In the statement issued by Apple addresing the iPhone 4 reception issue, the company said customers could return the device if they are not happy for a “full refund”. This means that Apple will drop its usual 10% restocking fee it charges for returns. “An AppleCare support representative who gave her name as ‘Erica’ confirmed that the restocking fee had been ditched,” a report said. Apple typically charges $19.90 for a returned 16GB iPhone 4 model, and $29.90 for a 32GB device. In at least one of the lawsuits filed against Apple from customers, restocking fee is a central piece to the case. Kevin McCaffrey and Linda Wrinn accused Apple of knowingly selling a defective product, adding that they “are unable to return the phone without incurring a substantial restocking fee”.
iPhone 4 launched with huge success on June 24. Apple announced the device created 1.7 million sales in the first three days. However the device came with a major well documented reception issue with multiple customers reporting signal loss when touching part of the device’s frame. Apple made the frame of the new iPhone to be used as antenna and it looks like this creates a problem. Initially, Steve Jobs said it is not an issue and suggested to hold the device in a different way. Later he asked customers to “stay tuned“ suggesting that a fix might come soon. At the same time, a leaked Apple support document showed that the company instructed its support engineers to act as nothing is wrong. Apple later issued a statement suggesting that one side of the issue is software related, however still accepted the possibility of signal loss when touching the device in the lower left corner. Apple said it would provide a software fix in the next few weeks.
