July 13
No more iPhone for me
Today my iPhone was returned.
The thought of returning it first flickered into my mind when my iPhone wasn't working 100% a few days ago. The symptoms:
- External speakers wouldn't play YouTube Audio or iPod Audio anymore (but the speaker phone and ringer did work...guess they are two speaker systems?)
- No phone calls could be heard through the headset when I held it to my ear (but did work with the iBuds and with speaker)
However being pretty smitten with the device (even with the
limitations Omar pointed out) and I decided to work through the support process and keep my figures crossed that nothing would sour me on keeping the device. And luckily, the iPhone was on my second cell number which I don't use too much (another long story...let's just say I am addicted to cell phone hardware and leave at that). Anyhow I trucked down to the SF Apple Store today and found out that I had to "set" an appointment to meet with the Genius Bar folks to have them help me with my iPhone.
Next appointment: 3:30pm. Time right then: 1:00pm. Mmm...I feel the acid rising in my stomach.
I kill a few hours walking around union square doing some window shopping and getting korean bbq for lunch. The sun is out and I bump into a friend at a coffee shop. She says she has heard all people are having lots of problems with their iPhones. Nevertheless, I am in a zen mood and thinking gosh I would have been in doors this whole afternoon if my iPhone hadn't conked out. Acid in my stomach goes down to normal.
Arrive at the Apple store at 3:22pm. Find out that I am number 6 on the wait list for the next Genius. Acid level rises to slightly higher then when I was at the store originally.
Sit next to a guy who is also having problems with his iPhone. Start talking with him and we find out we are having the exact same problems. He is worried that they will have to ship his device off and he'll be phoneless for a few days. Acid doesn't rise in my stomach, but warning bells go off in my head at this point.
Line moves pretty fast because three people in front of me don't show up for their slots. Acid level in my stomach stays put as a result instead of rising because of having to wait. I belly up to the bar at around 3:45pm.
The nice Genius Guy tells me it is a software glitch and the device just needs to be restored. My first question is "will this happen often then?" He says no because the restore actually updates the software to fix this bug and also improves Wi-Fi stack. This is a good thing, but I feel slightly stupid for not checking online for this cure and saving myself a trip down to the Apple store and the wait time. I ask him to do the restore at the bar instead of heading home to do it to make sure there are no further problems though. Good thing.
After the restore both problems still repro. The nice Genius guy is surprised, but doesn't hesitate to offer to swap my iPhone out on the spot for a new one out of a sealed box. Cool, but at this point I decide to ask some questions cause of the earlier warning bells. Does this happen often? No, less then 10K out of nearly 1M iPhones have had problems since they went on sale. I think that seems high, but he frames it as less the 1% have had problems.
So I ask, what if this happens again? Well starting tomorrow the service policy is changing. The phones will have to be shipped out to be fixed and if you want a loaner it'll cost ya 30 bucks.
Whoa. Stomach acid level shoots up to dangerous levels.
That sucks I say. Isn't it Apple's responsibility since the device is defective? He says well they are expensive and they can't just give out the loaner devices because the cost would be too significant. This doesn't seem right to me and I say so again. He says he didn't make the policy.
Acid level is officially way too high and I decide to return the device. I am bummed out, but I am skeptical of the device quality at this point and can't stand the warranty service policy. Also, I can't help but to wonder what happens when the battery needs to be replaced...probably 50 bucks for that + 30 bucks to get a loaner! Yikes...there could be riots.
I ask to return the device for a full refund and no I am going to pay the 10% restocking fee since the device is defective. I get a little hesitation, but in the end that is what he did after speaking to a manager. Of course I still have to deal with AT&T and what ever ludicrous charges they are going to try to get me with for converting from an IRU (corp discount) account to a normal account + using the phone for less then 2 weeks. Ah well, the price of being a gadget addict.
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