iPhone 4 Screen - cracked in my pocket.

[TheStu]

You broke it. Should've had to pay the $200 replacement. The Apple store employee was nice enough to give you a free replacement for a phone that you broke and won't admit, and you bitch about it.

Nice to know that because of people like you that abuse the system the rest of us will end up paying for it.

Thanks.

I say we give the guy the benefit of the doubt. What would be the point of him coming in here and lying to us about what happened? Have you never, in your entire life, seen something stop working for an outwardly inexplicable reason?

I am not saying that it is impossible that the OP could be mistaken, that maybe he did bump into the corner of a desk or something and that broke the screen. But from his perspective, nothing happened and the screen broke. Don't call him a liar, that's just rude.

 

[0roo0roo]

You broke it. Should've had to pay the $200 replacement. The Apple store employee was nice enough to give you a free replacement for a phone that you broke and won't admit, and you bitch about it.

Nice to know that because of people like you that abuse the system the rest of us will end up paying for it.

Thanks.

this.

they were under no obligation to replace it on your word alone.
you got a free fix, don't bitch about their charity.

 

[AMDZen]

I wish I drove a stick shift. I have a boring little slushbox.

I was accused of dropping it. The "genius" (oh how I hate that term for a technician) said he did some kind of behavior report on it and detected a drop. Seriously, is there even such a thing?

So they offered to replace it for $200. At this point, I was extremely close to completely flipping out and yelling, but instead, I just started breathing deeply and started to tremble. I said that the product failed on its own and that I did nothing for it to crack. I pointed out that I made every effort to protect the phone (case + invisible shield) and I pointed out that I had ZERO scratches on the case and film.

The tech then said he'd replace it "just this time" under warranty. He transferred the SIM card, had me sign a paper, had me delete all my old iPhone's info, and it was done. After I had my new phone in my hand, he said to me "but I know you dropped it."

I got really pissed off. Neither he, nor Apple, know ANYTHING about me. Calling me a liar? I didn't have a middle finger big enough to get my point across. So instead, I just said really loudly "I appreciate the excellent support. Not many companies would willingly replace their products for not performing as advertised." and I left.

So yea, I'm happy that it got replaced, but I'm really not happy with Apple right now. Unless something dramatically changes in the next two years, I honestly can't see myself with another iPhone. At this point, I'm recommending Android to my friends.

I can't believe you expect anyone to believe you. I don't believe you either, but that is beside the point.

Even if this is exactly what happened, as a logical person you shouldn't expect a stranger to simply "buy" what you are telling them.

They replaced the fucking phone, WTF do you have to complain about? If you think the experience would of been different with Verizon or HTC or somebody then you are delusional.

 

[HalfCrazy]

Reguardless if owner did cause the issue to the device or not. In most company's it's the store manager duty to confront/deny service for any reason. It's not the duty of employees to make comments it's there fault or not. That is why store managers gets payed more is to handle the store. Plus the customers issues that comes along with the job.

Unless the tech is part of the store management team. He should have kept his comment to his/her self and replaced it. If not, they should had store manager talk to the owner. Saying "Sorry, can't replace the device for what ever reason".

There is a lot better way to handle the issue overall.

 

[JC86]

Regardless of what happened, it's nice to know that Apple at least got your phone replaced for you. While I can't speak for the iPhone 4, my iPhone 3G was caseless for months and I abused the hell out it. Dropped from 6 feet onto concrete hard enough that I chipped a chunk of plastic off the back and the metallic ring around the front was a bit deformed and loosened and the screen was still perfectly fine save for a few minor scratches. I have yet to drop my iPhone 4 and do not plan on doing so but my iPhone's have been solid, quality wise.

 

[Nothinman]

Reguardless if owner did cause the issue to the device or not. In most company's it's the store manager duty to confront/deny service for any reason. It's not the duty of employees to make comments it's there fault or not. That is why store managers gets payed more is to handle the store. Plus the customers issues that comes along with the job.

Unless the tech is part of the store management team. He should have kept his comment to his/her self and replaced it. If not, they should had store manager talk to the owner. Saying "Sorry, can't replace the device for what ever reason".

There is a lot better way to handle the issue overall.

Exactly, whether the phone was replaced or not the "genius" was a dick and should be reprimanded, if not fired.

Regardless of what happened, it's nice to know that Apple at least got your phone replaced for you. While I can't speak for the iPhone 4, my iPhone 3G was caseless for months and I abused the hell out it. Dropped from 6 feet onto concrete hard enough that I chipped a chunk of plastic off the back and the metallic ring around the front was a bit deformed and loosened and the screen was still perfectly fine save for a few minor scratches. I have yet to drop my iPhone 4 and do not plan on doing so but my iPhone's have been solid, quality wise.

