16 Responses to “iPhone Woes”

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  1. Update:
    Well after posting this entry I figured that I would charge the iPhone by plugging it into the computer. A few minutes later I noticed a yellow warning on my iPhone saying “Please connect to iTunes” and a message box on my computer saying that I had to do a restore. All of my other settings in iTunes for the phone were gone. I pressed the restore button and an hour later get the message “The iPhone cannot be restored, An unknown error occurred” (-50) I’m guessing that I am going to have an interesting conversation with someone again at Apple Support in the morning…

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  2. Thomas

    What total shit. I feel your Apple woes, but not to your extent. I’ve had an iPod shuffle for a bit that I finally got working. Turned out I had to get it to start restoring, interrupt the process (by unplugging the shuffle from the charger), closeout iTunes, put it back in the charger then after it prompted me that it wanted to pick songs for me to quickly go into the settings, select that I wanted to use it for data, and then apply the change. After that it worked normally, but WHY, I have no idea. This almost makes Windows seem logical…

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  3. Update:
    Finally after three weeks of running around I got connected to a iPhone specialist that took the time to try to help me.

    He first walked me through a full restore of my iPhone to get that running.

    While the phone was doing its restore he made a few telephone calls to try to identify the problem. He came back and told me that AT & T heard of a situation where a metal case was causing simular problems.

    I explained to the specialist that I had puchased my case at the AT & T store when I puchcased my iPhone and that my case was plastic.

    After getting the phone restored I was able to make a couple of telephone calls (finally) without the message.

    The specialist gave me his direct telephone line and told me to call him if the problem with the error message came back.

    Keeping my fingers crossed!

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  4. Chris

    I feel your pain, I am going through the support hell at the moment too with the same issue.

    So much for having the highest customer satisfaction and support scores in the US. I think I would have been better off talking to someone in India that works for Dell and can’t even pronounce South Dakota little alone spell it with their name “Mike” and their email signed sanjaya abdual rahib.

    It is irritating and disgusts me that not even a month after having the phone such an issue occurs and rather than replace they will try to repair. Very poor customer service if I do say so myself!

    I hope I do not have to spend as much time as you, but I am glad to hear you did get yours fixed. Wish me luck.

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  5. Orbital75

    This is why I hate Apple.
    Everything they make is proprietary
    and has to go through them for repair.
    I’ll never buy an iPhone for this
    very reason. I mean, the Phone won’t
    even let you install 3rd party apps.
    It’s a Treo or Blackberry Curve for
    me. I hate the way they treated you
    you deserved a lot better….

    Boooooo Apple.

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  6. Jbliz40

    Anyway you could give me that guys direct line? It would be really helpful because I have been having the same issue for the last 2 weeks.

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  7. Update 8-23-2007

    Last week I got back my I Phone and returned their loaner, I have to admit turn around was very fast.

    The repair tag that came with the phone said that the repair was under warranty and that is all. No mention of what they did.

    However since getting the phone back, it has been working fine and I have not gotten that error message since

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  8. Josh

    I just received this same message on my iPhone, googled it, came up with your post and decided to call Apple support. The support rep told me that the issue is a faulty SIM card, and that I need to go to an AT&T store to replace the card. Which could explain why both iPhones you used got the same message.

    My take so far. Apple is Apple and I’m pleased with their service. AT&T is AT&T and they pretty much suck, but that’s to be expected.

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  9. I’ve had an iPhone for a few weeks (month and a half?) and haven’t had your experience. What a bummer!

    Apple is an odd company — you either love them or hate them! I’ve been using their products for about four years now and have not gone through the nightmare with customer service you described. My 23″ cinema display died a couple of years ago, abruptly. The technician walked me through some diagnostics and sent a replacement power supply via overnight delivery. When that didn’t work, they shipped me a box and call tag and had the display repaired and back to me within a week.

    New products almost always have issues. That’s not to excuse your horror story, but it’s been my experience too. I guess I’ve just been lucky that my Apple products have not needed repairs.

    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Young Son’s 30GB iPod video went for a swim (in his pocket)! Apple replaced it under warranty for a charge of about $30. Again, they even sent a shipping box and call tag.

    It ain’t all bad… But it sure can be frustrating. (Don’t get me started on the recent suite of Toshiba notebooks! 😉

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  10. Update: 9-24-2007
    Had my “repaired” iPhone now for over three weeks and this problem has gone away….

    Still don’t know what they did to fix it however

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  11. iPhoneveragain

    Late to the game with this comment(came here for the Passport 9500i), but here it goes:
    Many of Apple’s iPhone error messages are very ambiguous or generic. In your specific case, the “repair needed” was actually caused by the absence of an AT&T network for the phone to connect to. Apple’s almost paranoid lockdown of the iPhone will make it have a seizure at even the most remote network issue.
    Hope you had your phone working for you trouble-free after they repaired/replaced it. At least you should have gotten a free prepackaged paper clip, including user instructions, out of the deal.

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  12. iCeMan

    This is what I did the first time I got the ‘Repair Needed’ error on my iPhone:

    1) Take out the Sim
    2) Turn off your iPhone
    3) Turn it back on
    4) You will get a message, something like “No Sim”
    6) Insert your Sim Card
    5) It will take a moment to activate, then your all set.

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  13. tr

    What if the SIM card won’t come out with the paperclip?

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  14. This is just disgrace… I was just thinking of buying one, and I am very glad you shared all the details of your story with us. This surely sounds like the technology of the iphone is not mature yet, and it is best to wait until the 2nd or 3rd editions before spending your money on this. And bureaucracy is shit!

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  15. alejandro_decaprio@yahoo.om

    we have the same problem my phone was displaying “repair needed cannot make or recieve call” I need help how to fix this problem i already try 2.0 – 2.2.1 firmware by still no luck. please email to me on how to fix this problem. iphone dev-team help me please.. thank you.. please email to me at alejandro_decaprio@yahoo.com

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  16. dvg

    Alejandro, did you read the posts before yours? I just finished reading this whole web page of what I would consider typical Apple support issues. – – I dove head first into the Apple world a good number of years ago taking a position at a Warner Music Group Sub. supporting an art dept. of all Apple computers with only a few years of IBM compatible experience. My overall opinion after OS6 to OSXing my way through many solved support issues is: Great hardware after the first version or more bugs are flushed, bad support still unless you call me (no I don’t work for them), and yes, each piece or version of hardware usually requires a different fix, update or configuration. If I were a typical user, I can’t say I’d choose Apple. Being the analytical thinking support geek that I am, I don’t call support… If I can’t fix it, it’s not worth or can’t be fixed. So Alejandro, read what iCeMan and iPhoneveragain wrote. I’d be your answer is there. Curently only using a iPhone 3G 16G which cost a whopping $33 in replacement lcd after being given the broken one. I don’t use AT&T 3G service. Just use the thing for it’s cool free apps including home automation, A/V, computer control and skype for voip over wifi. Thanks to Radar Roy for keeping my ticket list short and this post long. Roy, free support if you ever get fed up with Apple’s again! Man did this take a long time to peck out on my iPhone! DVG ** tr – it’s not long enough, your not stabbing the beast hard enough or your hair gel has cemented it and you’re hosed.

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