Sunday, July 15, 2018

Not Charging

This past week, I spent about an hour at the Apple Store having one of my Apple devices looked out.  Back in December, I purchased a new iPad Pro.  It's the one that has the pencil and the click-on keyboard.  It is very cool, but weirdly last month it started giving me some trouble.  When I plugged it in for a charge, rather than showing the charging "lightning bolt"on the display it said, "Not Charging".  It was in fact charging, just at an incredibly slow rate.  I looked online trying to trouble shoot, but none of their tips worked.  The USB plug and cord worked fine with my phone, so I knew it wasn't the cord either.  It would sometimes take 24+ hours to get it charged to 100%, and then when it did get there it lost its charge very fast.  It would be down to 10% within a couple of hours of it being at 100% and without any use on my part.  So something was up.
With the end of the school year and leaving right after on my road trip, I didn't have the time to deal with it until our return.  Oddly enough, upon my return the "Not Charging" disappeared, and I got the lightning bolt back.  It seemed to be back to its fast charging as well.  I thought maybe it was bumped in the travel bag or using different plugs throughout the trip or something made it charge correctly again - technology often has a way of working out its little hiccups with a restart or for no reason at all.  Unfortunately though, the iPad still wasn't keeping its charge.  During those first few months, once it was charged to 100% it could go 4-5 days with medium use before having to plug it in again.  That was no longer the case.  Even with it turned off, by the end of the day it was dead.
I hate dealing with sales/service people because I always have a feeling I'm being finagled.  While I have an assertive personality when I am knowledgeable about something, when I'm not my meek side shows up which usually means I'm opening up my wallet and saying, "Here."  Needless to say, I didn't want to take it to the Apple Store and kept putting off making the appointment.  The fact that the iPad was just a half a year old, I knew that I couldn't just let it slide or I'd hate using it.  So I made the appointment.
For the day or two before, the iPad was watched very carefully so I could tell them everything I knew - how long it took to charge, how long the charge would last when used or not used, etc.  And I knew that my "little story" about it "Not Charging" in June would be suspicious since it wasn't doing it anymore so I wanted to be armed with all I could.
The store was packed the day I went in.  Even though I had an appointment, I waited a bit, but was helped about 10 minutes later.  The "Genius" listened to my spiel.  He was very nice and didn't make me feel like an idiot.  However, because it seemed to be charging correctly, he felt that there probably wasn't much he could do that day as we'd probably have to open a case and create a history of issues before anything would be dealt with.  He did do a basic reset to see if that would help me any.  I was convinced, I would leave that day without anything changing and would have to come back again and again to have anything done.
When the setting reset was finished, he had me log back in and was ready to send me on my way.  But before he did, he plugged it back in one more time just to see.  To my surprise, the "Not Charging" came up on the display again.  He noticed it first.  When he pointed it out to me I literally clapped and said, "Oh, yay!  It did it!"  That never happens.  Usually the problems never occur at the place giving the service and you look and sound like an idiot trying to explain them.  I was so relieved that he would see it with his own eyes.
From there, he had a better plan.  He did a full reset to factory settings, and if the "Not Charging" came up again he could replace the iPad with a new one.  I waited with bated breath, fingers crossed that it would come up again so I didn't have to worry about it anymore.  That factory reset took some time, so he kept leaving.  Finally I logged back in, and he plugged it in.  And the message CAME BACK UP AGAIN.  So that was it.  He typed in his notes, went in the back of the store, and returned with a brand new iPad.
The upside is the new iPad is working like it should - charging fast and lasting several days once charged.  The downside is that the new iPad assumes the old iPad's warranty.  So rather than having a year warranty from the day I received the new iPad, the warranty on it only lasts until December when I bought the old one.  I've never used a warranty on an Apple product until now (Knock on wood), so hopefully the old iPad was an anomaly and the new one will be just fine.

11 comments:

  1. Other than the fact you don't get a new warranty with the new product (which just doesn't make sense to me), it sounds like this was a good experience!!

    You're right... it's like taking your car to the shop where it doesn't make the same noise for them that it did for you. Or trying to describe a symptom to the doctor that sounds downright crazy when voiced aloud.

    I'm glad you got it all worked out!

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    1. Thanks! Me too. Car service stresses me out also...I know even LESS.

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  2. So glad you got it replaced and that the problem happened for the "Genius"! I knew exactly what you meant!

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    1. I know right!?!?! It's one of those things that can make service appointments exceptionally frustrating.

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  3. My last iphone has had charging problems off and on that the previous one never had. I can plug it in and it won't charge but different to yours, it doesn't display any message. I scoured the internet without success for many many days and finally found the solution. Pocket lint! Evidently when it rides in my pocket, lint collects in the charging port and doesn't allow a good connection. When it happens, I use a plastic flosser handle to gently dig around in the port and blow out the bits and pieces of lint and it is like new again for a half year or better before I have to repeat.

    I don't think this is your problem though because I doubt you have pockets big enough for an iPad Pro. But I thought I would share it for your amusement.

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    1. Ha ha! It did give me a chuckle, I can barely fit my phone in my pocket! That image reminds me of when the iPads first came out, and I didn't quite get the point. They were described as a giant iPhone, and all I could envision was someone holding up a giant phone, the size of a book, up to their ear and talking on it. I wondered, "Why would anyone want to do that?!?!
      But your point about the lint was something I did look into because it mentioned dust could get in the port. I fiddled around with it trying to blow/get any dust out, but it didn't seem to work. That was my first step though. I find that usually when I have problems with my devices, the first fix I find online is the one that works.

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  4. Such a love hate relationship with Apple products.. mostly I love it but then when I hate it I really hate it!

    http://www.henatayeb.blogspot.com

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    1. I feel that way too, or tech in general. I love it when it works, but when it doesn't (for no reason) and I can't figure it out it is MADDENING.

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  5. I read they've had profound issues with other products too. Battery's it seems are core to the issue.

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    1. Yes, lots of battery issues. It seems that they were screwing around with them when new releases came out too. If the battery doesn't last, more people will upgrade otherwise the differences haven't been that great between phones. I haven't ever had issues with the iPads before, and I have had a lot between home and school.
      There are a lot of commercials out there comparing the androids to iPhone and how the iPhone users put up with "stuff" because of the name. I've never used the other devices, so I don't know, but I love how all my Apples work together. I probably won't ever switch, but sometimes it's tempting! :)

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  6. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it!

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