Q: I drop my iphone in a cup of tea and now wont turn on, how do i fix this

Jimaymay wrote:

 

Apple just glances at the device really. They pop out sim tray and see red sticker. Liquid damage is deemed at that point as the sticker should be white. They would then suggest... depending on device a $300 out of warrant replacement device(normally a refurbished device) that comes with 90 day warranty.

Interesting that you left out so much. I guess it would hurt your business if users knew all the facts.

• The warranty on a repair is 90 days or the remaining balance of your one year warranty, whichever is longer.
• The replacement price is about 1/3 of the price of a new phone. No other manufacturer makes an offer that is comparable.
• If you have AppleCare + the replacement price is $99, and the warranty is the remaining time on your two year warranty.
• Refurbished replacements have been refurbished by Apple and are as good as (and possibly better than, because they are more thoroughly tested) an original, not by a non-certified technician of totally unknown skill.
• Once a phone has been opened and a repair attempted, the option of a discounted replacement from Apple is gone forever. So if it can't be fixed you're out $800 rather than $300 (or $99)

If you had included all of the relevant information in your post I would have had very little disagreement with you. The primary one being that there is no way of knowing about the integrity or skill of any 3rd party repairer, other than their claims. Most industries have standards and certification processes to enforce those standards, from doctors to lawyers to auto repair technicians (not to forget Microsoft, IBM, and other computer industry certified engineers). The independent smartphone repair industry has no such standards and no certification processes. Perhaps Apple should offer certifications for independent iOS device repairers (they do for Macs), but as they don't right now it's a crap shoot for the consumer. I think they should, but until they do the reality is that any user is taking a big risk going to a non-Apple or non-AASP shop and ending up at best with a repaired phone and worst with no phone, and no risk for paying $99 or $300 for what is essentially a new phone.

I expect to be quoting this post quite a bit, along with Gail's link. Thanks, Larry.

Apple will not be able to get the data. Another repair shop that specializes in data recovery will at least try (and probably succeed) in recovering the data. If data is not an issue then yes, take it to Apple for an out-of-warranty swap however all Apple will do is try replacing the device rather than helping with the actual issue at hand.

You can't put a price on somebody's data. There are also very many (thousands) of reliable third party repair companies out there. Whats the worst that will happen? They don't get the data? It's still a better shot than taking it to Apple. I thought that these forums are intended to help out those posting questions not tell them to replace the device while completely avoiding helping them retrieve data in any possible way.

How do you remove the Apple option by going to a 3rd party first? There's nothing wrong with another company opening the device and attempting to see what can be done before taking it to Apple especially if they specialize in these types of repairs. If they cannot do anything THEN they can go to Apple, only to be told that an out-of-warranty swap is their only option.  Makes more sense to try to go to the cheaper and also more helpful route first.

xcesv4c wrote:

 

How do you remove the Apple option by going to a 3rd party first? There's nothing wrong with another company opening the device and attempting to see what can be done before taking it to Apple especially if they specialize in these types of repairs. If they cannot do anything THEN they can go to Apple, only to be told that an out-of-warranty swap is their only option.  Makes more sense to try to go to the cheaper and also more helpful route first.

Because once the device has been opened by an un-authorized 3rd party, Apple will not offer anything. There will be no option of an out-of-warranty swap.

xcesv4c wrote:

 

You can't put a price on somebody's data.

If people's data is so all fired valuable, why aren't they backing it up? If my phone were abducted by aliens, the most I would lose would be anything put on it today. And probably not even very much of what was added today as most of that is synced to various cloud services. My data is valuable and I treat it as such.

Some people just dont. That is no one's fault but their own but that doesn't mean you should just not even try when there are plenty of companies out there that can. It is their choice to invest what they want into their data but no one has the right to make that decision except themselves.

I've talked to the technicians at our local Apple store and they still offer out-of-warranty swap for devices that have been opened.

xcesv4c wrote:

 

You can't put a price on somebody's data. There are also very many (thousands) of reliable third party repair companies out there. Whats the worst that will happen? They don't get the data? It's still a better shot than taking it to Apple. I thought that these forums are intended to help out those posting questions not tell them to replace the device while completely avoiding helping them retrieve data in any possible way.

Fine, provide a list of those reliable third party repair companies, along with the proof that the are competent. Anyone can claim to be a "reliable" company. Even Bernie Madoff made that claim.

You are wrong. If they don't get the data the user has lost any chance of getting a low cost exchange from Apple. They are out the full price they paid for the phone once it has been opened.

Plus the fact that anyone who has data that is not backed up, given that Apple provides 3 ways to back up most data automatically daily, and 6 ways to back up photos, (and I'm not ever talking about the dozen or so 3rd party backup services) really doesn't care about protecting their data.

xcesv4c wrote:

 

Some people just dont. That is no one's fault but their own but that doesn't mean you should just not even try when there are plenty of companies out there that can. It is their choice to invest what they want into their data but no one has the right to make that decision except themselves.

 

I've talked to the technicians at our local Apple store and they still offer out-of-warranty swap for devices that have been opened.

Then why do we see several posts a day from angry users who opened their phone, perhaps to replace the battery, then were refused service by Apple? I guess if you are really lucky you might find a store manager willing to bend the rules, but that's another gamble you are taking.

Just an FYI

But it seems as long as you put back all original parts, even from a donor phone, apple will, for the most part, still do an oow swap. I have had MANY customers do that. Not as confident when it comes to board work, as in when the emi shields have been removed, but I have heard that even that is not an issue in most cases.

spencerfromfort worth wrote:

 

So you are saying that the non BMW shop doesn't have a warranty or guarantee? just like a third party repair shop?

Body shops are one of the most crooked businesses around, after drug dealers. Many of them simply go out of business regularly, so they don't have to honor warranties. Since you made the analogy, it certainly applies to third party phone repair shops also. Even the genuine ones come and go pretty quickly, and a warranty from a defunct business is worth nothing. And I'll ask again, how would a user find a qualified and honest phone repair shop? There are no standards, not qualification tests. There was one in a kiosk across from the Apple store in my local mall. They were there for about 3 months. Just coincidence that's the minimum length of an Apple warranty on an iOS device. If I walk around Manhattan there's a phone repair shop on almost every block. Are all of them reliable? Are any of them reliable? How would I know?

If you take the car to BMW the warranty is from BMW, not the body shop that may or may not be there next month (although, since BMW chose them, they probably will be). And BMW will see to it that genuine BMW parts are used. BMW is not going to go out of business, so even if the body shop they sub the work to goes out of business you are still covered. And, BTW, my local BMW dealer has their own body shop.

Where should I get my Studebaker repaired?

I agree with Meg, Lawrence! I'm bookmarking your post. Very succinctly and well informed post. Thanks a bunch! (actually, just cut and pasted the whole kit and caboodle from the very top to the very bottom into my Notes app - much quicker to find and paste that way!)

GB

Harrington Repair wrote:

 

Just an FYI

 

But it seems as long as you put back all original parts, even from a donor phone, apple will, for the most part, still do an oow swap.

Suppose you do that to a customer's phone and Apple subsequently denies the OOW swap, what will you do for the customer?