Or at least their replacement policies do. Forgive me techno-savvy friends, but I believe is true (at least partly). While I myself do not own an iPhone, my man does so I do feel I have some experience to draw from . Of course, having speedy Internet access, being able to take high quality photos, video and audio clips and upload your entire music collection are big pluses. But the minuses are a bitch (pardon my french, but I've been on the phone all day with Apple and AT&T reps who keep contradicting each other and in general have no idea what the hell they're talking about).
In the past year since he's had his iPhone, it has: had trouble syncing(and when it does it takes at least 4 to 5 hours) has frozen up for no apparent reason, which almost required us to send it off in the mail for repairs which could've taken up to three weeks, bought applications that he never ordered (and showed up on the bill) and just last night it decided to die for no apparent reason. Not to mention the phone's always one drop away from a cracked screen and is hella hard to type on. Seriously, I've never seen a device that's so fragile and high maintenance--hell even CDs/DVDs/video games can survive a few scratches.
Normally this wouldn't have been too bad of a situation, but customer service informed me that the warranty had expired four days ago. Never mind that he told the people at AT&T the phone was on its last legs and asked if he could get another phone, to which they responded by incorrectly informing him that he'd have to pay around $300 to $400 for a replacement(even though he wouldn't have had to pay jack since the phone was still under the warranty at the time).
Of course having an extended warranty/insurance (which runs an extra 69.99) would've been helpful, and I realize it's our own fault for not having it. But what's really pissing me off is the crap you have to go through to get it replaced/fixed. During one of the many calls I made to Apple technical support, I was told I could send in the phone to get it fixed for $199 (which contradicted what another rep said earlier). However, I'd also have to pay $29 if I wanted an alternate phone sent, plus have the company place a $200(the price of the new iPhone) hold on my account for a few days. All told I'd pay around $400. And that's whether or not the company can fix the phone. Or I could've just sent the phone through the mail for $199 and be shit out of luck if they couldn't fix it, which could take up at least three weeks for them to determine. Life's full of tough choices now itn' it?
Not wanting to spend what would almost be a month's rent, I asked if I could send the phone to an Apple store in Baton Rouge to get a replacement, to which I was told no. I'd have to drive two and half hours to come in person to pay $199 for another phone, or as the employee at the Apple Store told me, the price they determined at their discretion.
What the f*ck! What's so hard about exchanging my account info over the phone or online, getting my bank card information and sending the new phone through the mail while I send the old one. They damn sure don't hesitate to suck the money out of my account the times I've paid the bill online. What's the problem now? It's not like it'd be hard to track me down. You have my Social Security number, which is pretty much the digital equivalent of a toe tag. *Takes deep breath and counts to ten* We'll probably end up going to the AT&T store and shelling out an extra hundred to replace a phone that could've been replaced for free a week earlier if the salespeople knew their contract plans. Oh well at least I got to vent at little. I guess the key words for this life lesson are: phone insurance.
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