[yodon]

Your experience is an example of how capricious Apple's handling of the issue is. I walked in with a 14 month old phone in the exact same situation as yours, including the immediate identification of the problem by the Genius Bar rep, and I was told buy a new one. Period. No help, no willingness to help. Just buy a new one.

[sottitron]

So when I've gone in for service at an Apple Store, they always take my Apple ID down. I always wondered if those who buy more get better service. For example, the person who has a purchase history of four or five iPhones, a few iPods, and pair of iPads, and a few Apple laptops might have a better chance of getting an out of warranty fix than someone who has only ever purchased one or two iPhones. It always seemed like this would make sense because Apple wouldn't want to alienate its diehards. Just a theory...

[strictnein]

I've wondered that too. I've gotten much better service in terms of hardware replacement at Apple stores than my friends, and I spend a lot more with Apple than they do

[cududa]

Could just be that you "speak tech"/ know how to talk to them better than non-technical friends