iPod repairs

Azio

I dropped my video iPod onto a tile floor the other day. I won't bore everyone with my life story, basically it gives me the "sad" icon and makes clicking noises, so I'm pretty sure the hard drive is fucked. It's just out of warranty so I'm wondering if I should pay the $180 to get it fixed or just buy a new one for $300.

Now, I've heard they don't actually fix these things, and if I send it in they'll just replace it with a refurbished unit. Because a refurb would probably be in better condition than mine was even before I broke it, I'm leaning towards that option. Is it true they'll actually replace my scratched-to-hell iPod with one that's basically new? Does anyone have experience with out-of-warranty iPod repairs?

SoonerMan

$60 in tax? (180 is what you said up there and then 120 down at the bottom.)

I'd say to send it back in and pay the money for the refurbished unit. If you waste the $300 on this one, in the next month you'll find you could have simply waited to get the iPod that makes toaster strudel.

On a similar note, how did you find out how much it would be to send it back for a refurbished one? I have a mini and it works, but I can't get the screen to work. I was just wondering where I can find a number for much the screen fix would be (probably just reconnecting it, it makes black lines and stuff) or a refurbished one. Apple's site gives me the run around too much.

core tactic

Getting the sad icon really isn't a big deal if you know what to do. As long as it turns on, you should be fine. Just put it in disc mode and reformat the hard drive. It should work normally again.

Azio

SoonerMan wrote: »

$60 in tax? (180 is what you said up there and then 120 down at the bottom.)

It's $180 to get the iPod "serviced". It's $300 plus tax for a new one, which is $120 plus tax more than $180.

I'd say to send it back in and pay the money for the refurbished unit.

I would do that, except I'm not entirely sure whether or not they actually replace it with a refurb, or if they just take it apart and fix it. Apple's site does not specify what exactly they will do, but I've heard elsewhere that they replace it. All I really want to know is whether they'll replace it or fix it, because I'm only interested in paying money if it means I'll get a new one.

If you waste the $300 on this one, in the next month you'll find you could have simply waited to get the iPod that makes toaster strudel.

Ugh, don't remind me.

On a similar note, how did you find out how much it would be to send it back for a refurbished one?

I went on apple and went through the entire "request repair service" process except for entering my credit card number. At the end it told me that the repair would be $180 after tax and shipping, which is quite steep for a repair but a complete steal if they're going to send me one that's virtually new.

core tactic wrote:

Jeez are you kidding me? Getting the sad icon really isn't a big deal if you know what to do. As long as it turns on, you should be fine. Just put it in disc mode and reformat the hard drive. It should work normally again.

No, that only works if you're lucky and it has a simple software issue. (I did try it though.) Unfortunately my problem is a bit more catastrophic than that.

Pheezer

They'll probably repair what they can. If they can't repair the hard drive, you'll probably get a new drive in the same casing, with the same battery and everything else as your current iPod. They're not stupid.

Rhino

tl;dr

I just sent mine in to these guys:
http://iresq.com/

I mailed it Monday, they called this morning and got an email this afternoon saying it's already been shipped out.

For replacing scroll wheel and battery: $84.00
Might be kind of high, but so far their service has been Grade A

Hard drives from them are around $200 (give or take 50-75 depending on size).

core tactic

What happens when you put it into disc mode? Does it show up on the computer but you just can't acess it? Or does it just not connect at all?

Azio

core tactic wrote: »

What happens when you put it into disc mode? Does it show up on the computer but you just can't acess it? Or does it just not connect at all?

It won't go into disk mode, most likely because the disk is broken. When I press the appropriate button combination it just throws the sad icon again. The computer can't detect the device because it won't boot up (again with the sad icon).

core tactic

Azio wrote: »

core tactic wrote: »

What happens when you put it into disc mode? Does it show up on the computer but you just can't acess it? Or does it just not connect at all?

It won't go into disk mode, most likely because the disk is broken. When I press the appropriate button combination it just throws the sad icon again. The computer can't detect the device because it won't boot up (again with the sad icon).

Ah. Okay, you're screwed then.

Everywhereasign

It's the hard drive for sure.

My friend returned his and got a refurbished one back. But his was within warrenty. If you're outside warrenty they may just put a refurbished HD in it. They should have a contact e-mail about questions. I remember it saying once that if your ipod was engraved you had to read and agree to a thing that said you might not get the same one back.

If you're just looking for a cheap way to get a "like new" ipod by sending it in for repair, it doesn't sound promising. My friends had small scratches on it when he got is back. According to the letter he got with it, they attempted to find one that matched the "condition" of his. So if yours is scratched to shit, they might just send a scratched to shit one back. Like I said before, this was warrenty work though.

I've heard only good things about ipodresq as mentioned by Rhino though. Price is about the same.

Azio

Sorry for resurrecting the thread, but I figured I'd let everyone know for future reference. I paid $180, mailed the dead one in, and two days later a 100%, brand-spanking-new iPod arrived on my doorstep. Not a scratch on it, so I'm thinking they just sell these things at or very near cost and call it a "repair". In fact, I noticed that before I paid up the Apple support site and all their documentation referred to it as a "repair", but after I put in my credit card number the various confirmation pages and emails had begun referring to it as a "replacement".