Broken screen repair for IPhone 4?

When my itouch 4 gen 32 GB screen broke I took it to the apple store. It was under warranty, but the warranty doesn't cover such matter. Instead, he offered me to replace the itouch completely for half the price which is 150$ so I took it.

Long story short, you cannot get your iphone/ipod screen replaced for free, but you can purchase a replacement for 50% off which is a good deal which is why I took it.

Received my iPhone 4s 64GB in the mail Monday Evening. After having it for less than 24 hours, I accidently dropped my it after showing my phone to a coworker of mine. It went face-first onto the floor. Needless to say, I instantly became a member of the cracked screen iPhone club. I went to the Apple Store during my lunch break and they basically told me it was going to cost me $200 to replace it($250 with Apple Care Plus tacked on). Even though I'm thinking about going that route, though I really don't want to, I also heard that the screen can be repaired for 1/4 of a replacement phone. It really bothers me that Apple can't do the same thing.

I sent mine to these guys and they charged £69.99

<Link Edited by Host>

Very ture apple will not repair for anything if your device has liquid damage or and case damage or cracks. I found these guys online called igadget resq they are a 3rd party company that repair apple products for the iphone 4 and 4S screen repairs they charged me $95 with free overnight shipping! http://www.igadgetresq.com

did you still have warranty?

i have my iphone 4 out of warranty, i went to an apple store & they told me that i would have to pay $150 for a new phone .

Everywhere I look I see people with broken iphone screens back and front, mostly iphone 4's and 4S's but also lots of iphone 3 models. They live with them because they can't afford often the price of the new screen despite the fact that it totally changes the way the phone can be used. there's not a great deal you can do on a smashed iphone 4 other than make calls so you have an expensive phone.

There are enough dissaftisifed coustomers out there to make a case against apple now for the units not being 'fit for purpose' because this is the fact, they are not 'fit for purpose'. You cant sell someone a car if every time you close the door the windows shatter. Its a fact that phones in the normal run of everyday life are misshandled and that should be built into the product resiliance. There mst be thousands of examples of these cases fracturing with only very light pressure if the ones I hear of are anything to go by.

Apple are ruining their customers experience of a very high end product that in every other way is one of the most extraordinary devices on the 21st century so far.

Get your act together Apple and look after the people that are spending enormous amounts of their hard earned cash with you. I think you can spare enough of your net profits of over $20 billion annually to address this. If aftermarket operators can fix it for $30 then you must be able to do it for a tenth of that.

Apple is becoming too successful for its own good -- they have so much money now that they don't need to have decent customer service.

I also had my phone for a couple months, dropped it while getting it out of my pocket, and the front glass completely shattered. I went to the Apple store and they refused to replace it for free -- would cost me 199. Also, because I had dropped the phone, the 1 year warranty was voided, so it is now completely without a warranty even though I've owned it just 2 months. Apparently, I should have gotten Apple Care Plus. (Apple Care doesn't cover accidental damage. Apple Care Plus is $99.) Also I should have known that the phone's front and back covers are made out of glass and very fragile. I should have known this, and gotten a protective case. They said it was unfortunate that no one had communicated these things to me, but they didn't have any authority to push a free repair through -- they needed permission from Apple. They said that some customers have had luck calling Apple and pleading their case, so I tried this, and spent an hour on the phone talking to Apple while in the store.

The first person I talked to said there was nothing I could do except pay the $199. When I asked him how often people have this problem, he said that in the year he had worked there, he had only gotten 5 calls where the screen's glass had cracked. I suggested that if this happens so infrequently, maybe I had a defective product? He said it was just the angle I had dropped it at -- in fact, as part of the training for their job, they are given a phone and try to crack the screen. You have to use the "right angle" to break it. It was unlucky that I had dropped it at that angle. When it was clear that he wouldn't help me, I talked to his manager, the supervisor.

The supervisor could not veil his apathy. He told me that he was the "end of the line" in customer care, and I had no option but to pay the $199 if I wanted a repair. Apparently, it is possible to push through an out-of-warranty repair (in this case, out of warranty because, no matter how new the phone is, as soon as you crack the glass, the warranty voids), but their policy only allows it in certain situations, of which mine was not one. He said the administrative department would have to grant an exception, but he would not push it through to the administrative department, "according to policy". He suggested I call back and talk to someone else if I was dissatisfied. Or I could try emailing. When I asked whether he would ever, in a case like mine, authorize the repair, he just repeated that I could call back and talk to someone else if I was dissatisfied.

From this, I concluded that sometimes customer service will grant an exception, but you need to find a person who is willing to do this. This would probably take a few hours of calling customer service over and over again and finding someone who cares.

Why can Apple create a phone that is so fragile, so slippery, so prone to cracking, and have a policy that requires you to pay hundreds of dollars to fix it -- even if your warranty hasn't expired yet? Why would you be required to take the hit for what is in effect a design flaw on their part? (I don't know anyone who hasn't dropped their mobile phone at least once. I think a pretty safe assumption to make when designing a mobile phone is that it will be dropped. This assumption is an especially good one if the phone is extremely slippery.)

