[Views] iPhones Are Not Designed To Operate In Indian Environment

krishnandu.sarkar

Simply a DIGITian
Staff member
TL;DR

I always had a dream of getting an iPhone and I do agree that I do not have that affordability conditions (aukat) to get an iPhone. But still I dared to get iPhone 6S 64 GB for whopping 53,499/- from Flipkart with a 1.5 years (18 months) EMI on my Credit Card. I couldn't even tell this to my family as they would never understand the hype or enthusiasm of getting an so called "i" device.

Now it's just been 3 months and suddenly from last Sunday (7th Aug) my phone started showing me "This Cable Or Accessory is Not Certified' and blah blah when nothing was plugged in. So I called up Apple Support and they told me it might be occurring due to some dust and all and asked me to try to clean with some cotton clothes. Though I tried the same but failed to fix the issue and thought of leaving it as it is, as it was not creating any functional problem for me.

But from last Tuesday (9th Aug) it stopped getting charged. Also I noticed some green marks on the Lightning cable. I tried the same with the lightning cable provided with iPad, but still the phone was not charging. Finally again I end up calling Apple Support and they asked me to take it to Apple Service Center and shared the list of Authorized Apple Service Center in my City i.e. Kolkata.

Out of all the service centers, I found Macintel Solutions close to my home which was also a Premium Service Provider as per the tag in Apple Website. I took the phone there on Thursday (i.e. yesterday) and they told me that there should be 8 pins in the lightning port in iPhone and one pin is missing. Also regarding the cable they said that it caught Sulphur, may be due to humidity and moisture or it might have came in contact of water.

They took the phone for further diagnosis and gave me a receipt of such and told me that they will inform me what needs to be done after the diagnosis.

Now today, they called me up and said the same thing, that a pin is missing, and that's considered as a damage which is not covered under warranty. Also there is no scope of fixing the lightning port and I have to go for replacement option only and for that I have to pay 24k.

I just said them I won't pay a single penny for the phone as it's still under warranty and more than that I'm already paying EMI for that phone which I have to continue it for another 15 months. They asked me to take the phone back in that case.

I called up Apple Service Center again and explained the whole thing, and even they said they have kind of Limited Warranty and they are not sure whether it can be repaired or not. And only way to verify the same is to call other Authorized Service Provider in my city and explain the problem and ask whether it can be repaired or I have the only option to replace.

Though I tried explaining the support executive that in no way I damaged that product and how can it not be covered in warranty. But the executive over the phone said that Apple have Limited Warranty and only provide service free of cost for manufacturing defects which is only valid upto 2 months from the date of purchase and hardware repairs within warranty if it is not damaged. Like if the PIN was there and it was not charging then it'd have been covered within warranty but as the PIN is not there it's considered as a damage.

I don't know what to do with such warranty which doesn't covers half of the things and everyone asks whether I have done insurance of my phone which is again a term I was hearing first time. Insurance of a phone? Really? (May be I'm backdated but really I have never heard anyone insuring their phone).

Well, right now I think I'll give other Service Centers a call in my city and will check with them once if it can be repaired. If not then I don't think there's anything to do with so called Apple's Limited Warranty. In that case it's better to get it fixed by a local shop who can easily replace the lightning jack for few hundred bucks.

Because either way it's not in usable state. And I cannot afford to pay another 24k when I'm still left with 15 months EMI. And even if I do, what's the guarantee that the phone will not catch sulphur again out of humidity or moisture issues or anything else again in next 3 months.
 
OP
krishnandu.sarkar

krishnandu.sarkar

Simply a DIGITian
Staff member
Yes, one of my local friend have done this from local shop as Apple Service Center asked 10k for replacement of his iPhone 4S. His problem was like, he sweats a lot and as he talks a lot over phone, so somehow it got into the lightning port and caught sulpher.

Yes, this is really pathetic service. Even sub 10k android phone companies provider better service than this. At least they honor the phone being in warranty.

I feel totally lost and frustrated as I have to pay EMI for 15 months more and I can't use the phone even. So without fixing it from local shop there's nothing I can do.

But if you think it wisely, most of the Indian people sweats a lot and most of them being using Android phone I have never seen such issues. Even I sweat a lot and never came across such issues with any other phone atleast in 3 months of proper usage. If I would have misused it, I'd have not complain here.

As you can understand, owing a 50k phone, I cared for it like I ever did for anything else. So it's not even the case of mishandling. But still I have to suffer due to these rules.
 

Nerevarine

Incarnate
I know the feel, For this specific reason, Im always afraid of suggesting my dad or bro to buy a 50K + phone .. IMO, a OP3 is more than enough, and even if it goes kaput, it will hurt a lot less than say a GS7+ edge..
The value/money ratio decreases significantly after 25k mark, and in my personal opinion, its absolutely not worth spending more.. Again, i must state, this is my personal opinion..
Same thing goes for GPUs..
Get it repaired in a local shop and use it.. And dont make the mistake of buying apple again..
Apple refusing to service for mentioned reason is inexcusable, I know it's a long shot but try posting this exact thing on the Apple India facebook page
Even a 12k xiaomi handset has accidental protection warranty for free, Apple should really take responsibilities, for these malfunctions
 
OP
krishnandu.sarkar

krishnandu.sarkar

Simply a DIGITian
Staff member
I know the feel, For this specific reason, Im always afraid of suggesting my dad or bro to buy a 50K + phone .. IMO, a OP3 is more than enough, and even if it goes kaput, it will hurt a lot less than say a GS7+ edge..
The value/money ratio decreases significantly after 25k mark, and in my personal opinion, its absolutely not worth spending more.. Again, i must state, this is my personal opinion..
Same thing goes for GPUs..
Get it repaired in a local shop and use it.. And dont make the mistake of buying apple again..
Apple refusing to service for mentioned reason is inexcusable, I know it's a long shot but try posting this exact thing on the Apple India facebook page
Even a 12k xiaomi handset has accidental protection warranty for free, Apple should really take responsibilities, for these malfunctions

That's right. I'm aware of the Xiomi providing accidental warranty which even warrants for broken screen which any manufacturer would ever think of.

And yes I do agree that Apple phones are not at all VFM. And yes you are right, do you even think I would ever an apple device? Even if I need it for iOS development I'd love to get a spare 4S or something for the lowest possible cost or 2nd hand models just for testing out apps.

I'd never get an apple device for personal usage.

Yes I'd try to post in Apple India FB Page and Twitter.
 

swatkat

Technomancer
Did one of the charging pins melt away?!!? Is it due to sulphur or over-heating? In any case, looks like poor quality materials are used.
 

Minion

Conversation Architect
So Apple services are bad hmm, I would never suggest or buy a 50k phone I knew apple services are bad but this bad its like buying a use and throw device for 50k.

I feel sorry for you but next time don't go for apple, OP3 would have been much better phone for half the price of iphone.
 
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