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Wanted to love iphone- disappointed

I

isad

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
4
0
I had not planned to purchase one. I am a bare bones kind of gal, thrifty and whatnot, my last phone cost $40 and didn't even have a camera. I unfortunately stepped on said phone and would have happily bought another cheap replacement, but it was a Sunday, Wireless Toyz was closed, so I decided to bite the bullet and renew my AT&T contract for an upgrade.

How could I refuse the $99 iPhone? I also received a 15% student discount. My phone bill has only gone up $6 per month. This is all very reasonable, a great deal. Sign me up! I may be thrifty, but I also have a poor sense of direction (GPS phone device? yes please) and have a great love of the internet. As I purchased it, I couldn't help but think that it was the nicest thing I have ever bought for myself. My pc is a hand me down. I listen to cassettes in my car. I have never purchased any nice electronics. I was extremely happy and excited.

Well, I want to love the phone but so far it has caused me quite a bit of trouble. I have spent hours registering (took me awhile to figure out that my disabled internet explorer was the problem), downloading the latest version of itunes, and upgrading the software. I am not complaining about the time investment, just noting it.

My complaint is that I have to charge my phone repeatedly daily. Since I bought the phone exactly one week ago I have spoken on it for ten hours, but I have drained the battery several times per day, just by having it on. I haven't even been on the internet or receiving emails or anything. Just talking on the phone. This really stresses me out. I can't have a phone charger with me at all times. I live in a somewhat dangerous city, I need a phone for safety reasons. The battery on this thing is ridiculous.

Also, the wifi is greyed out. No wifi. It just won't work. It worked when I first got it but seems to have stopped working after the upgrade. I have read a bunch of forums about this and I understand that it may be a hardware issue.

I believe that this is a defective phone. When I called AT&T, the salesperson advised me to visit an apple store that is an hour an away. She told me not to bring the phone back to the AT&T store, which is 1 mile away from my workplace. I have to say, that made me pretty mad. I will not be following that advice. AT&T should be able to service me when I have a problem, they sold me the darn phone, right? I think they just want to sell all their stock instead of handing out replacements (they are currently sold out and waiting for a new shipment). Is it just me, or is that poor customer service? Let me know what you think because I really want to make a complaint.

By the way, regarding my settings, 3G disabled, brightness all the way down with the auto brightness feature turned on, location services off, fetch new data manually, push turned off, vibrate turned off, bluetooth off, ipod options all off---all to save battery life, which is still pathetic. I've done every little thing I've ever read might extend battery life. So many little tweaks that I am sure I am missing something in that list.

I am really disappointed. More time will be spent on replacing this iPhone, registering the next one, etc. I work full time and attend college. I feel like I've acquired a small, electronic, pet. A pet with special needs who needs lots of attention.

Thanks for letting me rant. I apologize for the obnoxiously long post and thanks to anyone willing to read it and comment. This isn't normal right? I figure I will try once more. I want to believe...
 
What you're describing is not normal. I know it's a PITA, but make the Genius appointment and go to the Apple Store for a replacement. Good luck with the next one.
 
You wanted to love the iPhone but you can't because yours is defector. You can love it once you get it replaced. As the above poster said, what you're describing isn't normal. Make that appointment and get it fixed. Best to ignore the post just before it because clearly you have electricity to charge electronics because everyone knows that no mac laptop battery would have lasted long enough for you to write that entire post. ;)
 
You're charming. Really. I'd love to stay around and chat with you nice folks but I think I will find other, less creepy people to talk to. Another reason to avoid apple products...so you don't have to talk to smug apple fans on their discussion forums. I apologize for my lapse in judgment and won't be coming back to view subsequent replies. Thanks anyway and I apologize for the dirty and cheap intrusion.
 
isad said:
You're charming. Really. I'd love to stay around and chat with you nice folks but I think I will find other, less creepy people to talk to. Another reason to avoid apple products...so you don't have to talk to smug apple fans on their discussion forums. I apologize for my lapse in judgment and won't be coming back to view subsequent replies. Thanks anyway and I apologize for the dirty and cheap intrusion.
Click to expand...

Hahahaa..... Don't let the iDoor hit you in the iA$$. I knew before I even started reading the post because of the name "isad". How are ANY of the replies creepy? Oh.. and if you DO read any of the subsequent replies, I'd just like to say "Thanks" because if (expletive deleted) like you avoid Apple, you're doing us all a huge favor.

So long.. and... C U next Tuesday!

(yeah yeah.. I know... I'm letting a troll get to me)
 
Welcome to the Iphone!!!

