[Hybridx24]

----EPIC NEWS----

I just returned my OUT OF WARRANTY iPhone 2G, 8GB in for a refurbished one... for free!!!

NOTE: Written a bit out of order; read the whole thing before starting.

I'm sick of people saying **** without explaining, so here's how :

1. I bought a SIM Card at my nearest AT&T store.

2. Put it in my iPhone, and got a "network timed out" error when I selected an iPhone contract and went to the last step and pressed "Submit".

Note: Some people say you have to fail the credit check or something by entering a fake SSN (social security number). Mine just didn't work, and brought me to a screen with 3 options.

3. Press the option saying something about "pre-paid". Go through the process and you should have a pre-paid phone number for your iPhone.

4. You now have an iPhone with a valid AT&T number, which means it is eligible for replacement (even if you are out of warranty, and you have a dead strip).

5. MAKE A RESERVATION at your local apple store (Via: Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar).

6. Go to the apple store and tell them your problem (dead strip).

MAKE SURE YOUR iPhone is Virginized (not unlocked or jailbroken).

And like someone said earlier: In 15 minutes, you'll have a refurbished iPhone. The guy I talked to just asked a few questions, and he asked if I tried restoring the phone, I said yes.

Enjoy, and hope this helped.

[cpjr]

When you say "out of warranty" are you talking about the fact that it was unlocked?? Or out of the 12 month factory warranty??

Cause you didnt even have to go through the trouble of buying an ATT simcard and signing up.....they will look at it WITHOUT a simcard in it at all.

And if they replaced it after the 12 month warranty.....you got someone in a good mood, cause they didnt have too.

[Hybridx24]

Sorry for not clarifying. It was unlocked and jailbroken, and then Virginized. It was also out of warranty by 4 months. I believe they HAVE to replace it. I talked to the guy and he said it's a standard thing, and apple has a return policy on it. If they don't give it to you, you can show them this: iPhone: Troubleshooting touchscreen response.

[cpjr]

Thats cool.

They are also supposed to service it even without a simcard or having the phone activated.

As I have brought them a couple that were not, no simcard or anything.....didnt matter to them.

[-vis0-]

When i recieved my first iphone I was a boost mobile customer, still am, but wanted to use the iphone as my primary phone without the hassles of contract. When I first went to the local at&t store, I asked if a prepaid account would work with an iphone and was told no. I did some research on this wonderful site and used some previous knowledge to come to the conclusion that these were lies, and went and got a sim card (activated) with at&ts gophone, and had no issues, The only thing I had to pay for was the first set of minutes. Then that phone caught a case of this 'dead strip' and i sold the phone. Wish I would of known that I could of just taken it in..... Sucks :/

[ALL DAY]

I think they're trying to get rid of the refurb phones. My mom (who works for AT&T) got an e-mail about being able to buy refurb 2G's for $39.99 to like $199.99.

Yes, I'm working on it...

By the way, I didn't end up trying to get a refurb when I went in to buy my 'Book for those of you who I spoke to earlier. The store was a mess with people and I just didn't have the time. When I go home in a while for Christmas, I'm definitely going to give it a shot, though.

[cricketlang]

^^^^let me know about that becasue i need a few extras to mess around with. i finally got mine (thank god) and am loving it but its my main phone and i cant mess with it too much. and as far as the replacement policy goes i cant post enough about how apple replaces like everything without questions. you dont need any tricks or anything. just take it in and find a nice person and they'll do it.ive done this more than once

[ALL DAY]

^LOL. Man up and just mess with it all you can. Almost anything can be restored and be fixed nowadays.

I've only had my one and it's been hacked to heck and been messed with more than I care to remember...

I don't know if I'd get any more than an extra to just screw around with unless I was a developer of some sort, though.

Regardless, I'll let you know. I think I can get two at this point because there are two accounts that have an upgrade available on my plan... They'll probably both get sold and I'll upgrade to a 3G and keep my original 2G.

[gbadude]

This is awesome! Thanks