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Other Survey: User experience of battery replacement program
- Thread starter colmaclean
- Start date
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iPhone model: 7
Location of service: Apple Store Vía Santa Fe, Mexico City
Old Battery Capacity: 86% (1700 mAh)
Old Battery Cycles: 466
Did they replace the Battery: Yes
New Battery Capacity: 100% (2034 mAh)!!!
New Battery Cycles: 0
Comment: In less than an hour my phone was ready and now works like brand new.
Location of service: Apple Store Vía Santa Fe, Mexico City
Old Battery Capacity: 86% (1700 mAh)
Old Battery Cycles: 466
Did they replace the Battery: Yes
New Battery Capacity: 100% (2034 mAh)!!!
New Battery Cycles: 0
Comment: In less than an hour my phone was ready and now works like brand new.
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Sorry to hear about your poor experience. That definitely wasn't handled the correct way. I will tell you this, though, as far as the product availability goes advisors are pretty limited. For example your mail-in option. If there is a part constraint (like the batteries) it is completely impossible to create a mail-in repair. The system won't let you do it, period. I hope this gets resolved for you soon.
iPhone model: 6
Location of service: Mail-in via UPS Store, shipped to Elk Grove, CA
Old Battery Capacity: unknown. I did have the "Your battery may need to be serviced" warning in settings.
Old Battery Cycles: unknown
Did they replace the battery? Y
Reason they gave if they did not replace:
New Battery Capacity:
New Battery Cycles:
Comment: Took 17 days total to replace, despite Apple.com promising 3-5 days. I learned about the battery shortages via news on this website, so I knew it was going to take a little while, so I tried to be patient. I'm impressed that Apple paid for overnight shipping both ways -- I know that cost them way more than the $6.95 I paid for shipping.
I'm glad I at least had an old iPhone 5 that I could use as a backup. I didn't initially expect it to take 2+ weeks. I've seen reports on Twitter of Apple rejecting people's repairs for irrelevant reasons -- I'm REALLY glad that didn't happen to me. Judging from the various reports in this thread, people have had wildly different experiences with this battery replacement program depending on where they go.
Location of service: Mail-in via UPS Store, shipped to Elk Grove, CA
Old Battery Capacity: unknown. I did have the "Your battery may need to be serviced" warning in settings.
Old Battery Cycles: unknown
Did they replace the battery? Y
Reason they gave if they did not replace:
New Battery Capacity:
New Battery Cycles:
Comment: Took 17 days total to replace, despite Apple.com promising 3-5 days. I learned about the battery shortages via news on this website, so I knew it was going to take a little while, so I tried to be patient. I'm impressed that Apple paid for overnight shipping both ways -- I know that cost them way more than the $6.95 I paid for shipping.
I'm glad I at least had an old iPhone 5 that I could use as a backup. I didn't initially expect it to take 2+ weeks. I've seen reports on Twitter of Apple rejecting people's repairs for irrelevant reasons -- I'm REALLY glad that didn't happen to me. Judging from the various reports in this thread, people have had wildly different experiences with this battery replacement program depending on where they go.
UPDATE: It's been four weeks (as of tomorrow). No change in status. I did send a letter to Tim Cook as apolloa suggested, and cc'ed Tara Bunch. (Snail-Mail) Haven't heard but it's only been a week.
Note to others sending in their phones, make sure you shut off or transfer 2FA to another device. Same goes with your health info.
As I was typing this, I heard on BBC radio that Apple is releasing an update that allows turning off the slowdown, which begs the question why wasn't this optional in the first place?
[doublepost=1516989371][/doublepost]yesmikan What date did you send in your phone?
Note to others sending in their phones, make sure you shut off or transfer 2FA to another device. Same goes with your health info.
As I was typing this, I heard on BBC radio that Apple is releasing an update that allows turning off the slowdown, which begs the question why wasn't this optional in the first place?
[doublepost=1516989371][/doublepost]yesmikan What date did you send in your phone?
@Kavika808 I dropped it off at a UPS Store on Jan 9; it arrived overnight to Elk Grove CA on Jan 10.
Here in the U.K. we have Trading Standards to report things like this to and get help. If you have an equivalent in the US it may be worth a shot if you don’t hear anything?
Phone model: 7
Location of service: Apple Store Churchill Square, Brighton, UK
Old Battery Capacity: 87%
Old Battery Cycles: 357
Did they replace the battery? Y
Reason they gave if they did not replace:
New Battery Capacity: 100%
New Battery Cycles: 1
Comment:
Just got back from my local Apple Store in the UK with a very positive experience. A bit of history: prior to the announcement about the battery programme from Apple, I had spoken to support and been in store to see whether I needed a new battery in my iPhone 7 given that battery life was getting shorter and shorter and at odd times it would force shutdown. They said just try updating the software (doh - hello throttling!) as their diagnostics revealed it was still in 'good' condition. Fast forward to today, I finally get booked in for a £25 replacement and they accept the replacement even though their indicators still say 'good' without hesitation. I come back a couple of hours later and they say it'll be £319 to pay - of course I was very surprised. They checked the notes and saw I agreed only to a £25 battery replacement and proceed to hastily explain that they couldn't carry out the repair so instead gave me a whole new iPhone 7! Not a refurb, only 5 days old. They agreed to cancel the charge and I only needed to pay £25. All in all, very happy with the service and despite all of the misgivings Apple have shown through this battery saga, their customer service still shines.
