Waiving 10% restocking fee?

Thanks for reporting back and congratulations on your working phone! I've always had great successes with the genius bar.

Dude! Congratulations! Sweet! 🙂

I feel for you! I definitely would write a letter to ATT telling them how even the managers at the stores shafted you. No one should have a customer experience like you did.

Also, I wouldn't worry that the phone was a whitebox. I have had friends in the electronics industry, and many times they just package some differently and label them that way. This way Apple can swap you out without having extra cables, manuals, etc.

Glad it all worked out. Send that letter though, they may comp you, they may not, but usually they will try to make amends.

pfry10 wrote:
Curious about what my other options are?

well... you could sue Apple & AT&T if they continually fail to honor their warranty agreement, but first I'd go to an actual Apple Store and *immediately ask to speak with a manager* and have him give you a new (working) iPhone. If that doesn't happen then you might want to pay the restocking fee and then send Apple a bill.

I'm surprised that the fee hasn't already been waived... I bought a product at an Apple store (a FM car adaptor) went out to my car and tested it with several iPods and iPhone and discovered it didn't work, repackaged it and walked right back into the store to return it and didn't have to pay a restocking fee.

I'd cc a copy to Apple too. The should know how their product is being represented in the AT&T stores .... at least your store.

pfry10 wrote:
Just wanted to let everyone know about my Genius Bar Experience.

Went to the Apple store last night early and received my little pager in order to wait for an available Genius. So I poked around the store...and came back with these 2 observations. The new Ipod touches are super thing. They are as thick at the top chrome section of our Iphone 3G's. And second, the biggest desktop screen you can get is absolutely HUGE.

Anyway....I only had to wait about 15 minutes past my scheduled appointment time (no biggie, I just pulled up the Philadelphia Phillies gamescast on ESPN and watched till I got the call). Went up to the genius guy and he asked what was going on. Went through my whole story and he just kept shaking his head in disbelief on how the whole situation was handled. He said he would get me a new one and I'll be up in running in 5 minutes. I expressed my concern regarding the refurbished ones and a new one (considering mine is less than 72hours old now and it was originally defective) and he completely agreed with me. He said unfortunately there was nothing he can do. The replacements all come in the "white boxes". Because the 3G iphones are relatively new, he said most are still new and the refurbished ones aren't really recycled back through yet. He did let me inspect it for anything and if I wasn't happy, he said he'll go back and get a different one. I looked at it, and it looked brand new. Nothing wrong with it. He loaded me all up and I was off. Made my test call to my wife and everything worked 🙂. And off I went. 10 minutes max! *Oh and P.S. I had to pay nothing! No restocking fee whatsoever. Not even a mention of one*

Thank you everyone for your help and guidance. Moral of story, if you are buying an Apple product that is used through AT&T...go right thru Apple for everything. Don't even bother with AT&T. I will be sending letters out to AT&T so I'll keep you posted on what happens on that end.

Awesome! Enjoy your working phone!

My son just picked up the 3G iPhone today. Within 2 hours he found he could not regain any signal whatsoever. He used another phone and did troubleshooting with Apple support to no avail. Apple support tells him to bring the phone immediately back to the AT&T store in Federal Way WA where he purchased it and get it exchanged. From here, you can guess what AT&T did next.

My son was told he would be charged a 10% restocking fee - $29 for his defective 16 Gig iPhone - before he'd be given a replacement. Being a young 18 year old, he naively agreed to this insult. When he told me about it tonight, I was steaming mad. You do NOT force your customers to pay a restocking fee when you've sold them defective merchandise. The word "restocking" shouldn't even be used here. AT&T won't be restocking that defective iPhone, they'll be returning it to Apple.

Or maybe this is part of some ill-planned con to repackage the same defective iPhone over and over, knowing the next customer will simply return it for an exchange and pay another $29 for the privilege of finally getting a working unit. If AT&T blames Apple and Apple blames AT&T, it looks like they're in it together on this little scheme. Run anyone around in circles long enough for a negligable fee (let's face it, $29 simply isn't worth the aggravation to most people) and they'll tire of the whole affair.

