iPod touch Thank you MAC, for the incredibly expensive paper-weight.

[4letterwords]

I bought the Ipod Touch when it first came out. No huge problems (outside of it being somewhat pricey for something that malfunctioned so frequently) but about 10 or 11 months after I bought it, the home button stopped working. Two buttons on the whole damn device and one stopped working. I went to the Apple store and they replaced it. A month or so later the replacement Ipod's home button ALSO stopped working. I called customer service desk at the Genius Bar that replaced my original Ipod just a month or so earlier and they told me that unfortunately I was no longer under the one year warranty, so there was nothing they could do. I accepted this, besides being pretty peeved that I was only a few weeks past the warranty and they offered me zero help.

Anyway, a couple months later I was browsing the internet for possible solutions to the home button issue, and a member of a forum told me that he worked for Apple and that there should have been a 90 day replacement repair warranty tagged to the new Ipod I got. I almost imploded.

So, I called Apple once more and explained the situation. The woman I spoke with said that it should have been replaced under the 90 day replacement warranty and she apologized. She then proceeded to tell me that because my Ipod at that time was NO LONGER under the 90 day repair warranty, that they couldn't do anything about it. I told her that I was the one who was misinformed and that they surely had a record of my call at the Apple Store. She then said that even so, there is nothing she could do even given the situation because I was CURRENTLY not under the 90 day repair warranty.

So I'm stuck with a very expensive hunk of crap. From here, I don't know what to do. I've written MANY emails to various customer service reps about this situation and not only do I not have a solution, I haven't even received an email back. Not once. I'm at a loss. I feel incredibly taken advantage of and I don't know the next step in this process. I REFUSE to pay hundreds of dollars for a product that doesn't live up to its reputation, especially from a company that is supposedly built on servicing its' so called 'valuable' customers.

ANY advice? I'm willing to take this as far as it needs to go because it's unfair for a company to make a mistake and then not offer to fix it. Who should I speak to? Where should I go? What should I do?

 

[eawmp1]

1) Know your warranty and have it in writing.
2) Replacements from all companies usually carry themselves a shorter warranty (you will know this for the future)
3) Unfortunately, your call to the Genius Bar was answered by someone with less than Genius intelligence and knowlege of policy. However, without proof of this encounter/response, there is no way for Apple (or any other company) to verify this. If you could, I am sure they would replace your device. However, without proof, anyone could claim what you do, even if they were lying.
4) WTF do you do to your home button?

Sorry, but I think you are out of luck.

 

[sjleworthy]

i think you've been incredibly unlucky and i feel for you

but i wouldn't brandish the product as a whole as crap. malfunctions on a grander scale like yours are the minimal, not the norm. I've buggered my 1st gen (not literally) every day for over 2 years and it's still playing good today as the day i bought it. same goes for all others i know who've got one.

as i say, i think you're just unlucky.

sorry i cant suggest anything.

 

[4letterwords]

I have no idea how my home button messed up either time. I really treated my Ipod like the son of God, stopping short of crucifying it. I even asked the people at the Genius Bar what could have happened and they said it was a relatively common problem. Sweet. Thanks.

I hope the Apple corporation knows and has felt even in its smallest measurement what they've lost. I've told every person I know this story, multiple times. I make sure EVERYONE I know is aware of this. I even used to buy a 100$ Itunes card every month. They've lost that now, too. Maybe not a big deal for such a large corporation but hopefully it will add up with the business they've lost from my confidantes that would have otherwise purchased their products.

 

[Consultant]

WRONG.

Every repair extends the warranty. It's not like someone can "forget" to add the warranty extension, because they don't do it manually.

The warranty time is automatically added to the system, so something you mentioned is unlikely to happen.
In addition, you get a repair note, PLUS a note that says warranty has been extended by x days.

Also, MAC = network address.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address

Apple makes iPod touch and Mac.

FYI, Apple tops 2009 customer satisfaction
http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/02/19/apple.tops.satisfication/

 

[Macfisto]

How did you originally pay for your Ipod? Credit card?