Welcome to the Iphone.
1. Updating software. This is necessary when using the Iphone. Well, I realized how important it was when I performed a restore on my Iphone, lost my contacts, and then synched my iphone via itunes and voila, all my contacts were back, etc, etc.

2. As you get to use the iphone more, you shall realize that one of the main reasons people have iphones is because of the numerous apps (applications) that it offers. Whether it is the facebook or myspace one, etrade mobile pro, ebay, bank of america, attwireless (to see how many minutes, texts you have left) wifi-finder, Nytimes, pandora, papertoss and other thousands of apps (I have only listed free apps since you are a bare bones gal!) you shall soon realize that you cannot live without these apps! You need itunes to get these apps. A few hours 'wasted' on upgrading software, years of glee!

3. Battery Life. If you drive a Ferrari, be ready for poor gas mileage! That's the truth. All smartphones suffer from poor battery life. If you don't believe me, just go to the Cnet or pcworld reviews of say, the Palm Pre or the RIM Blackberry Curve, or Storm, and read the user reviews. You shall see 'battery life' listed on all smartphones as 'cons'! With all these smartphones, you use them as cell-phones, and surf the internet in various ways and forms. The iphone is a perfect ipod, meaning that the juice runs out faster. This is how to make lemonade out of the battery 'lemon' situation;

a) First, buy a car charger (you said you drive). At the very least, you will have a fully charged iphone once you alight from the car.

b) If you can, buy an Iphone external battery charger. If you check Amazon (Yes, there is an app for that!) they range from $16 to $80 or more. Buy those which have good ratings from many users. If you check Ebay (did I mention that there is an app for that?) you shall find no-name external chargers for $8 to some heavyweights for $100! Yes, your pockets shall determine which external charger you shall use!

c) You may check components of a company called IGo. This company makes tips that are used for various electronic equipment, and the advantage to buying igo tips and chargers for the iphone are, you shall only need to buy the universal igo charger (which includes the car and 'home' charger) and buy the igo tip for the iphone. When in the car, use the iphone igo tip with the car charger. Once you are done, just remove the igo tip and carry the charger, and when you reach an electrical outlet, just charge your iphone with the home electric socket plug in charger at home or at school. This way, you shall always have your battery juiced! I am a fan of the IGo tips, as I used to have a treo phone. When I got the iphone, I just bought the iphone tip. With the Igo charger, you can even charge two or more electronics at once. See www.igo.com or go to Amazon and see the chargers and tips.

4. Apple Vs AT&T. Please go to the Apple store. The 'geniuses' are more willing to help than in-store AT&T employees, and readily exchange your phone for another one if it is defective. Since the AT&T store also sells other phones and services, they are very unwilling to exchange the phone for another one. I am not saying AT&T employees are 'bad', but they are usually unable (not unwilling) to solve your burning Iphone issues for the most part. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule!

The Iphone is a pet, a pet you groom sometimes, but a pet that wins you medals and cash at the dog show!

Enjoy your Iphone. I rant and rave (and while we are talking 'rave', please download the 'flashlight' app so as to get you out of the rave!) about mine all the time, but I cannot do without it, even for a day! My co-workers kept bragging about their blackberry curves and storm with T-Mobile, but are recent converts to the I-Phone 3Gs. Haters turned fanboys/fangirls!

Yes, since you are in college and may have access to WIFI, you shall realize that you shall need a laptop less and less as you surf using your I-Phone.

Kiss the frog for a bit, and enjoy your handsome prince for 'eternity'!
 
What a joke. iPhone has gone mainstream. Expect 16 year old girls to post on the forums imminently.

OP, panties in abunch over what? There was no such creepiness.
 
isad said:
You're charming. Really. I'd love to stay around and chat with you nice folks but I think I will find other, less creepy people to talk to. Another reason to avoid apple products...so you don't have to talk to smug apple fans on their discussion forums. I apologize for my lapse in judgment and won't be coming back to view subsequent replies. Thanks anyway and I apologize for the dirty and cheap intrusion.
Click to expand...

I think it may have only been Steve Ballmer, rubbishing the iPhone and the Mac community again......:rolleyes:

Can we see the originating IP? :)

Yes I agree with the other post, with the 'isad' (name) you must have seen it coming? ;)
 
isad said:
By the way, regarding my settings, 3G disabled, brightness all the way down with the auto brightness feature turned on, location services off, fetch new data manually, push turned off, vibrate turned off, bluetooth off, ipod options all off---all to save battery life, which is still pathetic. I've done every little thing I've ever read might extend battery life. So many little tweaks that I am sure I am missing something in that list.
Click to expand...