Yea, I dropped my Storm a ton of times during drunk nights and despite all of the scratches and shit in the case it was fine. But then one night I bumped a pool table just right with it in my pocket and the screen just died. I didn't feel it at all, it just must've been the perfect angle to knock something loose inside or something. And Verizon replaced it with no snarky remarks or anything...

 

[slugg]

admit it, you sat on your phone and cracked the glass.

You broke it. Should've had to pay the $200 replacement. The Apple store employee was nice enough to give you a free replacement for a phone that you broke and won't admit, and you bitch about it.

Nice to know that because of people like you that abuse the system the rest of us will end up paying for it.

Thanks.

Oh sorry, I wasn't aware that because it's shiny and made by Apple that it's guaranteed to be a flawless device. I wasn't aware that Apple's manufacturing process yields are 100 percent defect free. I'm sure they use only the best manufacturing plants on the planet. Oh wait, that's not true at all.

Look guys... I'm thankful that they replaced the phone, because they didn't have to. But that's what bothers me. They advertise the glass as a super durable material, yet they reserve the right to deny you a warranty claim if it fails under normal usage. Simply put, the device malfunctioned. The glass is designed to be tough, and advertised as such, and it broke in my pocket. Being in a pocket is definitely classified as normal use. So what - you're telling me that just because it's a cosmetic defect, I deserve to be ripped off for $200? A defect is a defect.

Maybe there was some stress on the phone from being in my pocket. Or perhaps there was some thermal stress. Obviously, physically speaking, there was a reason for the crack. Regardless of what it was, I did nothing out of the norm. It should not fail under expected, normal use.

So if it truly was my fault, then Apple is saying that you're not supposed to put the phone in your pocket. Apparently I was stowing it wrong. Oh and the reception issues aren't Apple's fault for failing to realize that people have fingers and left hands; we're just holding it wrong. Cut the crap, Apple. You released an inferior product. I'm so angry that I'm just outside the refund period.

Overall, I really enjoy my iPhone 4. It's fast, easy to use, looks fantastic, stores just the amount of data that I need, has a great battery life, and all sorts of goodies. Like anything else, it has its problems. When everything that's expected to work truly does, then it's great. But, since the reliability of the warranty hangs in the balance solely on the discretion of a person at a retail store who will never admit that the phone failed, I cannot personally recommend the iPhone 4 to anyone.

I've had a large variety of smart phones, including an earlier iPhone, and I've never had anything even close to this happening. When I did have a problem with my devices, warranty service with Samsung, Palm, Audiovox, and HTC was quick, painless, and above all, reasonable. I've never made a warranty claim with any other Apple product in my life, so this was my first impression.

 

[gar655]

The only way it could've broke in your pocket is if it was already cracked. Likely it got cracked at some point and wasn't noticed, put in pocket (tight pants perhaps) a little stress and POW! the glass shatters.
I keep mine in my pocket as do several of my friends and there is NO WAY it will crack just from being in a pants pocket (front).

 

[jonesthewine]

The only way it could've broke in your pocket is if it was already cracked. Likely it got cracked at some point and wasn't noticed, put in pocket (tight pants perhaps) a little stress and POW! the glass shatters.
I keep mine in my pocket as do several of my friends and there is NO WAY it will crack just from being in a pants pocket (front).

I was waiting for this point to be raised...the OP never mentioned which pocket the phone was in when it cracked. Back pocket placement is much more consistent with his story.

 

[Tbirdkid]

Im sure you were holding it in your pockeet wrong... 8)

 

[sfryman]

The only way it could've broke in your pocket is if it was already cracked. Likely it got cracked at some point and wasn't noticed, put in pocket (tight pants perhaps) a little stress and POW! the glass shatters.
I keep mine in my pocket as do several of my friends and there is NO WAY it will crack just from being in a pants pocket (front).

This is not true. I'm no glass expert, but I have heard of strange behavior w/ certain types of toughened glass before. As I understand it, tempered or "toughened" glass actually has compressive stress processed into the material at manufacturing to increase strength. If this is done incorrectly or if there are certain defects in the material, the glass can be very unstable and break w/ no apparent cause (sometimes explosively).

So say if the internal stresses were not properly balanced, rel. low thermal stress could have caused the glass to shatter; say taking a cold phone and putting it into a warm pocket. Certain chemicals could also cause this to happen.

Or if the antenna/case was not assembled properly it might have placed undue force on an edge of the glass, which is no bueno for toughened glass. Toughened glass is very strong against damage to the center of the pane, but the edges are more sensitive because the tensile stress is the greatest on the edges.

