or when your iPod iPhone or iPad turns into a Beast

illustrating the agony of repairing Apple device abroad in the Orient, however with dependable no-BS advice for the most wise solution for the traveler as well as expatriates in the once : Land of the Morning Calm ..

before all I have to state this is a personal BLog with friendly contributors and NOT an Official manufacturer outlet nor support centre, thus all contents to be taken as reference with all responsibility ultimately your own .

as, in the perils of traveling onto far-away lands abroad, but with the joy of unexpected finds
bestie
a good decade ago : I attended a “Cats” musical with one of my first PDA slipped into the back-pocket of my jeans .. to find out after the memorable curtain-down : its LCD cracked into pieces . devastated, I soon traveled across an ocean to have it repaired, however the process of getting the coordinates and actually reaching the outcome was a joy, some-what like caring for a beloved toddler .

at the time of impact : it is a horror visually as well as psychologically to realize that delicate LCD screen that provided you crisp colorful images, shattered into pieces however all still sticking together onto the device main panel . probably unprepared and devastated you may be, so here listing facts in clear sequence for you to navigate onto a wise decision – which can be ultimately reached considering multiple factors depending most of the following :

[ INDEX ] – A – Your Situation
– B – Warranty
– C – Your Model
– D – Device Status
– E – Number Crunching
– F – Your Options
– G – My Recommendation
– H – Future Protection

 

[ A ] USER SITUATION

  1. device purchased abroad and traveling, signed-up with your North American carrier here on roaming-mode, with only a Passport to prove your identity
    – believe-it-or-not this will provide you with the most repair support as you will be on Global warranty, but might have to connect back to the States to remind local contractors of their responsibility
  2. temporary resident – documented or not (with or without foreigners registration number) with local telecommunication subscription
    – here you can be a flexible chameleon, adapting or faking your status as you see fit to current situation
  3. legal resident with device purchased here, signed-up with local carrier such as KT or SKT

 

[ B ] WARRANTY will be the decisive factor on any route you to take depending on how you signed-up during the time of purchase .

  1. basic Apple warranty from abroad
  2. extra Apple warranty from abroad may give the greatest coverage World-Wide
  3. local Apple warranty
  4. carrier warranty : both KT and SKT have a no-fault insurance available for W3000 ~ 5000 Monthly to cover you about 80% in case of drop and even burglary 😉 this is only available when you purchase a new device and is not transferable when you sell it to a second party .

 

[ C ] YOUR MODEL

  1. latest model – consider the prime value of your new device when you put it on repair
  2. last year’s model
  3. older model – perhaps is wiser to than try to repair, as independent shops will gladly buy it for its parts they use to repair other devices . won’t matter where you bought it because they are identical World-Wide .

 

[ D ] CURRENT CONDITION

  1. natural crack formed usually in the way of a single straight line : will be the only case when you will be able to get FREE repair or exchange under basic warranty
  2. over-all breakage where you have to pay for repair .
  3. submerged in water : is another critical mishap comparable to LCD screen cracks which usually if at the fault of the user – thus must pay to have it repair .

 

[ E ] NUMBER CRUNCHING

  • independent repair W55,000 ~ W120,000 is a bargain compared to authorized repair contractors and will VOID your Apple warranty, but tales abound of how you can ask them to proceed with minimal signs of tinkering – thus swear this never happened .. when you go back to Apple
  • Official repair W220,000 ~ W330,000 and interesting prices differ on the same symptoms as those in South Korea are out-sourced contractors
  • USED iPhone 4S : 16GB W190,000 / 32GB 280,000 while those with a cracked screen still sell at mere W50,000 ~90,000 minus from clean, working ones 0o0

 

[ F ] OPTIONS

  1. inquire to the point of purchase abroad, because you still have to meet a local contractor who fully understands their responsibility bound to Apple States-side
  2. independent repair where not all of them are necessarily small-scale, but make sure to verify if they have a customer forum where you can check their working history . there are now quite a number of these who repair for a good price, leaving almost no sign
  3. Official repair is again fascinating because they differ in price and even what is or NOT covered by warranty, as a handful of local companies are contracted – most with several branches throughout the Peninsula
  4. sell your apparatus and buy a new one – recommended especially on older models as other parts may have been effected when you drop or bumped your device to crack -_-

 

[ G ] RECOMMENDATION FROM KOREA TECH BLOG

as modern mobile devices do wonders and still quite expensive, you might have formed a sentiment onto it and may ponder upon ways to bring-back its shining glory . but you have to assess your situation realistically and do simple price comparison to devise the best out-come . this is why this page is clearly divided into number blocks for you to refer to .

 

 

[ H ] FUTURE PROTECTION

many times throughout this BLog, I constantly uphold the need to consider warranty on devices with LCD screens and/or constantly moving parts . because the day will come when it is compromised, especially since we are dwelling in a mobile society . then to protect your LCD screen with protective sheets . current market of On-Line and OFF is littered with cheap ones where those under W10,000 hardly bear eventual scratches coming onto the surface of your device . I am an avid fan of Power Support because it is from a line of a Japanese company long-dedicated to a single field .

plus there are a handful of local companies making solid LCD screen protectors with re-inforced glass used on airplane cockpits – most won’t make a single dent even when you try to punch down on it with a screw-driver and with-stand even when a crane rolls over it gulp 0o0 I am sure Mr.Spock of Star Trek fame would have gasped “Fascinating !” one caveat on these panels than film : is that it is almost impossible to get microscopic dust out while attaching because they are solid and do not bend much (the softer flimsy variety makes this easy by lifting a corner simply applying a thin tape under-neath to stick-away the dust particle).

 

 

*on all optional stages suggested above including Authorized local Support Centres, independent repair shops, selling your cracked iPhone AND buying a clean used one : I recommend you proceed with the help of a local Korean-speaking friend or colleague, except in the case of getting it repaired as a traveler with Warranty .
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– Korea Tech BLog –