Well, Well.... look how many loyal Apple fans suddenly come out of the woodwork when someone actually does something other than just post yet another thread complaining about their phone, but just quietly going about getting a replacement.
To set the record straight. It's all fine and dandy that many of you must chalk it up to me doing something wrong to the phone because of course it couldn't be any other reason, and of course it couldn't be because Apple is making a junk product in mass production and caring more about selling units than making a quality product.
If you think it's a matter of how I treat my electronic devices let me remind you that I have only had an iPhone since September 15th, 1008. I am now getting my 3rd iPhone because when I open the package they are flawed from the start. If you think that my situation is an isolated incident, then my friends you need to take a few moments and read a few forums before you go posting about how I must have, "the worst luck ever!"
For those that say that forums aren't a good representation of the general population, you're correct...usually they're not because what you'll typically see is a bunch of random topics about random one off problems that seem completely atypical of any other problem.
In the case of the iPhone 3G you'll notice that many of the people who are complaining or having issues are having the SAME issues in the same places. Not only that, but it would seem that the population of people having these issues is growing as the frequency of the posts are becoming more and more.
The reason that I went to "the press" is because in all my time buying electronic devices I have never had to spend this much time dealing with defects. At most, if I have had an issue with something I have simply returned it to the store and was able to walk away with a new product which in most cases I never have any issues with.
On the rare occasion when I have had multiple issues with a product, I have been able to simply walk back into the store, and get a full refund and move on.
I don't have that ability in this case. I spent $350 + 3 year contract for a product that I can't return. The rules of the contract/Apple state that after 30 minutes of talk time I can no longer return the phone or contract and must buy it out, or live with it.
Since day one I have had to deal with light leaks, cracks, camera not working, misaligned bezel, sunken glass, and a few software related things. I am now currently on my third replacement (which to answer your question I can't get them to deliver to my work because my work involves me traveling around the city).
I'm going to directly address the following post because it kinda sums up what many others are saying here.
a) getting ups to deliver to ur work. Then you won't need 2 days off;
b) lowering ur expectations for perfection a notch;
c) stop breaking ur phone u putz.
A) This isn't just about two days off. This is about all the time I have spend on the phone telling the same story over and over. About the time I waited a two weeks ago for UPS only to call Rogers back and have them say, "Oh sorry, we canceled the order because it was the wrong phone...we were waiting for you to call back so we could set up a new replacement"
It's about the time I have had to spend researching this issue to make sure it wasn't something I might be doing, or to simply become better informed. It's about the 3 hour one way trips to the Apple store to ask questions regarding the problems.
Quite simply it's about the fact that this phone has cost me more in both time and money than it has benefited me. I haven't really even been able to use my phone because (like now) a glitch in the Rogers system shuts my current SIM card off for three days while the other phones have been in transit.
How much time can one person be expected to spend calling, waiting, deleting data, reinstalling the phone, packing it, calling UPS back for a pick up time, waiting for UPS, driving around to stores, and such before it simply isn't worth it?
b) lowering ur expectations for perfection a notch;
That is simply bull. Apple doesn't get special treatment simply because they have fancy looking products. They don't get to design something that isn't functional yet still be able to charge $350 for it.
It's not about perfection, it's about a certain standard based on the cost. A few years back I bought a Creative Zen MP3 player and so did my friend. We never even thought about how "perfect" they were because they looked and functioned as expected (for the $370 price tag). In fact I sold mine on ebay not even three days ago and it barely had a scratch.
Not only that, but I have dozens of electronic equipment in my place that I don't even question because they have worked perfectly from day one. Why should Apple be any different? Would I be complaining so much if the phone was free like some are with other mobile plans....probably not as I really didn't put anything out of my own pocket to own it.
But for a company who's slogan is, "it just works" it is really disappointing when the product you've spent $300 dollars on doesn't work, is built like crap not once, but twice.
For anyone of you who have paid that money and are simply content to drool over your new phone then good on you. I'm not here to tell you what level of satisfaction you should have or how much your money is worth to you, but in my case Apple doesn't get special treatment and I have no loyalty to the company...I simply want what I paid for and I don't think that is an unreasonable thing to ask.
c) stop breaking ur phone u putz.
Why is it that when someone has an issue it must automatically be their fault? Lets be honest here, why in the world would I go and buy an iPhone with my own money, sign a 3 year contract, and then abuse my phone to the point where I have to send it back not once, but twice?
Why would (if I were to blame) I e-mail a national news agency and encourage them to investigate this issue if I were the one breaking my phones?
Come on people!
Because the iPhone is a mobile phone I should expect that I should be able to take it out of the box, put it in my pocket, use it occasionally, plug it in to charge it and repeat that process. To me, that sounds like a pretty reasonable request from a mobile phone.
I should be able to plug in the headphones that came with the phone and not have the plastic break between the jack and the bezel. I should be able to plug in the USB charger without hairline cracks forming. I should be able to hold the phone in my hand without a sharp corner of a misaligned bezel threatening to cut me. I should be able to put the phone in my pocket without fear that the gap on the side letting light out is going to gather dust over time and kill the electronics inside.
Simply, I expect a $350 ($755 retail) phone to be built with enough quality that I can use it in a reasonable manner without fear of it falling apart in my hands.
I fully expected that many of you would suddenly show up to defend the iPhone once I actually took a stand on this issue past the endless bitching on the forum, and I hope that my response here is enough to defend my position enough to avoid this post being locked due to a flame war.
For those who are having no issue with their phone, then I am truly happy for you and I hope you continue to have success with it because I don't have any malicious intent towards any of you or Apple for that matter. All I can say is that as a customer I feel I am not being satisfied with simply returning phone after phone and the more I look into it, the more I am seeing that others are having issues.....multiple issues.
If UPS shows up today with a flawless phone, then awesome...I can move on with my life....but my concern is that it won't be. My concern is that I will have to choose to either ignore the issue and give up, or go through the entire process again, and again until it's right.
