My Ipad is stuck in headphone mode and only has sound from one ear.

I've tried everything with my just out of warranty Ipad 4

Can't get it out of headphone mode, and sound is distorted out of one ear, and barely audible in the other ear when using headphones.

Have tried the following..

• Plugging headphones in and out
• Reseting in all manner of speaking (normal boot, power on and off, reset all settings, resetted to factory defaults)
• Used compressed air
• Tried an earbud with rubbing alcohol
• Sucked on the headphone socket
• Taken it into Apples UK flagship store (covent garden), to be told by a 'genius' that he doesn't know exactly what the problem is, and all I have to pay is, (his words), 'just £250' to replace the faulty unit that is only a couple of months over a year old. This same guy also told me that he didn't think this was a common problem, even though there are hundreds of posts on this community about being stuck in headphones mode..

Kind of at a loose end now. I'm really annoyed othat a piece of equipment that has been treated so carefully now has a major problem with it.

Any other suggestions?

I can't believe Apple won't even try to repair the device, it's £250 for a whole new unit, or nothing. What a crap throw away culture we live in.