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iPod Apple on BBC Watchdog - Bit of bad PR

nomad01

nomad01

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 1, 2005
1,734
73
Birmingham, England
Anyone in the UK just catch Watchdog?

It was all about the iPod battery problems and it ended with them saying that despite the lawsuit in the US, Apple in the UK still deny there is a problem with the iPod.

Made Apple look very bad. Battery replacement scheme in the US but not in the UK?? Crazy.
 
i think they picked there day to do it lol and i did not like it when nicky picked up the nano and made refrence to the batt life on it .

yes apple should do the same as the US in the UK
 
Applespider said:
There is a battery replacement program in the UK. Take it into an Apple store or an Apple certified repair centre and they'll replace the battery for you for £49. For some reason though, it costs more to do so if you follow the online process.
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What happened in the US? Was it a free replacement or the same sort of thing where you pay to have it replaced?

Have to say that I've had a 2nd, 3rd and 4th Gen ipod and now an iPod photo and not had one problem with batteries.

Even if my nano dies, it'll still be beautiful. ;-)
 
I never take watchdog seriously anyway, fair enough sometimes they have a point, but most of the time they seem to bitch for the sake of bitching.
 
But I'm pretty sure in the US, if you recycle your iPod you get a discount on a new one. Nothing like that in the UK that i know of.
 
I didn't like the story for wheeling out these people who had broken iPods (the kid who's iPod mini only last 2 songs while only being a month or so old), and then quoting the US Class action suit against batteries, which only applied to 1/2/3rd gen iPods, which haven't been sold in well over a year (except on the UK refurb store right now bizarrely).

I've got a 3G iPod, and it's been treated most unfairly - I take it snowboarding and the cold *really* helps the battery, and that's still ticking along fine after over 2 years. It might not have the battery life it once had, but it's still pretty good.
 
After two years, how much life can it possibly have left? That's already the quoted limit.
 
Shelax said:
After two years, how much life can it possibly have left? That's already the quoted limit.
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I'm not sure exactly - I might have to have a trial, but I know it's over 4 hours (listened to an audio book on a long drive). I thought that was pretty good seeing as the quoted max for it was 8 hours. :)
 
Shelax said:
After two years, how much life can it possibly have left? That's already the quoted limit.
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I've had mine over two years and still get 4 hours at least and if I turn back lighting off completely and just leave it playing I get closer to 5.

One thing about the Watchdog program is that at the end of the iPod section they did mention, very quickly and quietly, the £49 replacement policy....... after in the main piece mentioning very loudly it cost £139!!

Basically this piece and many others I could relate in the past on this program make me realise they just sensationalise everything. Shame it still gets prime time BBC 1 slot!
 
sdreed25 said:
Basically this piece and many others I could relate in the past on this program make me realise they just sensationalise everything. Shame it still gets prime time BBC 1 slot!
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There are occasions where they bring valuable things to people's attention but a lot of what they do is sensationalism and trying to help people who don't read the small print.

Remember that huge fuss years ago about the free Hoover flights to the US that Watchdog championed because people weren't getting their first choice of flight and had booked time off work/hotels etc only to find they couldn't go.
If they'd read the terms and conditions, they'd have been fine. They tried to bend the rules and got caught out. If you actually followed the instructions and time guidelines, it was a reasonably smooth process. You were getting something for next to nothing after all.
 
Didn't Apple make an announcement to do with this yesterday though? Apple at last gives UK iPod owners a break.

It's funny how on the day Watchdog airs, Macworld's campaign actually gets somewhere and Apple clarifies the situation with iPod batteries.

However, they still don't recogise the fault problem entirely. A friend has a 9 month old iPod mini with a dead battery and they will not do anything with it, apparently.
 
edesignuk said:
I never take watchdog seriously anyway, fair enough sometimes they have a point, but most of the time they seem to bitch for the sake of bitching.
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And Nicky Campbell's an idiot.
 
Applespider said:
There are occasions where they bring valuable things to people's attention but a lot of what they do is sensationalism and trying to help people who don't read the small print.
Click to expand...

Few episodes I've actually caught involved people being ripped off when buying things from a TV shopping channel. I felt really sorry for them.

I mean, what kind of person buys stuff off Sky shopping channels!??! Poor people. ;-)
 
AlBDamned said:
However, they still don't recogise the fault problem entirely. A friend has a 9 month old iPod mini with a dead battery and they will not do anything with it, apparently.
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Take it back to the shop and demand a repair maybe? Its under the guarantee.
 
geese said:
Take it back to the shop and demand a repair maybe? Its under the guarantee.
Click to expand...

That's what I said but apparently they are having none of it and a dead battery is 'not recognised under the warranty'. My next reply was 'break it properly then', though I'm not sure she took me seriously.
 
Face it, the term 'iPod' is still something that sets ears twitching and grabs attention when uttered. Watchdog would have slot with emergency hotline for 'customers whose iPods have a slightly scratched back-panel after only 17 months of use' just to get people watching.

They did do an article that demanded the money back after optician-fitted designer prescription sunglasses that no longer fitted the bridge of the nose after prolonged wearing on top on the head by golfers during their swing action ...... it wasn't long after that episode that I gave up taking them too seriously.
 
AlBDamned said:
That's what I said but apparently they are having none of it and a dead battery is 'not recognised under the warranty'. My next reply was 'break it properly then', though I'm not sure she took me seriously.
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I'm sure they should replace it if the battery is dead but the iPod is still under warranty.

I have just purchased the extended AppleCare for my iPod... thought it would be worth it given that my 40GB cost £299 and the hard disk broke after 4 or 5 months. The AppleCare costs just £35 and according to that if "the capacity of the Battery to hold an electrical charge has depleted fifty percent (50%) or more from its original specification, Apple will, at its option, repair or replace the affected Covered Equipment."
 
dietcokevanilla said:
I'm sure they should replace it if the battery is dead but the iPod is still under warranty.

I have just purchased the extended AppleCare for my iPod... thought it would be worth it given that my 40GB cost £299 and the hard disk broke after 4 or 5 months. The AppleCare costs just £35 and according to that if "the capacity of the Battery to hold an electrical charge has depleted fifty percent (50%) or more from its original specification, Apple will, at its option, repair or replace the affected Covered Equipment."
Click to expand...

That's AppleCare though. Not sure if it's the same with the limited warranty. However, £35 for AppleCare is cheaper than having the battery replaced.

There's something not right with this scenario. I'm not sure she is complaining loud enough!
 
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