Apple out of warranty but still within 2 years is a nightmare to deal with

I have an iphone 16 pro About two weeks ago my phone stopped reading any network with either a physical or e sim I took the phone to Vodacom and suggested it maybe software related I tried to erase all data on my own to attempt if this would work as it downloaded the iOS 27 software update but refused to install the update

After attempting to erase all data I tried to start the phone up and it refused to go pass the start up screen after selecting country and language

I took it to an I store in our gateway shopping Mall in Durban umhlanga and asked the team to perform a flush and reset as recommend by a member of the team when I did the first visit to them about three weeks ago (visit number one)

So... They ran some tests which took an hour and a half and said the software reset would cost around 300

After the tests the staff member said my phone failed multiple tests and the phone is likely in need of replacement

The device is out of warranty and is insured with a different service provider Vodacom

I asked for a beyond repair assessment and was then told "well it can be repaired" they did not even do the software reset as apparently they couldn't even get it passed the language and country screen for some reason

Then apparently the damage report was going to take another hour for a charge of 250 mind you I have been in the store from 9:30 and it's now 12:40 roughly

I has lost my wit to stay there any longer and all this felt incredibly weird to me

I'm not sure why they were not able to flush and reset the device which was previously working before I performed the "erase phone" process with a wifi connection

They have been no help in resolution and as a long standing iOS customer I'm now at a point where I am switching to android

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