Broken iPhone 4? Cracked Screen?

I was taking my "baby" (my precious dog for those of you who aren't familiar) out for a walk the other day when the unfortunate happened! My cell, my beautiful, without a scratch, iPhone 4, which I had always been so careful with, decided it wanted to fall out of my pocket. Needless to say, it cracked the screen, even with a protective cover on it! and it was such a short drop!! I was crushed and was really upset because it was my lifeline. There were 4-5 cracks extending about halfway through the screen. Then I had a decision to make...

Get a new phone at 199.99?! or try to fix the screen myself with some parts online which would cost me ~$80 on the low end and that's without equipment, just parts. So I decided to do a search online and after a while, I came to this one thread. I read about miracle stories about how Apple had amazing customer service and people were going to pay the $120 flat rate Apple charged to fix the phone and then all of a sudden, they would appear from the back with a brand new phone, free of charge. So I got my hopes up. Hey, this was 6 full pages of follow ups from other people so it really depends on the store and the staff you deal with.

I headed into the store with my hopes up and well, I didn't get a freebie but I did get something in return. So, here's my tip for those of you who broke your screen and have not gone past your first year's warranty yet. If you crack your screen, take it into Apple before you spend money on trying to fix it yourself. The associate who helped me basically said, if you buy AppleCare, which with tax in New York, ends up around $75, I'll get you a new phone. Note: By new phone, she means refurbished. I know the phone I got was definitely not 100% new, it had usage on it by the meter. And, it has to be the same phone you brought in...so no switching for white, which kinda bummed me out too because I had always wanted the white one. However, you would've spent the same amount and more on a new screen that you would've put on yourself which takes time and patience in tinkering with the parts. I admit, I don't like the idea of a refurbished phone, but I now have AppleCare to extend my warranty one more year so if there's something wrong with this phone they gave me, you bet I'll be taking it back to them. So, there you have it...a cheaper and easier alternative to fix your cracked iPhone4.

Until next time,

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