I own a 4th Generation Ipod Nano which was a Christmas present so is only 9 months old. The other day it started playing up, the buttons stopped working and then the screen went mental showing streaks and two large blobs with nothing of any use displayed.

I popped online and looked into what I could do about it. As the Ipod is only 9 months old I knew it was still under warranty and so wanted to send it to Apple to get it fixed. The process for doing so was very straight forward and I received a UPS back and protective packaging and arranged for UPS to pick up the device. Apple informed me they had received it and would get their engineers to look at it. A good experience so far but then it went downhill when I received the following email from Apple.

“Dear Christopher,

Thank you for choosing AppleCare Service.

Your IPOD NANO (4TH GENERATION) has been inspected by Apple technicians, who have determined that it has been subjected to accidental damage or misuse, which is not covered by the warranty or an Apple service contract. Therefore your product is being returned to you unrepaired. You should expect to receive it within two business days along with a letter that gives details of this assessment. ”

Before I continue I must state that I have not knowingly misused the Ipod and I am  not aware of anytime when the Ipod has been damaged by accident other than once months ago which had no impact on the ipod functioning. Given this, I took serious offense at being told that I am either lying and have knowingly broken the Ipod and want to get Apple to fix it for free

I understand that alot of people probably try to get their Ipods fixed when they have knowingly damaged it but I havent and feel Apple should have a friendlier more customer focused approach to product repairs. If they’d have said that it would cost me a reduced fee of say £30 to fix the item I would probably have paid it but instead I get an ipod back that doesnt work. What’s the point in that? It seems I have no options other than buying a new Ipod.

If they are sending me a letter documenting their findings then why cant they put this information in the email so I know why they are sending the Ipod back. The email strikes me as non negotiable which given my above statement about not knowing of any point recently where the Ipod has been misused or damaged, I feel shockingly treated.

Now Im now Apple evangelist but I do like their work, however this whole experience has made me question whether I will buy another of their products. Ipods arent cheap, in fact they are more expensive than other MP3 players out there. I expected my Nano to last me a good number of years. My pervious Mp3 player, a Sony NW-HD5 lasted years and still works. It was only replaced by my Nano because I wanted something smaller.

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One Response to “Apple Customer Care Sucks”

1. Bryce says:

   September 26, 2009 at 2:49 am

   I have been through 4 ipod touches , all I have to say is dont take no for an answer and bitch about on the phone (not literally)the 4th ipod i was sent was a upgrade from the one i “used” to have before it was a ipod touch 3g 32gb NEW IN BOX but woops defective 4 dead pixels and light through the bezel \,also had pry marks on the case like it had been taken apart forcefully….. DONT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER

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