iPad Issue - Poor customer service

[Barron]

Hi all,

just after hearing peoples opinion regarding an iPad problem I'm currently having.

been using an iPad 3 for a couple of years (was bought from argos, don't have receipt and already replaced once under warranty by Apple). I decided to replace it a couple of weeks ago for an iPad mini retina. My girlfriend decided that she wanted to use my old iPad. My girlfriend wanted the iPad resetting so that she could add her own apps etc so I decided to restore the iPad using I tunes. Midway through the restore the iPad got an error and therefore would not restore. My iPad is now stuck in recovery mode and will not reflash using firmware. I travelled to the apple store today for a genius appointment. The guy there said it was a hardware fault and because it was out of warranty they want £200+ to replace the iPad. I spoke with the senior manager who stuck to the same story but he said that he would bend the rules slightly and put it through as a battery replacement and therefore it would only cost me £70/80. I refused his offer as I was not happy with paying for a product that was working fine before the restore.

I tried to call apple today but after trying to escalate the issue by asking for the call assistants name/ID she decided to put the phone down on me. In my opinion I should not have to pay for a new iPad because of an iPad restore.


What do you think?

thanks,
Carl

 

[Inequality Street]

I agree with you, shouldn't have to pay.

However, out of warranty, owned and used for a considerable length of time. They're not obliged to help IMO.

 

[Barron]

I agree with you, shouldn't have to pay.

However, out of warranty, owned and used for a considerable length of time. They're not obliged to help IMO.

exactly, thats the problem. It's a difficult situation and after spending over £2k in apple hardware in the past year I feel a bit let down.

Carl

 

[Ethan1996]

Bit bad, tried forcing it into recovery mode and installing firmware?

 

[Barron]

Bit bad, tried forcing it into recovery mode and installing firmware?

yep, tried to force install firmware and it just fails.

Apple said "the hardware fault will always have been there, when you restore it, it won't let it reinstall due to the hardware issue".

Poor/fake excuse in my opinion.

 

[Ethan1996]

yep, tried to force install firmware and it just fails.

Apple said "the hardware fault will always have been there, when you restore it, it won't let it reinstall due to the hardware issue".

Poor/fake excuse in my opinion.

"The hardware faults always been there, including during my warranty and when you sold me it after testing it before sale" Trade descriptions act? Haha maybe a long shot!

 

[Deeg]

With the greatest respect, poor customer service?

They offered you a circa 65% reduction in cost on a repair, on a 3 year old product.

How many other tech providers would have given you the time of day?

Whilst it's not great for you that it's broken, I'm not sure what you're expecting here, other than for Apple to give you a recon'd unit / repair for free on a 3 year old device?

 

[sn00p]

exactly, thats the problem. It's a difficult situation and after spending over £2k in apple hardware in the past year I feel a bit let down.

Carl

Here's news for you. Apple don't care about you, while you may think that spending 2k over a year with them shows (or deserves) some sort of loyalty, the harsh fact is that it's nothing and that for every pound you don't spend with them somebody else will.

I think they were pretty reasonable in offering you a replacement for so little, it's a device that's well out of warranty and as deej points out, who else does that? Your 800 quid TV breaks a couple of days out of warranty then you're s**t out of luck.

Whilst you may not always get the outcome you want from an apple store visit, I don't think anywhere else even comes close to offering what they do in terms of service or the extra mile... Even if you have to make a contribution to it.....

I'd also take anything that a genuis says with a pinch of salt, Tristan, Chad, Kyle or whatever funky name they have are usually much less intelligent than they think they are. Maybe their special t shirts go to their heads.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Thing is you can't prove it was working before... so really I don't think you have a chance of getting a free replacement. Might be annoying but others have said, in the scheme of things £75 or whatever isn't the end of the world. Especially as you might have a few scratches on it etc. by now?

 

[SC03OTT]

I'm with Deeg. I can't believe you turned down that offer.

 

[Munson]

WTF.

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

You should have took their offer for £80. Due to the fault they would have most likely have given you a brand new ipad/factory refurbed one which would have been in perfect condition.

 

[AK]

I'd rather pay £80 than have a £400 paperweight

IMO.

 

[DB.]

You really should have taken that offer at £80, daft decision not to. It's out of warranty and regardless of whether it was working fine before or not, it's out of warranty and now isn't working so you should have taken that offer and ran!

 

[Knuckles]

Try mailing them, Explain the situation and they may be more helpful.

 

[Munson]

More helpful than offering a massively subsidised replacement for a product with a warranty that expired one year ago? I sincerely doubt that. IMO the OP seems to have a bit an entitlement complex.

