Apple - rubbish customer service (warning long and ranty)

[MollieO]

Ds dropped his 3 day old Ipod touch 4 today. From a height of about 2ft - I saw him do it. I didn't think anything of it until ds picked it up and started sobbing. The screen was shattered. I was surprised as I've had two iphones and dropped them from higher with no ill effects. The ipod was also in a protective case and it landed case side down (ie screen side up).

Booked an appointment today at the Genius Bar at Apple on Regent Street. The person I saw said he sees loads of these every day all with shattered screens. When I queried why they weren't as robust as iphones I was told that Apple sell loads every day and it didn't matter that they shattered so easily!

It will cost £82.50 for a replacement ipod. The screen cannot be fixed. The entire ipod has to be replaced. There is no other option. It is not covered by the warranty. There is no warranty I can buy that would cover it. The appointment was supposed to be for 10 mins. We were done in 2. The ipod couldn't be replaced in store because it has an engraving (from Father Christmas!). I have to send it off but he didn't know the details - he told me to check on the website!

His manner was so offhand that I thought I'd ask on my way out about giving customer feedback. I was introduced to a manager who confirmed everything he said but apologised for his manner.

I asked the manager about how I send the phone away for replacement, how long it would take etc. She said she didn't know as she had never known anyone do this.

I went to the store tonight to buy an Ipad as well as to sort out ds's ipod. I left empty-handed but with a conviction that I won't buy an Ipad and I won't replace my iphone with a new model when my contract is up next month.

The thing that surprises me most is there is no insurance I can purchase that will cover a cracked screen and Apple employees acknowledge that the Ipod Touch 4 is particularly fragile. I will pay to replace ds's this time but if it is dropped or damaged then that is it. That and the lack of helpfulf customer service means my relationship with Apple is at an end.

I am a bit confused as to why you think an apple warranty would cover your son dropping his iPod. It is not apple's fault it is broken. If I dropped a brand new radley bag in a pile of manure and it was ruined should i expect Radley to replace it? Is it not covered under your house insurance?

It wasn't dropped from a great height and yet it shattered. The fact that it shattered so easily and was no surprise to the Apple rep I saw makes me query if it is fit for purpose. It was in a protective case so not as if it hit the floor directly.

I wouldn't mind paying for replacement/repair cover for accidental damage but it is not available at any price. That means when I replace it (which I will this time) I can have no comfort that it won't shatter again and I'm left forking out yet more money. Ds has had full use of my spare (sim free) Iphone for the past 4 years and nothing like this has ever happened (hence my decision that he could be trusted with an ipod of his own).

I doubt I am the only person ever to drop an iphone and yet I've never had a screen shatter. Also if I did shatter my iphone, the screen can be replaced. The screen on the ipod cannot be replaced. I think £154 is a rather a lot of money to pay for an item that Apple clearly consider to be disposable.

I had the same problem Mollie. My son had his ipod for a week when he went out to play with it, it flew out of his pocket when he was playing football and it smashed as it landed.

Firstly it's not Apple's fault if your son dropped it. They are not designed to be dropped.

Secondly without meaning to sound rude, were you very polite or did you go in with a bit of an attitude? The reason I ask is that Apple staff do have the latitude to replace ipod's as a gesture of goodwill and that's exactly what they did for my son. Despite it clearly not being Apple's fault, I didn't even buy it from them, they waived the £80 fee and gave us a replacement unit there & then. That said, I guess their policy may have changed. I'm not sure. But it's definitely discretionary.

If you have accidental damage on your home insurance then that should definitely cover a dropped screen. However, you will probably find the £82 charge a reasonable cost to replace the screen since on the 4th gen, they've bonded the glass screen to the LCD so you have to replace both. Even 3rd party companies will charge same, if not more to repair it.

The fact the guy sees loads of cracked screens each day doesn't mean they are at fault. It's just a byproduct of his job as an Apple 'Genius'. I'm sure a Ford mechanic sees lots of crashed cars each day but it doesn't mean Ford build weak cars. Nor do owners expect Ford to replace it free when they crashed it.

My advice is to book it into another Apple store, take your child with a tear jerker of a story and plead poverty. You never know....

Agree totally with niceguy. I bought my mum a very expensive mug for Christmas. If she drops it, John Lewis won't give me a free replacement. Does that mean it's not fit for purpose? I'm not aware of any mug insurance either.

As for the time slot, what did you want them to spend the other 8 minutes saying?

I have only once has a shattered screen as a result of a dropped phone (3GS) and they replaced it without a murmur. It's all about how you go about it.

I know nothing of ipods, all ways considered them inferior/over priced when compared to others.

