Mp3 player Nightmare....

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-15-2004
Mp3 player Nightmare....
19
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 9:52am

Jean, you are not alone with your itunes nightmare...

I asked for and got a Rio Chiba 256 mp3 player for Christmas. I wasn't overly pleased with it but it did the job. On a run the week after we moved into our condo, the volume button got stuck and it wouldn't work. I called Rio and got an RMA and sent it back.

The replacement got here quickly except that it was a different version. The one I got as a gift was essentially hard drive storage and all you had to do was drag and drop music. The one they sent required Rio software AND it was obviously a refurb because the battery compartment didn't snap on correctly. I was upset and called the company and they said it was a mistake and they would send me a new one. When I sent my original back, I sent the attachment clip with it and when they sent me a replacement, I did not get another clip so I requested that as well. They did send me an airbill so I could send it back on their dime, which was nice.

I got the replacement clip the very next week, but no mp3 player. I waited another week or so and then emailed the supervisor that I had spoken to. She wrote me back a confusing email that said there had been a mistake but she had taken care of it and I should be getting it shortly. I asked for clarification but never got a response.

I waited another two weeks. No mp3 player.

I called again last week and requested to speak to a supervisor immediately. I learned that the Chiba 256 is backordered and obviously, no one bothered to tell me. I asked if there was a different model they could send as I've been without my player for about two months now. (And you guys know... an mp3 player is almost as important as water to a gymrat.) She said they could send me a Rio Cali 256 AND she would send an accessory kit with a clip and an armband. Woo-hoo! I got my UPS confirmation that stated it would be delivered yesterday.

Last night around 6 p.m., UPS came to my house with the eagerly anticipated packages and I opened it right up. They sent me a Cali 128 MB. I was so frustrated. This should NOT be that hard. In all fairness, I have been using DH's mp3 player which is a 128 mb and I'll be the first to admit that I was spoiled by the 256. It seems like I go through the songs on a 128 in no time.

DH said he would call Rio to deal with it since I don't even think I could speak coherently to those people anymore. :( I will never ever buy a Rio product again.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2003
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 10:26am

Just get an IPod ;)

Seriously, though, I love my IPod mini. ITunes is free to download, where you can keep all of your music from CDs, illegal P2P networks (hehe), and songs you buy off of ITunes. You can rip any CD to it, you can burn cds from it as well. As far as the IPod goes, it's easy to drag and drop music from ITunes to the IPod (ITunes detects the IPod and shows you what music is on it)- and you can also set it to automatically add any new music to the IPod, when you plug it in. The IPod battery charges through your computer (unless you want to get a dock for it, but it's not necessary) and it comes with the disk which has the software on it, plus the extended version of the user's manual. Plus, I like the wheel control- you can adjust the volume, or skip songs without having to really look at the IPod while you're exercising, or feel around for buttons, etc.

Okay, that's enough for my shill for IPods :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 11:36am
What a headache!





iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 11:41am

iTunes is great, as long as you don't have to deal with their customer service. I love how easy it is to download and use (I have the shuffle).






iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 12:27pm

i agree! plus, you would never have trouble like that with apple customer service. i love itunes and the itunes store, and i've never had any problems with the store like jean did.


i'm not really sure why anyone would buy a digital music player that ISN'T an ipod.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 12:38pm
Have you had good service from Apple customer services?





iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 12:54pm

my earphone covers fell off and i lost them, and i never bothered to put the extra set on because i figured i'd lose those too. once i got used to using the earphones without them, i actually like them better this way.


keep in mind there is itunes (software) and the itunes store (online store). your problems were/are with the store. i've never actually had problems with either, but i know what you are talking about with the difficulty

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 1:04pm

I've gone w/out, too, but didn't know if I needed the covers for some reason.






iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 1:12pm

i have had good customer service from apple regarding their hardware but i've never needed customer service from the itunes store. i have sent and received itunes store credit as a gift without any problem.


as i said, i'm not surprised to hear that it's difficult to speak to a human when dealing with the itunes store -- i've had the same problem with other online stores and services -- but it's not a problem with apple products in general, it's specific to itunes. calling the apple store for help with the itunes store is like calling Silk with a problem about Horizon Milk - they are two different divisions of the same company. they shouldn't be sarcastic to you, but it's also not their fault that you called the wrong place. if itunes service is really bad, they might be getting a lot of those calls complaining about something they have no control over, which might explain why the one guy was testy with you.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 1:25pm
I can understand that they're different divisions and can't necessarily help w/ the other.





iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2003
Tue, 05-10-2005 - 6:18pm
My mini has the black foam things as well- they stay on mine. My problem is, earbuds don't seem to stay put in my ear, foam thingies or no foam things. I need to see if my old headset that's a headband style will work. I don't know that they sell ones that will stay on my ear at the Apple store- not affordable ones anyway. I can't spend $100 on a pair of headphones!

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