iPhone 3gs won't vibrate at all!

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mets1986 Author

Level 1

0 points

iPhone 3gs won't vibrate at all!

Today I returned my 3gs because it had dead pixels and dust under the screen. It was a week 27 if that matters . The new phone I recieved had dead pixels right out of the box and dust (week 29). Went right back and exchanged it for another week 29. Everything was going swell until about an hour ago after syncing my phone I realized that the phone does not vibrate. I checked my setting and even rebooted it with no luck. I then decided to restore the phone in hopes that the phone had a bad software install. Again no luck. Am I missing something here or is the quality control really as bad as people are claiming they are? This is unacceptable to me that apple is on a third generation of the iPhone and the kinks have not been ironed out yet. It seems to me that my first gen phone was better than than this piece. I cannot describe my frustration but I will definitely be calling apple about all my recent troubles. What should I do ? I appreciate you all reading this rant and for anyone who responds to this, thank you.

iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Jul 22, 2009 9:56 PM

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Answer 1

GaGa4Mac

Level 1

15 points

Jul 22, 2009 10:03 PM in response to mets1986

Did you check the settings? Vibrate/On and Vibrate/Ring?

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Answer 2

mets1986 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 22, 2009 10:08 PM in response to GaGa4Mac

Yes I checked my settings and made sure they were set to vibrate. I called the phone from a landline and it didn't work. The switch on the side of the phone when pushed down doesn't make the phone vibrate as well.

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Answer 3

GaGa4Mac

Level 1

15 points

Jul 22, 2009 10:34 PM in response to mets1986

Did you do a soft restore or hard restore?

Soft is basically turning the phone off (and for the big techies out there sorry if my terminology is off):
1. Hold the sleep and home buttons until the red slider appears to turn off.
2. Slide off
3. Turn back on

Hard:
1. Hold sleep and home buttons ignoring the slider until the logo appears.
2. Let reset
3. Turn back on

If you did the hard and everything is turned on in settings, I would make a reservation at the Genius Bar.

I know you are frustrated, I've had mine as well. With every new launch there are going to be a few "bad Apples". Pun intended. I recently got a replacement and (knock on wood) have been very happy with it. Good luck!

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Answer 4

mets1986 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 22, 2009 10:53 PM in response to GaGa4Mac

Gaga4mac I just tried the hard reset like you stated just now and that didn't work. I guess I have a lemon. This really stinks because now I'm worried that the replacement they are going to give me will have dead pixels and dust. I hate being that pain in the butt customer but we payed so much for this phone that it should be perfect and not "bad apples"! Thanks for your advice .

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Answer 5

GaGa4Mac

Level 1

15 points

Jul 22, 2009 11:27 PM in response to mets1986

All I can say is ask to examine the phone before you accept it. Look for dead pixels, dust under the screen, make sure the screen is level, no defects in the bezel, etc...

I had defects to the bezel which were disturbing but could have lived with if all else was good. I didn't realize I had problems till I got one for my daughter and compared. I had a lot of color distortion in my videos and photo. They had no problem with me examining prior to acceptance. Fortunately I turned on before leaving to realize they forgot to activate. Afterwards, I examined again, all looked good and I left.

No matter what, do not be rude or demanding when you go to the Genius Bar. You play nice...they play nice. Tell them what's wrong...yeah, you can tell them about your frustrations, but joke around about it...talk nice to the person next to you at the bar. Again, good luck!

Message was edited by: GaGa4Mac

Message was edited by: GaGa4Mac

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Answer 6

Jul 29, 2009 9:30 AM in response to mets1986

I bought my 3GS yesterday and vibration was working fine... until today. Everything is turned on in the settings but the phone just doesn't vibrate. I tried resetting it and did a restore. No changes.

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Answer 7

Jul 29, 2009 11:10 AM in response to Mr. Brownn

It's working again and I think I found the solution.

I didn't fully charge my iPhone after I bought it yesterday. I just played with it and used it today as well. When the battery reached 20%, it stopped vibrating when someone called or when I turned on the silent switch. The problem seems to be on the battery side. If the battery isn't properly calibrated of charged the first time (like mine), the vibration might not work.

I was very desperate but 15min ago when the indicator hit 90%, the vibration came back. At first, it was very weak but it seems to be working properly now. If you want my personal opinion, the 3G's battery is far stronger than the 3GS.

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