Yeah it's an unfortunate situation, but ultimately they have done their best to please the customer. If I were the store manager in question, I'd withdraw the offer and leave the OP to suck eggs. No offence.

 

[@Spoonie]

I hear this time and time again. Why do people think Apple should be bending over backwards to fix out of warranty hardware? As above, many would have told you to take it or leave it. Kudos to them for offering a generous discount on a repair.

 

[AdDaMan]

Your mad. Should have taken that instantly.

And i cant believe the cheek of the title! lol!

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Try mailing them, Explain the situation and they may be more helpful.

And explain what?!

"Hi,

I bought an iPad a few years ago, it's now broken and out of warranty. I am unhappy because you expect me to pay for this to be fixed, even though the warranty has expired."


Sure Apples response would be along the lines of "f**k off" albeit in a more professional manner.

 

[Alastair.]

I would have been all over that replacement iPad for £80, basically brand new ipad for £80. They bent the rules for ya but you still said no, mental.

 

[Knuckles]

And explain what?!

"Hi,

I bought an iPad a few years ago, it's now broken and out of warranty. I am unhappy because you expect me to pay for this to be fixed, even though the warranty has expired."


Sure Apples response would be along the lines of "f**k off" albeit in a more polite manner.

i tried restoring a 2 year old ipad which caused it to lock and become unresponsive. I don't expect this from trying to restore one of your products, can you advise me of how to unlock it.

They're very helpful by email, it's at least worth a try

 

[Barron]

I can understand people's point of view that the product is out of warranty etc. I agree that if a product is broken out of warranty it's tough s**t really. I actually replaced an iPhone screen on my out of warranty iPhone 5 yesterday as I broke the product.

My expectations may be a little high in terms of customer service as the customer service received from Apple is usually top drawer. What I don't agree with is the fact that it is a software issue which has effectively made my iPad unusable, they even said that if I didn't do a system restore the iPad would have continued to work. Working for a software company myself, if I had a client with an issue and I told them that because of an update within the software that they would have to replace a server, I don't think it would go down to well.

Carl

 

[Barron]

i tried restoring a 2 year old ipad which caused it to lock and become unresponsive. I don't expect this from trying to restore one of your products, can you advise me of how to unlock it.

They're very helpful by email, it's at least worth a try

Have you contacted Apple by Mail before, can't seem to find any email address for support.

carl

 

[Knuckles]

Have you contacted Apple by Mail before, can't seem to find any email address for support.

carl

Try this

https://getsupport.apple.com/Issues.action

ill see if I can find anything else

 

[STICKER TWONK]

Hang on, you said Apple admitted it was a hardware fault and now you're saying Apple told you it was a software fault and that had you not updated, it'd still work? Somethings not right here.

Regardless of what the fault is, you've had a product and used it for years. Now its broken and you expect a replacement FOC?

 

[Barron]

Hang on, you said Apple admitted it was a hardware fault and now you're saying Apple told you it was a software fault and that had you not updated, it'd still work? Somethings not right here.

Regardless of what the fault is, you've had a product and used it for years. Now its broken and you expect a replacement FOC?

Error (1) is an error which relates to a hardware issue.

From what the guy said at the Apple Store, this error will only appeared as the iPad was restored.

If anybody else has this, you do have a 2 year Warranty with Apple products (http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/)

First year is by Apple and the 2nd year is from the Company you bought the product from.

Carl

 

[Barron]

Update for this

*Correction* The iPad was actually bought from PCWorld. Previous iPad 2 was bought from Argos.

Spoke with PCWorld who agreed that it was unacceptable that a £500+ iPad would only last 20 months.

They agreed to pay for Apple to repair/replace the iPad and I now have a new iPad 3.

Carl

 

[Al_G]

Update for this

*Correction* The iPad was actually bought from PCWorld. Previous iPad 2 was bought from Argos.

Spoke with PCWorld who agreed that it was unacceptable that a £500+ iPad would only last 20 months.

They agreed to pay for Apple to repair/replace the iPad and I now have a new iPad 3.

Carl

iPad 3? I sold my 3 because it was so slow running iOS7.

Guess it's a step up from a 2, just.

 

[Barron]

iPad 3? I sold my 3 because it was so slow running iOS7.

Guess it's a step up from a 2, just.

yeah it's not as fast as my Mini Retina but it's perfect for my girlfriend to use for web browsing.

Carl

 

[CrippsCorner]

Fair play for holding mate got a good result there!