About ten months ago I bought a first generation Apple Watch from a SIGforum member here. I was, and I still am, very satisfied with the purchase and with all dealings with him, the following is NOT a reflection on him in any way. Rather, it is my first ever serious aggravation with Apple.

Between my wife and me, we have owned half a dozen iPhones, two Apple watches, three iMac computers, and a half dozen MacBooks and MacBook Pros. This is all over the period of many years. We have been really satisfied with Apple support whenever we needed it, for any (all) of these products. Until today.

Today, I noticed that the screen of my watch is starting to lift out of the case. The watch has not been immersed in water, nor has it been subjected to any physical damage. My guess is that the adhesive that holds the screen in place has just given up due to age -- this is the original Watch, actually the series before the "Series 1" (the current model is "Series 4").

The watch has become an essential link for me, for communication. I am hearing impaired, telephone is usually not an option, so I communicate primarily via text or email. I do not hear most of the alerting tones that indicate an incoming text or email. The Watch alerts me to these via a haptic vibration. If I am not wearing the watch, I miss many (most?) notifications of incoming messages.

I just had a long "chat" session with Kesha at Apple Support. I told her that the screen needed to be reattached to the otherwise perfectly functioning watch. Her reply was that the screen can not be replaced (I am just asking for it to be reattached, not replaced). Apple "service" for this would be for me to send it in and they would replace it with the same type watch for a cost of $222.51. That's $199 for the watch, plus shipping and tax.

I got nowhere, trying to get her to understand that the only thing that needs to be done is to replace the adhesive. Not worth $222.51. Especially when Apple is selling Series 2 (the cheapest that they are currently offering) for $189 with free shipping.

Repeating, $222.51 to resolve my problem of a screen that just needs new adhesive. Big fail there, Apple.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: V-Tail,

Any 3rd party repair services near you?

Edit:

https://www.ubreakifix.com/orlando

Check these guys

Call back and tell them your watch has a swollen battery. It’s a known issue. Or better yet go to an Apple store and speak with someone in person.

https://www.soyacincau.com/201...battery-replacement/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/9...verage-warranty/amp/

https://forums.macrumors.com/t...len-battery.2112311/

What Dusty said.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
What Dusty said.

In my experience with local Apple store - +1.

Thanks for those links, Dusty. After checking them I had another "chat" session with an Apple rep. He was a lot more helpful than Kesha, the first chat session rep.

I passed the links to him. he did some checking and is sending me a shipping box to return my watch. He said it might be a free repair, or it might be a $79 battery replacement, which I wouldn't mind terribly, as that would extend the useful life of the watch.

In any event, he indicated that it would probably not be the $222.51 quoted by Kesha.

I will receive the information by email once they have looked at the watch, and if I don't like what they say, they will just return the watch to me without doing anything to it, no charge.

He said that if I took it in to The Apple Store, they would just send it to the same depot for analysis anyway, so there is no point in me taking the time and burning the gas to go there, I might as well just mail the watch to the repair depot in the box that they are sending me and eliminate the store as a middle man.

Yes that’s true but sometimes at the store they are more likely to feel bad for a sob story and help you out without charging. You would be surprised how often they do that stuff. They must have some sort of discretionary budget for that sort of thing. I remember one time I was at the Genius Bar doing getting something looked at and this older lady came in with a broken iPhone 4. This was like in 2017 so the phone was well out of warranty. They told her they couldn’t fix it but the guy went to the back and a few minutes later came back and gave her an Refurb iPhone SE for nothing. It was nice to see.

quote:

Yes that’s true but sometimes at the store they are more likely to feel bad for a sob story and help you out without charging. You would be surprised how often they do that stuff. They must have some sort of discretionary budget for that sort of thing. I remember one time I was at the Genius Bar doing getting something looked at and this older lady came in with a broken iPhone 4. This was like in 2017 so the phone was well out of warranty. They told her they couldn’t fix it but the guy went to the back and a few minutes later came back and gave her an Refurb iPhone SE for nothing. It was nice to see.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I can imagine Vtail looking pitiful. LOL

Hey V-Tail — let me know if that all doesn’t work out with Apple.

