Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

[aimster]

The following happened to a friend of mine. She posted it in her Live Journal and gave me permission to post it here. No not a friend of a friend or all that jazz.... I actually know this girl personally.

Yesterday, Charles decided to buy one of the new Apple iTouch. Can't blame him, really, they are pretty sweet. So I've mentioned a couple of times to him that I was thinking of getting a new iPod - the 160G black classic that's just been released in time for the holiday shopping season.

Charles met me at a bar to play poker last night, and I was looking at his new iTouch. It's very very nice. Then he said "Oh and I got this for you" and handed me a boxed-up iPod 160! I was thrilled, of course, it was so unexpected.

I was going to wait and unwrap it when I got home, but decided to break into the package right there and then. I undid the shrinkwrap, opened the box... and pulled out a bag of black sand. No instructions, no headphones, no nothing - just a Ziploc bag filled with black sand.

Charles had bought it at a nearby Circuit City - he took it back and got a refund but not before they had tried to exchange it for an 80G iPod, and kept him waiting for ages while they tried to find a replacement.

According to my new coworker Dave, who also works part-time at the Tampa Apple store, this has been happening a lot. Employees at stores like Circuit City and Target (the two he mentioned specifically) are taking the real iPods out of their boxes, replacing them with things like sand, rocks, sometimes older iPods, and shrinkwrapping them again, since they have access to shrinkwrapping machines in-store.

So, if you're buying an iPod this holiday season, be on the look out. I'm just glad I opened it there and then. Can you imagine if someone had opened that on Christmas Day?

[Hakuna Makarla]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

thats terrible ! you mean the employee;s are doing this?

[aimster]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

Yup

[ksejr1]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

i think ipods suck anyways, bf had an ipod for ony 2years cuz it didnt want to work anymore, he took it to the apple store and they told him that its bound to break down about every 2yrs or so because inside its mechanical

[aimster]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

My friend still has her iPod she got 4 or 5 years ago and it still works great.

[Ginarella]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

Wow, I do open packages before giving them as gifts just to make sure the item is in the box. I would also suggest to get a gift receipt just in case something goes bad on the iPod.

I recently bought the 80G silver for my daughter at Best Buy and something was wrong with view screen. I exchanged it for another one. So far so good. And for an extra $60 you can get the insurance on the iPod. Which is only good for 3 years.

Normally iPods go through wear and tear about average 3 years. And like with anything mechanical or technical you want to take care of it and not abuse it.

[QuietViolet]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

I think they last about three years.. I got one my Jr. Year of High School when they were the new thing to have. It broke my freshman year of college, and I got a replacement one from my boyfriend for Christmas that same year. It still works and all but the battery life is slowly slipping away from it... I dont think I will be getting an ipod to replace this one if it breaks.. I'll invest in a different player cuz I really dont like the short life span issue.

[garbear]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

The employees are really willing to go that low. They just stole little Jimmys first iPod because they were greedy.

[TikiRoomLiz]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

I've had that happen to me before with a cordless phone I purchased at Best Buy, then again all my big purchases at Best Buy have been bad. Because of that when I buy something major I always go to Customer Service and have them open it (right after I bought it) to make sure everything is in there.

[Alchimedes]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

This has happened before with PC computers. Lots of rocks and 2,000 dollars cash were missing at an Office Max my brother worked at a few years ago.
Basically, the store failed to open the box for the Return and check- just like the Ipods.

[Joshrzmeup]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

I know people who work in customer service, so it's no surprise to me that this happened. They get the item shipped to them and it's something else inside or just popcorn foam or something like that.

[DLandFansAZ]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

Because of that when I buy something major I always go to Customer Service and have them open it (right after I bought it) to make sure everything is in there.

I like that, thanks for the advice.

[jane2073]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

I have heard of this happening with the iPods.
You just have to be very careful.

[All Aglow]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

There was a story on this last month here on the news. Someone bought an iPod from a Target and it had light rocks inside. When they took it back and there wasn't a replacement available in the store, they got sent to another Target nearby and got the same thing in their replacement. They finally just got their money back.

[Zeus]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

Couldn't somebody just purchase an ipod, than put a bag of sand in it...take the box back with the sand and get ANOTHER free ipod?

[SusieP.]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

My friend still has her iPod she got 4 or 5 years ago and it still works great.

Mine too. And don't forget that even if your battery is going out, the iPod still works when plugged into your computer, so you can still play music that way, or you can use it as a storage device and keep actual information files on it.

[MollyTrolly]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

iPods have been growing in crime numbers over the past year, from actual units being stolen to people who were victimized while distracted listening to their iPods (especially on public transportation). Its sad that a little music player that brings us such joy can cause people to act so badly.

I am glad your friend was able to exchange it.

[aimster]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

I don't use my Nano every day, so it's probably going to last me a long time. But the people who use theirs nearly 24/7, yeah I can see them wearing out after a few years of constant use like that. I mainly use mine when I work out, lay out by the pool in the summer and long roadtrips in the car. I'm not one who needs to listen to music while grocery shopping.

[Goin2DL]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

My husband works at Costco. They have had quite a few incidents where costomers buy electronics (most often ipods), putting something else in box, shrinkwrapping it, then trying to return it for a refund.

[Jazzman]

Re: Buying a new iPod for Christmas? Read this.

they told him that its bound to break down about every 2yrs or so because inside its mechanical

That's only true of the older iPods. You won't have that problem with newer generations. Battery life, however, is still an issue.

Couldn't somebody just purchase an ipod, than put a bag of sand in it...take the box back with the sand and get ANOTHER free ipod?

This happens quite a lot with electronics, and though people seem quick to blame employees, fraudulent returns are the biggest culprits. We specifically trained our Guest Service team to open and check electronics before returning them. I've seen Playstation boxes returned with bricks in them, software boxes with rocks, and yes, iPod boxes full of rocks, sand or weights. Still, that's no excuse for a guest getting one. Those should always be checked thoroughly and never restocked so this shouldn't be a problem, but of course when you pay teenagers minimum wage you kind of get what you pay for. Vigilance is a shopper's best friend, and the advice offered earlier of checking the item before leaving the store is a great tip.