Love 'em, hate 'em but never say Apple doesn't take responsibility for their screw-ups

[joeekaitis]

 

 

Your humble AWer's iPhone 5s was 5 months out of warranty when things started going south.  First, everything at the top end of the phone except the Facetime camera stopped working: rear camera, flashlight app, ear proximity sensor.  The front started to separate from the rest of the phone beginning at the top.  Prognosis: battery bulge.

 

Googling produced a mixed bag of experiences ranging from "Apple screwed me" to "Apple took care of me".  Par for the course.  Made an appointment at the Genius Bar at the nearest Apple Store (Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga, CA).  Backed up the phone to the MacBook Pro.

 

Arrived with time to spare, checked in and was directed to the waiting table and was summoned to the Genius Bar barely a minute past my appointment time.  An exuberant outgoing Apple Genius named Chris listened to my tale of woe, said he needed to open the phone and disappeared behind a door.  Moments later, he came back and the very short roller-coaster ride began:

 

S.O.P. for an out of warranty iPhone 5s regardless of condition is replacement for a flat $269.00.  Heart sank.

 

BUT . . .

 

Because this was a known issue covered by an Apple Quality Program, the cost would be $0.00.  Heart burst with joy.

 

Chris swapped the SIM card, got the phone to where it could make and answer phone calls and asked me to start the full reset process on the old one.

 

Out the door in about 20 minutes.  At home, restored the phone from the backup, paired it with the Bluetooth in the Subaru and it's like it never ever happened.

 

Hats off!

 

[panthera]

This is great news.

No, I can't stand apple and I resist their products at every opportunity.

But - hats off to a company which actually treats their customers well.

 

[johnb300m]

I agree.
They're not perfect but when they finally admit it, and do right. They REALLY treat you right.
They did a quick analysis of my 6S, and it had that premature battery failure. Very simple app check.
They ordered the battery. I took it back the following week, and within 4hrs, they replaced the battery for free.

What did make me nervous is they needed full, unprotected access to my phone.
So I had to back everything up, delete texts, financial apps etc. Then turn it in.
Restore it, all good.

 

[kb0nes]

Joe, glad they put you straight! They have had difficulty with some of their batteries, particularly in the 5 series devices. They have swapped a bunch of them out of warranty. One of my brothers had an older iPhone 5 and the battery bulged severely to the point it broke the system board (the case of the phone was split open too). They gave him a credit towards a new phone.

My iPhone 5 which is now a month shy of being 4 years now is on its 3rd battery. Never had a problem but when they start showing signs of reduced performance I replace it. You can buy a brand new battery for ~$14 and it takes less then 10 minutes to swap it in. I may replace the battery one more time before I buy a new phone.

The one thing that I can't recommend too highly is maintaining a regular backup to iTunes of your iPhone. If (when?) something tragic happens to your device, you can do a full restore to a new device in a couple minutes and presto you have everything back! I have yet to see anything as simple and comprehensive from the Android OS for full system backup/restore.

I hated Apple for many years, and still do for certain things they do. But both for the Mac OS and the iOS devices I am amazed at how well they work and how little trouble I have had. I sure can't say the same for all my Microsoft experience, although Win 10 is actually working well now.

 

[wishwash]

I've never had good luck with Apple batteries. My iPhone 5 needed the battery replaced twice and now my iPhone 6 is not holding much of a charge just shy of two years old. My MacBook Pro just had the battery replaced last year and is already acting up again.
That being said, Apple puts out a solid product. They may not have the most impressive hardware, but the software is buttery smooth. I just wish they would innovate like they used to... seems like they are behind the pack.