Last week, Reader Andrew CC’d us on this email to Steve Jobs:
Mr. Jobs -
My name is Andrew [redacted], and I am an Apple consumer, and have been one for my entire life. I’ve been consistently impressed with the computers produced by your company, but have been sadly disappointed by all of my experiences related to your iPods.
I purchased my first iPod, a 10GB second generation model, when it was announced in 2002. It lasted for nearly a year before a hard drive failure caused it to cease working. I decided that it must have been a user error that caused this, and went ahead and purchased a 10GB third generation model shortly thereafter.
This iPod barely managed to survive for another year, I faced issues once I hit the six month mark, but I decided to keep using it until it died altogether. It did die, right when the new fourth generation classic with click wheel was announced.
I bought this iPod with a bit of uncertainty, not sure whether or not it was a good investment. I decided to buy the 40GB model, deciding that perhaps the smaller hard drives in my other iPods were somehow causing them to cease functioning.
Believe it or not, this iPod stopped working as well, a few months after the iPod Shuffle was announced.
Frustrated with my experiences, but still happy overall with Apple, I purchased a 1GB first generation iPod Shuffle, disappointed that I was forced to use it, but happy to have a portable way to listen to my music.
After about a year and a half of full functionality, I bought a fourth generation 20GB iPod off of eBay, and was pleased when I received it and it functioned perfectly. I used my iPod Shuffle and my classic iPod for nearly a year, when they both stopped working while I was doing work overseas. Stuck in another country with hours of train rides ahead of me, without any way to listen to my music, was enough impetus for me to buy the brand-new iPod directly from Apple as soon as I got back to the States. As luck would have it, the iPod Classic was announced a few weeks before I flew home, and I bought the 80GB model.
The same day I received it, the iPod showed signs of a corrupted hard drive, flashing notifications that “this disk cannot be read or written to” when I tried to sync it with my iTunes. I had to head overseas for more work at that point, and left the iPod at home to take care of upon my return. In late November I was home again and called AppleCare, explaining the issue. The next day I received a box, and soon thereafter I sent it back to Apple. (See repair number [redacted]) After about a week, I was contacted and told that there was nothing wrong with my iPod. Assuming that the problem must have fixed itself, I eagerly awaited the return of my iPod. Once I received it, I began to sync it to my iTunes, and the same exact error appeared, accompanied by a hard reset on the iPod. This occurred each time I attempted to sync it. Figuring the issue must be with my computer, I borrowed a friend’s iPod, but it had no problem syncing with my music library.
Mr. Jobs, over the past five years I have owned six iPods and spent roughly $1495 on the five I purchased directly from Apple. That’s $299 per year on iPods alone. In that same amount of time I have owned one Apple desktop computer and two Apple laptops, all of which still function perfectly.
My work has me traveling around the world constantly, and being able to listen to my music or watch my videos is a beginning to become an unattainable luxury for me as opposed to a convenience. In the past I have enthusiastically endorsed Apple products to the scores of people I meet every week. My experiences with my iPods are beginning to make me question my loyalty.
Mr. Jobs, all I ask from you is one iPod that works. That’s all I want.
Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Andrew
Today, Andrew contacted us with the following update.
Consumerist –
Late last week week I CC’d you on an to Steve Jobs regarding my problems with iPods over the past several years. A few days after my email was sent, I was contacted by an Executive Customer Service rep who, after a few days of phone tag, got me to explicitly describe the malfunction of my current iPod. After about twenty minutes of going into explicit detail, I was told that Apple would get back to me before Monday.
Today I was emailed an article from their support site, along with a few general suggestions for idiots (i.e. “are you running the latest version of iTunes?” “did you try restoring your iPod?”). I was told to call one of the executive relations reps directly. Over the phone I had made it clear that I have been an Apple consumer for many years and am familiar with all their general troubleshooting, and have browsed the support articles already. I’ve attempted to call the number I was given many times, and the representative has been unable to be reached all day.
I’ll give her a couple more days before I email Jobs again. My experience thus far has proved that Apple’s “Executive Customer Relations” department is a joke.
Hope this helps, if you’re considering covering yet another Apple customer’s story.
Sincerely,
A.
Yikes, Andrew. That is a shocking amount of iPods. Maybe its time for um, another brand of mp3 player? We suggest that you keep persisting in your attempts to get your (latest) iPod repaired. If you send it back enough times you can play the “lemon” card. Anyone else have advice for Andrew?
