What's new

FYI: What Caused Problems

How does this solve the problem on your android phone?
 
It does not solve the problem with the Android phone. That one probably needs a new SIM card or whatever. I really am not concerned about it now. It is just an emergency back up mobile that has a few minutes a month available on it.
 
I hope, after all this trouble, your phone keeps working correctly for you. So sorry you had to go through everything you did.
 
Thank you, zstairlessone. I think there are still a couple of hiccups left to resolve, but the last tech I spoke to said she is going to stick with me until we can correct those. I spoke to too many different people yesterday; explaining everything all over again to each one was quite exhausting. I was on the phone for hours. Never had that happen with Apple tech before. That was what I used to experience with Windows computers and why I switched to Mac. Anyway, the last tech and I will pick up on this Sunday if the problems have not cleared up by then.

One thing I would like to resolve is to get my messages restored to my phone from iCloud. One of the techs speculated that there was some sort of bug in either an app or in one of the OS updates or whatever that was causing the problems. She insisted it was not iCloud. I am still unsure, though. Looking at my iCloud storage space on my phone, I have a ton of it unused. The same is true for my phone storage space. Looking at the actual storage space on my phone, I am only using 11.5 GB of an available 50 GB.
 
I wanted to mention something about this method of backing up to iCloud, erasing the mobile, and then setting it up as a new phone, and that is that the mobile does not get completely erased. I know this because I had my mobile's brightness set to turn to a warmer glow from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. each day. After I erased the mobile, and then set it up again, that setting was still in place.
 
Setting up the phone as a new phone seemed to resolve the problem of calling a few unreachable numbers but only for a very, very short while. How can I find the earliest back up of my iphone and restore it to the way it used to be?

After I do this, I want to transfer everything on iCloud back to my computer and never use iCloud again as I am convinced that the problem was/is somehow related to iCloud.

I have put off belling Apple tech support on help with this because the last time, I spoke to roughly 7 different people without getting this resolved, and worse, the "solution" to set up the phone as if it were brand new again not only caused other problems for me that were not there before, it was too deja vu of what I used to go through with my old Windows based computers and what I went through with the tech from mobile carrier. Using that solution seems to be the lowest level "tech support" you can get. I dread having to bell Apple again. I have put it off for weeks and weeks now.

Thanks everyone.
 
^^^ Glad to hear it. Really, at this point, what I think I would like to do is to get everything back on my computer and sever my connection to iCloud. I can store all of my photos on a site like Shutterfly. I can put my contacts in an old fashioned address book. My most important documents can be printed out and put into file folders.

Agree with this. Have never really liked the idea of cloud storage.
 
Well, everyone, here is the latest news on my problem. I had to speak to Apple again. They have changed their structure of tech support. I had to go through a level 1, for want of a better description, and then to a level 2 tech. The level 2 tech was very nice and told me she had had some of the same problems as myself, e.g. every time she belled one very old and familiar number, she would get a number disconnected message, but other phone had no problem with the same number. She said the problem lay between her phone service provider and the provider for the other number and was eventually resolved, so after we finished speaking, she placed me on hold and belled my phone provider, spoke to them for a few moments, and then transferred me over to them. Here is where it became very aggravating again.

The woman I spoke with placed me on hold for a while, and once she returned, she said that the problem dialling into those two specific phone numbers (both owned by the city where I live) was because the city had changed their numbers to non-toll numbers. I know, I was thinking the same thing.

Exhausted, I told her the numbers had always been "non-toll," and even if they were "toll" numbers, contacting long distance numbers is part of my phone's plan. I can bell any number in the U.S. on my plan. Besides, "non-toll" means you pay nothing extra to dial a number. She insisted on the reason she stated. There was nothing I could do.

The upsshot is I still cannot reach either of those numbers. I did get icloud turned off and all of my stuff put back on my computer. Tonight, however, I received a message from Settings saying that my iphone had not been backed up in two weeks. It said I must connect it to power and have WiFi turned on. I connect it to my computer every single day, and as far as I know, WiFi is turned on. The little symbol that looks like a lollypop with parentheses coming out of the ball the top of the stick is my WiFi symbol, and it is turned on.