Because Apple has more cash than the United States government. Because, at least for now, they can.

Apple deserve their success but I just wish they could be a bit more hands on with after sales service. Customer service has declined with Apple in direct proportion to the poularity of their product and I think they are relying heavily on the quality of the products to negate this. When things do go wrong and this iphone screen thing seems to be the definitive example, they appear to have no ability to deal with it.

Its true to say that the iphone is their frontline product and the public in general are judging the whole company on the iphone. This screen problem must be doing them so much harm!

My suggestion is that they set a realistic figure for replacement in store, say $50 USD or equivalent. That way users will take care of the phone but not be punished if they have an accident. We all appreciate that the iphone is delicate and that it has to be treated with care but real life dictates that this is not aways possible. They should also issue a warning clearly displayed bringing the nature of the glass screens to the attention of users. This is not being done at the moment.

And you have something to prove your assertion about slumping customer service? Recent surveys show a very slight did but they are still far ahead of the comptetion.

What "screen problem"? It is glass, if you drop it and it hits a hard surface it will crack. Try it with your wine glasses or your flat screen TV. If you purchase AppleCare + ($99 US) you are allowed two replacements due to accidental damage with a $49 deductible. Sounds just like your suggestion.

No it's not the same suggestion. Tomgor is saying $50, you're saying $150. If I can replace the digitizer/lcd screen myself for $30, Apple is obviously marking up the repair cost for replacement screens so that not only do they profit from the phones, but off the g-**** repairs. They're not exactly hurting for the extra revenue, being the top 2 most profitable corporations in the world.

No, I'm saying with the iPhone 4s you can purchase AppleCare+ (for $99 as opposed to $69 for AppleCare) and you get your accidentally broken phone replaced (twice) for $49 plus you get your warranty extended to 2 full years and 2 full years of phone support.

Apple does not repair the screen, they replace the entire phone with a service replacement as there may be other internal damage besides the broken screen. It also comes with a warranty. If you replace the digitizer/lcd screen yourself you have a phone with a voided warranty and if the logic board is also damaged you will be out the money to fix that.

OK I'll go out tomorrow with a wine glass in my pocket and a TV on my back and do a full days work, commute, lunch etc etc. Not the most helpful comparison if I may say.

Apple have introduced a very beautiful and fragile product into a market that wasn't really ready for it. It works very well - its slippery as anything and shatters on impact. Whatever you say and whatever you are happy to buy in terms of cover for damage - its not really quite made for the purpose for which it was intended and that is what a very large percentage of people are finding.

@aplmwright

Am I missing something here? You dropped your phone and it broke... and you want Apple to pay for it? The iPhone isn't the only smartphone that will break if dropped... Having worked for a wireless carrier I can tell you that most of these phones with big LCD screens (which are glass) will break if dropped.

Yes I think you are missing capability to understand the inconvinience and frustration people expressing here after they lost something valuble. If you are trying to advocate for apple's policies it's not helping the people posting here because they already know what you are saying. If you can, please advice the company to change policy to suit the customer needs.

It's clear that apple obviously know the glass screen on this phone is fragile and it can break. Then apple should have a better way to provide replacement of the screen. If there is internal damage to the phone then the repair/replacement charges can be more. I can leave my phone at the genius bar for inspection for checking such things. Charging 149$+tax for replacing the screen is not fair. Someone said they actually provide a replacement device. Customers are not asking for replacement, if they ask for it they can be charged accordingly.

Many successful products do follow the strategy of building a prototype that can be repaired/fixed with minimal charges. I hope apple gets there one day.

What was the point of insulting me? To feel better about yourself? ("Yes I think you are missing capability to understand the inconvinience and frustration people expressing here after they lost something valuble.")

First off.. Drop any of these big screen smart phones and in some cases the glass screen WILL break, or be damaged. The HTC/Samsung phones will split open and be damaged. I don't know of any other MFG that will give you a new/refurb phone for $150... Also keep in mind that apple replaced many cracked iPhone 4 devices for free at no cost to the customer. (people walk in nice, they get treated nice. walk in the store with an attitude and see where it goes)

The point I was trying to make, is that the iPhone IS more durable than the other devices out there. The glass might make it look worse cosmetically when you damage it, but having sold all the brands and devices the iPhones had a low RMA rate compared to everything else.

If you drop your laptop.. or wreck your car... who will you blame?

This all comes down to people not taking responsibility for thier actions. If you drop your phone and it breaks... It's YOUR fault, not Apples.. Don't like that it's glass? Than why did you buy it? Get a case, get a different phone... but don't blame your mistake on the people that made it.

Also... For those worried about damageing their device in general the big carriers have insurance for $6-8 a month that will have you covered. Saw it save many people