Hmm. That must be your problem. My iPhone has both MobileMe and Exchange Push on, 3G on, brightness at whatever it came out of the box set at, vibrate on, iPod on, and I get almost exactly 24 hours of battery life.

Of course, I don't often use my phone to actually talk to people... :rolleyes:
 
I have to admit this thread confuses me. The OP is given sound advice, without any smugness or derisive comments, and she feels we're creepy?

Right.

Anyway....

Have it replaced under warranty, see if the next one is better.
 
Wow what a Honor

That was Bill Gates wife that stopped by! We should all be Humbled. MRS. Gates if all you want to do is talk on the phone all day the Iphone wasn't the right choice. defiantly not the best part of the Iphone. BYW talking 10+ hours a day how does she get any studying done let alone go to class! :eek:
 
isad said:
You're charming. Really. I'd love to stay around and chat with you nice folks but I think I will find other, less creepy people to talk to. Another reason to avoid apple products...so you don't have to talk to smug apple fans on their discussion forums. I apologize for my lapse in judgment and won't be coming back to view subsequent replies. Thanks anyway and I apologize for the dirty and cheap intrusion.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing she works in some customer service roll?
 
My first two comments were "Guess iPhone isn't for everyone" (she edited it later to include that her battery life was "decent" and the second comment was: "Do you pay for electricity, you know, to charge it?" I apologize for my subsequent comment, but that second one really was uncalled for.. It seemed very rude to me. It still seems rude to me. Let's be real. The guy was making fun of me and it got my ire up because I was sincere and earnestly looking for a little advice. As a new forum member I felt very unwelcome by the electricity comment. I said I was thrifty (a good quality, I think. My husband appreciates it immensely.) I said I was thrifty, not poor. I don't live in a shack in Appalachia with no running water or electricity, okay? Maybe I am oversensitive, I am also pregnant, so I am a little emotional these days (no I am not 16, I am a fully grown adult. Running around town pregnant with no working phone because it drains every three hours is annoying). I shouldn't have let that one guy get to me, I really knew that I shouldn't take the bait and gotten upset. He was being rude. I just don't understand. If you don't want to provide any information, why leave a one line comment meant to poke fun at someone? Yet I am compared to 16 year old girl and this guy is what, a funny guy? I'm just not used to that kind of snobby attitude. Most forums I visit are relatively friendly.

I do very much appreciate the people who took the time to write helpful replies. I especially found the AT&t vs. Apple advice helpful thanks. I know smartphones use more battery power but this phone is undoubtedly defective because I am not using its features. Not at all. I am talking on it very little.

By the way, to the poster who said I talk on the phone ten hours a day, it was ten hours over the past week, not per day. That's not very much.

Also, yes, iphones have gone mainstream. I picked mine up for $84. Get used to it. Many new users are going to be entering the discussion about apple products. That's just the way it's going to be. You can complain about it, but that isn't going to change anything.
 
isad said:
My first two comments were "Guess iPhone isn't for everyone" (she edited it later to include that her battery life was "decent" and the second comment was: "Do you pay for electricity, you know, to charge it?" I apologize for my subsequent comment, but that second one really was uncalled for.. It seemed very rude to me. It still seems rude to me. Let's be real. The guy was making fun of me and it got my ire up because I was sincere and earnestly looking for a little advice. As a new forum member I felt very unwelcome by the electricity comment. I said I was thrifty (a good quality, I think. My husband appreciates it immensely.) I said I was thrifty, not poor. I don't live in a shack in Appalachia with no running water or electricity, okay? Maybe I am oversensitive, I am also pregnant, so I am a little emotional these days (no I am not 16, I am a fully grown adult. Running around town pregnant with no working phone because it drains every three hours is annoying). I shouldn't have let that one guy get to me, I really knew that I shouldn't take the bait and gotten upset. He was being rude. I just don't understand. If you don't want to provide any information, why leave a one line comment meant to poke fun at someone? Yet I am compared to 16 year old girl and this guy is what, a funny guy? I'm just not used to that kind of snobby attitude. Most forums I visit are relatively friendly.

I do very much appreciate the people who took the time to write helpful replies. I especially found the AT&t vs. Apple advice helpful thanks. I know smartphones use more battery power but this phone is undoubtedly defective because I am not using its features. Not at all. I am talking on it very little.

By the way, to the poster who said I talk on the phone ten hours a day, it was ten hours over the past week, not per day. That's not very much.

