iPhone 5 Fried

Teen Wolf

My sister's iPhone 5 got fried tonight. The top of the plug blew off when charging and the phone flew across the room. The phone was bought in the US so we couldn't use the plug it came with it. I bought a standard UK 3 pin USB plug adapter off Deal Extreme and it was working away fine since May. She damaged her lightening connector about 2 weeks ago but I bought her a new one in Compu B. They are an official Apple reseller. I'm guessing this won't be covered under warranty as the plug adapter was not an official Apple one??

DubDJ

I'm afraid you might be very unlucky here, especially since Apple have been pushing the new exchange program for fake iPhone chargers to be replaced by official ones.

Any idea where the explosion originated from? If Apple were to investigate it and realise it was actually down to the replacement lightning cable then maybe you could have a chance of a replacement. But it looks like it's going to be a case of a faulty changer causing the damage therefore it's not Apple's fault. I'm guessing it's still just in warranty for a little while longer too? Or is it just slightly passed?

Teen Wolf

DubDJ wrote: »

I'm afraid you might be very unlucky here, especially since Apple have been pushing the new exchange program for fake iPhone chargers to be replaced by official ones.

Any idea where the explosion originated from? If Apple were to investigate it and realise it was actually down to the replacement lightning cable then maybe you could have a chance of a replacement. But it looks like it's going to be a case of a faulty changer causing the damage therefore it's not Apple's fault. I'm guessing it's still just in warranty for a little while longer too? Or is it just slightly passed?

I think we might be fecked on this as well. It looks like the explosion came from the plug. The top of it was blown right off the thing. The USB part of the lightening connector is a little blackened. I have the same adapter myself for my 4S and it's been working away grand for the last 2 years. The phone was only bought in May so there's still ages left in the guarantee. It might only be a coincidence that the thing blew with the new lightening connector.

What was the exchange programme?

Fr_Dougal

I honestly can't understand why some people buy cheap accessories and cases for a phone that costs over €700.

flyguy

Is the iPhone 5 model A1429 (as in the same model that's sold here) model number is on back of phone. Otherwise they won't do anything for you anyway.
Is there any damage visible on the phone?
If it is the 1429 what I would do is apply for a warranty repair (online) and just see what apple come back with. You might get lucky and get it fixed/replaced for free and otherwise they may charge you up to around €250 but you can decline the repair/replacement if you don't want to pay...

rabbitinlights

Don't mention the dodgy plug.

Get it repaired under warranty and say you used the apple plug and cable.

And don't buy junk chargers again.

S.

DubDJ

Teen Wolf wrote: »

I think we might be fecked on this as well. It looks like the explosion came from the plug. The top of it was blown right off the thing. The USB part of the lightening connector is a little blackened. I have the same adapter myself for my 4S and it's been working away grand for the last 2 years. The phone was only bought in May so there's still ages left in the guarantee. It might only be a coincidence that the thing blew with the new lightening connector.

What was the exchange programme?

After a few bad incidents with counterfeit wall plugs Apple started up an exchange program for anybody with one of the fake chargers. You were able to go into an Apple Store or authorised reseller and give in your fake charger and pay half the price (€10) for an official one from Apple.


As others have mentioned its messy with the fact it's a US iPhone, combined with the fake charger you'll have difficulty dealing with Apple full stop. Best bet is to either ring Apple or set up for a repair online and see what Apple come back with. If they say it's down to the fake charger you could always play dumb and say you thought it was an official one you bought.

If they do offer to repair it, it'll probably be at cost.

flyguy

Agree with above and just to make clear, don't tell them anything just say it stopped working. Now I think it's very unlikely but it's worth a try; attempt a reboot/reset. You have to hold both buttons on the phone for a few seconds and the phone will restart (if it still works) like I said its unlikely but maybe something tripped and needs to be reset. You could try another charger as well.

mdwexford

rabbitinlights wrote: »

Don't mention the dodgy plug.

Get it repaired under warranty and say you used the apple plug and cable.

This obviously.

Overheal

I do not at all recommend committing fraud.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227708

the recall program apple implemented was a safety measure to combat a wave of dangerous third party chargers being manufactured in China. It seems your unit was sadly affected.