(Photo:Maulleigh)
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Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice three times four times five times six times, shame on me.
Edward Magnethands.
Still rockin’ my 2d gen 10GB iPod.
One thing not mentioned is whether or not he’s invested a lot in music purchased off iTunes. If so, he’s pretty much stuck buying these over and over. Though with that kind of failure rate, he must be made out of magnets…
We keep saying we’ll buy an iPod for my wife when her Rio Cali dies. It’s been dropped, flung into walls, soaked in her purse, pretty much abused for the last four years. It just keeps coming back for more!
Has this dude tried restoring the ipod? You could use the restore function in iTunes or open up Disk Utility and just wipe the hard drive then reinstall using the Itunes restore function.
I have a 1st gen, 3rd and new one…all work great.
I am guessing user error, this is beyond coincidence.
my little Phillips mp3 player is still rockin’. It was half the $ than for an Ipod and no need for Itunes junk.
plust I love the whole touch screen style it has.
I still have my original first generation iPod purchased in January 2002. Eighteen months ago, my wife dropped it off the back of a motorcycle going 35 MPH. I found it in pieces strewn across the road. The back cover had popped off at impact, as had the scroll wheel (mechanical back in those days).
When I reached down to pick it up I could see that it was still playing. I did end up having to replace the battery which was dented but everything just snapped back together and continues to work well to this day. I have moved on to an iPhone and my wife has a nano but my stepson still uses the original on a regular basis.
FYI – Apple did replace my iPhone due to a touch screen problem but that experience was without a doubt the best customer service I have ever experienced from any retailer (The human being who answered my call at 1.800.MY.IPHONE was even in the same city (Boise, Idaho).
The Creative Zen Xtra (30 GB) I got about 3.5 years ago still works perfectly, save needing a new battery (which is user replaceable!).
Granted, this thing has taken abuse up to dropping about 6 ft onto concrete with forward momentum while the drive was spinning; the only damage was cosmetic.
I personally no longer use it – I upgraded to a Zen Vision:M last year – but my younger sister has it and it is still quite awesome. As mentioned above, you ought to consider another brand.
I bought a gmini 400 like 3 or 4 years ago. No bloatware required to install music (just copy the mp3s into the music folder). No hacks required to use it as a hard drive. Video playback. Integrated CF card reader. User hacked to play Sega Master System and Nintendo games. Still works today.
Good luck with your Ipod.
I have three iPods from 2002 to last year. They all work fine. Andrew has lemon-luck I guess.
I have the original 1st gen 5G FW, 1st gen shuffle, and 4th gen 20GB U2. My GF has 1st gen 5G, a 2nd gen shuffle, 4th gen 20GB, and an 80GB 5.5th gen. All of them work. Two of them have been serviced (swapped out) for cosmetic defects, but there have been no actual product failures.
Three of his iPods failed under warranty. He should have gotten them serviced! This alone would have cut his iPod expenditures in half. Additionally, if he was having bad luck with his iPods, he should have invested in iPod AppleCare for the expensive ones, to give them another year of warranty.
If you have a product UNDER WARRANTY that fails, but you don’t do anything about it, then you complain about it later, you deserve no sympathy. All electronics will fail over time, and it is unfortunate, but not impossible to get a streak of 5 bad products in a row. But that’s why products have warranties and extended service plans. That is how Apple stands behind their products, and Andrew didn’t give them a chance to show him
@ZekeSulastin: The Creative Zen line is amazingly durable. My 6GB Micro has taken horrible abuse because I’m such a klutz, and it’s still going after the several years I’ve had it. It isn’t exactly the prettiest little thing now, admittedly, but I’d have probably murdered a dozen iPods in that time frame.
I screwed up my mini after nearly three years I left the cord connected in my pocket and did something bad to the logic board. My suggestion is to get $5 silicone case for your ipod and you can drop it all the time with little problems.
Did I mention that the iPod Photo that has lasted me four years also fell out of my Explorer at ~50 miles per hour, (slid across the dashboard in a curve and flew out the window) tumbled for 100 feet on the asphalt shoulder, and has played just fine for two more years?
Of course, I don’t leave it on the charger all day, leave it in hot cars all day, subject it to freezing temperatures, or run the battery to nothing regularly…
Batteries and hard drives treat you well if you treat them well…even with the occasional mishap.
