Am I being unreasonable - Istore Fourways???

[Paul Ruinaard]

Pull up chairs and Popcorn:

 

So i go in to Istore Fourways cause they send me an offer where you can trade your phone in and get up to R 10k. My contracts expired, i need a new phone and the 12 is being released so sounds like an idea.

 

When i get there they tell me they need to do an evaluation. Fine i say. then the agent starts to "clean" the phone with Prestik. I immediately think that its not a good idea cause prestik pulls pretty strongly. Anyway lo and behold her Prestik proceeds to remove the lens from my rear facing camera. I immediately say - hold on - please call the manager. Sweet as pie she arrives and says no problems - come back tomorrow and we will fix it. Great i think.

 

I drop the phone off and then the trouble starts. We need to evaluate it before repairs. THen they say well the rear camera lens is cracked. Yes i say of course it is as you damaged that yesterday. They insist they need to evaluate - so i leave it with them. 

 

I then get a call saying the phone has been tampered with and the security screws are out so they can't repair it and the rear camera lens is cracked, Sorry will not fix it blah blah blah etc.

 

So here's the things that make me mad:

 

1.) These Istore outfits are NOT Apple - they are a franchise. So how does the Apple warranty on my iphone i bought from Incredible Connection actually have anything to do with them?

2.) Even then this is not a warranty repair (which it is expressly not) - its to repair the damage their inexperienced agent did on my phone. So how does the phone being opened have any bearing on the matter? 

3.) The phone is my property to do with what i want - it has nothing to do with them where or how i use it and how i get it repaired if i choose to. It's a business tool and TBH i think i did drop it so got the screen repaired. But that has no bearing on the matter at all. They broke the camera with their Prestik.

4.) No amount of explaining or trying to show them that these maters are unrelated and that they should repair my phone.They are not Apple an b.) the two matters around whether my phone has been opened or not has no bearing on the fact they damaged it during the assessment and have a duty to repair it

 

So am i being a knob or don't i get something here?

 

And truth be told I was really interested in this offer they had and was about to pull the trigger on the Iphone 12 order anyway irrespective of the trade in value as i like to have a standby. I am totally reliant on my mobile phone and need it to be 100% functioning and have availability, plus I use a Red VIP contract. Finally, i have bought at least 2 x fully specced Macbook Pros from this exact store over the last three years for work, plus innumerable other things along the way.

 

If you add up the amount of business they have lost (because i am never using them again) it outweighs the costs of actually fixing the lens. And if they had been honest, admitted fault and fixed it I would certainly have been singing their praises here rather than feeling screwed over.

 

There is just a desire to deflect in to corporate BS and try to avoid taking ownership of anything. They know i need the handset and its such a minor costs that i won't pursue them, so they gamble on that. Their stores are all flash but as they say - it's like a mudguard - all shiny on top but all SH!t underneath.

 

What was something i was looking forward to, turned into a nightmare and a major hassle.

 

Anyway - be warned and be aware - dont use Istores. they think they are Apple stores but they are a pale imitation compared to the real things which are truly good. And i do know as i have frequented a number of them. And yes i am an Apple fanboy - love their stuff and i am all in on their products so not changing soon.

 

But Istore is definitely not where i am sourcing from...

 

Anyone else experienced this?

 

 

[Plentipotential]

I'm not so sure that Prestik would pull a camera out of a phone. I suspect that the previous repair had something to do with that. Missing screws?

[DR ◣◢]

I'm not so sure that Prestik would pull a camera out of a phone. I suspect that the previous repair had something to do with that. Missing screws?

I tend to agree. Unless they used a massive ball of prestic and pressed it down hard and yanked it up with force.

 

Your previous repair wasn’t done all that well especially if screws are missing.

[Escapee..]

Prestik pulling a camera lens off 

Who fixed the phone when you dropped it previously?

[DR ◣◢]

I was curious. So...

 

Took my old iPhone 7 and pressed down a ball of prestik a bit bigger than a golf ball onto the camera. I yanked up super hard and fast and nothing came off. 

 

The phone is pretty wrecked already with a very broken screen and about six years of damage from drops etc. Still working 100%

[Paul Ruinaard]

   

[Paul Ruinaard]

seems like i got my answers.

[Rocket-Boy]

seems like i got my answers.

Im not sure I agree with the answers.

If I took a phone in that was intact and functional, then a consultant did something that changed that state, I would feel the same way you do.

Sure some blame should go to the previous repairers but your phone was fine before the consultant yanked the lens out with a piece of prestik.

 

Core group in SA are a joke and hiding behind technicalities is their standard practice.

