The Honeymooners
One customer brought an iPod on his honeymoon. Somehow, during the course of the night they were getting pretty boisterous and a lamp (bulb to be exact) ended up falling over right on top of the iPod on the nightstand. He did not notice this until he smelled something burning. By the time he stood the lamp upright, the bulb had burned completely through the window and LCD of the iPod, putting heat marks on the inside of the back panel. We were able to replace both the window and LCD for him to get his iPod up and running, but we sent the damaged parts back to him for honeymoon souvenirs!
Icy Hot
Another iPod came into our shop that had been heated to such a degree that every part of the iPod but the back panel was melted and warped. The customer, however, had no idea how that happened, but in fact thought it wasn't working because he left it in his car on a cold winter night. We were able to get that iPod working again also, but never got a straight answer on what really happened.
Tamper Proof
We received an iPod in here that a customer said, 'just stopped working.' After examining the iPod we noticed that not only had it been opened, but it was missing every screw possible on the inside, the hard drive was not connected to the mainboard and the battery was installed backwards! He still maintained that it had not been tampered with, but after we re-connected the components and added the screws, the iPod functioned just fine.
War-Torn iPods
An iPod came into us looking like it had just been in a war, and after discussing it with the customer, it actually had. He is a soldier in Iraq, and this iPod was in his Humvee when they drove over an IED. The explosion did not injure this brave soldier, but unfortunately the iPod was not so lucky. We were able to repair this iPod and have it back to him within a week so that he could have his 'lucky' iPod back by his next mission.
Industrial Design Meets Industrial Tools
Recently a customer with an iPhone wanted to take out the SIM card (located at the top). In order to get it out, you must insert something like a paperclip into a small hole on the top of the phone. This customer decided they would like to insert something larger, and when it wouldn't fit they took a Dewalt power drill and drilled straight into that hole, increasing its size dramatically (and severely damaging the iPhone at the same time.) We were able to save the phone, but the large drill hole will be there forever to remind them of what NOT to do.
It was a simple enough business plan: Help distraught iPod and iPhone owners when their precious electronic toys stopped working…and after Apple wouldn't come to their rescue.