@ludwigk: Three of his iPods failed under warranty. He should have gotten them serviced!
Well, that would ruin the narrative of Apple being a bad company. Which they are, by and large, not.
6 ipods in 5 years. He must have drank some bad water somewhere.
@backbroken: Buy a Zune.
Which uses the same components and is built alongside the iPod in China.
The top-tier company that specs the product has almost nothing to do with end-user quality. Microsoft, Sandisk, Apple…they all use many of the same components. In the case of the Zune and the flash-based iPods, most of the components are the same. So pick what you will – just don’t expect a Microsoft product to somehow be light years ahead of the Apple product in quality.
I practice the Trickle down mp3 player theory. My Brother has my first Ipod (30GB) – still in use and about 5 yrs old, my old 60gb photo – 3 years old is still running. I did have to reset it frequently though, kept trying to over fill the drive. It doesn’t like that.
and my newest is the 80GB 5-gen video that is about 1.5 yrs old. I thinks this is the proper size for me – i’ve not yet crashed it by over filling.
all working.
I have been pleased. I do however always buy them with my American express card for the double the warrantee deal.
I want to know what the hell people do to their ipods. I’ve got a 3g ipod that is still going strong after 4 years. Heck, my older brother’s 2g ipod is 5+ years old and went through two tours of duty in Iraq, and it still works just fine.
@DJC.: sounds like you need a case for your mp3 players (and to be more careful with them). Also, might want to try flash players in the future.
Plus, how serious are these drops? Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve dropped by ipod 5-10 times while working out (over the course of 4 years), and I’ve still not had a problem with it.
I have 6 iPods and they ALL still work, (including a 2nd gen) Sounds like Andrew needs to switch brands, stop breaking iPods and move to Vegas to become a “cooler”. Thats some crappy luck.
Go get a Zune, Andy.
Has he taken any of them to the apple store to hand over to a genius for diagnosis? That’s the first step for me. Show them the problem, an answer typically follows. Something is missing from this story. I’ve had three ipods since 2003 and not a single one of them ever failed. If you drop them, they will break.
Hard drives die, it’s just a matter of time [especially those small ones]. I explain this to every customer that walks into our store who is considering purchasing one of the big Pods. Mainly to the ones that are looking for an armband for their Video Pods [a big no-no]. Also, that they have a 1 year warranty and Apple will generally replace it unless there is a crack or dent on the Pod. This comment from the OP:
“This iPod barely managed to survive for another year, I faced issues once I hit the six month mark, but I decided to keep using it until it died altogether. It did die, right when the new fourth generation classic with click wheel was announced.”
Why not get it replaced under the warranty? Why continue to use something that is essentially broken from the get-go and then complain when it finally “dies”? And further more, why does Apple require you to buy an upgrade to your OS every couple of years which is required by a new version of an iPod just to make your shiny new iPod work [yet it will work on a 5 year old version of XP]? Well it’s about the bottom-line: your money.
And even further more, being such an unlucky fellow, why the hell didn’t you ever buy the additional 2-year iPod warranty? It’s not really a scam when you go through 6 of them in such a short period of time.
I get plenty of people coming in to replace their batteries or or screen on their 3rd, 2nd, and even 1st gen. iPods. They take care of their quipment but more than likely or some of the lucky few.
Wait a minute, I just thought of something else to bitch about, why didn’t you ever try to get any of these iPods fixed until the last one? While traveling the world you must have come across at least a few Apple stores or are otherwise able to search google for some sites that will do it for you or some guides that will help you help yourself.
You might as well put on a condom after you’ve had sex and then write a letter to her father telling him it’s because of his daughters faulty ovaries.
My ipod shuffle is two years old. I’d be happy to send it to Andrew. I HATE Apple products with a vengeance ever since I walked into an Apple store with money in hand to pick up an item for an Apple loving friend who sent me there to get it for him. I was wandering around the store for 20 minutes waiting for one of their geek staff to help me. What do they do instead? They go and help the other two people who come in AFTER me.
I had enough. I went to the first one who was free and gave him an earful. Not an acknowledgement nothing. And I spent over 300$ picking up whatever it was I was picking up.
Want a shuffle?
if you didnt do anything wrong, then youre an idiot for constantly buying the same product over and over again. By the 2nd time, dont you think you should have tried another brand?? there are better players out there.
In my household we have EIGHT iPods. All work great, thank you very much.