They tried to tell me a few weeks ago that my macbook pro which is 8 months old and had a swollen battery was not covered under warranty. I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to fix something that was a well known issue despite it being in warranty *and* me having a business extended warranty on the device.

[T_Boss]

Agree with others that the lense was probaby already slightly loose, probably from the previous repair, but that doesnt mean iStore is justified in how they are handling this.

 

The phone is out of warranty anyway, so third party repairs previously done are a non issue here. They damaged it, they should fix it at their cost.

 

I fail to beleive that "cleaning" a phone with Prestik is an official technique authorised by apple. Even if Core group is a 3rd party distributor, they are the licensed apple agent in SA, and im sure they have an SOP described by apple for how a phone should be cleaned and assesed.

 

But, good luck trying to fight this, Core is a really crappy bunch, they make many of the local distributors in the bike industry look like shining examples of customer service and integrity

[Mojoman]

Agree with others that the lense was probaby already slightly loose, probably from the previous repair, but that doesnt mean iStore is justified in how they are handling this.

 

The phone is out of warranty anyway, so third party repairs previously done are a non issue here. They damaged it, they should fix it at their cost.

 

I fail to beleive that "cleaning" a phone with Prestik is an official technique authorised by apple. Even if Core group is a 3rd party distributor, they are the licensed apple agent in SA, and im sure they have an SOP described by apple for how a phone should be cleaned and assesed.

 

But, good luck trying to fight this, Core is a really crappy bunch, they make many of the local distributors in the bike industry look like shining examples of customer service and integrity

Ja, Apple would have their own special type of prestik......

[Robbie Stewart]

back in the days when DSTV was the primary source of entertainment, I had an issue with by decoder giving some error code. No worries, I hopped in the car, and drove to the local DTSV agent in town. I hand the lady at the counter my decoder, and she plugs it in to the power cable they have on the desk for this very task. A few sparks later while plugging in, she turns to me and says "sir, your decoder is dead. Sorry, but you must buy a new one". I start explaining to her that she just frikken killed it...? No she says, it was dead when she plugged it in. I tell her I saw the damn sparks !?!...No she says, there were no sparks. Owner comes down from upstairs after hearing me screaming at his service rep. No he insists, his power source is working 100% and there is clearly no fault on his side. My decoder was dead and that's the end of it. This was funnily enough also a client of mine, but subsequent to that I refused to service him any longer, necessitating him to get assistance out of town. 

I drove down that part of the country a few months ago and noticed he is out of business.

[Craai]

back in the days when DSTV was the primary source of entertainment, I had an issue with by decoder giving some error code. No worries, I hopped in the car, and drove to the local DTSV agent in town. I hand the lady at the counter my decoder, and she plugs it in to the power cable they have on the desk for this very task. A few sparks later while plugging in, she turns to me and says "sir, your decoder is dead. Sorry, but you must buy a new one". I start explaining to her that she just frikken killed it...? No she says, it was dead when she plugged it in. I tell her I saw the damn sparks !?!...No she says, there were no sparks. Owner comes down from upstairs after hearing me screaming at his service rep. No he insists, his power source is working 100% and there is clearly no fault on his side. My decoder was dead and that's the end of it. This was funnily enough also a client of mine, but subsequent to that I refused to service him any longer, necessitating him to get assistance out of town. 

 

I drove down that part of the country a few months ago and noticed he is out of business.

 

 

You should have asked them to plug in one of their brand new, PVR decoders

[BigDL]

Pull up chairs and Popcorn:

 

So i go in to Istore Fourways cause they send me an offer where you can trade your phone in and get up to R 10k. My contracts expired, i need a new phone and the 12 is being released so sounds like an idea.

 

When i get there they tell me they need to do an evaluation. Fine i say. then the agent starts to "clean" the phone with Prestik. I immediately think that its not a good idea cause prestik pulls pretty strongly. Anyway lo and behold her Prestik proceeds to remove the lens from my rear facing camera. I immediately say - hold on - please call the manager. Sweet as pie she arrives and says no problems - come back tomorrow and we will fix it. Great i think.

 

I drop the phone off and then the trouble starts. We need to evaluate it before repairs. THen they say well the rear camera lens is cracked. Yes i say of course it is as you damaged that yesterday. They insist they need to evaluate - so i leave it with them.

 

I then get a call saying the phone has been tampered with and the security screws are out so they can't repair it and the rear camera lens is cracked, Sorry will not fix it blah blah blah etc.

 

So here's the things that make me mad:

 

1.) These Istore outfits are NOT Apple - they are a franchise. So how does the Apple warranty on my iphone i bought from Incredible Connection actually have anything to do with them?

