Siri stopped working

Siri and all voice-to-text functions stopped working. Tried all the power on/power off, reset, turn siri on/off, reset networking, on/off usb power, wifi on/off, yada yada... and multiple erase & factory resets. Still not working. I'm not alone here. I see this posted on multiple forums. Yet, the Verizon rep couldn't find any record of it ever happening. I don't see any acknowledgement from Apple that this is an issue. Can anybody shed some insight here? Anything I can try next?

Here are the details on the factory resets...

First, Verizon support rep stepped me through factory reset and restore from iTunes -- didn't work at all. Verizon's solution: replace my phone with a refurbished model. No way. Mine is brand new. That was unacceptable to me at this time. Maybe later.

Second, I tried a factory reset, but didn't restore -- left it at factory version (8.1 I recall). Went through the new iphone steps, turned wifi and Siri on and... voice control and Siri sorta worked again. It was flaky -- like only 3 out of 4 words, but it sorta worked. I kept playing with it and eventually it started working 100%. Then I did the full restore including update to 8.1.3 expecting it to stop working... but it kept working. Awesome. But it gradually started missing words and then stopped working altogether again. I got maybe 3 text messages and 2 Siri "find location X" map requests in before it started going flaky. Now it's back to as if my microphone isn't working.

This is pretty frustrating. Voice to text was one of the big reasons I upgraded to the 6. Is swapping out with a "re-furbished" phone the only solution? Sounds unacceptable to me.

Accepted answers

Verizon_Support

We understand that you are not keen on the idea of our Certified Like New phone as your replacement option, flakyphone. You've already done some fantastic steps and I assure you the replacements http://vz.to/1z1Zaqz go through rigorous testing when a warranty replacement is found to be needed. Since Siri http://bit.ly/1LdoegM is something specific to Apple devices, you can also try to reach out to Apple directly through http://bit.ly/1Ldoo7U to get an Apple Support Specialist to provide you with alternate options. If there's an Apple Store near you http://www.apple.com/retail you may also be able to make an appintment to have the device looked at and possibly replaced by Apple directly.

JenniferH_VZW

Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/vzwsupport

All comments

flakyphone

Left out 1 key point... this is an iPhone 6 that is 3 weeks old.

Verizon_Support

Wow I am very impressed on all the troubleshooting you have done flakyphone! It is greatly appreciated but I want to make sure your SIRI works. It is an awesome feature. I can understand how frustrating this can all be but I would love if you can tell me when you did the master reset have you tried not installing your information to see if gave same results? Sometimes the back up can be corrupted. What is going on with your audio? Do you have a case on the phone? Please share details.

AmberF_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

flakyphone

AmberF, yes I tried factory reset and didn't restore anything. It was flaky at first but eventually started working... it would pick up a few words out of a sentence then eventually would get the whole sentence. Then I did the full restore and it kept working, but soon degraded. Now it works once in a while, but seems to be random. The Otter box case on or off doesn't seem to matter. Took it off, did a factory reset and I didn't put the box back on until it starting going flaky... made no difference. Plugged in or not doesn't seem to matter. Audio works fine on phone calls and voice memos. When I first called Verizon the phone only a few weeks old and the solution was a refurbished phone. That's not an acceptable solution.

Verizon_Support