Not many people know this but some (not all) credit cards have an extended warranties for any products that you bought it with (in full mind you…I avoided using gift certificates of 200$ at future shop so I could buy my Ipod fully with my CC just in case the 1 year warranty with Apple wasn’t enough)

CC extended warranties (in my case) doubles the original warranty up to 1 year (so 1 year in the case of the Ipod).

Check it out if you use a CC

 

[Buzz Bumble]

4) WTF do you do to your home button?

Apparently many Americans are just heavy-handed. It would also explain all the reports around here of problems with broken / stuck Mighty Mouse scrollballs ... I've never personally found anyone having that happen, and manyof them have been using Mighty Mouse since its realease.

 

[mkrishnan]

Also, MAC = network address.

See now I was thinking the cosmetics company... but then their makeup is pretty good, and it's sad to see someone using it as a paperweight.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Apparently many Americans are just heavy-handed. It would also explain all the reports around here of problems with broken / stuck Mighty Mouse scrollballs ... I've never personally found anyone having that happen, and manyof them have been using Mighty Mouse since its realease.

Mine has gotten stuck, but it takes MONTHS to get gunked up. Same for the kids - i think it was over a year before they said it quit working.

I clean mine and i'm good to go for a long time

 

[Sun Baked]

If you bought it using a credit card, read your credit card benefits to see if you get a warranty extension on electronics purchases.

Watch, with your karma/luck, you likely have a 6 month extension and have just past it...

 

[mahoneyjoe]

Broken Home Button Fixes: http://www.instructables.com/answers/How_do_you_fix_an_Ipod_touch_home_button/ (jailbreak and touchscreen home button)
http://www.fixya.com/support/t2115777-ipod_touch_home_button_broken (physically repair, maybe)

Good luck.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

On many mice and joysticks I've often fixed broken buttons by using tin / aluminium foil and sellotape ... of course you would have to open up the iPod Touch first.

 

[bwawn]

I used to work for Apple, doing tech support and swapping out broken devices. Here's what I can tell you:

If there is nothing physically and clearly wrong with the iPod Touch (large dents, etc), and someone definitely did mis-inform you about the 90 day warranty, then you are entitled to get your iPod swapped out.

When you have an appointment at the Genius Bar, you do NOT necessarily get a note put under your device's serial number indicating what happened during your visit. What is definitely put into the system, though, is that you visited - as long as you entered an appointment into the Concierge system for your particular store.

The most trouble in these situations typically comes when this stuff is not documented and it makes claims like this seem questionable. Many, many people have trouble taking responsibility for their actions or accepting expired warranties, and so they lie to try to get their stuff fixed well after a warranty has expired. I don't think you're one of these people because you seem clearly upset for being misled, but it's important to point out the mindset you must have when working in tech support.

So, long story short: if tech support agents are able to say, "Ah, I see here that you DID try to get your iPod swapped out while you were under the 90 day warranty but were misled," then you are entitled to having it swapped out now. If there is an electronic trail indicating what happened, then you've just been unlucky to have had only poor tech support agents help you.

The trick that I told customers, that worked every single time, was this:

1. Call AppleCare. You have better luck over the phone than in person.
2. Be UNBELIEVABLY kind, understanding, and patient. Any time you get pissed off, upset, or just generally unkind to the tech support agent, you're only making it harder for yourself.
3. If the tech support agent follows the script of, "I see you were under the 90 day warranty and you were misled, but we can't swap it out now," simply state your case. You were misinformed, it's clear that you were misinformed, you love the product but are just upset that you've had such a bad experience.
4. If they still insist, simply ask if you can speak to a supervisor. Stay calm, stay understanding, and keep with the idea that you love the product, you were misled, and it's just upsetting. Don't threaten them about switching to a Zune or never buying an Apple product again or anything like that.

If you do this right - and your story adds up - you WILL get your Touch swapped out.

I don't check these forums and saw this post by chance, so I won't be keeping up with it, but I'd like to wish you good luck. Really, you've just been unlucky so far. A lot of Apple tech agents - both in store and on the phone - are disgruntled, life-long nerds who love having the opportunity to reject people and say "no". However, there are even more people there who will do anything to make a customer happy, and you just need to be kind, patient, and try to connect with those people.

 

[doctoree]

The heading is misleading because its not a Mac you are having problems with

 

[MrCheeto]

What teacher teaches "This () is a MAC. Can you say MAC? Would you like some MAC pie?"

