iPhone 6 Bending: Find Which Stores Replace Bent Units

While the launch of the iPhone 6 was one of Apple’s best opening weekend releases ever for the iPhone, the company hasn’t been getting let off easy. The internet has been buzzing lately over some users noticing that their iPhone 6 units slightly bend while tucked in their pockets.

Obviously, these iPhone 6 bending problems have led many users to go to the Apple Store to get replacement units, but it’s been a mixed bag as far as whether or not the Genius employee behind the Genius Bar will grant you a replacement, but a new web tool will show you which Apple Stores are lenient on replacing bent iPhone 6 units and which ones are strict.

The website OneoftheNine.com was launched shortly after reports of bent iPhone 6 units surfaced, and it allows users to send in photos of their bent iPhones. From there, the website acts as a place where you can see hundreds of these bent iPhone 6s, and the name of the site is a joke aimed at Apple’s recent comments about how only nine users have filed complaints with Apple.

The website’s new web tool allows users to crowdsource Apple Store data and report which stores will replace bent iPhone 6 units and which ones will not.

One thing to be aware of is that the tool just recently launched, so there’s not much data about Apple Stores just yet (as you can see pictured above), but there are already a few stores pinned on the map, a few of which will replace bent iPhone 6 units.

The iPhone 6 bending fiasco has received some mixed responses from Apple, where it was first said that the company would replace bent units without any problem, but as soon as customers stepped into an Apple Store to get a replacement, Genius Bar employees weren’t granting users a replacement iPhone 6, saying that the bending issues were extremely rare and it isn’t covered under the device’s warranty.

While the chances of your iPhone 6 bending are rather slim, it’s still a bit disappointing that Apple isn’t doing a whole lot to rectify the issue for its customers.

One Genius Bar employee told an iPhone 6 Plus owner that “Apple has not indicated to us at this time that this is a manufacturing issue.” The employee then told the owner that he could use one of his AppleCare+ claims in order to get a replacement, but that also requires a $79 deductible fee.

The owner then proceeded to talk to the store manager, who reiterated what the Genius Bar employee said, stating that “Apple has told us that it is not a problem with the phones […] We are not replacing bent phones at this time.”

Similarly, another user went to the Apple Store to get his bent iPhone 6 replaced, only to be turned away by the Genius Bar employee, saying that “there is no way your phone could have bent like that in your pocket” and that the user had to have applied excessive force on the phone, wrongfully implying that he had bent it on purpose.

Apple has been rather quiet about this specific issue, but that’s likely because the fiasco of iOS 8.0.1 has garnered a lot of attention as well. However, Apple said that it has been “looking into this with an insane amount of detail.” However, it looks like there’s nothing they can do to prevent the problem from happening again, seeing as they would have to redesign the phone completely in order to strengthen its structural integrity.