iPhone rant Apple charges you to call 'em

[junkinduck]

I purchased the iPhone last summer. It has always intermittently shut down when launching apps. I discussed this with an ATT representative and was led to believe that it was due to the fact that I was in a 3G fringe area. I have just lived with the inconvenience of having to reboot a couple of times a day thinking it was a network problem. I installed the new operating system 4.0 thinking this may help my problem. It has done the opposite. My phone will barely make calls much less do all of the things I have used it for in the past. Texting is hit and miss, apps do not work. Safari works less than not. I have tried to restore but the restore but it will not work. To make it function I had to reset back to factory settings but this has left me without my contacts, apps or music. At least the phone will work as a phone after the reset. I have tried all of the troubleshooting I could find on the Apple website. I have tried all USB ports on the computer as well resets. I understand that the phone is out of the warranty however I just thought my problems I have lived with for a year were quirks of the iPhone until installing 4.0.
Now i find that I have to pay 29.00 to apple for the pleasure of talking to one of there "genisus". I suspect that they will tell me to send them 200.00 and my phone. If I don't do this I will pay ATT for one year of data service I can not use.
My options are deal with apple. Buy overpriced used from fleabay. Nut up and live with the phone and hope I don't miss too many calls during one of the several reboots it takes during the day.

Any more sugustions?

[Samsquanch]

Try emailing Steve Jobs, he seems to have been responsive lately - sjobs@mac.com

[thebayratt]

Get a "Dumb Phone" like I got.......
LG Script 265. Has a camera, mp3 player, and a place for a memory card...... what else do you really need in a phone? Not trying to bust your chops, I'm just use to texting and making a call on a phone. If I needed all that other stuff, I'd buy a laptop.

So. if you reset your phone you loose EVERYTHING?? It may be worth the $29 phone call then IMO.

or

"Nut up and live with the phone and hope I don't miss too many calls during one of the several reboots it takes during the day."

[junkinduck]

I really like the function of the smart phone. I like being able to surf the web while the wife shops. I like mobile stogie even though I lost all of my notes it the 4.0 crash. I guess I just wanted to rant where someone would listen. They don't listen on the apple forums.

And thanks Andrew an email can't hurt even though I don't really expect a reply.

[jaydub13]

If you sync'ed your phone with itunes, you won't lose a thing. That's the best thing to do in that regard. Don't bother with the Genius bar and troubleshooting, but you CAN do an "out of warranty" replacement, which tends to be the going price of a new phone with upgrade from AT&T. And trust me, it has nothing to do with your service, that's a phone issue. I have had this happen a few times on my phone, but nothing to the level you are talking about. Now, this is just the advice of an iphone user and AT&T employee, not an Apple tech... OR, make an appointment with the Genius Bar to discuss replacement options.

Also, if you switch to a different phone, you will NOT have to pay AT&T for data for a year. You can change plans and features at any time during your contract(or after, for that matter) without affecting the length of your contract or anything to that effect. So if you do decide to go with a different phone, you won't be stuck with the $30/month data plan. Or hell, you may be able to upgrade. Just dial *NEW# from your phone and you will get a free text from AT&T letting you know where you stand on upgrades. Some customers are eligible for upgrade after 12 months and 1 day.

What generation iPhone do you have? My brother has 1st gen and he had similar problems until he upgraded to a 3GS.
I never had anything but problems with my iPhone, so I bought a BB Curve.

[junkinduck]

Originally Posted by jaydub13

If you sync'ed your phone with itunes, you won't lose a thing. That's the best thing to do in that regard. Don't bother with the Genius bar and troubleshooting, but you CAN do an "out of warranty" replacement, which tends to be the going price of a new phone with upgrade from AT&T. And trust me, it has nothing to do with your service, that's a phone issue. I have had this happen a few times on my phone, but nothing to the level you are talking about. Now, this is just the advice of an iphone user and AT&T employee, not an Apple tech... OR, make an appointment with the Genius Bar to discuss replacement options.

Also, if you switch to a different phone, you will NOT have to pay AT&T for data for a year. You can change plans and features at any time during your contract(or after, for that matter) without affecting the length of your contract or anything to that effect. So if you do decide to go with a different phone, you won't be stuck with the $30/month data plan. Or hell, you may be able to upgrade. Just dial *NEW# from your phone and you will get a free text from AT&T letting you know where you stand on upgrades. Some customers are eligible for upgrade after 12 months and 1 day.

