Apple iPhone X NOT Water Resistant

Apple iPhone X NOT Water Resistant

Six months ago, I purchased an iPhone X 256 GB - after taxes and AppleCare+ for just shy of $2000 CDN.

Two days ago, I was at a Walt Disney World splash park where my phone got wet. It stopped working and wouldn't even boot (kept cycling the Apple logo). I called Apple in Florida who told me that they had no record of my having AppleCare+. I booked a repair with the Apple Store in Toronto (Eaton's Centre) for the next day. As I explained to Apple, I needed my phone as I was starting a new job the next day.

I brought the phone into the store and was berated for being 12 minutes late (I had just gotten off an airplane at Toronto Pearson from Florida - after explaining this to the Apple employee, they reluctantly added my name 'back into the queue'). I tell the story to the Apple Genius who, upon showing proof of my AppleCare+ coverage, tells me that coming into contact with water is considered "accidental damage" and therefore not covered by the manufacturer's warranty and if I want my phone replaced it will cost $129+tax through AppleCare+. After agreeing that the phone is marketed as 'water resistant' the Genius says this is the Apple policy.

The next day, I'm told that the indicators inside the phone show that it came into contact with liquid and that to replace the phone it will cost $129 + tax ($145 after tax). I ask to speak to the manager (Nicole). She reiterates that this is the Apple policy, that any liquid damage is considered 'accidental'. She acknowledges that she has the discretion to allow me to leave the store with the new phone without paying anything, but declines to do so. She says that she is not concerned that that decision leaves me unsatisfied after spending $2000 for my phone and $2000 for my wife's phone only six months' earlier. After I explain that she has the opportunity to turn a bad customer experience into a good one, she still declines to help me.

When I tell her that I bought this new iPhone because it was marketed as the first water resistant iPhone meanwhile two years' ago I saw a Samsung phone being fully immersed in a pool while on vacation, she says she is not concerned about how her decision will affect the brand reputation.

In brief, Apple markets the iPhone X as water resistant, but my handset was ruined after its first contact with water only six months after I purchased it. This Apple Store refused to exercise any goodwill to offset the cost or inconvenience to me, despite my request and several opportunities to do so. So after paying close to $2000, Apple says that I need to pay another $145 because water contact for a water resistant phone is "accidental damage".

If your phone might get wet, don't buy an Apple product even if it is marketed as water resistant because, as the manager of the busiest location in Canada says, "Any of our Apple products can fail if they come into contact with water."

If my experience is any indication, you can expect Apple's flagship store in Toronto to berate you for being a few minutes late to an appointment that you set up from another country; to have a nonsensical policy strictly adhered to; and to get no gesture of goodwill despite spending thousands of dollars at that location only a few months earlier.