Apple Store "Wiped Away His Life"

An Englishman is about to take on a giant company in court after he argued that it "wiped away his life."

Deric White, 58, claimed that he took his faulty iPhone into an Apple Store, where the device was reset and the contents erased. The Sun newspaper in the U.K. reported that White is demanding £5,000 (that's just over US$ 7,500) compensation from Apple, due to the loss of photos and contacts.

White went into more detail, telling The Sun, "My life was saved on that phone," describing photos and video saved from his honeymoon, including his, "favorite video of a giant tortoise biting my hand on honeymoon in the Seychelles." He also states the phone contained 15 years worth of collected contacts.

The situation arose when White began receiving messages saying there was a fault on his iPhone 5 — it's not said exactly what the fault or messages were — and visited the Apple Store on Regent Street in London, one of the UK's busiest Apple Stores. After examining the phone, staff declared it was fixed, and given back to White. Except all the data had been erased.

According to White, it was only then he was asked if the phone had been backed up, and the data saved elsewhere. Although The Sun’s report doesn't explicitly say so, it must be assumed from the fuss that White did not have a backup stored on his computer, iCloud, or another service. "My wife was in tears and I started crying when I realized what had gone," White is quoted as saying.

Apple isn't taking any responsibility at this stage, and says White, "has not demonstrated how he suffered any loss." White wants to use the £5,000/US$ 7,508 compensation — should he emerge victorious — to take a second honeymoon. However, it’s unknown whether he'll be able to find and entice the same giant tortoise to bite his hand again.

In the meantime, White, and anyone else with precious data stored on a mobile device, should take a moment to ensure it's all backed up somewhere else.