I pod help...
So my family and I have recently been caught up in the mac craze.
Total, we have 2 mac minis, an ibook, an ipod mini, an ipod video, and a mac book pro coming pretty soon in the mail.
We've spent around $5000 on apple products, and personally I have had no trouble getting support for the products I've purchased.
But the manager at the local ipod store had my mom in tears the other night.
My sister got an ipod video for christmas, (litterally one of 3 gifts that she got from my parents b/c its so expensive), she had a case the apple store sold her on it within days. Recently she discoverd that part of the screen had a black dot on it, and it's totally messed up her screen to the point where music is playable, but you can't see anything on the screen.
When my mom took it back, the mananger flipped it over, and found in the light a tiny tiny tiny dent not noticble by touch, only by looking at it in the reflection in the lights.
He said the screen wasn't covered by the waranty, and that they could fix it for $200.
She has had her ipod for less than 2 weeks before this problem. It's clearly an issue with the protection in the ipod, my nano is so scuffed up and dented up and it has had no problems.
It just sucks that my family is going to be out $250. Apple products are so great, but if their coustomer service is going to make my mom cry, I don't think I can support them anymore.
Any tips on how to go about getting it replaced or fixed?
I might end up deleting some stings in the ipod manager, jsut so the music wont play.
or should we call the phone and hope they don't notice the small dent? has anyone had any experience with this kind of problem before?
Total, we have 2 mac minis, an ibook, an ipod mini, an ipod video, and a mac book pro coming pretty soon in the mail.
We've spent around $5000 on apple products, and personally I have had no trouble getting support for the products I've purchased.
But the manager at the local ipod store had my mom in tears the other night.
My sister got an ipod video for christmas, (litterally one of 3 gifts that she got from my parents b/c its so expensive), she had a case the apple store sold her on it within days. Recently she discoverd that part of the screen had a black dot on it, and it's totally messed up her screen to the point where music is playable, but you can't see anything on the screen.
When my mom took it back, the mananger flipped it over, and found in the light a tiny tiny tiny dent not noticble by touch, only by looking at it in the reflection in the lights.
He said the screen wasn't covered by the waranty, and that they could fix it for $200.
She has had her ipod for less than 2 weeks before this problem. It's clearly an issue with the protection in the ipod, my nano is so scuffed up and dented up and it has had no problems.
It just sucks that my family is going to be out $250. Apple products are so great, but if their coustomer service is going to make my mom cry, I don't think I can support them anymore.
Any tips on how to go about getting it replaced or fixed?
I might end up deleting some stings in the ipod manager, jsut so the music wont play.
or should we call the phone and hope they don't notice the small dent? has anyone had any experience with this kind of problem before?
Comments
If you don't want to pay Apple's price of $200, and are adventurous (and capable enough with electronics surgery), you can buy a replacement screen at iPodMods for $110. Just a warning, though: you will definitely void your warrantee on the screen (and maybe even on the whole iPod) if you go this route. And you should not attempt surgery on your iPod unless you're the kind of person who is really, really careful, as you may, otherwise, end up with an iPod that doesn't even play music!
Good luck to you. And if I were your parent, I would use this situation to instruct your sister on the value of responsibility. I would make her pay for the repair, and if she didn't have the money for it, then she could work it off by doing household chores or something similar. But that's just me.
The iPod isn't exactly the kind of product which isn't returnable. You can see the store manager's difficulty - Apple won't honour a refund unless he shows it's electronically defective, whereas the ding shows that it has been physically defective, implying an impact as Denton says.
Do you have credit card protection like in the UK? If so, then you might inform your card company and challenge their decision.
Btw - I've dropped my 80GB iPod all over China, France, England and it hasn't got a single dent or cosmetic aberation on it. Use a clear film wrap around all of the iPod and one of those impact resistant cases. They're fantastic at taking all the knocks and dissipating the shock energy away from the iPod into its own resin shell.
It sounds to me like your sister, despite trying to protect her iPod with a case, dropped the iPod (or otherwise caused something to dent her screen). I hope I'm understanding what you're saying correctly. So if it is your sister's negligence that caused damage to the LCD, why would you expect someone else to pay for it to be fixed? It doesn't matter if the iPod is five years old or five days old, no electronics company will warrantee their products against accidental dropping (or other such physical damage). Maybe you can try your luck at another Apple store, hoping that they won't notice the dent on the screen, but it you do, you've essentially stolen from Apple.
If you don't want to pay Apple's price of $200, and are adventurous (and capable enough with electronics surgery), you can buy a replacement screen at iPodMods for $110. Just a warning, though: you will definitely void your warrantee on the screen (and maybe even on the whole iPod) if you go this route. And you should not attempt surgery on your iPod unless you're the kind of person who is really, really careful, as you may, otherwise, end up with an iPod that doesn't even play music!
Good luck to you. And if I were your parent, I would use this situation to instruct your sister on the value of responsibility. I would make her pay for the repair, and if she didn't have the money for it, then she could work it off by doing household chores or something similar. But that's just me.
There are, I believe, companies who are authorized repair centers, or at least get actual apple parts, and which can do the repairs for half as much, as Denton mentions. I'd recommend NOT trying it yourself, unless you REALLY don't care about the cosmetics of the case. When I first cracked (figuratively) my 4g ipod open, the case suffered some pretty heavy marring. well, I kept opening it though.
Figure out how it got damaged, and if it was that way before purchase. If it was that way BEFORE purchase, and you KNOW that it was not damaged by yall in the christmas shuffle, or afterward, then I would recommend that you pursue warranty on it. IF you are justified, and if you don't receive satisfaction through the normal channels, then a well written letter via email to a particular executive at Apple has been known to work magic. It REALLY does work. Good route as long as you are honestly justified in asking Apple to fix the problem. Emphasis on personal integrity here. You know your situation, and probably know pretty well if the iPod was damaged pre or post purchase. Most people will end up choosing to do the right thing in these situations.
My ipod nano is dented and scuffed to peices and the display still works. It has to be a leak in the screen, or just a (dare I say) cheaply made product. Something that costs $250 shouldnt be able to break that easily. I'm going to call apple care tonight in hopes that they are a bit nicer, and if that doesn't work, a letter will be sent to apple.
I don't know if she dropped it or not, but it's been in a protective sleeve that apple sold us since she's had it. she swears she didn't drop it, and I trust her integrity over the guy who made my mother cry.
My ipod nano is dented and scuffed to peices and the display still works. It has to be a leak in the screen, or just a (dare I say) cheaply made product. Something that costs $250 shouldnt be able to break that easily. I'm going to call apple care tonight in hopes that they are a bit nicer, and if that doesn't work, a letter will be sent to apple.
I don't think a drop would have done it. It would have to have been stepped on, or sat on wrong (wait, is there a right way to sit on them?) or in some other way had a crack in it. If there is NOT a crack, then that really throws the "Oops, sat on it" theory into serious doubt. You said that it started at a single point and spread out. Not sure how that would happen unless there was a puncture of some kind, from the front or the back.