The OP's story, though unusual, is by no means impossible. He could have just gotten an iphone w/ a defective panel. If so, it was just a matter of time before the thing cracked, nothing he could have done to prevent it.

*edit*:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_glass_breakage

Wikipedia haters plz leave me alone; I'm just saying I've heard of this kind of thing happening before. I don't know what kind of glass Apple has on the iphone4, but it's reasonable to assume it's some type of toughened glass.

 

[playtillyadrop]

im with slugg on this one...all these companies talk about their products being "indestructible" with their new innovative ideas, but in reality they fall well short of what they promised..I call this false advertising. A company claims their glass is so advance it wont crack or scratch because its stronger by 20-30 times more than plastic and made from from the best crystals or whatever that mumbo jumbo is. The point is when a customer brings in a product that you claimed to be what it is, and said customer has bought that product based on those claims you cant blame the customer.

Yes i do own an iphone 4 and nexus one and so on...i know the marketing BS...i run my own business which is in retail...i have to deal with customers everyday, and there are ways to talk to them without calling them a liar.

 

[Fayd]

FWIW



I have a hard time believe that literally nothing shattered the front of the phone. It's not like there are widespread reports of the glass fronts breaking - if anything it's the exact opposite.


It's more likely that you bumped against... something... or something hit it rather than it just magically shattering in your pocket. Just saying..

i've cracked the front screen on my phone (not an iphone) getting out of my car. if it's in my front pocket, it sits against the car frame as i get up and out.

i drop it into my shirt pocket now. much safer.

 

[Zebo]

Oh sorry, I wasn't aware that because it's shiny and made by Apple that it's guaranteed to be a flawless device. I wasn't aware that Apple's manufacturing process yields are 100 percent defect free. I'm sure they use only the best manufacturing plants on the planet. Oh wait, that's not true at all.

Look guys... I'm thankful that they replaced the phone, because they didn't have to. But that's what bothers me. They advertise the glass as a super durable material, yet they reserve the right to deny you a warranty claim if it fails under normal usage. Simply put, the device malfunctioned. The glass is designed to be tough, and advertised as such, and it broke in my pocket. Being in a pocket is definitely classified as normal use. So what - you're telling me that just because it's a cosmetic defect, I deserve to be ripped off for $200? A defect is a defect.

Maybe there was some stress on the phone from being in my pocket. Or perhaps there was some thermal stress. Obviously, physically speaking, there was a reason for the crack. Regardless of what it was, I did nothing out of the norm. It should not fail under expected, normal use.

So if it truly was my fault, then Apple is saying that you're not supposed to put the phone in your pocket. Apparently I was stowing it wrong. Oh and the reception issues aren't Apple's fault for failing to realize that people have fingers and left hands; we're just holding it wrong. Cut the crap, Apple. You released an inferior product. I'm so angry that I'm just outside the refund period.

Overall, I really enjoy my iPhone 4. It's fast, easy to use, looks fantastic, stores just the amount of data that I need, has a great battery life, and all sorts of goodies. Like anything else, it has its problems. When everything that's expected to work truly does, then it's great. But, since the reliability of the warranty hangs in the balance solely on the discretion of a person at a retail store who will never admit that the phone failed, I cannot personally recommend the iPhone 4 to anyone.

I've had a large variety of smart phones, including an earlier iPhone, and I've never had anything even close to this happening. When I did have a problem with my devices, warranty service with Samsung, Palm, Audiovox, and HTC was quick, painless, and above all, reasonable. I've never made a warranty claim with any other Apple product in my life, so this was my first impression.

The front glass is very tough depending how you define tough. If you learn variables of "toughness" such as tensile strength, hardness, and brittleness, various modulus', etc then you'll understand you can't have it all in a thin translucent panel. Apple erred on the side hardness using an aluminum silicate glass (I'm not sure why you're using a screen protector you don't need it) but you cant bang around and stand on it's glass like a plastic phone - it will break easier.

 

[MotionMan]

Does the iPhone tell the tech when the phone was allegedly dropped (and how many times) and when the screen cracked?

Those two events may be unrelated.

MotionMan

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Does the iPhone tell the tech when the phone was allegedly dropped (and how many times) and when the screen cracked?

Those two events may be unrelated.

MotionMan

I wouldn't be surprised if the phone knows when it was dropped but I'd be stunned if it knows when the screen cracked.

For my part, I am not one to use cases for my phones, but at this point have a bumper (cheapie $4 one from eBay which I bet is all but identical to the $30 Apple one), an SGP simu-leather back skin and an SGP Crystal screen protector on my iPhone 4. The 4 is a beautiful piece of industrial design but it clearly seems to need protection . . .