iPhone help please, it's died.

I got my iPhone 3gs in Feb last year. It’s been fine till these last few weeks. The battery lasts for around 2 hours, it crashes randomley and sometimes won’t switch back on for a few hours. It’s fully updated and backed up. I’ve tried to restore it via both iTunes and the handset but it times out/crashes half way through.

Carphone warehouse say it’s a common problem and it’s out if warranty, it’s going to cost £100 to have it fixed. It’s insured and I can claim a reconditioned one for £50 excess if I were to damage it physically. Carphone warehouse seem to think I’m after a newer model, I’m not I just want a phone equal to the one I have that works.

I’m a bit pissed off I’m having to fork out to have it repaired since the error is not my fault. Anyone managed to claim a repair/replacement iPhone? How did you do it?

Thanks
David

book a genius bar appointment at an apple store ….. they couldnt be more helpful in my experiance ! –

Hi have you tried the hard reset home button and sleep button held down together release them after the phone turns of and comes back on and shows the White apple, fixes most faults

Go to your local Apple store, get them to have a gander. They are a lot more helpful than mobile phone stores IMO

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Carphone warehouse say it’s a common problem and it’s out if warranty, it’s going to cost £100 to have it fixed. It’s insured and I can claim a reconditioned one for £50 excess if I were to damage it physically. Carphone warehouse seem to think I’m after a newer model, I’m not I just want a phone equal to the one I have that works.

Make an appointment at your local Apple store. If they cannot sort it out, they will offer you a refurb of the exact same model as you have for £140, your old phone, and you will get 3 months warranty on it.

What, a Jesus phone has died, never, they are the best thing ever….yawn

You actually tired yourself out with that attempt at humour? Bless!

+1 for the hard reset – fixed my 3GS a few times
(apple make better software, my arse – never had such a buggy/crashing phone)

then book an appointment with the odd but friendly types at the apple store – they do try very hard to help IME

Or finally, might be time to sell it off to mazuma mobile (got £138 for mine last month and it was pretty trashed though technically working) and get something else. I’ve switch to an HTC Desire S and am very happy with it – not quite as polished looking but for me much better and useful functionality and if I do trash it, it’s a lot cheaper to repair.

You felt the need to be that unhelpful today Tango? What’s that like then?

To the OP, book yourself in to see one of them chirpy genius types as others have advised.

d’you get my email DD?

I did clubber. Just replied.

Surely after 3 days it will come back to life?

It should last longer than 18 months. Regardeless of warranty, you’re still protected under Sales of Goods act.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/consumer/2009/07/03/sale_of_goods_act_letter_downl.html

genius bar appointment

🙄

trust Apple to have a twatty name for their technical helpdesk …

trust Apple to have a twatty name for their technical helpdesk

Of course, no other company would ever do something like that. Only **** Apple.

yep, very twatty but to be fair they are very helpful and IME do actually know about the product.

Thanks, going to apple on Friday.

genius bar appointment

trust Apple to have a twatty name for their technical helpdesk …

Trust STW users to come up with a predictable twatty response to a request for help.

+1 for the hard reset – fixed my 3GS a few times
(apple make better software, my arse – never had such a buggy/crashing phone)

Just out of interest, exactly how many smartphones did you actually use extensively before the 3Gs?
Bearing in mind, of course, the fact that there weren’t actually any significant smartphones before the iPhone came on the market. Android doesn’t really count, as it was just a Blackberry knock-off until the iPhone, then it became an iPhone knock-off. I was desperately looking for a phone/PDA which I could use with mapping and GPS, and the only options were WinMob 5 and Symbian. WinMob had no easily available apps, and Symbian on the Nokia N95, which I used until the iPhone 3G came out, sucked totally. Apple have sold tens of millions of phones; it’s inevitable that occasionally there will be issues. I’ve still got the 3G, it’s slow, but still works.
So I ask again, what phones did you use prior to 2009? The original iPhone appeared in 2007, BTW.

Just an update 🙂 I went to see the genius, 45 mins after I was due to see him I finally got served, he seemed more interested in my girlfriend than fixing my phone but eventually he wiped my phone and it still crashed. He then took it behind the scenes to take it apart, apparently on the 3GS there’s a connector that can work slightly loose and cause it to crash. He gave it me back and said ‘mr iPhone just needed a little waking up’ I left the store and we drove home. I went to get my phone from my pocket and it came loose. The screen had not been put back properly.

Another visit under the Mersey and I got to see the manager, he agreed the apple genius I first saw had not put the phone back together properly. He was apologetic and gave me a new handset, extended the warranty on it until Feb (when my next upgrade is due) let me pick £100 of accessories (they’re going on eBay) and refunded travel costs.

I can’t say that I am either an apple fan boy nor hater, if the new iPhone seems to be the better phone on the Market when I upgrade next I will get that, if not then it’s competitor. I know a few other 3GS phones that are doing fine, maybe I was unlucky and got a Friday afternooner.

Shoddy repair but manager seems to have handled the aftermath very well! I’d be chuffed if I got all that if someone forgot to put the phone back together properly!
I found the apple shop very very helpful when my iPhone4 mic stopped working. Very slick service but a bit creepy like someone said already.. Do these folk come out of moulds? Similar to Gap ones maybe??

The manager was helpful, at first he was a little bit standoffish when we spoke on the phone. However I can see it from his point of view, he needed to see the damage before acting upon it. He agreed a member of his staff had damaged my property and he rectified it.

The level of Service described above at the apple store seems way ahead of what you would get at a regular mobile phone store – impressive!

Yeah.

The tone seems to be “Apple, what a shower”, but you got a free replacement for an out-of-warranty handset, expenses covered, and a haul of freebies. Sounds like an exceptional result to me.

Cougar I’m more than happy with the end result. I didn’t mean to come across as any different.