Faulty devices and your consumer rights

[Demitri_C]

i didnt think you could do that without telling the person your speaking with that this call is recorded tegis

[dont_do_it_doug.]

You do need to tell them. No issue there?

[Tegis]

i didnt think you could do that without telling the person your speaking with that this call is recorded tegis

 

I don't know British law but us swedes don't need to tell the other part they are being recorded. You just cant record as a third party.

 

But it your law prevents it, just tell them you are doing it. (as per DDID above)

Edited December 1, 2014 by Tegis

[AVFCforever1991]

Say it may be recorded for training purposes...

[limpid]

Whenever their kit says that the "call may be recorded", they have given explicit permission for recording, even if that's not what they meant.

[blandy]

^^^^ that's what  I was going to say - if they say the call may be recorded, they are saying they know the call may be recorded!

[Risso]

Where do I stand on sending an iPhone 6 back after 7 months of ownership. As per my numerous moans in the Apple and Android thread, the syncing between iTunes and the phone doesn't work.  There are thousands of posts on various forums about it.  Apple know there's a problem but won't do anything about it.  In my black and white world, that means the item they've sold me isn't fit for purpose and they should refund my money. 

 

It isn't just one problem either:

 

Duplicates get the "dotted circle of death" which can't be removed

Sometimes syncs just get stuck midway through and you can't clear it.

Things I've bought from iTunes won't re-download as they should.

Won't connect to a car stereo either via a lead or bluetooth.

 

The Applemoron I spoke to this morning suggested a full factory settings reset, but why should I have to do that with all the inconvenience and lost stuff that that will result in.  I can't see that there's anything they will do that will fix the problem, short of releasing a patch in a future update.  Until they do that, surely their product is classed as faulty.

[limpid]

You've had it too long to get a refund. You have to reject it in a "reasonable time" (usually regarded as 3/4 weeks). Try the factory reset as it might fix your issues and at least make the phone fit for sale.

 

As a matter of routine you should have everything backed up anyway.

[blandy]

Where do I stand on sending an iPhone 6 back after 7 months of ownership. ...[snippety snip]....surely their product is classed as faulty.

I know it's not that convenient for you, maybe, as you live on a rock in the oggin, but fwiw I'd do the following (you maybe already did some of this.

 

use the online apple support thing to "talk" to them.

Follow what they say. Admittedly they'll probably tell you to do a full reset...

 

if you're still unhappy, book an appointment with them at a store on big land.

Explain to them how unhappy you are, how much stuff you've bought off them and how you want them to address the situation. Ultimately if you feel the item is not fit for purpose and is defective (whether because of software or hardware, is not your problem, it's theirs.)

I'd think before doing that what you would want as recompense and insist they come up with something that meets your demand.

 

I know you may not want to do a full reset, but I'd also think about the following:

 

 

1. Back up the iPhone to the cloud, or your computer. Makes sure any photos etc. that are only on your phone are transferred to your mac.

2. Back up your computer.

3. iTunes - delete iTunes including prefs and re-install it with the latest version.

3a.Open iTunes, download anything you want that's not already in your library, then turn off the show iCloud purchases thingy in the iTunes store prefs. Delete any duplicate tracks etc.

4. Plug in your phone with a wire and do a full restore of the latest version of iOS

5. Hope it's all sorted.

 

A full factory reset shouldn't lose anything at all, and it really should sort it out.

 

Maybe you've done that. If so, sorry for your hassle.

 

I'm sure all that is on the net, anyway, and I know how annoying it can be.

 

I'm not even trying to shape your view, but when I got massively hacked off with them, when iUpdated iTunes and it wouldn't sync, I though of getting an Android, and then decided to do the above first, based on the hassle being less than having to start afresh with an Android - where you'd start of with a clean phone so still have to have the hassle of transferring and setting up the new Android phone.

 

Good luck either way.

[Risso]

"iTunes cannot be deleted because it's required by OS X"  Grrrrrrr.

