Long story short. I bought a used iPhone 5 that was defective cause the battery died in 2 hours and a half but Apple didn't help me because it showed as an inactive device on their servers. I was desperate cause I spent all my money on this phone so I took it to a repair service. They changed the battery, the charging dock and even the motherboard for lord's sake, and the problem persists! I've been without a usable phone for 4 months now and I just feel like crying cause I can't seem to find the reason for this problem and I can't buy a new one. What else could possibly be causing such battery drain????
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Please help me defective iphone with no solution
- Thread starter rotkiv3451
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I don't understand the "inactive" part of your story but skipping that...
1. Take it back to the place that fixed it.
2. Restore as new and don't restore a backup to it.
1. Take it back to the place that fixed it.
2. Restore as new and don't restore a backup to it.
I've taken it back a thousand times, every time I do they change another piece of it but still makes no difference, and service is really really slow. it would probably take more than a year at that pace for me to find out what's wrong.
About the inactive part, I don't understand it very well either, Apple said they don't know why that happened but they can't give me any type of support whatsoever. I gave up on them cause they won't do anything so I'm just trying to get it fixed somewhere else so that I can use my phone, but I can't seem to get it to work =(
Oh and it's not a software problem, I've restored this phone a thousand times already, as new, not as a backup.
This has been such a horrible experience. I've always been a huge Apple fanboy, I've had lots of Apple devices but now I have this defective phone and it's caused me so much trouble. I regret having bough a used one so so so so much but I'm in Brazil and iPhones cost the equivalent to 1500 dollars here and I'm only 17 so I couldn't afford that. I spent 1000 dollars, all the money I had on my bank account, on this, and all I want is for it to work properly. I didn't want apple to give me a new one, or somehow give me a refund, I just wanna fix this one so that I can use whatsapp and instagram and camera+ and have fun again, and also for university stuff.
What other than tha battery, the charging dock and the motherboard could possibly be causing this issue? I've also used 4 different chargers (all original) and the problem persists.
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Sure: C38JF1GXF38W
What other than tha battery, the charging dock and the motherboard could possibly be causing this issue? I've also used 4 different chargers (all original) and the problem persists.
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Sure: C38JF1GXF38W
Defective or worn out battery / apps / low signal strength. If you're putting the same apps back on it, try running it for a day with no apps and see if the battery drains at an abnormal rate. Heck, put it in airplane mode overnight and see what happens.
Also, I'd grab a copy of iBackupBot and check to see how much of the original battery capacity remains.
Defective or worn out battery / apps / low signal strength. If you're putting the same apps back on it, try running it for a day with no apps and see if the battery drains at an abnormal rate. Heck, put it in airplane mode overnight and see what happens.
Also, I'd grab a copy of iBackupBot and check to see how much of the original battery capacity remains.
I got my third brand new battery today, with no change, and I've been running it in airplane mode. I'll try to restore it and not install my usual apps to see if that helps. Thank you =).
Could it maybe be the processor, or the gpu, or something like that though?
So checking it on Apple's site shows that this is a device that has been replaced. To the best of my knowledge this means it was a defective device and was swapped out for a new one by Apple. Once this happens, that same serial is not used again (think of it as blacklisted by Apple).
I am not sure how this happened, but one scenario could be theft, from the Apple store, maybe by an employee, of one of their defective devices which may have been repaired by a third party to make a quick buck (please note this THEORETICAL scenario is just that. Theoretical).
Anyway, I am not sure I can be of much help any further, but at least we know what the "inactive" buzzword that Apple is using refers to. There is a link at the end of the page (you may have to enter the serial there too) that states that you should contact Apple if you know the info you have entered is correct. I would go that route. It certainly couldn't hurt.
I am not sure how this happened, but one scenario could be theft, from the Apple store, maybe by an employee, of one of their defective devices which may have been repaired by a third party to make a quick buck (please note this THEORETICAL scenario is just that. Theoretical).
Anyway, I am not sure I can be of much help any further, but at least we know what the "inactive" buzzword that Apple is using refers to. There is a link at the end of the page (you may have to enter the serial there too) that states that you should contact Apple if you know the info you have entered is correct. I would go that route. It certainly couldn't hurt.
There could be a drain from the motherboard, in which case you'll never get it fixed.
Mainly this problem would be system settings, a rogue app, poor signal strength, a worn battery......or the fact it's an iPhone 5 running iOS7
Mainly this problem would be system settings, a rogue app, poor signal strength, a worn battery......or the fact it's an iPhone 5 running iOS7
You should just sell it and use the money to get a working iPhone.
