OK, I have recently had a very unpleasant experience with the guys at AppleCare with my iPod Nano 4th Generation, which was purchased 11 months ago.
So about a week and half ago my iPod for apparently no reason stopped working! I took it to work that morning and during my lunch break wanted to break out a little Jonas Brothers and low and behold my ipod wouldn't turn it on! Keep in mind it was working perfectly fine in the morning while on my way to work. So, I plugged it into my friends charger for a few hours and picked it up when work was over, it turned on whilst plugged in but as soon as it was unplugged it would quickly turned off!
I have had this experience before seeing as how this is my SECOND replacement iPod in less than a year! So, likewise I contacted Applecare and had them send me a box so I can ship it in (my iPod was engraved).
On the Friday before last, July 24th, I shipped the iPod to AppleCare and it was received the next Monday. All was well until that Wednesday before work I decided to give Apple a call just to make sure everything was going the way it planned!
Come to find out that:
A: they diagnosed my ipod and found there was accidental damage, LIQUID to be exact!
B: Shipped the ipod out the NEXT day after it had shipped in.
C. Fedex had received my package here in Chicago that Weds. and I had failed to received.
Now come on Apple! Why not give a complimentary phone call to tell me you were doing this?! I currently stay in a dorm in Chicago and had the ipod sent to my home address which is further south of the downtown area and did not/could not tell my mom to expect the package because I had NO idea they were even shipping it back!
First off, my ipod had NEVER been submerged in water and I have never used it with wet hands so I knew right away that Apple was pulling a bunch of bull shit!
So, my mom picked up my ipod at the local Fedex branch and returned it to me.
I called Apple Customer Care tonight and spoke with a young, kinda cute sounding 20-something "Supervisor Product Specialist" named Britton who told me there was rusting and corrosion on the ipod charger port. He examined the "pictures" and said there was nothing he could do since this was "Accidental" damage.
I kindly explained to him that the ipod was never submerged. He then asked me if I exercise with my ipod. I said yes but only when using this, so not to get sweat on it:
He stated that sometimes while the ipod is in one of the running holsters it can become "humid" and cause rust. I did not deny this as I can see how this is possible, however if this is true then Apple should either:
A: make the ipod more "humid" proof.
B: create running holsters that don't add the extra "humidity".
How is any of this "Accidental damage". The product is made exclusively FOR the purpose of being able to access your ipod while exercising, if it does not do this without damaging the product then either the ipod is faulty or the holster is. Applecare should cover this and give me a replacement or refund since this SHOULD constitute as normal wear and tear!
The holder is made by Belkin, maybe I should contact them and tell them their product causes corrosion in ipods after extensive usage, I'm not quite sure what to do. But like hell I'm buying a new ipod!
All I know is that I now have a useless ipod and not another $200 to buy a new one.
Applecare is a bunch of BULLSHIT!!!