Also, yes, iphones have gone mainstream. I picked mine up for $84. Get used to it. Many new users are going to be entering the discussion about apple products. That's just the way it's going to be. You can complain about it, but that isn't going to change anything.
Click to expand...

So much for not coming back...
 
If this is a genuine complaint then just go to the Apple store and get them to replace the phone. You will get much better service from Apple than you will from AT&T and are likely to resolve the issue in a single visit. The experience you are having is not normal and although I appreciate it is an inconvenience, these things happen in the real world and the only person you are hurting by not getting it fixed is yourself.

As for battery life, I run my iPhone 3G with everything switched on except for bluetooth which I don't need. I send and receive upwards of 30 emails per day all done via "Push" and I check stock prices, currency exchange rates, play games, talk on the phone and send texts regularly. My phone is charged each night normally but even if I don't charge it one night I can still use the phone for a second 24 hour period before I get the 20% or 10% battery warning. This is an 11 month old phone too so the battery won't be 100% capacity. I do run my brightness down quite low but that's more to do with preference than battery life.

Apple are famous for excellent customer support - give them a chance to show you!

Craig.
 
So, has the OP actually brought her iPhone in to get checked out, or did she simply return it?

Also, are there any software updates available for the phone?

I'm curious as to what happened.

If I were in her shoes, I'd just demand an exchange from AT&T. They might make you wait a bit until the 3G S rush calms down a bit, but you should be able to get an exchange from them for a clearly defective phone.
 
See the thread on battery drain after 3.0 OS update/installation

isad said:
My first two comments were "Guess iPhone isn't for everyone" (she edited it later to include that her battery life was "decent" and the second comment was: "Do you pay for electricity, you know, to charge it?" I apologize for my subsequent comment, but that second one really was uncalled for.. It seemed very rude to me. It still seems rude to me. Let's be real. The guy was making fun of me and it got my ire up because I was sincere and earnestly looking for a little advice. As a new forum member I felt very unwelcome by the electricity comment. I said I was thrifty (a good quality, I think. My husband appreciates it immensely.) I said I was thrifty, not poor. I don't live in a shack in Appalachia with no running water or electricity, okay? Maybe I am oversensitive, I am also pregnant, so I am a little emotional these days (no I am not 16, I am a fully grown adult. Running around town pregnant with no working phone because it drains every three hours is annoying). I shouldn't have let that one guy get to me, I really knew that I shouldn't take the bait and gotten upset. He was being rude. I just don't understand. If you don't want to provide any information, why leave a one line comment meant to poke fun at someone? Yet I am compared to 16 year old girl and this guy is what, a funny guy? I'm just not used to that kind of snobby attitude. Most forums I visit are relatively friendly.

I do very much appreciate the people who took the time to write helpful replies. I especially found the AT&t vs. Apple advice helpful thanks. I know smartphones use more battery power but this phone is undoubtedly defective because I am not using its features. Not at all. I am talking on it very little.

By the way, to the poster who said I talk on the phone ten hours a day, it was ten hours over the past week, not per day. That's not very much.

Also, yes, iphones have gone mainstream. I picked mine up for $84. Get used to it. Many new users are going to be entering the discussion about apple products. That's just the way it's going to be. You can complain about it, but that isn't going to change anything.
Click to expand...

Hey, Isad,

Just wanted to direct you to the following thread where iPhone users have complained about battery drain after updating their iPhones with the 3.0 OS, https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/715751/

Maybe, that shall shed light on your battery drain. I am suffering from the same thing, and so are many iPhone owners. I think a software patch or update may be in the air, just like the updates after 2.0. Stay tuned!

'I don't live in a shack in Appalachia'! LOL! This made my day. I stereotypically associate the place with moonshine! BTW, there is now running water and electricity there, but lots and lots of moonshine!

These forums are going to have posters who shall knock you to the core. Just grow a thick skin, like the mountain goats at Appalachia! I've got to end it there, Yeeeeehaaaaah!
 
I will definitely check out that thread. You have warmed the cockles of my cold little heart, iluvgr8deals.

Thanks everybody. Onward and upward!
 
Hey I thought the choice in handle was kinda cute. Good luck in resolving your problem, the poster above stated things very well.
 
isad said:
When I called AT&T, the salesperson advised me to visit an apple store that is an hour an away.
Click to expand...
Remember that you can always call AppleCare and have them send you a replacement (vs. having to drive two-hours roundtrip).
 
It isn't for everyone

Some think the dropped calls are too much
Some think the 3G service is what was advertised
Etc....

I love it but respect those who don't
 
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