[Hidden-tech] Apple Glass Breaking

[Wesley Rosner]

I can't help but weigh-in on this topic (And Dave this is in no way directed to you...just the topic as a whole...your advice is spot on).  

First, I think it's important to remember these things are made of GLASS.  Glass breaks and this glass is damn tough and quite hard to break, but yes it is breakable.  I've had iphones from day one.  I have broken the glass on maybe all of them at some point.  Not one of those times was I not just brutally aware of how much the breakage was my fault.  IN EVERY SINGLE CASE...YES EVERY ONE...Apple replaced the phone without question and without cost.

I believe this practice is not exactly the same today.  In the early days they wanted iPhone users to be purely over-joyed with their phone and the replacement cost was well-worth that happy customer.  Today there are over 200M iphones on the streets and the costs of just replacing them as often as is needed is just not practical anymore.

However Apple OFFICIALLY offers AppleCare Plus.  I am not sure if there are now two flavors of AppleCare....plus and not plus but at any rate with plus their policy is explicit.  They will replace the phone twice for $49 during the term of the warranty no matter the cause of the damage.  I would NEVER buy one of these devices without that protection....it's the best deal possible to ensure your device will make it through your contract.

I think this is a perfect policy.  It acknowledges that these things are breakable and when they break we hate to have to pay full price to have them repaired.  It however does cost something to fix it and it should.  I think it's very very rare that the glass breaks in a way that the user isn't to blame.  But unlimited replacement at no cost might encourage abuse.

Is there any manufacturer in the Adroid world that matches this level of customer service?  Are there any that have the retail locations to be able to in the first place.

Get a case....take care of your phones and don't complain too badly when you break them. :-) .... because eventually you will.

-Wes


On Oct 23, 2012, at 8:38 AM, David Ruderman <david.ruderman at gmail.com> wrote:

>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> The Genius Bar in an Apple store is the place to go. Make an
> appointment on-line. If it's in warranty and has a hairline crack in
> the glass, which might be a manufacturing flaw, then they might
> replace your iphone or ipad, just as they did for my spouse. If it's a
> more obvious shatter they won't.
> 
> Meanwhile, in case you think Apple generous, kind, and merciful, this
> somewhat biased study says that the US has spent $6B to fix broken
> iphones since 2007.
> http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/18/squaretrade-americans-have-spent-nearly-6b-on-iphone-repair-and-replacement-since-2007/
> 
> -dave
> 
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2012 at 11:32 PM, Will Loving
> <will at dedicationtechnologies.com> wrote:
>>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> For what it’s worth, Apple appears to have an unwritten policy of “one free replacement” when break your iPhone glass. I’ve known a number of people who got their broken phones replaced and have heard of many more. It’s not official, so you can’t count on it, but if you go in looking sad and expecting to pay to have it repaired, you may be pleasantly surprised. I don’t know if Steve was the one behind this but I wouldn’t be surprise if he was. Sort of like his personally answering emails sent to steve at apple.com. I sent two to that address and received very fast follow-up and courteous calls from the “Executive Relations” staff. Some people received direct messages back from Steve.
>> 
>> 
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