By all the verbiage of the warranty agreement, you are not entitled to repair or replacement. However given the circumstances and given that Apple is aware of the issue, you are more likely to get better help by being transparent about the incident. They aren't going to believe that their own charger caused this. They know better. They also, as a company (being a smart, billions of dollars company) have very good internal communication. The entire company infrastructure is aware of the 3rd party chargers issue or they should be.

You go in there with a lie and you lose all credibility. Not to mention you lack an Apple wall adapter that has damage consistent with your incident.

Just share with them what happened, bring in all the scorched pieces, and they may still be willing to help you out. Store employees aren't going to do jack **** to help you if you lie to them. They'll go out of their way to shut you down.

mathepac

DubDJ wrote: »

... If they say it's down to the fake charger you could always play dumb and say you thought it was an official one you bought. ...

Sure encourage the OP to lie to get someone else to pay for having used a cheap-jack charger with an expensive phone.

sorry overheal I didn't mean to cut across you, but I agree.

DubDJ

mathepac wrote: »

Sure encourage the OP to lie to get someone else to pay for having used a cheap-jack charger with an expensive phone.

sorry overheal I didn't mean to cut across you, but I agree.

It's not someone else, it's Apple, a company with almost $150 billion in cash reserves. I'm just offering a suggestion to the OP to try and solve his problem, hopefully so he doesn't have to pay a huge amount of money for a repair for an unfortunate accident.

And I'm not recommending he lies through his teeth, just a small lie to say he didn't realise it was an unofficial charger. It's his best chance at getting the phone repaired. Apple will find out it was caused by a counterfeit charger, they're really good at things like that. But they might feel sorry for him and help by offering a free repair.

Overheal

Fraud is fraud.

kev1.3s

When you plug a counterfeit connector in a notice pops up to warn that it is not a genuine cable so I would assume that apple would find out very quickly how it's is being charged as soon as they do any diagnosis on it! Best bet is to be as honest as possible and offer you're self to there mercy.

Overheal

I've never seen any such warning whenever I've plugged my phone into 3rd party connectors. It would then have to be a truly dodgy type of connector to give you that degree of warning.

kev1.3s

Overheal wrote: »

I've never seen any such warning whenever I've plugged my phone into 3rd party connectors. It would then have to be a truly dodgy type of connector to give you that degree of warning.

With the introduction of ios7 apple devices are issuing a warning when any counterfeit cables that do not have the embedded notifacation chip that OE cables have are plugged into it. I can only assume that the use of these cables would be logged by the phone and apple would be able to see which then could be used to invalidate any warranty clams regarding power source.

guil

kev1.3s wrote: »

With the introduction of ios7 apple devices are issuing a warning when any counterfeit cables that do not have the embedded notifacation chip that OE cables have are plugged into it. I can only assume that the use of these cables would be logged by the phone and apple would be able to see which then could be used to invalidate any warranty clams regarding power source.

The op said they bought a cable in compub. Can't see them selling knock off lightning cables.

Nearly certain it only allies to devices with the lightning connector as well

prettyboy81

I've tweeted Compub to see if they are doing the 3rd Party Exchange on behalf of Apple awaiting their reply.

darragh o meara

Your sister was lucky she wasnt holding the phone when it happened. 220v into a metal bodied device would have done some serious damage.

See this video of a tear-down of a fake apple charger. Its a 2 pin one which has a bit more room than the 3 pin so you can only imagine the dangers of the 3 pin.

http://youtu.be/ELh0A6jNOrk

dave oc

prettyboy81 wrote: »

I've tweeted Compub to see if they are doing the 3rd Party Exchange on behalf of Apple awaiting their reply.

Yes they are. Did it myself a few weeks back. You leave a charger in with them, it gets sent off to apple, and in a few days a replacement charger is sent in and you pay €10.

DubDJ

Just to clear up, with iOS 7 Apple have stopped the use of unofficial cables by flashing warning messages on-screen and disabling them from charging some devices. This isn't always the case though and doesn't always happen.