I plan on calling the AT&T manager tomorrow (his name and number are on the receipt) to see if I can get AT&T to resolve this insanity. I may end up being forced to travel 20 miles to the nearest Apple store to talk to my own genius to get satisfaction - or to be told there's nothing they can do. I'll write back tomorrow night and let you all know how this goes. Either way though, by now, I'm completely soured on AT&T and Apple and it's gonna take a lot real customer service from either one of them before that's going to change for me.

Long story short: If you buy an Apple iPhone from AT&T and it turns out to be defective, expect to pay a 10% restocking fee. If you buy a defective iPhone at an Apple store, expect to receive a refurbished unit as a replacement. Not a stellar performance by Apple…

Saturday, 1:00 PM – My 18-year-old son gleefully purchases a 16-Gigabyte ($299) iPhone from the corporate AT&T store in Federal Way. He opts for the additional cost of a gel cover and scratch-proof screen protector. I leave him at the store (he has his own car) while the phone gets activated – all seems well.

Saturday, 1:30 PM – My son calls me using his girlfriend’s Blackberry (he’s really upset). It seems, the iPhone quickly lost its signal and never regained it. Having done previous research into these phones, I consider this falls under the “I told you so” category but, being a wise and caring father who recognizes his son’s pain, I refrain.

Saturday, 1:55 PM – Apple Support walks my son through various troubleshooting techniques over his girlfriend’s phone to no avail. Apple Support recommends bringing it back to the AT&T store for checking and possible exchange.

Saturday, 2:15 PM – AT&T happily checks the iPhone and, after troubleshooting steps taken, considers it a defective unit. Now here’s the absurd part – AT&T charges my son a 10% RESTOCKING FEE before they’ll take the bad phone and exchange it for a new one! Naïve 18-year-old “man/child” happily returns the gel case for $20 toward the $29 restocking fee and pays the rest on his card. Luckily, the second iPhone seems fine.

Saturday, 10:00 PM – My son tells me about the whole affair and I get absolutely enraged! I start arguing in the living room as if I’m arguing with the AT&T sales rep. My wife calms me down and we put it off till Sunday to resolve.

Sunday, 1:00 PM – After church, I call Apple first (since AT&T claims the 10% restocking fee is an Apple policy). Apple guy tells me this is true. I suggest the following scenario: “What if the second iPhone was found defective – right in the store?” Apple guy says that’s another 10% restocking fee! Unbelievable!! I argue, you don’t DO that to a customer! I argue you’re not “restocking” anything – this is a defective item brought back within a couple of hours of purchase not something returned by a whimsical consumer. Apple guy says I should take it up with AT&T. I explain that’s probably pointless because, not only have I already found countless forum postings complaining of this exact behavior, AT&T told me it’s an Apple policy. This argument goes back and forth (round and round?) until I get disgusted enough to hang up.

Sunday, 1:20 PM – I call the AT&T store and ask for their manager; was told he’s with a customer. I’m assured he’ll call me back.

Sunday, 1:55 PM – Amazingly, Keith does call me back! I explain the circumstances to him and he tells me how Apple has tied AT&T’s hands when it comes to the iPhone. Apple won’t even allow the iPhone to be insured by AT&T! “All serial-numbered items incur a 10% restocking fee.” I start down the whole logic path again only to find (surprisingly) that the manager will actually waive the $29 fee.

Now my son at least has the iPhone he wanted – and it’s new, not refurbished. Thing is, he said I’d be envious. Let’s see, it can’t take video like my phone can, it can’t send or receive texts that contain pictures (MMS vs SMS) like mine can, it can’t hold a 3G signal like mine can, and it doesn’t do voice recognition like mine. It can’t be insured through AT&T and you have to deal directly with Apple (which has its tentacles so closely wrapped around its products it makes Microsoft look like open source) for any issues with it. I recommend staying away from the Apple logo for anything – especially the iPhone.