This guy sounds like someone who should invest in Applecare and double the warranty on his products and also get him TWO years of support.
Funny, my original ipod 20GB with click wheel still works like a champ.
What gives with his endless ipod malfunctions? User error?
two words…extended warranty.
iPods have a 33% fail rate…just buy the effing warranty, and you would have spent about a third as much on your iPods.
Even if you don’t want to do that, if they die inside a year, SEND THEM BACK don’t just buy new ones…what’s wrong with you?
hmm, my original Creative Nomad is still working perfectly, over a decade later? Perhaps you should choose a company that’s more interested in engineering than the flavor of their cases.
@North of 49: you are an ass. Ask for help, or get a job in retail for a week before you start yelling at people.
You are the kind of person that makes my job hell some days.
My 3G 15GB iPod lasted nearly two years and it was a constantly rocky ride. My Zen Vision:M is now 18 months old and I’ve had absolutely zero issues with it, aside from Creative’s rubbish software. No contest as to whom I’ll be buying my next MP3 player from.
Andrew, you seem to be suffering from hard drive issues. The iPod Shuffle lasted pretty long for you from what you read and it is flash memory based.
Invest in an iPod Nano, or any flash-based memory player, I trust them much more than hard drive players because of the fact there are no moving parts.
@GEli: The 1.8″ HDD’s you find in mp3 players spin at 4200 rpm (or maybe even slower), not 7200 rpm. 7200 rpm is the upper end for the notebook-sized 2.5″ drives. But the point you make is dead on. This is a case of a little bad luck and a lazy/stupid consumer.
Sometimes I get the impression some Apple customers not only expect that the standard off-the-shelf components that Apple uses (HDD, mobo, processor, graphics card, lcd panel, battery, etc) are sprinkled with some magical fairy dust that makes they magically better (must be something left over from the magical PowerPC days), but also that His Steveness will personally solve all their problems.
I got a Creative Jukebox Nomad Zen Xtra (and I’m sure I ordered those names wrong and left about 8 out) in August of..05 I suppose, and despite numerous drops and basically living in the junkyard that is my backpack, still chugging along with the occasional hiccup. (Just couldn’t bother with a program that forced you to use their software).
I’m not saying Andrew should buy the one I have, even if it’s still available. What I am saying is, though, that other brands are out there, and can be arguably better than iPods.
@ludwigk: That’s what, six iPods? Who needs SIX, even between two people?
Solution:
Step 1: Go to local China Town IT store
Step 2: Buy knock off for 1/10th the cost (they work wonderfully)
Step 3: Go to thepiratebay.org
Step 4: Fill iPod for free
Step 5: Send these instructions to Steve Jobs and inform him that you will no longer be needing assistance from Customer Service
Step 6: Pass these instructions on to your friends.
Happy, pappy?
I have had at least five different mp3 players, including a second generation Ipod. There was a Sony, Archos, Creative Nomad Jukebox and another one which I can’t remember. The only ones that still work to this day are all except the Ipod and the Archos Av400. Ipod died first, within 2 years of purchase and the Archos crapped out because the battery tanked and I didn’t want to send it to the company for a replacement. That being said, no more Ipods for me. Evah.
I fifteenth or whatever the notion that this person might have been abusing his ipod(s) and not taking advantage of the warranty.
Without a warranty, my clickwheel iPod died after about two years. The cause? hard drive failure. The real cause? Me dropping it onto concrete about 15 times. Without a case.
it’s possible he enjoys using an ipod, and not other players. comparing an ipod to my friend’s Sansa e250 (I think that’s the model; it’s basically a SanDisk nano)…. iPod, ipod ipod ipod. ipod? ipod!
Perhaps he should get himself tested for some sort of personal electromagnetic disturbance? I’ve had trouble with iPods, but they’ve always been battery related. The hard drives and flash memory all worked great. In fact, my fiancee has my old 30G iPod Photo, and aside from being scratched to illegibility and hell, and an unreasonably short battery life, it works beautifully.
In fact, my even-older 1st gen Mini still works. The battery even holds a charge for 3 full minutes… usually.
iPod zombie. After the second one he should have been done.
