iPhone 3GS issues, battery not lasting more than 3 hours

Alright, Soo I've posted this on a few forums now, I was hoping someone would give me a clue as to the reason behind this. Instead I've just been given suggestions I've already done before, or people have just made really obvious silly assumptions which are way out.

So here's my problem....

I'm having some rather serious problems with my phone which started on Friday. My phone was sitting at a healthy battery rate (didn't have % on at that point) then I went to use it and it was dead. I've NEVER had an iphone die on me. Not even after heavy usage. So I charged it up, noticed the new 3.1.2 update and applied that with a hope that it would resolve the issue.
On Saturday I made a 2min phone called and use the browser for about 10-15mins tops. In 3hours the battery had "died", it flashed up 20% battery remaining then 9mins later 10% then 40mins later it was dead. I couldn't get to a charger then randomly 4hours later the phone turned back on with over 50% battery and lasted another 2hours, it didn't even go near a charger.

Sunday, pretty much the same, was at 46% then randomly died on me. Monday can't really remember. Tuesday the phone lasted about 3hours again.
Today it's not been "too" bad. but i put the phone on charge in the car today and the battery went from 26% straight to 66% just by plugging it in. Took it off charge and went down to 54%. Went to use the phone this evening to see it at 9% in less than 20secs it went from 9% to 6% to 3% to dead.

My problem is, I'm in the UK, the phones from Australia, this phones not even 6 weeks old. Obviously Apple won't touch it.

Does this sound like battery or something more complex?

oh and i've done everything, hard reset, restored to factory settings, everything in some bid that it would be resolved.

I don't think it's what appears to be happening with other people as it seems other people have been experiencing poor battery from various updates, however, mine just randomly started one day.

oh plus ive turned wifi off, push is off, everything that "drains" the battery is off.

oh and before anyone asks, as ive been asked "why won't apple touch it" multiple times, is cause of the whole warranty only valid in country of purchase. In the words of the apple guy in the local store "You'll have to fly to Australia to get it fixed"

As far as I'm getting concerned this phone can get slung, my Storm2 is on pre-order. I can't be dealing with a battery that lasts for so little.

Well you should have researched the warranty first before buying a phone from out of country for whatever reason it may be. But thats a moot point now. I also cant see how they could tell you that you have to fly to whatever country. They do repairs through the mail Im sure...

Even if its a battery problem (which it sounds like), and since you technically have no warranty anymore, why not find someone local who does iphone repairs and replace it with a new battery? All you have to lose is a few bucks, its not very expensive and probably cheaper than the postage to even get it back to the country of origin.

You seem to have already written off the iphone to "get slung" so you know what you want to do which is not remedy the problem but get rid of it. But there's only one of 3 realistic common sense solutions here- try to find out if you can get mail warranty service, do something about it and get the battery replaced locally (may or may not fix the issue), or get rid of the phone. These are the risks of having a phone from outside any country dealing with warranties.

I think you should get the battery replaced, as that sounds like that is what is faulty. I get at least 9 hours of use out of my 3gs with moderate use after a full charge.

Sorry to hear. My iPhone makes it through the entire day with normal email, texting, facebook rss and occasional music throughout. Only time I charge my phone is if I am not going to be home in the evening and will be back late. It lasts a lot longer than when I first got it. Could be a defected device and it sucks that you cannot get it serviced by iPhone.

Originally Posted by stuaw11

Well you should have researched the warranty first before buying a phone from out of country for whatever reason it may be.

I did my research, I knew the phone would be out of warranty, but after having iphones and nothing going wrong with them, I guess I was too high on the assumption that nothing would go wrong with this one. Not expecting some fault to occur within 6 weeks.
The reason it's from Australia is because it's factory unlocked, so that's my "for whatever reason it may be"

Battery, yeah could be easy enough to change, they're cheap enough on ebay, guides out there on how to do it, I'm not afraid of doing it. Just there are a few issues arising with software issues that's i've noticed.

My battery life wasn't too bad today, but then I spent 5hours in classes and it lasted 7. Checked emails a few times, made a call and perhaps checked FB when I checked emails. Defiantly not getting the use out of it that I used too like 6 days ago.