Dear Apple Corporate Headquarters, this is my complaint letter.
Today I attended an appointment at the Covent Garden Apple Store, Genius Bar, to have a rattle in my iPhone 6 fixed. My iPhone is less than 1 year old and I bought it outright from an Apple Store. My phone is just about spotless, it has been kept in a protective case and never taken a large impact. Flora was the name of the technician and Gavin was the name of her manager.
I met Flora and explained that my iPhone had a rattle. She took the phone to the backroom to inspect. She returned with my iPhone and another iPhone in a slim white, open box. She said she had already opened four of the slim white boxes and found that all the iPhones in them rattled.
She then explained that the rattle, in my iPhone and the other iPhones, were probably loose lenses and that these are defects from the manufacturing process. She then gave me two options or rather an ultimatum, I can take the rattling iPhone she offering me in the slim white box (almost as if she was doing me a big favor) or I can live with the rattle in my iPhone.
I responded that I was not happy with the choice since it didn’t offer a solution. Flora then, again, proceeded to tell me she had already opened four slim white boxes, and did not want to open anymore, and all the phones rattled as a result of the manufacturing process. I offered, what I thought was a reasonable experiment, based on the fact that my iPhone once did not rattle and that my friends and colleagues iPhones do not rattle.
I will test a random persons, in the store, iPhone for a rattle. If it rattles then I will accept that some iPhones rattle but if it doesn’t then she would need to find me a replacement that does not rattle. I carried out this experiment, to the exact same model as my iPhone, and heard no rattle. Flora then, again and almost verbatim, repeated her initial diagnosis and ultimatum.
I asked if the iPhone replacement she was offering me was a refurbished phone, she said yes but explicitly explained that there was no difference between a refurbished iPhone and a brand new iPhone, only that she could not exchange my iPhone for a brand new one and once again finished with her diagnosis and ultimatum.
I realized that the technician was not interested in understanding the problem so I asked If I could speak to her manager, Gavin. She said she had already spoken to Gavin but would call him anyway. At this point there was a break-down in our conversation.
Gavin came over with Flora by his side. I explained that I was not satisfied with a rattling iPhone. He gave the same diagnosis and options as Flora. I then requested if I could see for myself a rattling iPhone from a randomly selected, unopened, white slim box.
My reason for this request was because Flora was not willing to let me see for myself the four rattling iPhones that she had already opened and I could not understand how every iPhone that was opened in the backroom had a rattle when all my friends, colleagues and a random persons in the store iPhones did not rattle.
Gavin’s response to this was that Apple were not out to short change me. I felt a little insulted with this remark and that he was missing the point that all I want is to not to have a rattling iPhone.
The randomly selected iPhone arrived in a slim white box and was opened in front of me and it rattled. Gavin then repeated his initial diagnosis and option then passed me his personal, very possibly refurbished, iPhone which also had a rattle. I asked Gavin the question.
Is this rattle acceptable? A summary of his response was yes it is acceptable since there is a randomness in the manufacturing quality and that I should just accept that all the iPhones they have rattle and that they are not willing to take the issue any further.
In conclusion, the difference appears to be that the refurbished iPhones in the slim white box, that Apple use as replacements, have a rattling defect and the brand new iPhones don’t. Hopefully this conclusion will find its way to the right person and that this defect will be solved.
I purchased the iPhone for its functionality and aesthetics, both of which are Apples brand. The rattle in my iPhone may not affect its functionality but it affects its aesthetic quality. I have multiple Apple products but this is a turning point for me, Apple has lost a lot of points in my book and I will pass this feeling on to my friends and colleagues.
