iPod's Dirty Little Secret, Pt. 2

[pooky]

No, this isn't anything as creative as a video, just a little mini rant.

I have an iPod, which I have gotten a good deal of use out of. I love my iPod, and I am a longtime fan of Apple. Let's get that out of the way first. But, as much as I like Apple and their products, there is only so much one person can take.

I purchased my iPod in July of 2003, making it about 9 months old. The battery is no longer holding a charge. If it's plugged in, it will charge like normal, but that charge doesn't "keep," the battery is drained again within a few hours, even if the iPod is off.

"Not a problem," I think. "Batteries aren't perfect, maybe I got a bad one. At least it's under warranty." I sign myself up for the battery replacement program, and am told a box will arrive for me to ship the iPod back to Apple.

Then today I get an email. Apparently, my iPod is out of a 180 day limited warranty, and now covered by the 1 year "really" limited warranty. That is, I have to pay for my own shipping, but they'll still fix the battery. Not the greatest deal, but no biggie.

But here's the best part. I can't just run down to UPS, plop the thing in a box, and mail it off. I have to give Apple my credit card so they can send me the box. The charge to ship my 10GB iPod (total weight 5.6 oz)? $32.00 US!!

So basically, first, I have to pay the shipping if I want the non-replaceable battery in my 9 month old iPod replaced. Second, I am forced to use Apple's "special" shipping rates, which are 5x what I would pay shipping it myself! This is what passes for customer service these days? I'm seriously questioning whether I'd buy another iPod after this. It's great, as long as you get a battery that lasts you.

Anyone else have a similar experience? Any recommendations?

Thanks for listening to my rant.

 

[RGunner]

Thats a bad policy...

Do you know if there is a local Apple store where they could accept it for a replacement battery?

Just had a thought, i have never had Apple charge me to return a product or service on a product (within the 1 year warranty). Having said that why did you sign up for the battery replacement program when this is a clear warranty issue?

My understanding of the battery replacement program is that it was for out of Warranty iPods for a sum of ... forget now... $99?

Call Applecare and talk to a specialist?

 

[603]

yep yep

ah, the "hidden costs" of iPod ownership... someone should do a TCO study on the iPod... you end up buying a case for $30+ to protect your preciousssss, a nice set of headphones (if you don't already have some), and now AppleCare... the costs go up, up, up...

i agree that the $30+ shipping charge is a rip-off. however, it's stated clearly in the warranty that you have to pay for shipping after 6 months. it sucks, i know - nobody takes the time to read "those things." i sure didn't. i doubt that Creative, etc would take much better care of you though.

have you considered...

1) replacing the battery yourself?
http://www.ipodbattery.com/

2) buying AppleCare for the iPod, which extends the "not-so-limited" warranty to 2 years... it's only $59 now (it used to be $99, i think). this would be easier than cracking the thing open to replace the battery, and the cost would be about the same.

sorry to hear your story though. hope you can find a satisfoctory solution. getting AppleCare for your iPod is probably not a bad idea.

 

[Koodauw]

Yep. Samething happened to me. My iPod was giving me a few problems, so I called up Apple, they said fill out the form online. So I did. Well...Same story, pay us $32 for overnight shipping or your not getting it fixed. What a crock of ****. I was lucky enough to have someone take it off my hands at a very good price. (They knew about the issues)

So what did I do? I bought an iPod mini. I guess I am a gluten for punishment.


I totally agree that this is a horrid policy. I would try taking it to an Apple store if you have one near you. It's about the only other thing I can think of.

Sorry to hear about you experience, hopefully Apple will fix this in the future.

 

[snofseth]

If you live near a compusa take it there and try to buy there warrenty for ipod, it is like $30, then exchange it for a new one like a 15gb one if you want the same warrenty for you new one you have to pay a warrenty again, but you get a brand new ipod for $60 or so. Not to shabby, they may not let you buy the wan ipod you didn't not buy there, but I have heard you can

 

[Sayer]

I just wanted to say that I really like cars and have had several before, but after owning my last one I really have to take issue with them.

You know I have had to replace car batteries that were advertised to last several years after only one year while living in Arizona. No one told me that a "battery" would not last the amount of time listed on the label nor that I would have to replace it myself if I lived in a dry, very hot climate.

I also had to keep putting gas into the car despite it coming with a full tank when I bought it. This really ads up fast with just normal use! It costs me nearly $20 to put the gas in the car to get it back to the level I bought it - every week!

And now I find out I have to "change the oil" every 5,000 miles - what kind of scam are these car makers running here? It came with perfectly good oil in it when I bought it and no one told me explicitly that it would need to be changed so soon and so often! I barely drive anywhere!

What is the 50,000 mile warranty good for if it doesn't cover any of this?

 

[pooky]

I just wanted to say that I really like cars and have had several before, but after owning my last one I really have to take issue with them.

You know I have had to replace car batteries that were advertised to last several years after only one year while living in Arizona. No one told me that a "battery" would not last the amount of time listed on the label nor that I would have to replace it myself if I lived in a dry, very hot climate.

I also had to keep putting gas into the car despite it coming with a full tank when I bought it. This really ads up fast with just normal use! It costs me nearly $20 to put the gas in the car to get it back to the level I bought it - every week!

And now I find out I have to "change the oil" every 5,000 miles - what kind of scam are these car makers running here? It came with perfectly good oil in it when I bought it and no one told me explicitly that it would need to be changed so soon and so often! I barely drive anywhere!

What is the 50,000 mile warranty good for if it doesn't cover any of this?

I don't think you have the comparison quite right. If car makers were like apple, the fuel door and battery would be locked inside a bolted-shut compartment. If you were fortunate enough to run out of gas or have your battery fail while the car was still within its 50,000 mile warranty, the company would do the repair for you, but charge you ~10% of the cost of the car (let's say $5,000 - we are going luxury, after all). If you were foolish enough to try to replace the battery or refuel by yourself, you run the risk of permanently destroying the car, as vital cables and engine components are interwoven into the battery compartment. You also completely void that 50,000 mile warranty.

Seriously now, car batteries, fuel, etc aren't covered by the warranty, for the simple reason that fuel is a consumable and batteries are incredibly cheap (relative to the cost of a car). You can replace the battery in a car for close to what apple wants to charge me for shipping for a 6 oz item! So thanks for the analogy, but I really don't think it apples at all.

 

[upperblue79]

If you live near a compusa take it there and try to buy there warrenty for ipod, it is like $30, then exchange it for a new one like a 15gb one if you want the same warrenty for you new one you have to pay a warrenty again, but you get a brand new ipod for $60 or so. Not to shabby, they may not let you buy the wan ipod you didn't not buy there, but I have heard you can

Compusa won't sell their replacement on the ipods anymore, only the applecare

2) buying AppleCare for the iPod, which extends the "not-so-limited" warranty to 2 years... it's only $59 now (it used to be $99, i think). this would be easier than cracking the thing open to replace the battery, and the cost would be about the same.

Applecare for ipod was introduced at $59.

 

[mmmdreg]

offtopic, I always thought iPod batteries drained quick even when not used. But after going on a trip, coming home and not being bothered to get out the charger, the iPod lasted like 3 days of like an 45min of music each day where i was changing the song manually every like minute.. and at the start of the 3 days it was on half charge anyway after a 4 hours ride in the car.. so yeah..

go the ipod!

 

[Anna]

iPod batteries drain depending on intermittent use as well as temperature. If you were to play it constantly from fully charge to when it goes dead it would last the longest. but if you stop and start it for short times over 5 days it would last no where near as long