progressive tech: yes. progressive customer service: no

[levyrat]

i purchased an iPod click wheel for my daughter one year ago for xmas. three days ago she comes to me and says her iPod won't turn on. I plug it into our computer - not seen in iTunes or on my machine (windows). i try all the "r's" that the support pages suggest - nothing but the sad faced iPod telling me to go to support. after trying every "r" we call apple and they tell us they will charge me the cost of a new iPod to fix it - in spite of the fact that apple has acknowledged a battery problem with these iPods.

if i wanted to pay over $200 for a piece of crap that quits working less than a month after warranty i should have just gone to wal-mart. but wait - even someone as crappy as wal-mart understands customer service.

i have always stood up for apple when the pc'ers rag its product. now i just see them as an overpriced product that doesn't live up to the standards that apple itself bases its entire marketing campaign on. liar, liar, pants on fire.

anyone else had this issue?

[Flounder]

1. How sure are you if it's the battery?

2. If you are sure, you can get a new one for $30 (self install) or $50 (send it in and they install it for you) from a variety of on-line resellers.

3. Take a deep breath, you'll feel better

4. Things fail, and sometimes things fail shortly after the warranty expires. That's life, and sometimes you get shafted. No product is perfect and sometimes circumstances conspire to screw you.

[levyrat]

Originally Posted by Flounder

1. How sure are you if it's the battery?

99.9% certain. Due to reading the forums and speaking with several other owners and apples customer "support" directly.

2. If you are sure, you can get a new one for $30 (self install) or $50 (send it in and they install it for you) from a variety of on-line resellers.

iPod customer service told me it would cost the price of a new iPod. i will certainly search for battery/instructions on installation.

3. Take a deep breath, you'll feel better

i'm sorry but a 200 dollar paper weight does not allow for a quick cool down. this will take time.

4. Things fail, and sometimes things fail shortly after the warranty expires. That's life, and sometimes you get shafted. No product is perfect and sometimes circumstances conspire to screw you.

go ahead and twist the knife why don't you? i know this. i am not necessarily attacking the iPod but instead apples policy. i can't help but feel like i have a right to question apple's answer to my problem.

[Flounder]

I'm not trying to twist the knife at all. I'm just pointing out that in theese situations, getting pissed off is rarely constructive.

For the iPod $20

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer.../BIPOD550MV30/

For the nano $20

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer...y/BIPOD450M1N/

[levyrat]

I appreciate the links and the heads up on battery replacement. as far as the anger management advice, i feel like my post was rather level headed.

again, thanks for the iPod advice. no thanks for the life lessons. i'll go somewhere else for those.

[gwoodpecker]

Originally Posted by levyrat

I appreciate the links and the heads up on battery replacement. as far as the anger management advice, i feel like my post was rather level headed.

again, thanks for the iPod advice. no thanks for the life lessons. i'll go somewhere else for those.

It's always a bad experience when something breaks a short while after the warranty period is over, but as Flounder said, this can unfortunately happen to people around the world. So don't take it personally, ok?

For the next iPod please consider buying the AppleCare extended warranty package. That covers the battery and all the rest for two years. I must admit, though, that my iPod mini's battery failed about a month after the extended warranty period was over, after about 25 months, that is. So I went out to buy a replacement battery and I'm happy again.

[levyrat]

[QUOTE=gwoodpecker;1027920So don't take it personally, ok? [/QUOTE]

i didn't take anything personal but his desire to pass on the "well, you know jr., life sucks" advice.
i mean really - thanks for the wisdom captain obvious.

good day.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by levyrat

i didn't take anything personal but his desire to pass on the "well, you know jr., life sucks" advice.
i mean really - thanks for the wisdom captain obvious.

good day.

I pretty much agree with levyrat on this one. A $200 CE item failing after a year is not a c'est la vie moment.

If it were me, and it were an item made by, say, Sony, and Sony's answer to my inquiries amounted to "get a new one", I would be royally pissed. Especially if said failure were along the lines of a known issue. Would getting royally pissed make it better? Of course not, but royally pissed I would be.

And if I posted on a Sony enthusiast board with something along the lines of "WTF?!", and the seasoned old Sony hands were like "dude, chill, shit happens", I might get the impression that Sony enthusiasts were kinda inured to low standards and draw some conclusions from that about how things were going in Sony quality-control land.

[Flounder]

What can I say, I'm a very mellow person, and it looked like he needed to mellow (I personally wouldn't describe "liar liar, pants on fire" as level-headed).

I gave you helpfull information; you could have just said thanks.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by Flounder

What can I say, I'm a very mellow person, and it looked like he needed to mellow (I personally wouldn't describe "liar liar, pants on fire" as level-headed).

I gave you helpfull information; you could have just said thanks.

Being a mellow person, you may never have had the experience of having something go badly, maddeningly wrong, and as you are standing there trying to decide whether or not to kill the cat or throw the iron through the window, the helpful mellow person says: "Relax. Take a breath. Life's too short."

Which while excellent advice in an abstract kind of way, in fact makes up your mind as to your course of action: use the cat to kill the mellow guy an knock him through the window with the iron.

[levyrat]

Originally Posted by Flounder

I gave you helpfull information; you could have just said thanks.

and you could have just given me helpful advice. looks like we're even.

thanks addabox, for taking my words for what they were instead of trying to make me feel like an naive asshole.

[Flounder]

Originally Posted by levyrat

thanks addabox, for taking my words for what they were instead of trying to make me feel like an naive asshole.