Also the chip is located in the lightning cable, and as the OP mentioned, that was official. It was the wall charger that wasn't, that doesn't have the verification chip inside.

kensutz

The whole notion of setting up a repair with Apple and playing dumb won't work anyway. As soon as the IMEI is pulled up it will tell them that it is a US iPhone and no matter what you say/do Apple won't touch it in Europe. You'll have to send it back to the US.

guil

kensutz wrote: »

The whole notion of setting up a repair with Apple and playing dumb won't work anyway. As soon as the IMEI is pulled up it will tell them that it is a US iPhone and no matter what you say/do Apple won't touch it in Europe. You'll have to send it back to the US.

Can't send it back to apple us from here. It has to be brought into a store there.

flyguy

So OP have you found out yet what model iPhone 5 it is? As I said and as said above if it's not the A1429 Apple here can't help you, it will have to go back to the US.
As for fraud, I didn't say lie, I said just tell them it doesn't work anymore. That's not a lie afaik (and in case of warranty repair apple does not ask you to send the charger in).
I've some 3rd party chargers as well, aware of the risk but I think most people will need a few (work/travel/different rooms) and while the exchange program is ok the charger+cable shouldn't cost more than €10 in the first place. If apple would charge normal prices there wouldn't be a market for 3rd party chargers. Also very few people actually paid €700-800 for their phone it's either free or <€150 on contract which is -afaik- how >90% of iPhone users get their phone....

kensutz

guil wrote: »

Can't send it back to apple us from here. It has to be brought into a store there.

Yeah can't be sent to Apple but I meant send back to friends/family if any are in the US.


@Flyguy: No iPhone 5's from the US will be handled by Apple Europe.

Teen Wolf

flyguy wrote: »

So OP have you found out yet what model iPhone 5 it is? As I said and as said above if it's not the A1429 Apple here can't help you, it will have to go back to the US.
As for fraud, I didn't say lie, I said just tell them it doesn't work anymore. That's not a lie afaik (and in case of warranty repair apple does not ask you to send the charger in).
I've some 3rd party chargers as well, aware of the risk but I think most people will need a few (work/travel/different rooms) and while the exchange program is ok the charger+cable shouldn't cost more than €10 in the first place. If apple would charge normal prices there wouldn't be a market for 3rd party chargers. Also very few people actually paid €700-800 for their phone it's either free or <€150 on contract which is -afaik- how >90% of iPhone users get their phone....

It's an A1428 model.

She's taking it in to Compu B tomorrow as they are an official Apple repairer and I've told her to just tell the truth about what happened. I'm sure if she went in there telling tales Apple will see right through them. We are not expecting much. On the plus side, the company my girlfriend works for has a deal with Vodafone so she'll be able to pick up a replacement for 370 if Apple are not in a position to repair or replace the phone. Softens the blow a bit I suppose.

I have been using my third party plug for the past 2 years without incident but after what has happened I'm going to avail of the exchange myself. I was not aware of the issues surrounding third party plugs until I did a bit of Googling after what happened my sister. To be honest I thought a plug was just a plug.

Just to clear up as well, the phone has had 2 lightening connectors in its lifetime. The original and a genuine Apple replacement one I purchased in Compu B. It wasn't one bought in Dealz or anything like that.

guil

Save her the trip. Compub and no one else in Ireland are authorised to do anything with an iPhone.

flyguy

Doubt as well compuB will be able do anything...
Best next bet is -beside going back to us- is to try a local non-apple phone repair shop. It's not gonna be free then obviously...

rabbitinlights

guil wrote: »

Save her the trip. Compub and no one else in Ireland are authorised to do anything with an iPhone.

CompuB aren't even authorised to sell the iPhone, never mind repair one. A few centres are authorised to open an iPhone 5 to check for water damage (fonemenders etc) but the handset gets sent to Cork for inspection.

guil

rabbitinlights wrote: »

CompuB aren't even authorised to sell the iPhone, never mind repair one. A few centres are authorised to open an iPhone 5 to check for water damage (fonemenders etc) but the handset gets sent to Cork for inspection.

Are you sure it doesn't get sent to tamworth in the uk. I've sent an iPhone back to apple twice and both times they went to tamworth