iPhone 4 Crackling During Calls on Vodafone

Over the past month or so I’ve had problems with my iPhone 4 crackling and the mic stop working when making or receiving calls. It started off doing it maybe once or twice a week but eventually got to a stage where it was nearly every call. I’d take or receive a call and anywhere between 0 – 60 seconds it would start crackling in the ear piece, get progressively louder then the person on the other end of the line couldn’t hear me at all and hang up!
After trawling the internet for answers I came across the usual suggestions…

  • iPhone 4 crackling callsPerform a hard reset (hold down sleep & home button until it powers off).
  • Make sure you close any open apps.
  • Make sure you are using the most up to date iOS (4.3.5 at the time).
  • Check whether it only happens on 2g, edge or 3g (did it on all of them for me!).
  • Make sure you haven’t dropped your phone down the toilet. (joke)

So after trying all of the above suggestions I still had the iPhone 4 crackling speaker / no mic problem and decided to call Vodafone tceh support. After speaking with Vodafone technical support, explaining the problem and saving myself time by telling them everything i’d tried to troubleshoot the problem the best solution they could offer was for them to send me a bag out in the post for me to post the phone back to them for repair which normally takes 5 -7 days. I tried to explain to them that this is not good enough, i use my phone everyday, i need my phone, i don’t have a spare phone plus if I did the sim card wouldn’t fit it because it’s one of those micro sims! Again I asked if they could send a replacement  iPhone as mine is still under warranty, i’ll send mine back, but still they said NO CAN DO. I thanked the tech support guy for his help, hung up and thought BALLS to Vodafone.

As my iPhone 4 was still under warranty I thought I’d give the local Apple store a try even though I got the phone through Vodafone. I’d heard many good things about customer service at the Apple store so booked an appointment with an Apple  “Genius” and called in the following day with my faulty iPhone.

I arrived at the Apple store, it was busy as hell but I soon got directed to the right “Genius” who was going to be dealing with my problem. I quickly explained the problems i’d been having and the things i’d tried to solve it but with no luck. She asked to look at my phone, went into settings to find the serial number, tapped that into her own iPhone and said “Oh, looks like you’ve only got 4 days left on your warranty, i’ll just give you a new one”! Off she went  for few minutes then came back with a brand new iPhone 4 and handed it over! That was it! They didn’t ask to test it out, try re-create the problem or anything. NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL SERVICE!

So the moral of the story is… If you have any problems with your iPhone 4 crackling, mic not working or any other problem at all, book an appointment at an apple store and chances are you’ll get a brand new replacement! Thank you Apple… kiss my arse Vodafone!!!

http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/geniusbar/

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