I remain exasperated after all of these months. I was further saddened to know that now that I have updated my phone with every new update, I can no longer put my phone back to where it was before I started using iCloud. As for the explanation about "non-toll" numbers, all I can say is there may be something to it because neither my iphone nor my Android based phone can contact those numbers, and the phones have two different phone service providers. The iphone is with Cricket, which operates off of ATT towers, and the other phone operates off of a different carrier. Whether they both use the same towers or not, I have no idea.

Does anyone have anything they can tell me about this "non-toll" number explanation? It sounds crazy! I am in the same city with those numbers. We have the same area code. I never had this problem before I started using iCloud, and Apple insists it has nothing to do with iCloud. iCloud is now OFF, but I still cannot get through on those two numbers. Funnily enough, there are other city numbers I can get through with no problems, e.g. the number for the water department.

So frustrating....
 
Just a thought: I suspect that the number you are calling blocks all or certain mobile numbers. The number you are calling is free to you, but not free to the business you are calling. Forgive my lack of familiarity with your numbers, but it may be that they pay more for calls from all or certain mobile numbers and hence block them. (Therefore nothing to do with iCloud, etc.)
 
Good morning. NSquirrel, you may have hit the nail on the head for my two mobile phones. My neighbour's mobile, which I have used to dial those numbers to test them, does get through, so maybe it is just Cricket and certain others that get blocked. I never knew anyone paid to receive any calls from a mobile number. Pay to receive calls? That is daft! I do not know much of what goes on in the tech world, though, so I would not doubt something crazy like this is happening.

Anyone have any idea why settings notified me that my phone has not been backed up for two weeks? I plug it into my computer every day, and WiFi is turned on.

Thanks.
 
I will leave it others to help with the backup, but wrt payment for calls I assume you still have what we used to call ‘reversing the charges’ in the UK or, in USA, I think is/was ‘call collect’, which in this case is the basic call charge principle.
 
As far as I know, we still have operator assisted collect calls from landlines that do not have unlimited calling plans. I have never heard of it with a mobile before. Besides, I am in the city, have the same area code, and am actually only about 5 miles away from the downtown area, so this is very puzzling to me. Also, I cannot understand why no one at Apple or my carriers mentioned this before. I am still not convinced that this is the actual problem, but it looks like I am just going to have to live with it for the foreseeable future. My hope is I can continue to use this phone for at least another 5 years. I am not anxious to purchase a new phone.

Knowing this is a possible answer to the problem, though, it really irks me that my provider told me to turn off of the phone, remove the SIM card, then put it back in a few minutes later and turn on the phone. I never for a moment thought that would have anything to do with it, and I was right! I wish these companies would start using local customer service people who are truly trained in this stuff. I spoke to my mobile carriers before I spoke to this last Apple tech. I should not have had to find out the problem from her since I contacted them first. That is sort of like pushing off their tech problems onto Apple and other companies's tech staff. These people make you want to pull out your hair by the roots in frustration! This is one of the 2 or 3 major reasons I quit Windows based computers. :mad:
 
>> it really irks me that my provider told me to turn off of the phone, remove the SIM card,

Probably the standard answer on a card or display in front of them. They would probably give the same answer if your battery needs charging ☹️

>> These people make you want to pull out your hair by the roots in frustration! ...
Don’t we all know it! I, too, have very few hairs left in my head
 
Good morning. NSquirrel, you may have hit the nail on the head for my two mobile phones. My neighbour's mobile, which I have used to dial those numbers to test them, does get through, so maybe it is just Cricket and certain others that get blocked. I never knew anyone paid to receive any calls from a mobile number. Pay to receive calls? That is daft! I do not know much of what goes on in the tech world, though, so I would not doubt something crazy like this is happening.

Anyone have any idea why settings notified me that my phone has not been backed up for two weeks? I plug it into my computer every day, and WiFi is turned on.

Thanks.
Technically, cell calls are paid for with a fee to place a call and one to receive a call. In the early days of cell phone contracts, they clearly indicated how each counted against your contract minutes. While contracts have evolved and some are unlimited or cell to cell unlimited and so we rarely hit the caps, that may not mean the cell companies have changed from their original billing architecture. Perhaps this is why but I am just postulating.
 
Top