4-day-old iPod Classic and PC World

Kilty_2

I bought an iPod Classic 80gb on Saturday from PC World - £149.

It worked fine at first but on Tuesday I noticed it'd started randomly pausing itself even when the hold button was turned on. Not all of the time but it was damn annoying considering I'd just spent £150. I also noticed it'd sometimes skip to the next track before the one playing was finished - odd since the tracks play fine on Winamp/Windows Media Player/iTunes/my old very cheap MP3 player.

Returned it to PC World today and was told in order to receive a refund or replacement it MUST be checked in for inspection (which it now is) and if they don't find the fault then there's nothing they can do for me.

Now being an intermittent fault I have no doubt their "technician" will not find it since they'll probably chuck 2 MP3s on it and test it for 10 minutes whereas I had 3000 on and used it for 3 days..............

What can I do if I get a phone call tomorrow telling me they can find no fault and I'm stuck with it? I don't want it back because I find £150 for a player that does stuff like that completely unacceptable.

I've read things on various forums about other people experiencing such problems with this model - is it enough to prove that there is an inherent fault and under the Sale of Goods Act it does not comply with contract?

dmg24

As it is such a short time since you bought the ipod, then you would be entitled to a refund if you can show that there is a fault. However, you do need to be able to show the fault.

Demonstrating an intermittent fault is always going to be hit and miss, if they don't find it you need to insist that they keep trying it.

Just read your final paragraph - proving an inherent fault would need Apple to acknowledge that it exists - have they done this? x

Kilty_2

Nope - according to Apple there is not a single fault with the Classic firmware though there are pages and pages on the Internet describing the ones people have found. (Volume going down to 0 on the display but the iPod still outputting sound being an example)

Surely I don't need to prove there is a fault since in the first six months it's up to the seller to prove that there is not?

Uhh...... don't buy an iPod from PCW

dmg24

Kilty wrote: »

Surely I don't need to prove there is a fault since in the first six months it's up to the seller to prove that there is not?

No, that is not quite correct.

If a fault is found within six months of purchase, it is presumed that the fault was inherent, and therefore you have a right of recourse (unless the retailer can prove to the contrary). However, it still needs to be proven that there is a fault. Otherwise, anybody could take an item back and claim a fault just because they didn't like the item.

There is a good summary of SOGA here.

Kilty_2

OK, thanks.

Don't know what I'll do when they phone me tomorrow (I hope the fault appears to save some hassle).

Kilty_2

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :mad::mad::mad:

They didn't phone of course but I called them.

"We haven't had a chance to check it out yet since we've a man off sick this week - there's a few items waiting to be done tomorrow"

dmg24

At least they aren't saying there is not a fault ... hopefully?!! x

Kilty_2

Haha, yeah. Still doubt they'll find it though.

I have another demonstrateable "minor defect" that I can use to prove it's not fit for purpose, anyway

Kilty_2

OK so as expected they couldn't find the intermittant fault but put the 1.1 firmware on it anyway.

I've found an even bigger fault now - the headphone jack still has power when you turn the iPod off - you can hear static in the earphones and that noise when you pull them out like you get from something that's turned on.

Going back again tomorrow but at least I can demonstrate this fault to them on the spot and hopefully get a refund.

Letter to DSGi head office and Apple happening after this is resolved.

Jennikay

Kilty wrote: »

I've found an even bigger fault now - the headphone jack still has power when you turn the iPod off - you can hear static in the earphones and that noise when you pull them out like you get from something that's turned on.

I get that with my speakers, but they have an external power source :cool:

I wouldn't count that as a huge fault, though it will probably wear the battery down faster.
Easy enough to avoid running down the battery, just unplug the earphones.

Though if you don't want the iPod anymore, it might be enough of a 'fault' for them to take it back.

Kilty_2

Doesn't matter if I unplug the earphones, the battery is still running down (obviously more so with earphones plugged in)

As soon as I plug them back in it makes a noise again I have noticed it goes away once the ipod has been turned off for about an hour.

I think I'm gonna get them to take it back anyway since I'll have this trouble again if anything else goes wrong with it - I might buy another from a better retailer once another f/w update comes out. I must admit when the iPod is working it's spot on as far as sound quality and my requirements go.

Never going to buy anything from PCW again though and I'll be closing my business account with them as well!