Apple replaced my almost three year-old iPhone!

Doc has a little story to share and a moral. For the past couple of months I have been fighting with a first generation iPhone with a section of the touch screen that would not work. It was about a .5 inch strip across the top of the screen. While the phone was still usable for normal functions, it involved knowing when to rotate the phone 90˚ so that options were accessible. Again, usable for most applications, but annoying for others and forget gaming.


I’ve been putting off a trip to the Apple Store because my initial thought was that their solution would be to simply say, “you need a new phone.” While the iPhone 3G is appealing at $99, the additional fees that would be required for 3G service and an equivalent texting plan was a put off. So I searched online and found an Apple tech note that provided some troubleshooting options. I tried them. They didn’t work. Then I noticed a section on the page that read:

“If the steps above don't resolve your issue, please schedule a service appointment with an Apple Retail Store for evaluation, even if your iPhone is out of warranty.”

Huh? Even if your iPhone is out of warranty? That was an intriguing statement. So that’s what I did. I used their online concierge to schedule an appointment. A couple of hours later, I was standing in the Apple Store with my iPhone in hand. After a few minutes my Genius, Eric, greeted me. I shared the problem. He looked at the iPhone and said, “Wow, that phone is in better shape than most phones a month old.” I thought to myself, “Good, that means they won't use the ‘you broke it’ excuse and understand that I take good care of my gear.”

Eric plugged in the serial number for the aging iPhone and after a few seconds reported that there have been reports of a certain batch of first generation iPhones with this problem. My iPhone was one of them. He then said, that they didn't have any first generation iPhones in stock, but he would order one for me at no charge. Wow! No charge…for an almost three year-old phone? That's amazing.

After a minute or two Eric returned and proclaimed that they did in fact find a first generation phone to replace mine. He took it out of the box, unwrapped it, plugged in my old SIM card, activated the phone, had me erase all the data from my iPhone, sign a form in a couple of places and I was on my way out the door with my new (probably refurbished) first generation iPhone. The icing on the cake for me was that the battery on my old phone was about kaput. It would barely get me through the day. Not anymore! And I can finally use my rotating LEGO iPhone dock again!

So what’s the moral of the story? I buy Apple hardware and am happy to pay the Apple tax (higher than normal cost) when I receive service like this! Has anyone else experienced this kind of service with their Blackberry or Motorola? If so, drop me a comment and let me know.

By the way, while I was visiting the Apple Store, I tried out the new Magic Mouse. It rocked! I’m going to have to get me one of those high tech rodents. Have an Apple Genius story to share? Leave a comment. If you have one of those new Magic Mouses...tell me about it before I drop $70 or I find that Santa left one under the tree for me!