Lack of Quality Control: new iPods

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
I received my iPod nano two weeks ago only to notice the viewing screen was very badly out of line with the body of the nano (a two year old playing with Legos could do better), which created a very irritating set of triangular lines that makes viewing video difficult. Went to the shop a few days later to exchange it only to find that every nano in the shop had the same problem. I went online to Apple's discussion boards and many people are complaining and have been, almost from day 1. Apple Japan (go figure) claimed they were unaware of any problem with the devices so I suggested they should read the discussion boards.



The shop I bought mine at pulled all of their stock of nanos and returned it to Apple. The Sony device now sits on the iPod shelf and is selling quickly; none of the Sony's have problems, the shop said. Several nano customers had already brought them back, and the customers switched brands, remarking about Apple's low quality despite the higher price premium.



The iTouch also seems to have its share of problems and my local shop has already alerted Apple that they will closely inspect all future Apple products before putting them on sale.



The touches were supposed to go on sale yesterday, but have been delayed a week...



What has happened to Apple?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    not only that, but my touch was supposed to ship on the 28th and it still hasn't shipped. but i think there's a delay when updating that stuff.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    Follow up:



    Had a great opportunity to speak with an Apple district sales rep today when he came in to my local shop. Though I will post notes about this mostly positive talk elsewhere, we discussed the nano issue and the answer was NOT GOOD.



    According to the rep, Apple is well aware of the tilted screens on the nanos and has taken NO ACTION to correct the issue, now more than a couple of months after the issue first came to light. They continue to sell them as is. Is this morally right or even legal?
  • Reply 3 of 7
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


    Follow up:



    Had a great opportunity to speak with an Apple district sales rep today when he came in to my local shop. Though I will post notes about this mostly positive talk elsewhere, we discussed the nano issue and the answer was NOT GOOD.



    According to the rep, Apple is well aware of the tilted screens on the nanos and has taken NO ACTION to correct the issue, now more than a couple of months after the issue first came to light. They continue to sell them as is. Is this morally right or even legal?



    it's not morally right, but it is legal, it's not a hidden secret that the screen is screwy, and when people buy it they will end up realizing the defects so if they don't want it they can bring it back and if they will live with it they'll keep it.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Apple has district sales reps? Through what channels?
  • Reply 5 of 7
    What I meant was he is the guy in charge of supplying and visiting the local shops that sell Apple and he seems to have a territory.



    This is Apple Japan so things are a little different than they are Stateside.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Ah, Apple Japan. I'm not sure how they're related to Apple Inc.



    I very much doubt that the rep has any inside info past what is knowable in these forums. Not just because he's working for a foreign distributor, but because only those people directly involved with addressing the problem are likely to know anything about it.



    Apple may or may not consider the problem significant. And they may or may not be working on a solution. But a sales rep is completely out of the loop on this sort of thing. He doesn't know when new products will be announced and certainly doesn't know anything about the team of engineers which may or may not have been assigned to work on a manufacturing defect.



    Even people working in Cupertino at the Apple campus have no clue about this sort of thing unless they're working on it directly.



    (This isn't meant as an insult to anyone. It is just my understanding of the way Apple has historically operated.)
  • Reply 7 of 7
    Apple Japan seems to be very different from Apple and until now, I thought they completely sucked. This guy eased some of my concerns, but left the nano wound wide open (I have on with a tilted screen).



    He had some interesting info on a broad range of topics and seemed to be in the know on a few; when he didn't know, he said so. He takes his job very seriously and struck me as the type who remembers almost everything he hears, and one who asks a lot of the right questions.



    We shall see, but if everyone at Apple Japan were as good and well-intended as this guy, their sales would increase dramatically. I hope he doesn't get fired or lose patience with AJ and quit.
Sign In or Register to comment.