Come ON!!! That would be like seeing the iconic shape of a crescent moon and pulling some random word out of your hiney to associate with it. I really thought Apple made it easy for people of every nation, regardless of language, to understand the company's name. Hell you don't even have to READ to understand =Apple!!!

Sorry, ignorance is like a plague to me.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

However, there are even more people there who will do anything to make a customer happy, and you just need to be kind, patient, and try to connect with those people.

THis is the message you get when you call the Corporate line to register a complaint.

They DO care, they DO want to make it right. THEY get, "without our customers, we are nothing." She even said that to me.

Call them, be polite and state what went on. When i called Cupertino to file a complaint about a stores actions, that is what I stated to the call screener, "Who do i need to talk to to file a complaint about a store?"

I had a major snafu with a genius that wiped 11 mail accounts out on my computer - without telling me that is what he was doing. The store manager on the phone then hung up on me when i called to let him know what had happened (and, i don't think i had the MANAGER MANAGER either - i know most of them and didn't recognize this voice), i called California. I was compensated well above anything i expected for my troubles. I actually didn't expect ANYTHING, just needed to get thru that he couldn't do what he was doing without informing the customer.... that they felt they needed to send me something to help was awesome.

But you do have 90 days - in fact when my DD's nano was replaced a few weeks before the warranty was going to run out (this was for a broken button on her first replacement), they pointed that out. That even if we decided to not buy it - we still were covered for 90 days.

For the record, that IS at the store i had the massive problem with... that guy isn't there anymore....

 

[Black Belt]

It's all YOUR fault

Haven't you realized yet that the blame for Apple products is put on the consumer? You should've known, you are unlucky, you blew it...blah, blah, blah. I only buy my iPods from Costco where I can return them no questions asked within 90 days. Apple should take notes from Master Jedi Costco, because in customer service Apple is still a Padawan.

 

[powz]

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles and hope you get it resolved.

I had a similar problem with my iPod Touch (1st gen). If you do a Google search, you'll find that it is not uncommon. There's actually a fix on Youtube that involves rapidly pushing the two physical buttons on the Touch (home and power/locking button) until the music menu pops up...it sounds wacky but it worked for me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHJzXJCqMgk

Of course, it would be better to get the unit replaced if you can...but there may be some hope even if Apple doesn't do the right thing.

Good luck!

 

[chrono1081]

I used to work for Apple, doing tech support and swapping out broken devices. Here's what I can tell you:

If there is nothing physically and clearly wrong with the iPod Touch (large dents, etc), and someone definitely did mis-inform you about the 90 day warranty, then you are entitled to get your iPod swapped out.

When you have an appointment at the Genius Bar, you do NOT necessarily get a note put under your device's serial number indicating what happened during your visit. What is definitely put into the system, though, is that you visited - as long as you entered an appointment into the Concierge system for your particular store.

The most trouble in these situations typically comes when this stuff is not documented and it makes claims like this seem questionable. Many, many people have trouble taking responsibility for their actions or accepting expired warranties, and so they lie to try to get their stuff fixed well after a warranty has expired. I don't think you're one of these people because you seem clearly upset for being misled, but it's important to point out the mindset you must have when working in tech support.

So, long story short: if tech support agents are able to say, "Ah, I see here that you DID try to get your iPod swapped out while you were under the 90 day warranty but were misled," then you are entitled to having it swapped out now. If there is an electronic trail indicating what happened, then you've just been unlucky to have had only poor tech support agents help you.

The trick that I told customers, that worked every single time, was this:

1. Call AppleCare. You have better luck over the phone than in person.
2. Be UNBELIEVABLY kind, understanding, and patient. Any time you get pissed off, upset, or just generally unkind to the tech support agent, you're only making it harder for yourself.
3. If the tech support agent follows the script of, "I see you were under the 90 day warranty and you were misled, but we can't swap it out now," simply state your case. You were misinformed, it's clear that you were misinformed, you love the product but are just upset that you've had such a bad experience.
4. If they still insist, simply ask if you can speak to a supervisor. Stay calm, stay understanding, and keep with the idea that you love the product, you were misled, and it's just upsetting. Don't threaten them about switching to a Zune or never buying an Apple product again or anything like that.