Keep wasting money and time trying to fix it and still dealing with a defective phone is crazy.
I'd move on instead of trying to fix the unfixable.
Keep wasting money and time trying to fix it and still dealing with a defective phone is crazy.
I'd move on instead of trying to fix the unfixable.
On top of that I would request some sort of compensation from the repair place that, apparently, didn;t fix a damn thing, yet charged you for it.
On top of that I would request some sort of compensation from the repair place that, apparently, didn;t fix a damn thing, yet charged you for it.
I doubt he'd get any money back.
If you're a sucker and keep wasting money like that they will keep guessing and replacing parts one by one to make money.
Sounds like many shady car mechanics that fix your car every other week and it's still broken
I doubt he'd get any money back.
If you're a sucker and keep wasting money like that they will keep guessing and replacing parts one by one to make money.
Sounds like many shady car mechanics that fix your car every other week and it's still broken
I'd still raise a stink. If I paid with a credit card I would reverse funds and make it known to the company that I was going that route, should they not offer to help.
By the way, the thread showed no indication that he sank money multiple times (unless I missed it). Just that he has had them replace multiple parts in multiple sittings. I suppose this could be implied. Or maybe not.
I hear you. I'd complain too and hope for the best to get some type of refund.
But sometimes you're better off cutting your losses and not worth the added aggrevation.
But sometimes you're better off cutting your losses and not worth the added aggrevation.
Based on the OPs serial number this unit was deactivated by Apple because it was exchanged. There's no way to get it to function as a phone, an iPod maybe.
How much do you think I should charge for it? I spent 1000 dollars on it, how much less would I have to charge?
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Except everything works just fine. I can make calls, use 3G, download apps from the app store. It is completely functional, but battery doesn't last =/
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Plus that is somewhat Apple's fault. They should have completely disabled the phone after it was exchanged, that way the seller wouldn't be able to trick anyone who tried to even turn it on, but no, it worked fine and I didn't have the time to test the battery when I bought it. The seller is long gone by now too, so there's nothing I can do about that.
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First and foremost, it isn't really Apple's job to make sure you don;t get scammed. They have an easy to use serial number checker on their website. I feel for you, but Apple doesn't simply permanently decommission hardware that can potentially be refurbished. While there are certainly ways of locking the device, the number of people this sort of thing happens too is probably too low to justify extra work for employees with each phone they get back.
As far as it functioning, I certainly believe that is the case. I am somewhat shocked that you are able to restore the phone though, as I expected serial checks to take place during this step; obviously I am wrong about that.
Anyway it's tough to say what you could get for it. I would make a craigslist (or wherever you plan to sell) listing beoing very ipfront and honest about the situation. Start it at whatever price a used iPhone 5 goes for in your area, minus maybe 5-10% and go from there, dropping it a little after a week or so goes by.
Sounds like the store is taking advantage of your young age and desperation. If you ask me, I say they never changed anything. Buy a battery online and install it yourself, it's very simple.
You can also get a mophie, some case with built in battery, or even an external battery and just live with it.
Oh and last year I bought an iPhone 5 on amazon that was showing as a swapped unit. I called Apple an explained that I got it used, etc and they re-activated it. Maybe try calling the US number? You can use gmail or hangouts app to call us numbers for free
You can also get a mophie, some case with built in battery, or even an external battery and just live with it.
Oh and last year I bought an iPhone 5 on amazon that was showing as a swapped unit. I called Apple an explained that I got it used, etc and they re-activated it. Maybe try calling the US number? You can use gmail or hangouts app to call us numbers for free
Wow man, you spend $1000 on a used iphone 5?
Not sure how much they go for down there in your country but get an average price of what that they sell for and at least try to recover most of your money if you can.
Not sure how much they go for down there in your country but get an average price of what that they sell for and at least try to recover most of your money if you can.
What?????? I called both Apple Brazil and Apple US and they said there was nothing they could do. Then I emailed Tim Cook and got a call from Alan Luchini saying there was nothing they could do. =(
Sounds like this guy was scammed into buying a bad phone. Based on the comments here, there is nothing Apple can or should do. They have "blacklisted" this phone. They have wiped their hands of it which is the right thing for them to do.
It would be like going to the junkyard and buying a "totalled" car that was only 6 months old for $20 and then asking GM to make it work since it was under warranty.
Not gonna happen.
As to what the phone is worth - the OP now knows what it is worth. (not much)
It would be like going to the junkyard and buying a "totalled" car that was only 6 months old for $20 and then asking GM to make it work since it was under warranty.
Not gonna happen.
As to what the phone is worth - the OP now knows what it is worth. (not much)