4s intermittent issues.... dealing with Apple Store

[habe]

I have an iPhone 4s that has intermittent speaker issues. It's not caused by the mute switch , or whatever it's called). The phone loses all external speaker sounds, ringer, keyboard feedback sound, notifications, etc. (earpiece speaker always works). Will happen for a few hours then go away. Restart also seems to fix the issue.

The phone has been completely restored twice on ios 5 and the issue is still there (As a test, I left apps off for a few days after a restore and the phone still exhibited the issue). Still there after updating to ios 6, restored one more time. Still intermittent....

Here is my problem. I am 2 hours away from the closest Apple Store (South Hills Village Mall, Pittsburgh area). I have an appointment set up but of course, if the problem can't be reproduced when I go in, no phone replacement (I have been told). I am not looking forward to a 2 hour drive, each way, only to be told, "sorry, nothing we can do for you...."

My issue is of concern is, I have 4 ipad 2's, one of which has an intermittent issue with the home button. I have driven the 2 hours TWICE!!, only to be turned away because the issue didn't show up when I was in the store...

Any ideas how to handle this issue with the phone? It really sucks for my wife because when this happens, she doesn't hear calls or notifications on her phone....

Mac Mini server, 27" iMac, 2 x MacBookPro's, 4 iPads (plus I don't know how many touches & ipods my kids have). It's going to seriously piss me off over all the money I've spent with Apple and this is how it goes......

habe

 

[Roy Hobbs]

Call AppleCare

 

[habe]

Call AppleCare

Did that. They suggest either sending phone to them or taking it to Apple Store.

So,

option #1: SUCKS. Send phone to them, be without phone for a week or more;

option #2: SUCKS. Drive the 2 hours each way to the Apple Store only to be jerked around because the phone doesn't exhibit the issue while I'm there.

I wish the phone would just break. Intermittent issues suck. I switched to Apple last year from PC because of the wonderful Apple warranty experience I keep hearing about. I've bought around $7,000 worth of Apple products in that time period and feel I'm being called a liar because an intermittent issue doesn't pop up while I'm in the store.

 

[PaulNY]

Did that. They suggest either sending phone to them or taking it to Apple Store.

So,

option #1: SUCKS. Send phone to them, be without phone for a week or more;

option #2: SUCKS. Drive the 2 hours each way to the Apple Store only to be jerked around because the phone doesn't exhibit the issue while I'm there.

I wish the phone would just break. Intermittent issues suck. I switched to Apple last year from PC because of the wonderful Apple warranty experience I keep hearing about. I've bought around $7,000 worth of Apple products in that time period and feel I'm being called a liar because an intermittent issue doesn't pop up while I'm in the store.

If at all possible, call back and request an advanced replacement. They take your Credit/debit card info, place a hold on it until they received your defective unit back.

I've done with the applecare with my iPhone 4, and they mailed me another unit that was flawless (after the applestores by me gave me three different defective phones)

 

[Roy Hobbs]

Did that. They suggest either sending phone to them or taking it to Apple Store.

So,

option #1: SUCKS. Send phone to them, be without phone for a week or more;

option #2: SUCKS. Drive the 2 hours each way to the Apple Store only to be jerked around because the phone doesn't exhibit the issue while I'm there.

I wish the phone would just break. Intermittent issues suck. I switched to Apple last year from PC because of the wonderful Apple warranty experience I keep hearing about. I've bought around $7,000 worth of Apple products in that time period and feel I'm being called a liar because an intermittent issue doesn't pop up while I'm in the store.

Everytime I've called they have overnighted me a phone...I have never been without a phone for a week or even a day.