Apple Genius says dropped AT&T calls in NYC 'consistent' - Page 3

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Who are those? The ones out on the 'left' coast?

Originally Posted by resnyc

Personal anecdote - if such things don't interest you, read no further:

I think if one's calls are dropped consistently, in different locations and times, over a long period of time, then it's the same thing as taking a cross-section survey of multiple users. Identical equipment on the same network should have identical experience.

I've had about a 30 percent dropped call rate since I got my iPhone 3G last spring. Worst in NYC, where I live, but also bad in Portland Oregon, where I travel frequently. I just assumed that everyone here has the same problem due to call volume and the physics of tall buildings everyone is carping about. In Portland maybe it's the hills on the west side? Excuses, excuses...

Recently the phone froze up - didn't receive any calls for about 8 hours and I didn't realize it until I tried unsuccessfully 4 times to make a call (all the while getting internet just fine). Then powered-down, restarted and got 5 voicemails & texts all at once that had been sent over the previous several hours (and I missed a last-minute business appt. because of it). Then it happened again several days later. Called AT&T and the cordial representative had obviously dealt with my experience many times before - she said that the phone needs to power down and restart every few days "to receive service upgrades from the network" otherwise it will stop functioning as a phone. Nice to know, if it's true. She didn't even mention a possibility of the phone itself being the culprit.

Originally Posted by ghostface147

Well, my friends in those areas and here in Houston with competing phones don't complain about issues. Granted my friends are an extremely small amount in those areas, so it's hardly a scientific poll.

Originally Posted by formergenius

The SITUATION is messed up in the first place. The Genius was only trying to help.

If you look at the work authorization and the date of purchase, the guy is out of warranty. In the end his only option through the Genius Bar would have been to purchase an out of warranty replacement for $200.

But the Genius tried to help him (which many people do not grasp or wish to look past). He didn't necessarily give that guy that option as the only thing they could do. They marked the person's warranty status as CR (Customer relations/Appeasement) and put in his case notes what they observed so AT&T can remedy the situation. If not, then at least the warranty status was temporarily changed. If AT&T shows there's nothing wrong with the network and says that 22% IS a high amount of dropped calls, then a Genius can replace it under that CR.

The guy in this situation failed to grasp that the Genius was only trying to help. As such, he's an ungrateful a-hole who does not deserve a free replacement.

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

OK, even I admit: I feel bad for teckstud. This is unacceptable.

Originally Posted by buckdutter

Not to take away from the crap service it sounds like people have been getting in NY and SF, but I don't think this is news worthy per say. Nothing against Apple Genius people, most of them are great, but some are more Geek Squad material.

I wish this were a joke...but you would probably love the story of when an Apple Genius sent me to an AT&T store to get a new SIM card because my iPhone refused to sync/back-up. I got a weird look from the AT&T guy when I told him why I needed a new one.

Originally Posted by nagromme

I'm glad I don't live in NY: my friends there had such a terrible dropped call rate with Sprint that it scared me off of cell phones! Sounds like AT&T is just as bad or worse. You'd think a major city would be a top priority for quality infrastructure, yet my medium-sized city seems to fare much better.

Originally Posted by 4metta

This article is full of win and laughs.


I mean really....who out there DOESN'T know how horrible AT&T is?