I've got a Creative Zen Vision M: 60 gig slim model, it's about 4-5 years old, it's fallen out my pocket onto the kitchen floor, fallen on the bathroom floor a few times, my son pulled it off the window sil by the earphone wire the other day it bounced off the radiator (screen side first) before hitting the floor but it still works fine, it's just in a slicone case.

surprised that a 2 foot drop is enough to smash a screen thats pretty pathetic.

Apple have not given you crap customer service. What did you expect them to do?

Of course it isn't covered by any kind of warranty. No warranty covers an item for accidental damage.

Get a better protective case.

"surprised that a 2 foot drop is enough to smash a screen thats pretty pathetic."

Would you expect a glass or mug to survive a 2 ft drop?

I agree with op, if I.drop my laptop the accidental.damage insurance I pay for will cover it, it is also covered when kids.take of the keys, break ish ports, and disc drive, pour water on it etc. It is.weird that insurance is not available for.this.itouch.

I second what Niceguy2 said. My DNeice dropped her 4 day old iPod and cracked the screen, my DB took it to an Apple store to see if it could be mended, they replaced the iPod, no charge. I'd try another store and be nice.

My DP replaced his ipod touch screen. Bought a new screen from China using ebay, and then followed online instructions.
Would void your existing warranty, but if you have to buy a new one anyway....

It is very likely that the ipod in question will already have a note against its serial number. It is worth going to another store but I would not hold my breath. Another problem, as it has the engraving on it, they are unlikely to replace "there and then".

As for sending the ipod in question away - I have done it and was very pleased with speed and service. Dsd cracked a screen on her ipod nano after 2.5 years of v heavy usage. It was engraved. We sent it away and despite it being 1 or even 2 generations old got a replacement ipod as good as new which she still uses after a further year or so (she really loves mat purple colour).

Your ds was really unlucky to crack his just after a few days. You will get a new ipod of course.

DoesntChristmasDragOn Wed 28-Dec-11 23:37:22

"surprised that a 2 foot drop is enough to smash a screen thats pretty pathetic."

Would you expect a glass or mug to survive a 2 ft drop?

As I all ready said my Creative has suffered far worse over the years and is still fine, my DS lite has all so taken a beating (chucked around by a child when open) and still works, my phone has been dropped many times in many places and in answer to the frankly dumb question, depends on the glass/mug, I've dropped my glass on the floor before both in the kitchen and the living room, they where £4 for a set of 12, it/they survived.

The glass that covers a screen on an electronic device is nothing like the kind you drink out of, at least it shouldn't be.

I have just converted 154pounds into Australian dollars! $236.00. NO WAY would my child, no matter how, old get a single item of that expense for Christmas! That's a "save up & buy yourself" item! No wonder you are pissed it got broken. I don't see how Apple has any obligation to replace this at all, it was dropped. Not many things of that type are made to be dropped.

Do kids need expensive iPods? My dd likes music & she has an old fashioned cd/radio/tape player in her room, with her Cds & the use of my old mini cd player if she needs it. The stereo she has didn't even cost that [cost of ipod] over 10yrs ago when I bought it. NMy brand new DVD player didn't even cost that!

Sorry, but some people have more money than sense these days!

Kids break things. That's why I won't buy my dd a 154pound anything!! Even her ds is second hand!!

Apple don't really do bad customer service. My partner took his ipad in, he'd had it for about 9 months. The microphone wasn't working. They said "oh we can fix it or...just have this new one".

They fixed his years and years old MacBook as well, even though it was out of warranty.

If you drop something with a glass screen from 2 feet it will break. It is made of GLASS. That is why people have the rubber protection things around them. That is why they didn't replace it for you for free, it is your own fault it's broken.

I know it's gutting when something like that happens, but your son needs to save up to replace it.

I have an Ipod Touch 4 and I have never dropped it. I am careful with my things, and maybe your son needs to learn that lesson too.

"and in answer to the frankly dumb question, depends on the glass/mug, "

So, given that you admit it depends on the glass/mug it was not a dumb question was it? Do try not to be rude. It depends on the item you've dropped and how it lands.

An iPod touch is an expensive, delicate item. It is not encased in a large plastic surround like a DS Lite so that comparison is really not applicable (besides, DS2 threw his down the stairs and the hinge broke so they are certainly not indestructible) As a iPod is so thin with so little protection it is always going to be vulnerable to breaking if you drop it. You are lucky if it doesn't break, not unlucky if it does.

I have no idea what a "creative" is.

I do not believe iTouches are suitable for young children. Unless you are prepared for them to be lost or broken, do not give one to a child. They are a sleek, beautifully designed item, not a DS Lite.

Oh, and I've dropped my iPhone 3GS, my iPhone 4S and my iPad numerous times, or had them dropped for me. I count myself lucky that they have not broken. I have friends who have dropped theirs once and had the whole green shatter. What happens is down to luck.

