6 iPhones in 3 days. Help!

[tejaykay]

Hey,

So I got a 32GB 3GS the day it was available in the UK. All of a sudden callers were complaining that they couldn't hear me clearly. I took it to a genius bar in Brighton 4 days ago, and they immediately replaced it after a couple of test calls. Then two days ago I was in London doing work and the phone decided to not recognise my SIM. I immediately booked an appointment at the Genius Bar, Westfields. They again replaced it after realising it would not accept any SIM cards. 1 minute out of the store with another new phone and it was apparent this one was not transmitting my voice when I made calls to a number of people. 20minutes later the Geniuses confirmed I had another defunct handset and replaced it again. Along with some manufacturing faulted handsets with lifted bezels, this was my 5th new iPhone in three days.

My new phone is perfect in terms of its flush bezel and and finish. However on an evening drive I realised that the GPS was no way near as accurate as my original handset and the blue location dot would 'float' as I turned corners, and it would take an incredibly long time to get a GPS fix. When it did get a fix it would pulse and then jump forward instead of smoothly tracking my GPS location like my original handset.

This has a led me to believe that my GPS may not be functioning and I may be relying on cell tower triangulation. Is there anyway I can do a pure GPS test?

I can't begin to explain how irritating this is getting! I've had a number of macs over the last 10 years, not one went wrong, yet I've got a cursed touch on all these replacement iPhones. Any comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[bruinsrme]

How can we help?
We could tell you, you by far have the worst luck in the world.
Or there was a bad batch of iPhone, some may find that hard to believe from any apple product.

I think what would be most irritating is having to make appointments to have so many faulty phones replaced in such a short time.

Are they giving you white box or retail phones as the replacements?

 

[tejaykay]

Brown box. I've spent far too much time in Apple Store's recently!

Anyway, as the GPS thing seems to be the only issue with this handset, I really want to know if there is someway for me to test if the GPS is working?

 

[gigapocket1]

Go to a different apple store.. And get a new sim card... If this one starts acting up. Demand a new one, fresh out the box

 

[MacKiddyWiddy]

get a new iPhone and new sim card... all straight out of the box

 

[tejaykay]

The sim is fine and works OK with the Apple Store test iPhones. Is there no way to test if the GPS is correctly working?

Walking around, I don't get a fix on my position. It's normally 100m out.

 

[Lucbert]

Have you already tried restoring you iPhone? If you haven't, you should try that. Do not restore the iPhone from a backup.
If that does not fix your problem, your iphone is probably faulty. What I would do if I were you is call Apple Care, they can arrange a brand new Phone for you, I doubt that the Geniuses from the Apple Store can do that.
The number is 1800-My-IPHONE

 

[Moi un Mouton]

I've found with my 3GS that getting an accurate fix can take a long time (maybe 10 minutes), longer than I'd want and a lot longer than my Garmin Forerunner (1 minute max). But once it locks on it's been OK.

Maybe it's just not a great GPS chip.

The GPS positioning does not rely on the SIM nor on the 3G service. You need data to get the maps but you don't need maps for the GPS to do its work, eg give your position on the compass.

 

[kAoTiX]

Why dont you put your phone into airplane mode? Not sure if the GPS will still work, i've honestly never tried it.
Alternatively, if you are jailbroken. Use Sbsettings to disable the phone/3g/edge and try the GPS again.

Would Apple replace it just because it's got a poor gps signal? Sounds quite trivial to me and unless it was way off I dont think they would. If the rest of the phone works fine, is it not better the devil you know under your circumstances?

good luck.

 

[egraphixstudios]

The sim is fine and works OK with the Apple Store test iPhones. Is there no way to test if the GPS is correctly working?

Walking around, I don't get a fix on my position. It's normally 100m out.

WOW! 100mtrs ? mine is normally around 2 mtrs out...

 

[tejaykay]

iPhone #7

So, this is what's happened.

I've done every single possible restore/reset you can imagine. But I still can't get a GPS fix to within 100yds. I went on an hours drive yesterday from London to th South coast using my phone with google maps as a sat nav. I managed to get a GPS fix about five times, but it would never hold for more than 30secs.

I went to the UK flagship Apple store on Regent street and they apologised profusely. I insisted on a retail box, and after some deliberation they agreed. However, they said they can't give me an in store box, but had to order from China, taking a further week. I exclaimed that I did not live in London and this was becoming a huge inconvenience and could I have it sent to the Apple store in Brighton. They said this was impossible.

Now, I have to have ANOTHER Genius appointment in Brighton this Thursday, explain everything again, and then return AGAIN in another weeks time to receive the retail box. I cannot believe this. The inefficiency between stores is phenomenal.

Interestingly, the Genius in Regent Street let it slip that the OEM 'brown box' handsets exist as they have already had faults on the production line and have therefore been sent back through the factory to have it fixed. Whilst my case is extreme. I'd rather have had a retail box one from the start.

I'm really going to find it hard to preach the iPhone love now.


p.s. I want to email apple about what I've experienced and how disappointed I am. Is steve@mac.com still the best route?

 

[tejaykay]

Stalling.

So after going to the lengths of booking a new Genius appointment, the Brighton staff are reluctant to order a retail replacement. The manager was on the phone with higher powers trying to figure out hot to make such an order. The inefficiency between stores is shocking. I was told that he would get back to me later that day, but I still have no contact.

Apple customer service has been hopeless so far.

 

[kAoTiX]

This is crazy. Why are the Brighton staff reluctant if the other store was more than happy to do so? Can you not get the Brighton staff to call the other store to confirm they can order you a new one.

I think I'm actually one of the few people who has literally never had an issue with their iPhone, regardless of what Gen it is. *touch wood*
I've never had to deal with anyone to get anything sorted other than a stupid issue with o2 over my free bolt-on.

I don't see why they can have any issue with giving you a brand new retail box iPhone after you've had so many issues.

I bid you good luck in your quest for a new retail box phone and hope you get one that is faultless and perfect in ever way!