Does anybody know how much it costs to get an ipod fixed due to water damage? Or has anybody dealt with Apple on returning items? Long story short, I bought an ipod and had been using it while working out. I bought the arm band for running but during my marathon and later a half marathon it died. I took it back to the store where I had the warranty because I thought the battery had just died and needed changed since it wouldn't hold a charge. They just told my brother that its from water damage and they wouldn't cover it. However, since I've never dropped it in water, or had it in the rain, this is a crap excuse to me. I find it hard to believe that sweat could cause that, especially since I was using an arm band purchased for that model. Is water damage that distinct that they could say this? Unfortunately the store is in the states (Best Buy) so either I will be fighting over a phone or have somebody go to the store for me. I wouldn't normally argue this, but it was $400 for the ipod and another $65 for the extended warranty. I used it for less than one year before it broke. Thanks in advance for the advice!

Similar thing happened to me. I had my iPod less than a year and the battery just kept dying. I would charge it completely and then get 20 minutes max. I took it to the Apple Store where I bought it and they supposedly ran battery tests and informed me that there was nothing wrong with it. I insisted that they run further tests b-cause the charge would not last. Needless to say, they told me to buy a new charger - which I did - but did not solve the problem. I just gave up and bought a new one. I'm a sucker that way.

You were jogging with one of the iPods that contains a hard drive..? (I'm guessing yes because of the price you mentioned) That's not a good idea in the first place, it would be better to jog with the iPod Shuffle or Nano since there are no moving parts in them.

Yeah, it was the ipod video. We bought it before the nano was big and shuffle was even available. I was told by the store that it was fine for running as long as I used the arm band. Is there a way to tell water damage? Can I argue this? Is it possible that the hard drive just crashed and they are trying to get out of this?

Well HD could have been damaged because of excess movement/shaking. Still I find it crap of them that it's under one year old with extended warranty. I say bug the hell out of them. How about contacting Apple directly? Start a blog and bitch about it and create as much negative publicity as possible if they don't fix it. Do you have household insurance?

I started looking into more information on it tonight and just by googling "best buy ipod water damage" I found I wasn't alone in this I guess they throw down the water damage card often to get out of the warranty. So now I plan to call them and see how directly calling them a liar works for me. I figured worst case situation is that they don't fix my ipod which leaves me... well, right where I am now. Maybe by telling them how much they suck I will feel better about myself. Best Buy is a big electronics store in the states though so I had imagined I wouldn't get scammed on this one. Lesson learned!

I know best buy. Is the warranty not global on Apple products?

It's global but you have to return it to a Best Buy store and not an Apple one, so I have to ship it back to the states because I don't know of a Best Buy around here.

I bought an ipod in the apple online store in Switzerland, and they kept replacing it while the warranty lasted (must have had 4 or 5 replacements.... either the battery was having problems, or the ipod just died, or i drop it on the floor....) All i had to do was to call the customer service, explain the problem and return it. Either Apple level of service decreased dramatically or the warranty you get through the dealers is not the same....... I now have a nano that never gave a problem (lets touch on wood, knock, knock, knock....).

abzurich I would try approaching Apple Switzerland.

Take it over to DataQuest and see if they can do something for you. You probably registered it with iTunes when you bought it, so they'll likely have a record of it.

My wife's iPod Nano died completely a year or so ago. I spent a while, I think it was around an hour working on finding the right way to report the problem through the Apple website. After a bit I found the site, and was able to identify our issue as a known one: If you don't charge it at least once in a while it will eventually run down to the point where it can't boot even enough to start the charging operation when you plug it into the charger.

Anyhow, this is clearly a design issue, but one they know about. The policy is to replace the iPod. Once I had identified ours as having this issue I wrote up a paragraph describing the problem and submitted it, along with our address, etc.

A couple of nights later the doorbell rang and it was FedEx or UPS or DHL (I can't remember) with a package. They had shipped us a box, and a return envelope with instructions to ship the iPod to Dublin. We filled out the forms and arranged for the shipping company to come back and get it the next day.

Within a week we had a brand new iPod Nano. There was no charge, they payed for shipping in both directions.

-mark

Is the "extended warranty" an Apple product? If so, just ignore the Best Buy middleman. My US-purchased iPod packed in twice in Ireland, and I had no problems having it shipped off under Apple's warranty services (ok, not the extended one) to Apple Ireland. In fact I was very impressed how the UPSed me an empty box, which I in turn UPSed back to them on their dime. Once I had reached my third iPod, they wrote to me at my Irish address trying to sell me the extended warranty. I didn't bother. Phew.

It certainly doesn't sound like your iPod has any water damage. I've never heard of this happening from sweat before. I assume they're just making up excuses so they can claim that you are no longer covered under the warranty.

At any rate it sounds like either a battery or a hard drive issue. I would be happy to take a look at it for you. I run an iPod repair business. My company website is:

www.fargotripod.com

If you are interested in sending it in just fill out the repair form and we'll send you all the information you need along with a free quote on the cost of repairs. It sounds like we should be able to get your iPod working like new again in no time at all. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
John
Fargo triPod

There are naturally a number of issues with sending an iPod (or anything else) to the USA for repairs - like shipping, customs and potential loss. Mine was made in and shipped from China anyway...

Yes, you are right about the hassle of shipping it to the United States. Though it still may be a better option than trying to dispute it with Apple or Best Buy. Maybe you could find a repair business located in your area.