TLdR - went for £25 battery replacement no questions asked (despite diagnostics saying otherwise) and ended up with a new device!
Location of service: Apple Store Churchill Square, Brighton, UK
Old Battery Capacity: 87%
Old Battery Cycles: 357
Did they replace the battery? Y
Reason they gave if they did not replace:
New Battery Capacity: 100%
New Battery Cycles: 1
Comment:
Just got back from my local Apple Store in the UK with a very positive experience. A bit of history: prior to the announcement about the battery programme from Apple, I had spoken to support and been in store to see whether I needed a new battery in my iPhone 7 given that battery life was getting shorter and shorter and at odd times it would force shutdown. They said just try updating the software (doh - hello throttling!) as their diagnostics revealed it was still in 'good' condition. Fast forward to today, I finally get booked in for a £25 replacement and they accept the replacement even though their indicators still say 'good' without hesitation. I come back a couple of hours later and they say it'll be £319 to pay - of course I was very surprised. They checked the notes and saw I agreed only to a £25 battery replacement and proceed to hastily explain that they couldn't carry out the repair so instead gave me a whole new iPhone 7! Not a refurb, only 5 days old. They agreed to cancel the charge and I only needed to pay £25. All in all, very happy with the service and despite all of the misgivings Apple have shown through this battery saga, their customer service still shines.
TLdR - went for £25 battery replacement no questions asked (despite diagnostics saying otherwise) and ended up with a new device!
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Seems to me more of consumer law then good customer service, did they say why they couldn’t replace your battery?
Another update: it's been about 5 weeks now. No updates anymore. Repair status on my phone is no longer available on the website. It says, "We’re sorry, but we are unable to complete your request at this time. Please try again later." It has said this way for two days. No response to either letters I wrote.
2.5 weeks later, Apple Store SF union square called and had us set an appointment. I requested the battery swap be done asap and they set us up for 6:30pm the same day, 4 hours after the call.
We get there at 6:30pm and we were about the 5th person in line to talk to the person with the iPad. 10 minutes later, they mention it will take about 2 hours and there's a chance of the screen cracking even more. Screen was slight cracked on a corner of the phone, uncovered by the screen protector.
8:30pm after dinner and the phone was brought out after another 15 mins of waiting. $29+tax for an uncharged (10%)new battery. Happy overall
We get there at 6:30pm and we were about the 5th person in line to talk to the person with the iPad. 10 minutes later, they mention it will take about 2 hours and there's a chance of the screen cracking even more. Screen was slight cracked on a corner of the phone, uncovered by the screen protector.
8:30pm after dinner and the phone was brought out after another 15 mins of waiting. $29+tax for an uncharged (10%)new battery. Happy overall
Phone model: 7 Plus
Location of service: Apple Store Touchwood Centre, Solihull UK
Old Battery Capacity: 84%
Old Battery Cycles: Around 500ish, can't remember
Did they replace the battery? Y
Reason they gave if they did not replace:
New Battery Capacity: 100%
New Battery Cycles: 0
Comment: From handing in the phone to getting it back with a new battery took just over an hour. Brand new battery in and phone looks identical to how it did before - took photos as a precaution. Tested all key functions and everything looks to be fine. Very pleased for £25!
Location of service: Apple Store Touchwood Centre, Solihull UK
Old Battery Capacity: 84%
Old Battery Cycles: Around 500ish, can't remember
Did they replace the battery? Y
Reason they gave if they did not replace:
New Battery Capacity: 100%
New Battery Cycles: 0
Comment: From handing in the phone to getting it back with a new battery took just over an hour. Brand new battery in and phone looks identical to how it did before - took photos as a precaution. Tested all key functions and everything looks to be fine. Very pleased for £25!
Looking at getting this done to my 7+ as its at 86% now. Does the apple
store usually wipe the devices?
Or do they swap
the battery keeping the phone as is.
The poster your asking a question to hasn’t been on the forum since that post 6 weeks ago... They don’t wipe your device, they ask if you’ve done a recent backup, they make you turn off find my iPhone and they run a complete diagnostic on the device to make sure everything works properly. They also check the moisture sensors to see if the device has been wet. They will inform you of the battery capacity and if it’s over 80% they’ll say it fine. Just tell them you don’t care what the reading is and you want to pay for a replacement regardless and they’ll do it. I did it last week and my phone was done in a little over an hour. Your location may take longer depending on how busy the store is that day..