[blandy]

"iTunes cannot be deleted because it's required by OS X"  Grrrrrrr.

 

Ah, OK. You can get rid of it with app zapper/appdelete(can't remember which I used, now) , but don't worry about it. Just try all the things, but without deleting iTunes.

 

If you haven't got various different playlists and customer settings you could delete the library files, but if you have, then maybe leave them alone (iTunes Music Library.xml, iTunes Library.itl,iTunes Library Genius.itdb,iTunes Library Extras.itdb) in your Music/iTunes folder.

 

My mistake. 

 

 

And like I said back everything up first, in case of errors.

[Risso]

I think it's iTunes that's the problem though, so I'm going to try zapping it tonight.

[blandy]

For zapping I can't remember if I used appzapper or appdelete - but one of them lets you delete apple apps. You just run it in the trial mode - you don't have to pay for it.

 

I suspect it's not so much the iTunes app that will be the problem but more likely a preference file somewhere has got corrupted.

 

in ~/library/Preferences there are loads of preference files called  blahblah.plist.

 

you could (should) try deleting all the ones for iTunes - com.apple.iTunes.plist is the type of name format they'll have.

 

to go to the folder they're in, cmg+ shift+g then paste " ~/library/preferences" into the box that appears, or hold down the alt (option) key and click on go - go to folder thingy at the top of the screen from the finder. (I'm not on the mac at the mo, so this is from memory) and your user library should be listed there.

 

edit - I found this which gives details of how to re-install  and as an aside if you gimme your e mail address I will send you a bunch of scripts which you can drop in the ~/library/iTunes folder and which make iTunes much more useable - allowing bulk actions and useful fettles via keyboard shortcuts.

 

How to reinstall iTunes for Mac

If you're having trouble transferring audiobooks to your Apple device from your Mac and other troubleshooting steps have failed, you may want to try reinstalling iTunes using the steps below.

1. Quit iTunes.
2. In the Finder choose Go > Applications.
   • Locate iTunes and then drag it into the trash.
3. Choose Go > Utilities. If "Utilities" is not available under "Go," then press shift+command+U.
   • Open "Activity Monitor."
   • In the process list, select iTunes Helper. Click Quit Process. When asked if you want to quit the process, click Quit.
   • Quit "Activity Monitor."
4. Choose Apple > System Preferences.
   • Choose Accounts or Users & Groups and then click Login Items.
   • Select iTunesHelper. Then click the - button to remove it from the list.
   • Quit "System Preferences."
5. In the "Finder," choose Go > Go to Folder.
   • Enter /System/Library/Extensions and then click Go.
   • Locate the file AppleMobileDevice.kext and drag it to the trash.
6. Choose Go > Go to Folder.
   • Enter /Library/Receipts/and then click Go.
   • Locate the file AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg and drag it to the trash.
     Note: This file may not be present in Mac OS v10.6 (or newer); skip to the next step if this is the case.
   • Remove any other file ending with ".pkg" that has iTunes in the title (such as "iTunesX.pkg").
7. Restart your Mac.
8. Empty the trash. This should fully remove iTunes.
   Caution: You will permanently lose all of the files in your trash when you empty the trash. Please ensure that you have saved copies of any files you want to keep that may have made their way into your trash.

Removing additional folders

You may need to remove additional files and folders associated with iTunes. Use the following steps to remove these files and folders.

1. In the Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and type in /Library/and click Go.
   • Locate the iTunes folder and then drag it to the trash.
2. Choose Go > Go to Folder and type /Library/Preferences/ and click Go.
   • Locate the preferences files that have names beginning with "com.apple.iTunes" and move them to the trash.
   • Look for and remove these: com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist, com.apple.iTunes.plist, andcom.apple.iTunesHelper.plist.
3. Choose Go > Go to Folder and type in /Library/Preferences/ByHost/ and click Go.
   • Locate the preference files that have names beginning with "com.apple.iTunes" and move them to the trash.
4. Empty the trash. This should fully remove the files and folders associated with iTunes.
   Caution: You will permanently lose all of the files in your trash when you empty the trash. Please ensure that you have saved copies of any files you want to keep that may have made their way into your trash.