2.) Even then this is not a warranty repair (which it is expressly not) - its to repair the damage their inexperienced agent did on my phone. So how does the phone being opened have any bearing on the matter?

3.) The phone is my property to do with what i want - it has nothing to do with them where or how i use it and how i get it repaired if i choose to. It's a business tool and TBH i think i did drop it so got the screen repaired. But that has no bearing on the matter at all. They broke the camera with their Prestik.

4.) No amount of explaining or trying to show them that these maters are unrelated and that they should repair my phone.They are not Apple an b.) the two matters around whether my phone has been opened or not has no bearing on the fact they damaged it during the assessment and have a duty to repair it

 

So am i being a knob or don't i get something here?

 

And truth be told I was really interested in this offer they had and was about to pull the trigger on the Iphone 12 order anyway irrespective of the trade in value as i like to have a standby. I am totally reliant on my mobile phone and need it to be 100% functioning and have availability, plus I use a Red VIP contract. Finally, i have bought at least 2 x fully specced Macbook Pros from this exact store over the last three years for work, plus innumerable other things along the way.

 

If you add up the amount of business they have lost (because i am never using them again) it outweighs the costs of actually fixing the lens. And if they had been honest, admitted fault and fixed it I would certainly have been singing their praises here rather than feeling screwed over.

 

There is just a desire to deflect in to corporate BS and try to avoid taking ownership of anything. They know i need the handset and its such a minor costs that i won't pursue them, so they gamble on that. Their stores are all flash but as they say - it's like a mudguard - all shiny on top but all **** underneath.

 

What was something i was looking forward to, turned into a nightmare and a major hassle.

 

Anyway - be warned and be aware - dont use Istores. they think they are Apple stores but they are a pale imitation compared to the real things which are truly good. And i do know as i have frequented a number of them. And yes i am an Apple fanboy - love their stuff and i am all in on their products so not changing soon.

 

But Istore is definitely not where i am sourcing from...

 

Anyone else experienced this?

That lens was probably about to come out anyway. Not sure why they used prestik to clean it either. Seems odd, although Prestik is used to remove debris from the mic, speaker and receiver of a phone.

 

Any Apple Authorised Repair centre will be able to do warranty work on behalf of Apple.

 

Who repaired your screen? Sounds like they didn’t do a great job and probably didn’t use an official part,

[Chris_]

We went passed the Sandton Apple store this weekend. To see about getting rid of two old phones.

 

iPhone 8, post Apple diagnostics test she says to us the mic in the top of the phone (and points to where the speaker is that you listen through) is broken. Wife says no, the phone was 100% working when she had upgraded. Anyway, that reduces the value of trade in from R4000 to R1000! I laughed. Out loud. Also I didn't know there were multiple mics on a phone.

 

iPhone 6 (I think) , after running test, she shows us the screen and says - see the yellowness at the bottom of the screen - we both squint hard and reply no. Trade in value R276.

 

We left. 2 spare phones intact.

[WrightJnr]

We went passed the Sandton Apple store this weekend. To see about getting rid of two old phones.

 

iPhone 8, post Apple diagnostics test she says to us the mic in the top of the phone (and points to where the speaker is that you listen through) is broken. Wife says no, the phone was 100% working when she had upgraded. Anyway, that reduces the value of trade in from R4000 to R1000! I laughed. Out loud. Also I didn't know there were multiple mics on a phone.

 

iPhone 6 (I think) , after running test, she shows us the screen and says - see the yellowness at the bottom of the screen - we both squint hard and reply no. Trade in value R276.

 

We left. 2 spare phones intact.

 

There is quite a lot going on up the top of the phone, including a microphone.

 

Regardless, their trade in offers are insulting.

 

Edit: Above not iPhone 8, ooops. My bad.

Edited January 3, 2021 by WrightJnr

[BigDL]

We went passed the Sandton Apple store this weekend. To see about getting rid of two old phones.

 

iPhone 8, post Apple diagnostics test she says to us the mic in the top of the phone (and points to where the speaker is that you listen through) is broken. Wife says no, the phone was 100% working when she had upgraded. Anyway, that reduces the value of trade in from R4000 to R1000! I laughed. Out loud. Also I didn't know there were multiple mics on a phone.

 

iPhone 6 (I think) , after running test, she shows us the screen and says - see the yellowness at the bottom of the screen - we both squint hard and reply no. Trade in value R276.

 

We left. 2 spare phones intact.

Makes sense. The values are dramatically affected if the reseller needs to do any work whatsoever on them. Remember that the Istore will be paying values dictated by a third party in most cases.

 

As for iPhone 6, you’d be pretty lucky to get anything as a trade in. Far better just to sell them second hand .