Did you buy it on credit card, you may have a warranty from that which will cover it - my card covers accidental damage. I know because I dropped a vase I had just bought (doh) and the credit card company just refunded it.

If you paid £154 for it, and the whole thing has to be replaced why does that only cost £82.50?

Your DS dropped it, it broke, not Apples problem, yours (or rather, your DS).

The back of my iPhone is cracked. I did it. I wouldn't dream of going into Apple to berate a Genius for not replacing it.

In my experience Apple CS is fantastic. If every shop had staff that good shopping would be a real pleasure. And I know it's not unheard for them to replace genuinely, even a tiny bit faulty items without quibble.

YABVVVU.

Do you have 'accidental' damage on your home insurance that will cover this?

I have to admit I'm a bit shocked (and grateful) you brought it to my attention - I assumed previously to your post that because they looked the same they were essentially the same build as an Iphone

I have to admit I wondered why the 'phone' part of an Iphone was so expensive when the touch did mostly everything an Iphone does.

This would absolutely put me off buying a Touch - I've broken the screen on my iphone before and they replaced it 'free' with one they said was new (it wasn't - it had someone elses pictures on it)

We had a problem with the screen on DDs iPad, half the screen went black and lined. DD denied all knowledge of how it had happened so I booked an appointment at the Genius Bar in Bluewater. When I phoned I said I think my DD may have accidentally damaged the screen, could we have a quote for repair.

The young lad who dealt with us could not have been more helpful or polite. The iPad was replaced in about 10 mins flat as it was still under warranty. I don't know if we were lucky because there was no actual visible damage to the screen, eg cracking, shattering, or because we were totally honest and were fully expecting to pay for a repair/replacement.

I could have cried with relief when it was replaced. Just saying that every circumstance is different and in our case, Apple's service was absolutely brilliant.

I'm sorry for both you and your son that things are different for you, it must be so upsetting so close after Christmas. However, £82.50 is still better than forking out for a brand new one.

It may be that since it is so close after Christmas, Apple have a temporary hold on replacing screens/water damage/accidentally damaged items - they must get a huge rush in the weeks after Christmas.

you were unlucky - twice. firstly because the screen broke (my ipod and dd1's ipad have both been dropped a few times, and are unscathed; dd1 (and now dd2) has been using my ipod since she was about 3, and it has been through the wars a bit (dd1 has ASD)). secondly, you were unlucky because Apple do often replace damaged items, but did not in your case. maybe, as I said, there is a hold on this at this time of year (and maybe it was partly to do with the fact that it couldn't just be replaced, due to inscription?)

I'm not sure what else you can do - it was not bad customer service on the part of Apple, it was 'standard' customer service - they advised you of your options, the manager apologised for the offhand manner of the Genius assistant. It is not Apple's fault that the general expectation of them is to go far beyond 'standard' customer service.

I should add that we don't even know for definite that DD had damaged the screen in anyway, we just assumed it although it was always in a cover and we couldn't see any external damage.

I suppose from Apple's point of view they couldn't say whether it had been damaged or had developed a fault, but we were so grateful we got the benefit of the doubt!

And it works in their favour, it promotes loyalty because this year we bought an iPod and an iPod touch from the Store as Christmas pressies.

No attitude from me at all. I had assumed I'd be offered a repair of the screen at a charge of £30-£50. I was left speechless by his opening line 'you have to pay for a replacement, we see this all the time, we can't help with an iPod that has an engraving you need to send that off for replacement. He couldn't give me any info at all on the me mechanics of the on line replacement.

I have two iPhones. I've had countless BBs and none of them have shattered so easily or completely. I'm amazed at how fragile it is. Had I known ds would never have got one. I assumed they would be similar to an iPhone in terms of robustness.

Having spent all of my lunchtime on the phone to Apple today I discovered the info the store gave me yesterday was incorrect. The iPod will be repaired not replaced but the cost is the same. Also there is nowhere on the online repair facility to send an iPod for repair that has a cracked screen - you get a list of options and that isn't listed. I therefore had to spend more time today on the phone to give the correct repair info.

As for accidental damage, if I smash my phone or my computer both are covered. There is no available cover for an iPod. That seems odd to me for an expensive product. For the poster who said it was a lot of money, I agree. It was three times what I usually spend. However ds has had my old iPhone and looked after it impeccably for years with no trouble. I've had to use the money I was given at Christmas to find the repair.

I suppose the one thing that surprised me most is the complete lack of product knowledge displayed by both the people I saw last night and the person I called today. Clearly I am the only person ever who wants an engraved iPod to be repaired rather than just replaced.

Could it be the engraving? Have you asked if they can replace it for another if you are willing to forsake the engraving?

I wonder if the lack of replacement is because they are assuming you want the engraving and/or that they cannot use the back cover to refurbish any future ipod's which come in?