A Cautionary iPhone Tale
So, it’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I’m in Arkansas with the family. Me, Katy, Mom and Dad are at a department store in Little Rock. Katy has just finished shopping for a dress (very nice…) to wear to her office Christmas party and we’re all goofing off in the random-gadget area of the store–sitting on massage chairs, playing with the sharper-image-ish toys.
At this point I notice a $29 clock radio with an iPod dock and a sign that reads “Works With All iPods!” My clock radio sucks… this could be cool. So, I whip out my iPhone and place it in the cradle to see if it fits. It does! The screen didn’t light up so I punch the iPhone button. Nothing happens. Oh, well. Probably not compatible with the phone.
I remove the iPhone from the cradle and the screen pops on. Only it’s really dim and has some weird white lines on it.
uh, oh…
I press the button and nothing happens. I try to power down and nothing happens. I hold both buttons to do a reset and the screen goes off (yeah)! It does not power back up (crap!). Pressing the buttons again does nothing. Instead of coming on, it starts getting warm. Then warmer. Then kind of hot. (it cooled down after about a half hour).
In short: it was toast.
Needless to say I was… agitated. (I think my mom heard me say “Fuck” more times that she has in a long while…) I informed the store that their radio toasted my iPhone and they were polite, a bit confused, and made it clear that there was no one on the premises that could address any issue even remotely associated with liability.
* * *
However, my tale does have a happy ending.
I went to the Genius Bar at the Apple store when I got back to SF and told them it “just died.” They pressed the buttons and said, “yep. It’s dead.”
The guy opened a drawer and pulled out a small, un-branded, cardboard box with an iPhone in it. (no manuals, cords, earphones–just a phone), popped out my SIM card and put it in the (fully charged) iPhone from the box and then handed it to me. No reactivation required. (He never even asked for a receipt, but later I realized all iPhones are currently under warranty). I synced when I got home and all is well.
Moral of the story:
Never stick your unit is strange receptacles.
-peebo
December 5th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
While it is cool that they replaced it, and they should be commended for such great customer service, it would worry me that they had that phone ready, charged and were so willing to swap it out so quickly. I wonder how many they replace a day. I’ve heard numerous anecdotal accounts of problems with the iphone. What’s the warranty period? Will that phone be covered?
December 5th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Wow, that’s a weird story, Jeff. I’m still trying to figure out how a strange receptacle could have killed your phone. Maybe there was a cross in the wiring in that display model that shorted out your phone?
The new battery would be the biggest bonus of this story to me. I’m already seeing some memory effect issues with the battery, and I’m betting I will have to buy a replacement battery within the next 6-7 months…
December 6th, 2007 at 10:38 am
—o1 - snip —
it would worry me that they had that phone ready, charged and were so willing to swap it out so quickly.
—o1 - snip —
It doesn’t surprise me that they have replacements ready to hand out. I’ve heard (but don’t know for sure) that replacements may refurbished phones that have been returned in the past for some reason. Personally, I’m a fan of refurbished items because I figure any problem has been fixed and the item has been tested.
I’m more surprised that the battery was charged. Perhaps if it was a refurb, they charge the battery as part of the testing process?
Also note that the replacement handset they pulled out did *not* have a SIM card in it. I noticed when the genius guy pulled out the SIM holder that it was empty. To me this implied that this phone was packaged to be a replacement. (i.e. They would not sell it as new because there’s no SIM.)
—o1 - snip —
I wonder how many they replace a day. I’ve heard numerous anecdotal accounts of problems with the iphone. What’s the warranty period? Will that phone be covered?
—o1 - snip —
Not sure what the replacement rate is. Note, however, that since the phone has been on the market for less than a year *all* phones are currently under warranty. Thus, anyone that walks in the store with an iPhone right now is eligible for service. I figure that they’re pretty liberal with there policies at this moment in time to keep the early adopters happy and the buzz positive. (Esp. after the price reductions…) Plus, it is a first generation device. I’d expect a higher than average problem/return rate.
As far as my warranty, I assume it’s still one year from my original purchase date… but you have a good point. I’ll check on that…
–truk snip–
I’m still trying to figure out how a strange receptacle could have killed your phone.
– truk snip—
I know, right? I wouldn’t have been surprised if it didn’t work for some reason (I’ve read that many iPod accessories aren’t compatible with the iPhone) but I’m really surprised it fried.
–truk snip–
I’m already seeing some memory effect issues with the battery
–truk snip–
I’m guessing you’ve read the stuff at Apple about this:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
Esp this line: “Each time you complete a charge cycle, it diminishes battery capacity slightly…”
The way I acted upon this information is to reduce the number of full charge cycles I put my phone through. For example, if my phone is not dead (or very low) at the end of the day I don’t charge it. By the same token, I don’t use my cradle as the default holder. Rather, I just put it on when I need to sync or charge.
This is probably easier for me to do than some people because on a typical, non-traveling day I don’t actually spend a ton of time talking on the phone. Thus, a single charge often lasts me several days.
ta,
-peebo