeks ago my wifes MacBook trackpad wouldn't always control correctly. We brought it to the macstore and the guy got it to kinda repete like once every 20-30 times. I thought he was going to say there was nothing wrong because it was Hadrian to tell if there was an actual problem. He was like " it's either this or this so we're going to send it out under the warrenty." We got it back 4 days later and my wife hasn't complained about it since. Rare experience nowadays.
 
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