Sim Card Failure No Sim with iPhone 4S Anyone Else?

If there are others in similar situation, please share. Share your solution, thoughts, advices or just your story, thanks.

I don't usually write but I am just too frustrated!!

Hi jhcl,

You are NOT crazy, but this situation could drive anyone crazy. I am so sorry you are having to go through this.

You mentioned that your iPhone 4S is slightly under 3 months old. That is significant as there is a free 90 day support service that Apple provides. I have used it in the past for other products and have found the service courteous and very helpful. I should add that on occasion the initial contact person you speak with may not be able to handle your issue...either because of its technical difficulties or because the solution requires approval from someone higher up the ladder. I have never had to ask for this "bigger dog." The initial contact person always realized he/she couldn't solve the problem and solicited the help of a senior person. However, if you don't get satisfaction from the person you talk to, then please ask to speak to their supervisor. Also, I wouldn't call on a vacation day or even a weekend if possible. My experience has been that the expertise of the phone help on those days (vacations especially) is not up Apple's normal standards.

Here is the link:

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/contact

It will ask you to input the serial number of your phone. But, then you should be able to make the call under the 90 day free policy. I think the link also has the number you can call straight away. They will probably ask you for the serial number first to verify the 90 or less issue. It's 6 of one, half dozen of another.

I hope you come out of this with a new phone being mailed to you as you have already tried all the suggestions from this forum...most importantly getting a new 128k SIM card (is was 128k right?). My personal experience with Apple products that fail to work correctly after I have tried EVERYTHING Apple has suggested to rectify a situation and still nothing works is that the "90 day support line" is your best option to get a replacement for your product.

I am assuming that you do not have access to an Apple Store and a Genius Bar. This would also be another very viable option for you. But, I would take advantage of your 90 days of free phone service if it were me.

Last thing...when I've called this 90 day service before I have also had my computer next to m, online. Why? Because sometimes giving them, or sending them via e-mail while on the phone, the link to these discussions can help the Apple Support person realize the extent of the problem. I suspect that most Apple personal do not read these forums on their free time for pleasure!

I believe this link will get someone straight to this particular GINORMOUS discussion thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3390945?start=1200&tstart=0

Let us know how things turn out.

Best, Mr. Luigi

Thanks Pat,

Trust your phone is still humming along as originally intended!

hehe..guess we could gladly now say Happy New Year as we now focus on other pressining matters?

Best of Luck to you!

😁...

Hi Jhcl,

Like Mr. Luigi mentioned earlier you are not crazy just the victim of the kind of misfortune we have had to endure since October last year!

I am sorry that you are having to go through this cause as most us who in this forum know, it is the most frustrating thing to be damped with..especially when its not related to anything you did & is mostly likely than not a manufacturing fault that, for reasons that most have us are buffled about Apple has remained silent and seemingly refused to officially acknowledge that the problem exists.

That said it would seem that you have tried all if not most of the recommended ways and means of returning your phone to normal operations and that has not worked. The fact that you have tried replacing the sim card and restoring the phone, plus upgrading it to the latest IOS (which seems to have sorted out the problem for most of us in this forum) and still no success points to more than likely an issue beyond your means to rectify and one that requires technical expertise from Apple an avenue I also note you have tried to pursue without much success.

I would therefore second Mr. Luigi's recommendations as he has proved to be quite conversant in this matters and trustworthy in his analysis.

As I live in Kenya, not all Apple's suport systems are available to me and am not completely familiar in how the process work in other countries, but, if you can gain access as directed by Mr. Luigi it might be your only way to getting out of this dilemna sooner rather than later.....especially when the phone is less than 90 days old & under warranty.

All the best

Dabratasaurus!

I am so glad that the new firmware has "seemed" to take care of your problem! So far, it appears my problems may have been solved with that new release too!

Now we have jhcl, above this post, that is in deep caca. I think what both Mr. Luigi and you told him is golden. Even if his phone is beyond the so called 90 day "warranty", Apple should replace it with a new unit without asking ANY questions. He just needs to move up the ladder past the "basic first line" people and contact someone in a more supervisory role that can replace his phone right on the spot.

One thing about all of this.... I do feel kind of guilty whining about all my replacements (a total of 5) since I had an Apple store just a 30 minute drive away from where I currently reside. Seeing so many here that had their phones originally shipped to them (you included) that takes up to weeks to complete (here in the states you can order just about anything and have it delivered to your doorstep relatively cheaply (or even free) within 48 hours and if you really "need" something it is usually less than 24 hours away if you are willing to pay for that priveledge.

I just hope jchl gets his phone replaced in a reasonable amount of time.... he definitely has a very defective unit and it should be replaced without ANY questions from anyone in the Apple 'food chain'.

I hope you have continued success with your phone and well as everyone here on this forum that has joined in sharing their difficulties. I can only hope that there is someone within the Apple organization that has been watching all this unfold and maybe, just maybe, if one of their products has a problem as large as this one that hit all of us they will address it in a more timely manner and just acknowledge that yes, Houston, there IS a problem and we have our top people working OVERTIME to get it solved for you.

Yeah, right, like THAT'S going to happen! ;-)

Best of luck to you, my friend, and hopefully jchl will read both your and Mr. Luigi's post and follow the recommendations you both made to him. That is his only recourse as I see it from where I sit.

Pat

OK Men and Women, I was watching the movie Taken, starring Liam Neeson, today. One of the more memorable scenes shows Neeson on the phone talking to one of the men who has kidnapped his daughter. As I listened, I couldn't help imagine the scene morphing into a conversation between a member of this forum and Cupertino. I present this imagined altered version below for your hopeful enjoyment. Please understand, this is entirely METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING.

