surefire iphone 3G swap @ genius bar

[yoTelefonoCuatro]

Hey guys,

With the 3GS coming out I'm listing my phone on ebay (try to get some of that money back)

i am out of phone support, but still under my warranty, so I have to swap it in store or else im charged by Apple for phone support.

I was wondering if anyone knows a surefire way of getting a phone swapped out @ the genius bar?

Once I tried saying I was having screen issues but they did a restore and told me all is fine... and i had to walk out with no phone haha


So anyone know any way that works?

Or is there some way to really mess up the software of the phone to where a restore cant even help?

Thanks!

[pokekid]

say that it is constantly giving false battery indication such as showing full charge and then dying out of nowhere. constant resets and reboots despite restores and what not. headphones wont recognize and yadadada.. you can get creative with it if you feel like. they have gotten more strict on swaps, i stopped caring on my phone looking pretty so i havent swapped unless its major. if they deny you then get angry and then call customer service, they swapped my fiances after the "genius" told her to come back with diagnostics after a few days. her phone was actually malfunctioning as well. screw em good luck

[yoTelefonoCuatro]

yeah i was thinkin of doing that.

and yeah they are very strict.

i am getting it swapped strictly so i could sell it on ebay.

Thanks!

[djdraco]

I had to do this once....
Jailbreak if not already, then manually delete as many packages as possible. Then restart the phone in recovery mode. The start quickpwn let it run the first few steps and when it begins to install everything power down the phone.
I did this and my phone would begin to power up, you could see the backlight come on but that was it. I figure the bootloader was fried. Anyway when I took it in they were all puzzled. They tried to plug it into their diag system and got no result. And what do ya know, bingo new phone.

[Channan]

I had to do this once....
Jailbreak if not already, then manually delete as many packages as possible. Then restart the phone in recovery mode. The start quickpwn let it run the first few steps and when it begins to install everything power down the phone.
I did this and my phone would begin to power up, you could see the backlight come on but that was it. I figure the bootloader was fried. Anyway when I took it in they were all puzzled. They tried to plug it into their diag system and got no result. And what do ya know, bingo new phone.

And if the OP isn't as lucky as you were...

[Dizzy714]

I would of gotten $525 for my phone if I could of done this. I went up to Apple the day I was supposed to sell my 'new' phone, and they wouldn't swap for a new one - I was PISSED. First thing I told 'em was that there's a text problem, which there really is, when I type my original message and send it it will show up lower than the center of the bubble - then if I exit out of SMS and pull it back up it'll be centered and that **** bothers me like no other. Then I told him my wifi flickers in and out when I have a strong strong connection which is a total lie - so he had me connect to the wifi at the store and it did just fine. So then I finally told him over the last month I've been getting a bunch of dropped calls and freezes, but still a nogo. And then at the very end he checked with his magnifying glass thing to see if there's any water damage and what do you know, the strip was red - I know for a fact I never had liquid get close to touching it over the past year, so it had to of been a drunk mistake. My phone works perfectly though, other than that SMS issue. Ended up selling it for $300 and yeah, came back home and somebody bought it for my buy now price of $400 on ebay so that kinda pissed me off - but the pictures looked better than the phone actually looked so he probably would of ended up sending it right back to me anyways so oh well. This time around, I'm putting a case on the 3GS, as much as I HATE to have a case on my phone strictly because I like the phone to be as small in my hand as possible, I have too. Actually my main bugging of a case, is the outer lip surrounding the phones bezel - is there any cases without a lip?

[swaneon]

use this?
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rvu3LA2mcU]YouTube - Break iphone 3g within warranty![/ame]

tried it and they didnt switch!!!! she was going to open the phone up!

[nyknicks4412]

100% fool proof way to get a new iPhone is to break the vibrate switch. this does not require opening the phone or doing anything, just simply take a small flat head and wedge it under the vibrate button, push the vibrate button up and fiddle around with it, do not make it fall off just dislodge it enough to cause it to no longer switch between on and vibrate. take it in and say that your vibrate button does not work. they will give you a new phone.

[swaneon]

really---more detail?

[Iphone_Reloaded]

put it in microwave for 2 seconds. tell them you charged it overnight and next morning it just wouldnt turn on. bring it to apple store and pray for a new one.

[reeko]

use this?
YouTube - Break iphone 3g within warranty!

tried it and they didnt switch!!!! she was going to open the phone up!

i just watched that whole video and i am shocked.