Reinstall iTunes

1. Download iTunes.
   • After the download is complete, double-click the installation file.
   • Follow the steps to complete the installation.
   • When installation is complete, click Finish.
2. Launch iTunes to complete the reinstallation process.

[Risso]

Cheers Pete, I'll give it a try.

 

As I've been banging on about, it's not exacly "just working" any more is it?!  A degree in IT just to move a song from a desktop to a mobile device.  Think I'll go back to my old cassette Walkman!

[blandy]

Cheers Pete, I'll give it a try.

 

As I've been banging on about, it's not exacly "just working" any more is it?!  A degree in IT just to move a song from a desktop to a mobile device.  Think I'll go back to my old cassette Walkman!

Oh and delete the folder  ~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices

 

it might be worth trying that first. (after you've backed up).

 

My problem was maybe 6 months or more ago, but it drove me ruddy mad - mine would start syncing then just sit there forever about 5/6ths of the way through. I did sort it though, but unfortunately can't remember exactly which thing I did made it go away.

 

I seem to remember it also involved turning off the computer, turn off wi-fi on the phone, turn off the phone, turn on computer, connect cable to phone (only) open computer itunes, plug cable into computer, sync phone.

 

There's obviously some software bug that affects some devices some of the time. Mine's been faultless ever since it got sorted, which doesn't help you, but like you I almost threw the whole effing lot in the bin.

 

In the end I went on e bay sold my more modern mac, bought an older laptop (running snow leopard and iTunes 11) and stayed with that for most of the time. It's only about a month ago that I (after doing a full back up) risked updating to Yosemite (partly because I stuck a ssd in it to make it go faster). The whole thing was cost neutral but I must have spent most of a weekend fiddling about with stuff, all because my phone wouldn't sync. Grrr.

[Risso]

That's been my life for the last couple of weeks to a tee.  I even used the online Apple help chat service, and it was hilariously bad.  The lad on other other end claimed to have never heard of any such problems, so I sent him about 50 links to the Apple forums.  He then actually typed "Oh, somebody there has said that they've tried sacrificing a goat to the great god of ITunes, that's funny!".

 

Yes, I'm finding it hysterically funny you eejit!

[blandy]

What i have learnt, (apart from some geeky stuff) is that once/if it "just works" leave it alone. Don't update, don't mess. just be glad all's good. Oh and computers and phones are supposed to make life easier, not harder.

The most frustrating thing almost, was not the tarting about trying to fix it. I kind of like that stuff (must be because I'm an engineer) it was because while I was doing that there were loads of other things I wanted to be doing more. 2 hours would go by, and I'd think I've just spent 2 hours deleting files and installing things and restarting the computer, instead of going to the pub..or whatever

[hippo]

Itunes really is a terrible piece of software. I just bluetooth my songs across from the PC now, all that syncing nonsense had made a simple task cumbersome.

 

I beleive there is 3rd party software, whose sole purpose is just to transfer music from your PC to an Iphone, if it if works might be worth it [not that I have an Iphone]

[Risso]

Thanks Pete, I'll send you my email address.

 

Ideally what I want to get to is just having stuff in my iTunes library and then being able to like you know, just listen to music on my iPhone.  By "leave it alone", what do you mean?  I'm going to turn off anything I can find to do with the icloud and syncing over wifi etc, and hopefully do stuff just via cable.  I've never intentionally set out to mess anything up.  I think part of the problem is I've no idea why the problems started in the first place.

[blandy]

By "leave it alone", what do you mean?...

Sorry, I meant, once (if) you get it working, don't update the iOS and don't update the iTunes version, or if you do, back up ebverything immediately beforehand, so you can revert if needs be.

I found, though, once I got it working again, cleared out whatever had caused it, it was fine.