14 DAY TRIAL // Via a Support representative, Apple confirmed last month that it would replace any iPhone 6 that suffered from the apparent #bendgate issue free of charge, upon visual inspection.
That turned out not to be the case at one Apple store (Walden Galleria Mall in Buffalo, NY), where a person wanted to swap a bent iPhone 6 Plus for a new one after discovering the flaw and opening a thread on Reddit.
Apple’s policy
As noted above, Apple last month said via a Support rep that the company would replace bent units after an inspection by the store’s staff. The Support guy said (asked if Apple would indeed replace bent phones), “That is 100% up to the Genius that you speak with at the store.”
“There is a test called a Visual Mechanical Inspection that the device will have to pass,” the Apple representative told The Next Web. “If it is within the guidelines, they will be able to cover it. If not, the replacement would be paid,” the representative said.
The refusal
Identified as mastercheif on Reddit, an iPhone 6 Plus owner realized one day that his phone had bent. He didn’t know how or why, and this is the second such case we’ve heard about. However, that still doesn’t mean these people did nothing wrong. After all, they have no recollection of doing anything wrong to the thousand-dollar device, or they won’t admit it for fear that they won’t get a replacement from Apple. In fact, that’s what our guy mastercheif must have been feeling when he shared the story with the world.
He went into the store asking for his phone to be replaced. He said he had talked to two employees there, and one of them allegedly said:
“Apple has not indicated to us at this time that this is a manufacturing issue. You can use an AppleCare+ replacement if you want.”
He then claims to have talked to a manager for a full hour and “explained” that he had a Reddit thread on the issue, without even thinking for a second that his claims would start to sound like threats or blackmail.
“Apple has told us that it is not a problem with the phones,” the manager replied. “We need to make sure we are being consistent, especially with you're going to tell a thousand people about this. We are not replacing bent phones at this time. If something changes, I will let you know.”
Sounds to us like a safe approach on behalf of the store manager. However, Apple should have at least inspected the guy’s phone before refusing to replace it. We can’t know for sure where the discussions went wrong, but one thing is certain: the Apple Store, Walden Galleria Mall in Buffalo, NY is not the best place to get your bent iPhone exchanged.
The victory lap
User mastercheif then visited another store and swapped the phone no problem.
“The genius was entirely sympathetic and didn't question me beyond ‘have you sat on it? Do you know how it happened?’ He then promptly used the ‘Early Field Failure Analysis’ option on his iPad and ran to the back to grab a replacement. My faith is restored.”
Go figure.