I finally got tired of Apple’s pop ups to do a software update on my Iphone 6S and decided to finally do the software upgrade, WOW! what a mistake. Let me explain my experience and what I had to do over two Saturdays; a lot of  time spent.

I’m in international business, I use my phone for calls, texts, emails, WeChat , news,  financial info on stocks and the  market  and sports. I don’t dwell on minor and to me insignificant software improvements on my device. The 6S is fine for my needs, I’ll get a new model when I feel its appropriate. I can afford whatever the cost.

I did the upgrade and then when someone called me, the ringtone was a default, I looked in sounds, my custom ringtone was there, I selected it, and nothing, it wouldn’t use this tone, huh? I looked online at forums on this topic and hundreds had the same issue. My immediate thinking is this: when the engineers and architects of a new software platform design an upgrade, don’t they test it at all? If hundreds complain online then that means hundreds of thousands of users have the same problem. I mean,  why don’t they test  it first??!!! A design is only good if it works for the end user.

I called ATT a week ago on Saturday  and they didn’t know why, they got me to Apple support right away, which I do appreciate. I spoke to the tech and he went through various trials and still no ringtone. He then told me to do a full reset and this made my phone go back to original default settings which was more of a time consuming mess. I then was transferred to a senior technician at Apple and he was helpful but still didn’t resolve.

A week went by so again  I tried the same route on a second Saturday afternoon again. The girl I spoke to at ATT actually had the same issue on her personal phone as did her sister. She was polite and helpful but said this was an Apple issue. I decided that I would just buy a new ringtone and did. I paid and then reset my device and lo and behold . NO RINGTONE.

I opened Itunes and the new purchased song was there along with all my purchased and downloaded music but in Tones, there was nothing at all. I then called back ATT and again I was transferred to Apple. I have to interject that both companies service was prompt and they did try to resolve. I finally lucked out because the person I spoke to really was going to solve this one way or the other. We worked together for more than one and a half hours. Here’s the how the solution evolved.

He tried various ways to get the purchase songs back into Tones, nothing was working. He then attempted to save the ringtone in a shortened file, I don’t recall what it was , but after  a long series of attempts, while he took control on my computer and my device. He ended up creating a new file in another format, saving it and then transferring somehow to Itunes and then to the device.  He did accomplish the task of getting the new ringtone back into my Iphone, and it worked.  This guy was terrific!! This was two Saturdays time , and  a total of 5 people and 3 hours of calls. Unbelievable really!!!.

I now have a tone that works. Was it worth all the hassle?, in hindsight yes, but who else would do this? And how would they get the right person at Apple. I did  and am thankful but really?

I thank Apple and ATT for employing service technicians and phone support individuals who care and really try to help their customers. I have been with ATT twenty years at least, 5 lines, and from Apple have purchased at  least  10 Iphones, (some of our family have the 7 and 8 Iphones, so I’m the only on with an older device) and many  computers and tablets.

As to Apple, in summary, test what you design so you don’t have tons of unhappy and disgruntled customers who have to experience a time consuming ordeal like mine.

Consumers: Don’t do an upgrade if you find out later its only for the very latest devices. Read reviews first then act if others say it works.

Thank you