14 DAY TRIAL // Shibani Bhujle, a New York marketing manager, is not happy with Apple and their service. After her iPhone spontaneously combusted on a coffee table, she visited her local Apple retail store for a replacement. Apple said no.
“My iPhone was on a coffee table and randomly the power went off,” Bhujle told VentureBeat in an email. “It was not on a charger or charging. In the next minute, I smelled fumes and picked up my iPhone, which was extremely hot.”
She then proceeded to pry open the handset in an attempt to remove the battery, which she said was “in the process of melting and oozing liquid.”
“If I was not present around my iPhone when this incident occurred, it had the potential to cause serious property damage and became a serious bodily hazard,” Bhujle said.
She went to Apple’s 14th street store in New York to demand the staffers there to replace her iPhone 4S.
Apple would not offer her a replacement. Bhujle failed to specify how the discussions unfolded - i.e. what arguments were brought to refuse the replacement.
Dismayed, the woman added in her email interview with VentureBeat, “This is a product defect with the battery that Apple is refusing to acknowledge and trying to hide.”
She noted that, “as of now, they have brushed this under the carpet and left it at that. I am in disbelief that they have not even offered a replacement device when it is a manufacturing issue.”
Apple usually takes care of these matters in a very professional manner, replacing any iPhone that can pose a hazard. Mrs. Bhujle’s device undoubtedly qualified for a replacement, going by her story.
However, Apple could have its own version of the story. For example, the Cupertino giant’s retail staffers may have refused the replacement on grounds of Mrs. Bhujle tampering with her device.
While she maintains that she attempted to open up the device after the incident occurred, Apple’s technicians may have reasons to believe the woman actually opened the phone beforehand, damaging the battery and causing the phone to malfunction.