As some of you may have seen, this morning my Facebook status update reads - Greg's 5th generation 30Gig video iPod appears to have become mute. It no longer is capable of producing any sound via the headphone jack and via the connector on the bottom. For all intents and purposes it is dead as an mp3 player. RIP Avalon November 2006 - September 2009.
I was quite sad. But now I am not. And why, might you ask, am I no longer sad and morning my iPod? Because of this -
So after playing around with every permeation last night, I determined that my iPod was incapable of producing sound anymore. Everything else worked fine. I updated to iTunes 9. I have all the latest updates from Windows. I restored the iPod to manufacturing settings and wiped it. Tried connecting it through the dock and through the headphone jack and no sound. This morning I went to Google and entered - iPod classic no sound - and found
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1095417&start=375&tstart=0
26 pages of discussion about this problem. Apparently there is a defect in this batch of iPods. If I press down firmly on the bottom right-hand side of the iPod, I can get sound to play. With static. And it stops once my thumb stops pressing. But looking around on the forum, I saw that Apple was replacing the iPods for free.
So I called the customer service number that I found on the forum site. Talked to someone with probably the worst English accent I have ever heard from an Indian in an Indian call center. He had to transfer me to his supervisor. Deneige in the US. She was extremely helpful. She confirmed that this is a soldering problem; that it had come apart. She is replacing my iPod for free. Gave me the phone number and her direct extension. Gave me the case number. Got my address. They are sending a DHS box to me within 2 business days. 7 business days after that I will have a new 30Gig Classic Video iPod. Could not be happier with Apple.
Of course earlier I had also called Dell because I did not get any confirmation that my account had been closed and who still did not receive my letter to cancel my account, despite the fact that I sent it on September 2. The customer service agent managed to cancel my account over the phone and will send me email confirmation. Which I still have not received.
The lesson from today - Apple > Dell.
Apple > Dell
- 17/09/2009 05:36:42 PM
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What was the problem with Dell ? *NM*
- 17/09/2009 05:55:22 PM
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They didn't send him email confirmation of account cancellation. *NM*
- 17/09/2009 06:47:29 PM
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Uh... duh? The issue is when people extrapolate from this that Apple > PC.
- 17/09/2009 06:38:36 PM
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