I was trying to be helpful and friendly

[levyrat]

let's move forward shall we? i have thanked you already but i will thank you once again because you did something that apple failed to do - you offered a solution other than buying a new iPod. that was the original topic of this thread and i want to address this.

1. they told me that since i didn't live near an "apple store" then i would have to send it in. therefore ...

2. it would cost as much as a new iPod to fix mine.

3. they never even mentioned the fact that a new battery was available online or better yet, at my local, apple certified, comp usa. not even a mention that comp usa could at least determine/verify the problem.

so apparently, not only do they fail to steer business to certified dealers (who i am certain pay for the ability to be that) but my geographical location denies me the right to the same services as other iPod owners. i simply don't understand how you can be the most expensive and claim to be the best of all available products while denying your customer some of the most fundamental consumer rights.

that's what this is about - not the fact my iPod needs a battery. apple needs to modify its policies so those of us who chose its more-than-twice-the-price product can feel like it was worth it. because if we are paying more than twice the price for an item that is no better than the competition then why pay more? why wouldn't the consumer want to pay less and receive MORE support and benefits?

[Mr. H]

Hi levyrat. I'm pretty much on your side here: Apple's response possibly sucked. The fact they didn't tell you you could get replacement batteries from third parties definitely sucks. Products should not break after only just over 1 year of use.

However, this may not be a "breakdown" in terms of something going wrong earlier than it should have. If the battery needs replacing, it could be down to battery chemistry, which no-one, even Apple, can avoid. Lithium-Ion batteries have a limited lifetime of 300 - 500 recharge cycles; after that, you need a new one. If the iPod's used every day, it's possible to exceed the recharge cycle lifetime in just over a year.

Originally Posted by levyrat

those of us who chose its more-than-twice-the-price product can feel like it was worth it. because if we are paying more than twice the price for an item that is no better than the competition then why pay more?

Please could you provide a link to the products that offer the same features and capacity as the iPod for half the price?

[levyrat]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

Please could you provide a link to the products that offer the same features and capacity as the iPod for half the price?

i overstretched. i admit - especially when referring to iPods. (note to self: no drinking and posting) but since you asked:
$264.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855102015
compared to:
$240.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855101008

comparable price but half the memory (60gig for Creative Lab vs. 30 gig for iPod) until you realize iPod requires you to buy accessories to voice record and receive FM, therefore pushing cost of owning iPod with half the memory to $345 (iPod radio remote $49, iTalk $49). I think you get my point.

i should avoid generalizations when discussing such issues but we all know you pay more for apple. period. especially home computers/laptops. in spite of my generalization i really don't think anyone can say apple is cheaper or equal with more/same features.

[gwoodpecker]

Originally Posted by levyrat

i should avoid generalizations when discussing such issues but we all know you pay more for apple. period. especially home computers/laptops. in spite of my generalization i really don't think anyone can say apple is cheaper or equal with more/same features.

For sure you're misinformed there: if you compare notebooks (MacBooks) to notebooks from other manufacturers with the SAME specs and the same build quality, Apple's notebooks are usually cheaper! That's a fact. What Apple does not offer is el-cheapo notebook with technology from 2005 with Celeron processors and only 256 MB of RAM. That is a segment where Apple does not want to be.

Also keep in mind that you should only compare 13.3" notebooks to MacBooks - and not those 500 USD notebooks with cheap 15.4" displays... Sony's 13.3" notebooks are usually a bit more expensive, but their processors are usually at least one step down from what Apple offers in their MacBooks. So please compare products with the SAME specs and not apples to oranges.

Speaking of the MacBook Pro: don't even think of comparing a 4 kilograms, 2 inches thick HP or Toshiba 17" so-called notebook to the 3.1 kg MacBook Pro 17" that is only 1 inch thick. They're not the same thing! Miniaturization costs money and nicely designed products also cost more than re-labeled cheapo-plastic OEM notebooks...

The Mac mini on the other side is by far the cheapest ultra-small form factor computer you can buy out there - compared to other models with the same processor and DVI plus optical audio in and out. No other manufacturer packs so much computer into such a small package. Fujitsu-Siemens doesn't, Transtec doesn't, Shuttle doesn't and AOpen doesn't either. Those products are by far more expensive than a Mac mini. Plus the Mac mini is the quietest one. No loud fans there!

Mac Pros are out of question: for the same specs (processor, RAM, etc.) there is NO other workstation that is cheaper than the Mac Pro. HP's and Dell's workstations were and still are ALWAYS about 25 to 30% more expensive than a comparable Mac Pro.

iMacs is a different story: not everyone likes them. I don't either, but that's because I already have a big external display that I want to keep. I think Apple should produce a product placed between the Mac Pro and the iMac (with Intel Core 2 Duo desktop processors). Then the home computer segment would be really comparable.

Long story short: your point about Apple being more expensive is not true. There is no "real" home computer (as most PC users understand it: tower without display) that could be compared to other offers, but in every other segment (including iPods), Apple's offers are indeed at least equally expensive, if not (in some cases a lot) cheaper.

P.S. And don't even think about self-built PCs and their prices. That is apples vs. oranges. No warranty for the whole box, no well-built case, etc. etc. in most cases. Of course such a PC would be cheaper - and maybe also faster. But to be fair we always have to compare products from "real" manufacturers. Otherwise - again - it would not be a 1 : 1 comparison.