Problem with iPhone and AT&T

[Len1035]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and the Mac. I have been having problems with my iPhone and I was wondering if anyone had the same problems and if they had found a solution.

After years of PC use I late November I decided to switch to the Apple. I purchased a new iMac and iPhone. Since my wife and I have been Cingular customers for years it made sense. I went to the At&T store on Aliso Creek Rd. in Aliso Viejo, CA. and purchased the iPhone. I activated the iPhone and I could not get any reception anywhere in my house. I walked out of my house and again “no signal”. I commute to downtown Los Angeles and I take the train. While on the train on my way to L A other passengers had iPhones and their iPhones seemed to be working fine. I could see the commuters making and receiving phone calls, checking email, etc. My iphone had no signal. Once in a while I would get full bars, but in a few seconds they would go away. I constantly had dropped calls and my email would not work properly, because I had no connection to the Edge network.

I called AT&T tech support, they had me take out the SIMM card and put it back in in the hope it would pick up cell towers around my home. When that did not work, I was told to go to the AT&T store where I purchased my iPhone and get my iPhone exchanged for another one. I was told it was probably a bad iPhone. I went to the AT&T store in Aliso Viejo where I purchased the iPhone and I explained to the sales rep my dilemma. I also told him I had purchased the iPhone from that store approximately five days prior and that the AT&T tech support had advised me to exchange it at the store. The sales rep checked with the manager and then he told me he would happy to exchange it for a 20% re-stocking fee. As you can imagine this did not make sense. I agin explained to him I had just purchased the iPhone at his store about FIVE days prior. Again he told me that the only way they could give me another iPhone is if they charged me a 20% re-stocking fee. I reminded him that their own tech support had told me to go exchange it and since it was still under the 14 day period they should not be a problem. He then told me that their AT&T tech support was wrong and they should have never said that. He further stated that the iPhone was an Apple product and if I did not want to pay a re-stocking fee I would have to go to an apple store and exchange it there. I was discussed it with this type of service, it did not matter to them that my wife and I have been their customers for years, I received very poor customer service.

I drove to the Apple store in Mission Viejo, CA. and after waiting more than 20 minutes for a “Genius” I explained my problem to the genius. He told me that he could not exchange it for a new one, because I did not purchase the iPhone at the Apple store. He told me AT&T would have to honor their agreement with Apple and I would have to go back to AT&T and exchange it there. I explained to him that I had purchased the iPhone five days ago and that AT&T wanted to charge me a 20% re-stocking fee to exchange it. I gave him the business card of the person I dealt with at the AT&T store and he attempted to call him. The Apple Genius then told me he could not get a hold of anyone at the store, he was only getting a phone tree and he could not speak to a “live person”.

The Apple Genius again told me he could not exchange it for another one, because I did not purchase the iPhone at the Apple store and I would have to go back to the AT&T store where I purchased it and get it exchanged there. The Apple Genius then told me he could exchange it for a refurbished iPhone like the ones they loan their customers. I told him it did not make sense for me to exchange my BRAND NEW IPHONE for a refurbished one. Eventually after I told him I had also just purchased a new iMac, he eventually agreed to exchange it for a new one.

I was very disappointed in the service I received from AT&T and Apple, if the iPhone worked with a different carrier and would drop AT&T in a second.

I now have my new iPhone, I love it, I want to keep it, but I am still having problems with the reception. My next step is to try and get a new SIM card from AT&T and replace it. It is sad to see that Apple and AT&T have not worked out these types of issues and customers like me are getting the raw end of the deal. iHOPE Apple and AT&T resolve this soon for customers sake.

Any suggestions?

Thank you,

Len
http://images.macrumors.com/vb/images/smilies/blackapple.gif

 

[TXCraig]

You can go through the process of getting the phone fixed under the warranty on the phone. You have pointed out that problem with purchasing the phone from AT&T- they can not replace your phone even if you return it for replacement an hour after you purchase it. From what I understand- Apple is the one behind this as they don't trust AT&T employees to be smart enough to determine if a phone is bad or good.

I would have taken the referb phone from Apple. Keep in mind the referb phone looks brand new, just some of the parts have been on a phone before so they have to sell it as referbed.

If you send the phone back for repair, odds are you will not get the original phone back fixed, but a refebed phone as a replacement. So, your going to get a referbed one either way.

Go back to the Apple store, take the referb phone and make sure the phone is perfect and in working order before you leave the store. Then go enjoy your iPhone....

 

[mrgreen4242]

I typically prefer refurbs to new products. There's some exceptions of course, but refurbs get a per unit quality check before being put back int he supply chain, where new equipment just gets a 1 in 500 or whatever batch check, and maybe a really basic boot test on each unit.

The exceptions being stuff with LCD screens, where often refurbs will be returned items due to dead pixels and they get reboxed and resold as refurb with a different, less stringent dead pixel policy. In your case, though, since it was an in store exchange you could have checked it over before accepting it, so that would have been OK in my book.

This really highlights why I buy all my Apple gear direct from Apple, either store or online, not a partner. Apple usually takes really good care of you if you bought the product from them, but it's always much more difficult to deal with one of their partners.

I was discussed it with this type of service

I assume you meant you were disgusted with this service, but I had to reread that sentence abotu four times to make an sense of it.

 

[Len1035]

Thank you for the info, I had no idea a refurbished phone was not a bad thing.