to feel I've been gulliable in the Apple Store

[tactum]

DD has been on for ages about needing a new battery for her iphone6 and DH said they're giving them out for free due to a fault. This has been mentioned on and off for months, but now we are going on a long haul holiday next week it has suddenly become and emergency apparently as it keeps dying. DH and DD have been talking on and off for ages as I said about getting round to doing it.

Phones are just not my department at all - never had an iphone etc etc. I rang and ordered battery, made appointment at Apple Store and went this morning (45 mins drive each way) because no one else had time to do it.

Got to the store and they said the battery was £25 not free as her serial number didn't qualify. They also said because the screen was so cracked there was no way it would survive the battery being fitted asnd would need to be replaced - £120!! I rang DH 5 times and he never picked up. I was at the front of the queue, felt intimidated and don't know ANYTHING about phones so just thought, if it needs to be done it needs to be done.

Then when I pick it up it's £175 as it didn't include VAT. Felt like a bloody idiot and had already been questioning whether I made the right decision. I don't even know if other places can do replacement screens for cheaper.

Dreading telling DH later, feel I should have walked out but bearing in mind it's a whole morning's job and we fly in 5 days made the judgement. I think he's gonig to be really cross at my decision making. What do you think? I just felt put on the spot, a bit intimidated and just went with it. The money in itself isn't a massive issue, although no one wants to spend £175.

I knew I wasn't the right person to do this but they just put it off and then left me with it. Oh fuck.

It is possible to get screens replaced for cheaper, but it's rarely done to the same standard and it will often void any warranty on the phone - so you haven't necessarily done the wrong thing! It's annoying that her serial number didn't qualify for a free battery and I HATE when companies don't include VAT when telling you the price of something.

These things cost what they cost and it is cheaper than a new phone would have been and will keep the phone going for longer than it otherwise would have. It's just that everything Apple is so expensive!

You've basically chosen the more expensive but also most safe route, so don't feel bad about it - you might easily have paid less elsewhere but have had many more issues in the long term.

Thanks. Does the fact she's on a contract mean I should have done it differently? I'm just sooo stupid when it comes to phones!

Did your DH not have phone insurance in with his contract? (Unusual if he didnt). All our phones - 6 electronic devices - are covered free of charge on our Sky Q contract, that covers phonesand laptops.

Well they were right it’s only certain models of the iPhone that have the faulty battery. The reason for the recent price drop to £25 was because they’ve slowed down phones with old batteries on the new update. And you can’t really expect them to change the battery of a phone with a cracked screen when the phone will have to be taken apart?

If you didn’t want to pay it then you shouldn’t have.

I would like my battery replaced however I have a small crack in my screen so I decided not to get it done as I didn’t want to pay for a new screen when I’m getting a new phone in June.

@tactum you aren't stupid, there's no reason why you would know these things!

I think the only difference her contract would make would be if it included insurance for damage etc. That's usually an extra cost though. Worth checking if she does have it though as you might still be able to claim back the cost

Your DH has got it wrong.

A very small number of iPhone 6 and 6s were affected by a shutdown issue. These phones can have a free battery replacement.

As a separate issue, Apple got a lot of bad press last year when it was discovered that their operating system was slowing down (or 'throttling') performance as the phone gets older to compensate for the deterioration of the battery over time. Many people considered this to be planned obsolescence - i.e. designed to force you to buy a new phone. To make up for this, they offered to reduce the price of replacing a battery on an out-of-warranty phone to £25. It should otherwise have cost you £79 for the battery replacement alone so they have done the right thing in charging you the smaller amount.

Your DH has probably heard about both of these measures and mixed them up in his head.