Problems with du iPhone 3GS: what do I really expect?
Crystal Nystedt | Nov 23, 2009 | Comments 24
I am not sure what I expect, even when I am writing this, so please bear with me, okay? I feel like I’m having the worst ever luck with my iPhones. In February I didn’t get data activated on my Etisalat iPhone 3G until after about a week and then there was the experience of it breaking and getting it replaced.
Anyway, back to the current situation. As many of you know I have been having problems with my new iPhone 3GS from du. My phone started turning it self off and after a while of it doing this it got to a point where it would not even restart. Some times when I would plug it into the computer, it would say that it could not find the drive in the iPhone. I have had to restore it at least three times to get it to even restart. I have also been having a problem with my battery saying that it is full, and then it says no battery. The problem seems to be worse if the battery does get it a low level, but not dead. So basically I’ve had an increasing amount of issues with my brand new iPhone, problems that needs fixing.
Axiom Cafe, Dubai
Since it is a new iPhone and after trying to restore to factory settings many times without it fixing the problem it was time to take it to the repair center. For du customers you have to take it to Axiom repair store. So, this evening I took my phone to Axiom Cafe on Sheikh Zayed Road here in Dubai. I arrived at closing (the store closes at 7pm) time and the guy was really nice in let me in and try to help me. He seemed to know the problems that I was having before I was even telling him what was wrong. I was a bit excited that he knew what my problem was and that it was going to be a simple fix. He then told me that I needed to leave my iPhone with him for two or three days so that they could see my phone having the problems that I was telling him I was having and then they would decide if my problem would warrant a fix or replacement.
Here comes the part of what do I expect: I am not sure what I should expect but to me when a customer comes in and their issues are known issues, just tell them what the issue is and then fix the issue. Yes, I could leave my phone for two-three days, and then get an answer, but why should I? So, what is a company to do, right? Well, I know that this is probably not a fair comparison but if I was at an Apple store, let’s say in the US, they would tell me right away what they would do and probably replace the iPhone on the spot at least if it was a known problem.
If I was to leave my iPhone I would not leave it with all my data on the phone, I would restore it (please be careful and don’t just let anyone have your data). By chance if this was a software issue, it would be really hard to find, without my data. Then if they are going to find the fault, they would have to use my phone, and I am pretty sure they would not. Also to be fair, I did ask the guy if the person trying to repair my phone, had any Apple Certification and he said of course. So, I asked if I could see their certificate and he said they did not have them to show.
What did I get out of this experience? Well, I am not sure. They did not tell me right out that they would not fix my issue so I need to give them credit for that but you know I am the customer and some times I just would like for someone to say “yes we hear you, we believe you, and it will be taken care of”. I have spent a lot of money on my iPhone and now time trying to get my iPhone working like it should. I feel like Axiom or du should just save me the time and replace my phone. At the end of the day, I do not want to spend my time trying to get something that I have spent a lot of money on working. That should not be my job, and as du’s customer, I just want to be taken care of and believed.
Filed Under: Blog • Featured • GeekyGirl • iPhone
Hmm, sounds like your Apple-certified tech isn’t certified in reality (customer service would say anything to please the customer, right?)
The phone should be under warranty and as I understand you are entitled to a replacement phone (hopefully you would get one in a box)
I bought my iPhone 3GS 32GB for a hefty AED 4,500 from Sharaf DG during Ramadan. My iPhone had a dead pixel on its screen so I had to take it back to them. As soon as I told them the problem they got it replaced with a brand new one. My iPhone is sourced from Hong Kong and it is factory-unlocked and not jailbroken.
I must say I have been really happy with the buy and I am so glad that I don't have to deal with Etisalat and their awful customer support. To top it all off, I subscribed to the 1GB data package so that I would not feel left out in the cold.
Seeing as how support goes with our esteemed ISP's i doubt your going to get anywhere. Hopefully they'll replace it seeing as you are having issues even after restoring i am guessing its probably hardware related. I bought my 3Gs one week after its launch in Australia (hardware unlocked) cost me about 3300 yes it was 1k more but at that time there was really no idea when the phone was going to get launched out here. I am subscribed to the 100mb package and believe me no thanks to etisalat's support team for that either. Apparently if you haven't purchased your phone from them they won't tell you how to apply the APN settings (fact not fiction). A friend of mine ran on to this problem recently and this was their response. “You should contact the person you purchased the phone from”. I am glad i bought the phone from outside and not Etisalat or Du. I'd rather be content with not getting the support rather than facing all these issues. I really hope your phone is sorted, do let us know what happened.
UAE doesn't have the best customer service in the world but I really hope your iPhone problem will be sorted out! My goodness, you've spent a lot of money for it and it just sucks to find out it's not working the way it should!
If there's anyone else having this kind of problem from an iPhone bought from Du, it would officially scare me to get an iPhone from them!
That is really nice, now why can they just do that for me
I don't know but I think it is important to buy local, but in cases like this, I am not so sure anymore. Hopefully, post can help others, if it doesn't do anything else.
Thank you, but this problem I am having with the iPhone could happen no matter where I bought the phone. The only thing in du's or Axiom's hands, is the after sale service, which I am not happy with.
