Apple service; is that the best plan?

pritstick94

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I've always wanted an iPhone but never been able to afford one before. A relative is sending me (for free!) her old iPhone 4, which is out of warranty, as it was upgraded to a 4S on her contact.

It apparently has the following problems:

  • Wifi only works within a few feet of the router
  • Camera (presumably rear one) doesn't work
If it's going to replace my trusty Android (and believe me, I want it to...) then I need to fix at least the first problem, which seems to be quite common.

Unfortunately I didn't purchase it (and it's not in warranty) so I would have to pay £125 to give it an Apple service.

  1. Would they still service it if I paid this fee, given I didn't buy it?
  2. What would the service entail? Would they fix both problems no matter what their causes were? Would they remove scratches from the screen as well, or even send me an entirely new unit?
At first I thought this sounded ideal but then I realised that were this true, people could just buy a ruined iPhone cheap and then get a replacement for £125...

Thanks, this whole Apple service business is kinda new to me...
 
It's £119 for an apple replacement and it's a brand new phone, they will just swap it out.

Did it last month when my sleep button died.

Book a genius apt and get it swapped out for a fresh new one :)
 
So, asked above, in theory you could buy up broken iPhones and make them new again for £119?

Have had replacements under warranty but never using this service. Do they ask for your Apple account details to check ownership or simply replace?
 
bpsmith said:
So, asked above, in theory you could buy up broken iPhones and make them new again for £119?

Have had replacements under warranty but never using this service. Do they ask for your Apple account details to check ownership or simply replace?

I think it's within reason, mine was 18 months old, decent condition and the sleep button was busted - common fault and with a decent attitude in the store it swapped out no questions asked.

I think if you take one in that's to bits I'm guessing they won't swap it out LOL
 
w3dal said:
It's £119 for an apple replacement and it's a brand new phone, they will just swap it out.

Did it last month when my sleep button died.

Book a genius apt and get it swapped out for a fresh new one :)

It's a refurb but practically new,

My bro did this with a 3GS i originally bought a while back with no probs.

Apparently their even swapping 3GS for iPhone 4 now in some stores as their running low on stock (I know you have an iPhone 4 just saying)
 
sparkie1984 said:
It's a refurb but practically new,

My bro did this with a 3GS i originally bought a while back with no probs.

Apparently their even swapping 3GS for iPhone 4 now in some stores as their running low on stock (I know you have an iPhone 4 just saying)

He said it was new, it looked new I have no reason to doubt what he said. I have sold it on now but for £119 it's a bargain and with 90 days warranty
 
sparkie1984 said:
It's a refurb but practically new,

My bro did this with a 3GS i originally bought a while back with no probs.

Apparently their even swapping 3GS for iPhone 4 now in some stores as their running low on stock (I know you have an iPhone 4 just saying)

That's interesting, as my MIL has a 3GS that's playing up intermittently, so could get that swapped for a 4 possibly. That's assuming it's not her not knowing what she's doing...
 
If they have no stock available according to a leaked memo they are replacing for iPhone 4's

It's widely regarded their refurbished phones with new fronts backs batteries etc so practically new.

They also come in a plain black box so are not new retail boxed.

That's what I've been told by a friend who used to work there anyway

Anyway for £119 for a replacement phone which could be worth significantly more is a pretty sweet deal id say :)
 
Last edited:
I agree. Could be worth ringing up first to check if they have replacement 3GS' and then going up there if they don't. ;-)
 
Certainly sounds like a good plan, I think I will do this.

I guess you're right about why people don't exploit this scheme; add the broken phone and it's still over £200 total, and the warranty's only 30 days.

Thanks guys :)
 
I appear to have reached a slight problem.

The phone arrived full of messages and apps, so I did a factory reset but it now wants me to re-activate it for some reason. Reading around, it seems like I need a SIM from the carrier before this works. How do I find out who the carrier is? And when I do, will any (correctly-sized) SIM card from that network work, or does it have to be a specific sort? Cheers
 
pritstick94 said:
How do I find out who the carrier is?

Why not ask the relative you bought it from which network she used it on?
 

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