So it’s bank holiday weekend and everyone is in a frenzy. Getting ready, packing, traveling etc. I was no different, I was taking a trip up north. I had my hands full with my handbag and all my other little bits and bats so I shoved my phone (iPhone 4) into the pocket of my cardigan. I was aware that the pocket was rather shallow but didn’t think much of it.

I was rushing about and went to the bathroom. Little did I know that my phone was still in my pocket and not likely to be in there for long. I heard a splash and knew straight away that my phone had fallen down the toilet. (thankfully the water was clean!) I reached in and rescued my phone, breathing a sigh of relief when it was still on. That sigh of relief was replaced by a little gasp of shock when my phone fizzled out and went dead. Out of panic (don’t try this!) I tried to turn it back on, to no avail.

I had no time to ponder over it, I grabbed the phone and a wad of tissue and made my way to the car. Throughout the journey, I tried in several different ways to dry it out. Again to no avail. After several hours, when I had returned home, I tried to dry it further by using a hair dryer on it from a distance.This didn’t work. I then tried to plug it in (I though it was dry enough at this stage) and was surprised to see the screen flicker and come on to recovery mode. I raced to my laptop and tried to restore it…kept getting an error. This vicious circle of hope continued throughout the night and the next day. At this point, I began to get a little restless and opened the back up. This was surprisingly easy. I tried to locate the water, but couldn’t see any. After leaving it open, to dry out for a couple of hours, I resorted to closing it up again at the fear of losing a screw. I then tried to soak the phone in rice, after many people online suggested that this was a foolproof method. I continued to search for solutions whilst it was bathing in rice.

Needless to say, this also was unsuccessful. I then resorted to ringing Apple. The lady was very helpful, and filled me in about Apple’s out of warranty service, whereby you take the phone to an Apple store and they replace it with a refurbished phone for a fee. The fee I paid was £119. The problem was trying to get a Genius Bar appointment on a bank holiday Monday. My local Apple store is in Westfield. I was told on the phone (I called the store direct) that they do offer this service and will be open at 10am. They said that they didn’t have any appointments, but I was welcome to come and wait on standby. So I thought my best bet would be to leave as early as possible and try to secure an appointment. I got to Westfield at 9:35ish and located the Apple store (the stall people can be quite helpful).

As I got there, I was told by a disgruntled customer that the doors opens at 10am. I tried my best to remain in a positive mood and decided to stroll around till 10. As the doors open, I went to the first employee I saw and explained what had happened. He told me that they were fully booked and that I would have to come back in an hour. I browsed the Apple store a little and by this time, it was already around 10:20 so I didn’t think much of it.

I didn’t want to annoy the guy by waiting in his face, so I went to get a coffee. The time was 10:45. I went up to the same guy, who was busy with another customer but waved at me as to acknowledge that I was back. I apologised for being a pest, and asked if anything had freed up. I was expecting to be told that I would have to wait a little longer as the store was heaving. To my surprise, they had a slot free at 11am. I was told to take a seat and that someone would be with me soon. I just about sat down and a “Genius” was at my side. He asked me to explain exactly what happened, looked at my phone, and was off to get the replacement. It was the exact same model with the same memory. I was pleasantly surprised at the smoothness of the transaction and was soon walking out with a refurbished phone. I have to say, the refurbished phone is even better then the old second-hand one I traded in!

Whilst trying to find solutions for a waterlogged iPhone, I came across many people that had managed to restore their phones but they were never the same and had to be replaced after a few months. I know that not everyone has £119 lying around but it really is a small price to pay! I was relieved of the stress, and was an owner of a perfectly fine iPhone!

The main point is that I remained calm, assertive and polite! I had to remember that getting frustrated, impolite and negative wasn’t going to help me in any way whatsoever.