Post date: Jul 20, 2008 4:7:47 PM
So I bought an iPhone. And I love loved it. I dropped it, twice. The first time, it fell off the table, no problems.
Second time, it fell out of my pocket, and it hit the ground in a bad way. Smash. It still works... sortof, but the glass panel is totally smashed (picture below).
Before I start explaining the story so far, let me say: this is my fault. I dropped it. I should have had a case. I don't expect to walk away from this unscathed. However: there needs to be a system. Rogers or Apple needs (in my opinion) to have a program in place so that if you drop your item, you can either get it fixed or replaced. People drop things. Sure it happened to me, and it is bound to happen to some other people.
Here's the story so far:
I tried to take it back to the Rogers store (in Winnipeg, where I was visiting when I bought it), and they told me it was physical damage so there was nothing they could do (not covered by them). The girl was like "oh man that sucks", but that was it. They don't even do repairs or refer you to a repair place. You're on your own.
I called Rogers iPhone tech support. They told me to find someone who fixes iPhones or to buy a new one outright from Rogers. Well, nobody has parts yet for the 3Gs. I contacted a couple of the iPhone fixit places online and it seems like in a couple weeks I can probably get it fixed for $200. So that's not *terrible*, at least is a solution (provided it can be fixed).
When I enquired with some people at Rogers about how much to buy a new iPhone they told me they couldn't sell me one outright.
Then I called Apple's iPhone tech support. The guy was like "you're in luck, take it to an Apple store and they'll give you a new one, it's a 'capture' promotion. They are giving free exchanges for physical damage. However, this won't be the policy forever, so probably you should buy a case". I'm assuming "capture promotion" means that Apple knows that a policy of giving free exchanges like this will make customers for life. So, I went in to the Apple store last night, and I couldn't get in to see a Genius because there were no appointments left. I have an appointment for tonight at 6 pm.
So that's where things stand right now. Maybe the Apple store will do something (fingers crossed), or maybe I need to wait a few weeks and pay for a new screen module (less good but still better than nothing).
If both of these fail, I'll probaby have to either talk to high-ups at Rogers and pay full retail for a new phone ($500+) or buy out of my contract ($600). I don't think it'll go that far, and if it does you can expect to see me in the local newspaper first.