The ATT website says I am eligiable for a full upgrade Feb 2011. The out of warranty replacement looks good but I don't know how to talk to apple. I have a couple of questions but everything goes through the "service advisor" or some crap like that. I really like the phone just hate the complete lack of customer service after the magic one year date. I didn't have many problems untill the big 4.0 upgrade after the warranty has expired.
By the way I synced before upgrading but can't restore the phone and the closest apple store is two and a half hours away. BTW thanks.

[mithrilG60]

You could always downgrade back to 3.1.3 if that version OS worked better for you....

[macsauce13]

Originally Posted by mithrilG60

You could always downgrade back to 3.1.3 if that version OS worked better for you....

Yep, thats what you need to do. OS 4 has some real kinks, and very few people are happy with it. If it is really messing with your phone, downgrade the OS!

[ir13]

Originally Posted by andpeo23

Try emailing Steve Jobs, he seems to have been responsive lately - sjobs@mac.com

The email is sjobs@apple.com

it is actually read by a Executive Customer Relations team.

[baldanders]

Toss it into the nearest dumpster and get a Blackberry.

[junkinduck]

Thanks for all the help guys. This place sure beats the apple forums. After three days I still have not gotten any support. Either hardware or peer.

[Blueface]

Sounds like you had a phone issue that was warranty related but you attributed it to network problems at the time. You are now out of warranty.
Apple is quite clear about the one year warranty and cost to talk to them after that.
Same goes with Dell, HP and any other company I have dealt with. This is not isolated to Apple alone. They all do it.

Not sure why you lost all data. You can do a restore and then sync all your original stuff that you had in the phone backed up, prior to the restore.

As for slowness, there is no doubt some folks are experiencing issues with the new 4 OS. However, on the new iPhone 4, it flies. The phone is quite quick for all applications.

Go back to the 3 version of OS and you should pick up speed again.

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[junkinduck]

Originally Posted by Blueface

Sounds like you had a phone issue that was warranty related but you attributed it to network problems at the time. You are now out of warranty.
Apple is quite clear about the one year warranty and cost to talk to them after that.
Same goes with Dell, HP and any other company I have dealt with. This is not isolated to Apple alone. They all do it.

Not sure why you lost all data. You can do a restore and then sync all your original stuff that you had in the phone backed up, prior to the restore.

As for slowness, there is no doubt some folks are experiencing issues with the new 4 OS. However, on the new iPhone 4, it flies. The phone is quite quick for all applications.

Go back to the 3 version of OS and you should pick up speed again.

I didn't loose the data the phone just wont restore. I have the data on the pc I just cant sync it to the phone.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by junkinduck

I didn't loose the data the phone just wont restore. I have the data on the pc I just cant sync it to the phone.

I honestly recommend you go back to the 3 OS and then try to sync.

[junkinduck]

Originally Posted by mithrilG60

You could always downgrade back to 3.1.3 if that version OS worked better for you....

Attempted to downgrade today. Could not get libusb to install. I went to every tutorial i could find and no luck. It is not the usual compatiability issue it wont go to the install wizzard. Still thinking about the 200.00 replacement. I would get a new batteryand all but that would buy a nice fist full of cigars.

[Sauer Grapes]

Originally Posted by junkinduck

Attempted to downgrade today. Could not get libusb to install. I went to every tutorial i could find and no luck. It is not the usual compatiability issue it wont go to the install wizzard. Still thinking about the 200.00 replacement. I would get a new batteryand all but that would buy a nice fist full of cigars.

I know you may be sick of apple and AT&T, but I bet you are upgrade eligible for the iPhone 4. They moved almost everyone's eligibility up for the 4. I only had my 3GS for 8 months and I was eligible.

On a related note, I may know of a 3GS for sale.

[KASR]

No good suggestions here, brother. But it's stories like yours that makes me want to hug my HTC EVO. Keep us posted on anything else that develops! Damn the Man!

[Samsquanch]

The iPhone 4 is pretty incredible, I would recommend going with the upgrade if you're eligible.