If you do this right - and your story adds up - you WILL get your Touch swapped out.

I don't check these forums and saw this post by chance, so I won't be keeping up with it, but I'd like to wish you good luck. Really, you've just been unlucky so far. A lot of Apple tech agents - both in store and on the phone - are disgruntled, life-long nerds who love having the opportunity to reject people and say "no". However, there are even more people there who will do anything to make a customer happy, and you just need to be kind, patient, and try to connect with those people.

+894038309808

I used to work at Circuit City and Best Buy long ago and I can tell you never ask the stores on warranty information. Most of the times you will get accurate info but not all the time. Stores also usually cant do the same type of swapouts and returns that over the phone support can.

And like the above poster mentioned, niceness is the key. Apple has been amazing to me the three times I called (taking a monitor out of warranty and crediting me for my inconvenience!, moving a purchase date of that monitor to match my laptop so both are covered under one apple care!, and trying to give me free shipping because I screwed up my laser engraving on an iPod and it was too late to change it!).

I never asked Apple for any of those things yet they did all of that for me. Oh, and I called on the phone I didn't go into the Apple store.

 

[RobP]

I bought the Ipod Touch when it first came out. No huge problems (outside of it being somewhat pricey for something that malfunctioned so frequently) but about 10 or 11 months after I bought it, the home button stopped working. Two buttons on the whole damn device and one stopped working. I went to the Apple store and they replaced it. A month or so later the replacement Ipod's home button ALSO stopped working. I called customer service desk at the Genius Bar that replaced my original Ipod just a month or so earlier and they told me that unfortunately I was no longer under the one year warranty, so there was nothing they could do. I accepted this, besides being pretty peeved that I was only a few weeks past the warranty and they offered me zero help.

Anyway, a couple months later I was browsing the internet for possible solutions to the home button issue, and a member of a forum told me that he worked for Apple and that there should have been a 90 day replacement repair warranty tagged to the new Ipod I got. I almost imploded.

So, I called Apple once more and explained the situation. The woman I spoke with said that it should have been replaced under the 90 day replacement warranty and she apologized. She then proceeded to tell me that because my Ipod at that time was NO LONGER under the 90 day repair warranty, that they couldn't do anything about it. I told her that I was the one who was misinformed and that they surely had a record of my call at the Apple Store. She then said that even so, there is nothing she could do even given the situation because I was CURRENTLY not under the 90 day repair warranty.

So I'm stuck with a very expensive hunk of crap. From here, I don't know what to do. I've written MANY emails to various customer service reps about this situation and not only do I not have a solution, I haven't even received an email back. Not once. I'm at a loss. I feel incredibly taken advantage of and I don't know the next step in this process. I REFUSE to pay hundreds of dollars for a product that doesn't live up to its reputation, especially from a company that is supposedly built on servicing its' so called 'valuable' customers.

ANY advice? I'm willing to take this as far as it needs to go because it's unfair for a company to make a mistake and then not offer to fix it. Who should I speak to? Where should I go? What should I do?

Same thing here. My home button just stopped working with only around 18 months of use. Apple products are supposed to be good quality hence the price, but I'm now beginning to doubt this.

There is an easy (and cheap) way out of this if you have a WiFi router. You can jailbreak your iPod using BlackRa1n (something like that). The jailbreak is very easy just click a button. Once done one can download a software app that provides the home button in software on the screen! This means you can operate your iPod without needing to use the physical button.

What really annoyed me about the whole thing - apart from the iPod breaking so early (my 2nd gen hd based iPod is still going(!)), is that the iTunes store had NO software to replicate the home button - hence my jailbreak. One can only conclude that this is deliberate....

RobP

 

[Consultant]

See now I was thinking the cosmetics company... but then their makeup is pretty good, and it's sad to see someone using it as a paperweight.

I don't use makeup so I wouldn't know.

What teacher teaches "This () is a MAC. Can you say MAC? Would you like some MAC pie?" ...

I like MAC pies.

.... One can only conclude that this is deliberate....

RobP

Sure, Apple goes to the design team and say, design something that will break for RObP in 18 months.