I’ve got a 1st gen Apple Watch that’s just collecting dust that I’d send to you free of charge. I replaced it with a Series 3 when those came out.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:
Hey V-Tail — let me know if that all doesn’t work out with Apple.

I’ve got a 1st gen Apple Watch that’s just collecting dust that I’d send to you free of charge. I replaced it with a Series 3 when those came out.

Generous offer! You have mail.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
Yes that’s true but sometimes at the store they are more likely to feel bad for a sob story and help you out without charging. You would be surprised how often they do that stuff. They must have some sort of discretionary budget for that sort of thing. I remember one time I was at the Genius Bar doing getting something looked at and this older lady came in with a broken iPhone 4. This was like in 2017 so the phone was well out of warranty. They told her they couldn’t fix it but the guy went to the back and a few minutes later came back and gave her an Refurb iPhone SE for nothing. It was nice to see.

Dusty is spot on. My 3 month old iPhone X crapped out last summer about 3pm on a Sunday. I went to the Apple Store. They said come back - to busy that day/all time slots filled. I let them know I was the on call person for my mother-in law that weekend and we were at urgent care the prior evening and again that morning so communication was critical. (That was a true story.) I had to hang for 2 hours but they got me in then instead of sending my iPhone in for evaluation they just replaced it.

Glad to hear someone is getting you another watch but in the future, don't hesitate to use Dusty's idea to go to the store and let them know the special factors that make the watch important to you. It is a compelling reason to do all they can on the spot. Of course, this assumes there is an Apple store within a reasonable proximity.

Yup, Dusty's suggestion is a very good one. However, it won't work for me right now. The Apple store is close to an hour round trip, and without an appointment I might have to be in there for a fairly long wait.

That won't work in the immediate future. My wife is recovering from surgery, so I'm sticking close to home in case she needs anything. That situation should be over in a week or so, but I can send the watch in to the repair depot right away. Or take Copefree up on his offer. Either of those can be done without leaving the house.

The adhesive on the first watches was crap. My wife pulled the back charging plate off hers separating it from the charger. Apple Store replaced it without even asking about the warranty. They know about the problem. Of course now they are quite a bit older than when it happened to us.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:
Hey V-Tail — let me know if that all doesn’t work out with Apple.

I’ve got a 1st gen Apple Watch that’s just collecting dust that I’d send to you free of charge. I replaced it with a Series 3 when those came out.

Generous offer! You have mail.

Hey V-Tail, I emailed you back. Unfortunately I can’t find my old watch anywhere — I thought I knew right where it was but apparently that’s not the case when I went searching today.

Sorry about that — I’ll let you know if I find it.

VTail -

You have mail.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:
Unfortunately I can’t find my old watch anywhere — I thought I knew right where it was but apparently that’s not the case when I went searching today.

This happens to me all the time.

If it comes down to replacing your watch I would suggest that you go with a Garmin. Because they will give you the same text or reminder alerts and the battery charge will last much much longer. I have a Garmin Forerunner 235 and haven't charged it since last Tuesday and the battery charge level is currently at 45%. Seriously if you aren't using the GPS function the Garmin watches can go about 1 week before needing a fresh charge.

Dusty78's information about the swollen battery appears to have done the trick for me.

I just received an email from Apple, referencing the repair number, informing me that I am scheduled to receive a FedEx delivery tomorrow with a replacement watch. No mention of any cost, so it looks like the repair replacement is totally free.

Yay!

Apple has been amazing with their service for me a few times. It seems to help to be humble and ask for help nicely instead of going in ranting and raving. It may also help when they look you up and see lots of Apple products bought on your account over the years.

Once my grandson slipped and knocked my MacBook Pro off a table and then stomped on the display in the process of trying to catch it... a $650 repair bill that I signed off on to proceed with as it was a top of the line $$$$ machine. When I went back later to pick it up they said "No Charge". I was amazed. Guy said "Well it's obvious you have taken care of the laptop so we decided to help you out".

Replacement watch arrived today. Free.

Apple took care of me.