Hi folks,
I thought I would share with you my experience talking to Apple about this issue for the last 1 hour.
I have exactly the same problem. I own an iPhone 4s (1.5 years old, out of warranty by 6 months or so) that lost its WiFi capabilities as soon as I upgraded to iOS7. I tried all the recommended suggestions - resetting network settings, restoring the phone, etc. No cigar.
I just had a 1 hour discussion with a "Senior Adviser" at Apple here in the US in regards to this issue. As friendly as he was, I want all of you to appreciate the fundamental issues that differentiate this problem from many other support-related concerns. It must be approached with an appropriate level of consumer outrage, and I call upon all of you not to take this lying down.
The facts are very simple. Thank you all for writing in about freezing the phone, heating it up, etc., as solutions to this problem. While these are helpful, from a legal perspective it should not fall to us, as bona fide customers, to find such workarounds for a failure caused by the manufacturer of the product for which we have paid - Apple. I would like to focus on Apple's full responsibility to its consumers in this specific WiFi/iOS7 situation.
1) There is no debate over the causal nexus between updating the phone to iOS7 and the resulting effect on the phone's WiFi capabilities, as experienced by all of you and me. Apple cannot and will not deny this point.
2) When Apple releases a software update, consumers are encouraged to upgrade to it. This is part of the continuing service that Apple commits to provide you, as a customer and owner of their products.
3) The post-iOS7 WiFi failure is the equivalent of a manufacturer providing their customer with a maintenance-related service for which he/she has already paid (i.e., entitlement to software upgrades are part of the price you pay for the iPhone device at purchase) that ultimately destroys one of the product's most crucial capabilities. It is the equivalent of purchasing a set of new tyres for your car, returning to the manufacturer of those tyres to avail of a manufacrturer-recommended service improvement to which you are entitled and for which you have paid, and after the service is complete, your car is no longer able to shift out of second gear. When you approach the tyre manufacturer, they tell you to buy a new car. Would you accept this outcome?
Warranties are irrelevant. That Apple is only honoring WiFi/iOS7 complaints filed by those within the warranty period is bizarre. They may take shelter behind warranty and/or product terms and conditions, but keep in mind that the law is fundamentally intended to be just. Above all else. What has transpired here is not just.
As a long-time consumer of Apple products, both at the enterprise and personal level, and as a lawyer, I am disgusted by this experience and the lack of any credible explanation provided to me by the "Senior Adviser" I spoke with. I was informed that a memo had come down from corporate not to honor service/replacement calls relating to this issue from customers out of warranty, and that as much as he wanted to help, he could not as a result of this memo.
This is a major slight to paying consumers and is unconscionable from a business perspective. It is not the standard of service one might (have previously) expected from Apple. I have never experienced this kind of brazen dismissiveness from them before, and it has come as a shock.I intend to see this matter through to its logical conclusion through any and all means available, including legal recourse.
I would encourage all of you to consider the merits of taking further action against Apple in this regard. Seek out independent legal advice, look through consumer protection forums, and if feasible, take this matter forward wherever you are.
If nothing else, plaster the internet with write-ups of your experience. Do so in consumer forums where people are evaluating which phone to buy. We must strike back in such a way that it may actually make a difference to the company.
Best wishes and luck to all of you.
Bhavsi4s