I had the similar issue of having random shut downs. I had around 20gigs of music as well. I did a restore of my phone and then loaded back all my apps except the music. Ran the phone for a week with no issues, perfect and it was fast. Reception was amazing. Then added few songs, no issues. Then I added the entire 20gigs of collection and the random shut down reappeared. So i figured it could be my some music files thats causing the issue.
Just try deleting your music and try by adding few at a time meaning a week and you should get the culprit. I had the same issue while video editing a movie on sony vegas and finalcut….. To my surprise mp3/aac files can cause issues. No point complaining b'cause to start with, we might have downloaded them illegally via torrents.
So in short, delete all your music and videos. Add around 30-50 a week and see if you have the issue.
Hello Mazmohad,
It is good to see you here, I read your post on Apple discussions last night. I will try what you suggested, have you found the which song it was for you? You are right that some people get their music from interesting places, but any music I have, came from iTunes
i havent caught the files but i have half of my music which i listen to often now on iphone without any issues. The rest i will slowly add but just need to find time to first delete a lot in them that i wouldnt want. But give it a try might solve your issue. But if it didnt, i would then try any video files or try with apps installed.
Alternatively, I would restore the phone and just upload contact list, use for 2 days and see if problem persists just to make sure its not the OS or the phone hardware itself. Before that goto user>library>itunes>iphone software update and delete from yur mac so itunes will force download fresh copy of os update.
If only…
Unfortunately both Etisalat and du are rather bad in customer support. It only takes a couple of questions to find out where the problem is coming from. However, neither Etisalat nor du (Axiom) has qualified technicians to tell you the problem on the spot. It really blows me away when the Etisalat guy on 101 tells me “Sorry Sir, due to technical problems, we're unable to look into your issue at the moment.” If you were at an Apple Store, one of those “incredibly helpful Mac Geniuses” would have come to your rescue and would have replaced your iPhone with a new one straight away. After all, customer satisfaction is big deal for Apple. Oh well, we are in Dubai not in Fifth Avenue in NYC. I totally agree that one should buy their iPhone from official distributors not third-parties.
[...] reading a similar post either in this forum or in shufflegazine… look around. Probably this. Mushroom, if you want to know in terms of service, look at that orange piece of paper from Axiom [...]
what happened coz I just bought my phone days ago and i jsut noticed that one ide of the screen is higher while the right sides is flush with the metal. They told me the same thing they told you.. Im just concerned whether they will try to repair or jsut replace it. What did they do for you. This company is messed up. I dont understand why they don't have an apple store here.
They do not repair (at least that is what they told me), so they only replace. My phone was replaced.
They do not repair (at least that is what they told me), so they only replace. My phone was replaced.
They do not repair (at least that is what they told me), so they only replace. My phone was replaced.
How long did they take to replace your handset?
As far as I know, even in some parts of the US, when sending in a faulty unit, replacements are not carried out on the spot. There is a specific diagnostic process that is carried out to confirm that the unit is faulty (cause to be determined), after which it is sent to the service center to be processed.
As far as I know, this is a standard Apple process that all Apple-authorized dealers are obliged to adhere to, so it's not fair to compare that with a what a parallel importer can do, especially after charging over 50% more than what du charges for the iPhone
@crystal, you must have been one of the 'lucky' 0.2% of users who experience faulty handsets, suggest you go out and buy some Dubai Duty Free raffle tickets!
I am the IT Incharge of a company here in Dubai, and the owner of the company was having the same issue with his Iphone 3GS bought from Axion but with the Du sim. He first told me to give it toe the service centre on Sheik Zayed Road and they formatted it saying that everything is working fine. It started switching itself off again after 4 days. Again it was given to them , but I insisted that they must replace it since it is happening again and again. They again checked the phone and said that they cannot replace it, since according to them it is fine.
I have no clue what to do next and getting all the brunt from my boss.
I'd suggest you get on http://www.emiratesmac.com to discuss this. You might also want to let @dutweets know (on Twitter).
Hello ghoonk,
Thank you for the post, and you are probably right. I think it was more that he seemed to know that this was known issue, but would not tell me what the problem was. I have not taken my phone back, but I will have too. To try to figure out the problem myself, I have tried using it with no music (all of my music comes from iTunes), no apps (which also comes from iTunes), and I have changed cables, in case that was the problem. Really I can not think of what else it could be, with out it being a hardware problem. There also doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason why or when it seems to want to quite on me, or when it decides that it doesn't want to find the hard drive
So, it will go back, as soon as I can find the time to get it there.
Ohhhh, by the way my iPhone came from du
and no I have not had any luck with my iPhones, and it makes me sad. I love all of my iPhones, but some have not loved me as much, in return. 
Ohhhh, wait my first iPhone the 2G is still working like a charm 
And the funny thing is that 2G is gray market and software unlocked. The other two have been from the legit channels and factory unlocked.
I feel @dutweets (twitter) is the only way our voice gets heard by the du officials. Customer call center and du stores are completely hopeless.
I have a problem on my 3gs iphone. I am new to the iphone world so I may be the one overlooking a basice setting. i have a pay as you go service on etisalat. My problem is that when i recharge my account my credit with a recharge card it just seem to go down with out me using my fone. The wireless is not active so i am not sure what is causeing the credit to be used with out me making a call. Can any one tell me what to change in my setting . I am at my wits end as a visit to etisalat did not give me any indication why this is happening on this fone.
I'd suggest posting on http://www.emiratesmac.com and ask your question there.