IMO the best way to get a replacement would be to open the phone up then dislodge the silent/vibrate switch away from the exterior toggle. its easy to do once the iphones open and the genius will have no choice but to give you a new one, even after opening the iphone to investigate, because it cant be repaired on the spot without removing the whole mainboard (easily), thus voiding the customers warranty.

I've never tried this method, but have been contemplating it. Ive fully dismantelled my phone and the 'do not remove' sticker is noticeably in 2, so if my phone got opened up id be rumbled straight away.

and finally, that guy was such an idiot its unbelievable. people like that should not be opening their iphones.

[yoTelefonoCuatro]

I went in claiming battery issues.

The "Genius" ran the "diagnostic test" and said yes there is a battery issue... which amazed me.. because that was complete bull... i think he lied. why?
Because I, using commonsense, made my appointment at 8:50 (10 minutes before closing)... I was the only customer there at 9 and they wanted me OUT. hahaha

It worked obviously..
guy went "hows an exchange sound?"
haha

Worked like a charm.. so remember, go at closing!

[swaneon]

okay will try
i opened my phone and did the thing---cheapers----then had a call problem--they jsut replaced the display
i want the back!
anyone know if the warranty is up in september or july?

[Grassmasta]

So wait. They will still swap your phone if its under warranty but "not eligible for complimentary phone support"?

I just bought an iPhone off of craigslist that is throwing the "this accessory was not made for iphone" screen at me, when nothing is connected. Could I possibly get this swapped (I'm a T-Mobile customer)? Also, the sensor isn't red (I look with a magnifying glass) so it shouldn't be water damaged.

Any help would be appreciated!

Sorry for thread jacking!

[swaneon]

i just watched that whole video and i am shocked.

IMO the best way to get a replacement would be to open the phone up then dislodge the silent/vibrate switch away from the exterior toggle. its easy to do once the iphones open and the genius will have no choice but to give you a new one, even after opening the iphone to investigate, because it cant be repaired on the spot without removing the whole mainboard (easily), thus voiding the customers warranty.

I've never tried this method, but have been contemplating it. Ive fully dismantelled my phone and the 'do not remove' sticker is noticeably in 2, so if my phone got opened up id be rumbled straight away.

and finally, that guy was such an idiot its unbelievable. people like that should not be opening their iphones.

what do you mean by exterior?
thanks
and to the above poster, yes i think you can.

[Grassmasta]

Bump

[imaliar793]

if i were to use ssh to delete some files (for example, the system files), could a restore, or anything, fix it?

[z3r01]

A restore can fix that, I'm about to explain a definite way of doing this. I done this so many times and it's not a destructive way....

1. Update iPhone with beta software 3.1

2. When I get the purple screen for activation, turn off phone and put in DFU.

3. Restore to iPhone is 3.0 and u will get error 1015.

4. Go to genius bar and say that u restored ur phone to 3.0 and got stuck.


They will then try to restore it themselves but get the same error. Welcome your new phone. Thanks button in advance

theoriticaly we can restore back to 3.0 by downgrading iTunes but the guys in the genius bar aret allowed to downgrade anything so, cheers lol

[imaliar793]

A restore can fix that, I'm about to explain a definite way of doing this. I done this so many times and it's not a destructive way....

1. Update iPhone with beta software 3.1

2. When I get the purple screen for activation, turn off phone and put in DFU.

3. Restore to iPhone is 3.0 and u will get error 1015.

4. Go to genius bar and say that u restored ur phone to 3.0 and got stuck.


They will then try to restore it themselves but get the same error. Welcome your new phone. Thanks button in advance

theoriticaly we can restore back to 3.0 by downgrading iTunes but the guys in the genius bar aret allowed to downgrade anything so, cheers lol

ok well I'm not going to my apple store for a couple of weeks but I would like to try this in advance
how exactly would I restore back to 3.0? ( I don't get why I have to downgrade iTunes. Also, would dfu mode work at this point? And what versions?)
thanks

[z3r01]

^^no , don't downgrade iTunes , stay on the latest iTunes, the point is to upgrade to 3.1 and the try and restore 3.0, the phone will not downgrade from 3.1 so u get an error and stay in recovery mode unless u go back to 3.1 , and since u are bringing it to the apple store and they don't have 3.1 yet out of beta, they will try and restore to 3.0 and can't unless they donwgrade their iTunes which won't happen. So they just restore until they get an error and then give u a new phone