Member of the SIM Forum on the phone to Cupertino Character: 'I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for money, I don't have any because you already have all I own. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you fix my iPhone 4S now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you. I will not pursue you. But, if you don't. I will look for you. I will find you. And when I do...I will kill you.'

Cupertino Character: [after a long pause] "Good luck."

Again...most metaphorically speaking.

Good night to all my forum friends...throughout the world.

My love & hate story from Malaysia...

29/2 : Received my Iphone 4s. (ios5.01 / white)

2/3 : Underperforming battery & Invalid simcard.

Under consideration to slam it to my toilet wall....

6/3 : Replaced with new microsim128K card. -No more 'invalid sim'-

9/3 : Update with new ios5.1

12/3 : 1 week trouble free..

- Improved battery life

Today : I would like to declare I'm the proud owner of Iphone4s...

Hi Jhcl,

My very good friend Pat (a.k.a. p_rod50), makes an excellent point. Your iPhone 4S is under warranty for a year and clearly it is less than a year old. You have tried everything humanly possible to fix your phone and you are now due a replacement. I mentioned the 90 day policy only because it does provide a higher level of customer service than what is available after 90 days. There is nothing like talking, phone to phone, with someone in a position of authority to get things done...and this is what the 90 day service policy is suppose to insure. This is especially important for those folks who do not have easy, or any, access to an Apple Store and the Genius Bar.

So, as Pat said, even if it turns out you have had your phone for more than 90 days that should not take much wind out of your replacement sails. You should get a replacement phone. It just may take a few more hoops to jump through before you get to that person high enough up the ladder to make it happen.

Settle for nothing less than a new phone.

Then I am confident you will be able to...Feast and be Merry with a properly working iPhone 4S.

Best wishes, Mr. Luigi

OH NO! OMG!!! OH NO! NO! NO! NO!

Say it ain't so.

I just got an INVALID SIM message on my 4S!

Ha! Ha! Only kidding. 😁 😁 😁

I just really miss chatting with my forum mates.

😢 😢 😢

Mr. Luigi

Thank you All for your sharing, advices and directions into this iPhone issue.

Update:

In China: The Apple tech support, through the 90 days complimentary service, finally passed me to some tech office in Shanghai and that's where I am waiting for the manager's phone back. However, it sounds like a No Exchange No RepairService outcome. Why, because I bought the iPhone 4s outside China!

In Canada: The Canadian Apple Store's Lead Genius says either i can successfully get the Apple in China to make exceptions to do the exchange or I go back to Canada. Because I am outside Canada, I can't access the exchange option through Apple Canada.

I now have given up hope in getting an exchange here but I won't be Back to Canada for a while.

So hands off approach from both sides who should help. I just want a working iPhone, be it the Chinese model or Canadian- at this point I don't care. Grrrh!

Finally, the tech staffs says my iPhone is locked and my Canadian Apple Store's Lead Genius Advisor says is opened.. Who to believe? How to verify? Why is it ever misunderstood to be locked in the first place? I brought my iPhone unlocked at an Authentic Apple Store in Canada..how can this be???

.. Must be Murphy's Law dropping by

<Edited by Host>

Try restoring like a new phone with iOS5.1.

Once you reinstalled the iOS5.1 pl restore your data back.

my IP4S is working fine after upgrading iOS to 5.1 (9B179)

excellent performance after a 2 months struggle.

You might not have to replace your set. only software update should solve your problem.

Thanks sathyam, I've did that but sme issue.

Hi Jhcl,

Although I must admit to never having been in your situation before, I can't believe Apple hasn't thought about the customer who buys an iPhone in Country X, travels to Country Y for an extended stay and while there has their iPhone fail. For Apple Country X to say we can't help you b/c you're in Apple Country Y. And for Apple Country Y to say they can't help you because you're in Apple Country X would be laughable if it didn't seem as though that is what they are doing.

Cupertino...are you listening??!!

On top of that, to have the confusion as to whether you got the unlocked phone you thought you purchased is...MADNESS.

I am hoping against hope that the person from Tech Office Shanghai who takes your case sees the lunacy in this and gets you a phone.

This is one for the books. A book that Tim Cook should read.

I am sorry that I can't help you more than offering empathy. Perhaps someone will read this and be able to offer you more substantive support.

Still, let us know what happens as there may be others in your same boat and your experience could be of some value to them.

Wishing you luck at the Tech Shanghai Office, Mr. Luigi

Thank you Mr. Luigi :))

A manager/supervisor in shanghai phoned back telling me all Apple China can do is feel sorry and let customers like me deal with the issues ourselves.. "ie live with an expensive ipod touch while the iphone is still under 1year warranty". And he said there are those like me who had visited his Apple Store. Warranties are regionalized says Apple, not international. i was all in wonders and couldn't utter any response..

Also, I was shown to an iPhone 4s warranty clause online that is different from the hard copy which came with my box. The difference is mainly that the new version says service is strictly bounded within the country of purchase. My copy says somewhere along the line of may choose to restrict service boundaries. Sighs. I was never in this situation before either and I always am willing to buy a higher-priced brand product over a discounted one expecting quality and reliable service. This time, I am disappointed.

At this point, I am writing to share so others who are interested will know. After all what else can I do?

PS I just noticed one of my earlier reply was partly editedby the Host? For the record, I didn't use any offensive/profane language.

Thank you to all who has shared, helped, and those who showed interest.