And maybe talk to a therapist–
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
@Crazysamz: Wow.. can you tell the future? Aince the Zune was released in November of ’06… that means it’s hardly been out long enough for you to tell us if it wil last longer or not. And if this person has a problem with environment, it might not last any longer at all. I know people still using their 1st and 2nd gen iPods, I myself have a particularly ancient Rio, as well as 3 iPods that all work, and 2 of those iPods predate the Zune by quite a bit.
sorry for all the trouble you are having man. I have a 4th Gen, 20GB model that luckily is still jamming away. I want to get a video, or even a tough for that matter, but won’t until this one kicks the bucket. It did have a defective battery, but it was replaced due to the recall.
Hmmm, my 4G 20GB lasted a good three years, until I spilled rootbeer in my purse at a family reunion (I’m not very coordinated). Afew weeks after the sticky bath it called it quits (I had afew scares and ressurections in that time). It was a free iPod (oh yes, I did that stuff), and after its demise, I bought a zune.
Even though microsoft has recently launched a new zune, I love my clunky pink 1G zune.
Oi vei. This is some serious bad luck. In our household we have a first gen 5gb ipod, a 1st gen 1g shuffle, a 2nd gen 7gb nano, and a 3rd 20gb gen ipod and they all have worked fine since the day of purchase. I’m not saying ipods are flawless as I’ve heard the horror stories, but 5 ipods thats all fail, you’re doing it wrong is the only thing I can think of.
Um here is some advise, don’t buy apple computers cuz they ain’t got no gahems.
BURN!
I’m amazed at how many people are pushing extended warranties. The moral of the story: You know it’s not going to work, so spend extra to make sure you can get it fixed. Then wait for it to break again. Why not just not spend the money at all?
I feel bad for the guy. My 60 gig iPod Photo that I got when it was brand new is still working like a charm. If my iPod had failed on me there’s no way I’d have gotten another one considering its the only piece of Apple hardware I’ve ever owned.
Buy a Zune. In the course of one year I have dropped in water, dropped on the sidewalk, had it thrown around the car in an accident which dented the case and had it stolen and recovered less than a week later and it works fine. I gave up on the iPod after my 3rd one.
Not to mention it does everything an iPod does, has an FM tuner, allows me to take music from other Zune users and never lets me down. It may not be as popular or pretty as an iPod, but I’ve found that looks and popularity mean about as much as it did in High School.
Time to move on and get something else.
Myself I’m having massive troubles with RCA. First MP3 player I had of RCA, the casing just cracked all over with normal use – it looked like I had crushed it and yet I didn’t. So I returned it to Circuit City (I know I know) and these guys just go “Oh we don’t fix that, we exchange it. But that model is not manufactured anymore so we can exchange it for another and you pay the difference”
There was none with the same price, at least none that would have a screen at the same price. I don’t care about MP4 capabilities, I have a PSP for that. I just wanted a decent looking menu. Now, of course, I had to pay the difference. I went from a 90 bucks to a 130 bucks. Yay. They even dared increase my instore guarantee’s cost.
But that new MP3′s nothing better. This is the THIRD ONE of that model I get. First one died and would not turn on anymore. I get it exchanged. Second one does similar crap but randomly. If I would plug it on the USB it would turn on for a couple times. I go back to get it exchanged (Only had it for 3 days) and the clerk start babbling that I probably put a MP3 with a virus on my player. Obviously he thinks that serving a girl means you can try to pull any shitty excuse you can imagine because they don’t know technology or something. Nevertheless they give me a new one.
It was broken right out of the box. Whenever I touch the headphone jack, the radio SCREAMS buzzes in my head. Doesn’t do that with MP3s thankfully. RCA? You suck!!
I give up. I’m now saving to go buy a new player of another brand somewhere else.
I have an iPod that is a little over two years old. It has worked fine until it met Vista. Ever since then, it’s hit or miss as to whether it will synch (or even be recognized) by iTunes. I tried working with Apple and the folks at ZoneLabs that make my Internet security suite. All that they were able to conclude was that *something* had to be conflicting with the iTunes program. They wanted me to run through msconfig and go app by app to figure out which application it might be. Stupid technology.
@hazeljemi:
my ipod is almost three years old and still functioning flawlessly. *knocks on wood*
frankly, i don’t blame Andrew for continuing to try iPoda, even though they continue to poop out on him, simply for the fact that there is no comparable device for the iPod on the market today (just my opinion, of course).
i’ve seen numerous friends go through the same thing, and i think at least part of the reason that their iPods were crapping out on them is that they were downloading songs from random song sites (or Limewire or the like) that might be corrupted somehow. this is something i have never done and will never do.