iPhone 6 Plus Camera Blurry? Prepare To Wait As Apple Support Lines Swamped

Apple's generally top-quality phone and chat services have taken a nosedive. That's according to a new report from Stella Benchmarks, which will be unwelcome news for those looking to get their iPhone 6 Plus cameras replaced.

The time to reach an Apple support representative over the phone increased to 121 seconds, 30 seconds longer than the wait time clocked the quarter before. Chat wait times increased from 34 seconds in the prior quarter to 63 seconds in the measured quarter. And issue resolution rates in chat fell to 94 percent, a 3 percent drop from the prior quarter.

The company is undergoing a major recall of iPhone 6 Plus cameras, after it was found that some were taking blurry photos. Customers with a blurry camera are invited to either visit the Genius Bar or contact Apple support, placing further pressure on the company's support services.

StellaService notes it has changed the methods it uses to score benchmarks, meaning it was unable to provide quarter-on-quarter comparisons. But according to AppleInsider, when comparing StellaService's combined score measuring shippings, returns and support, Apple slipped from third place in Q4 2014 to 25th place in Q2 2015.

When taken separately, support from phone, email and chat services took a beating: Apple doesn't even crack the top 25 any more. The company came in 14th place for both shipping and returns, meaning its combined score has been hurt by a significant drop in quality for the support services it provides.

It's not all bad news, however. Shipping fulfillment time now averages 2.6 days, where it stood at 3.1 days at the same time last year. The report states that in the last eight months, StellaService did not see a single unfilled same-day delivery order.