Last February, I naively purchased a stainless steel 3rd generation ipod shuffle. At the time, I also purchased a 3rd party Belkin adapter so I could use my favorite headphones.
The cheaply-manufactured Belkin adapter broke three months later, and truth be told, never worked completely in the first place: if I would softly press on the adapter, a fuller sound would be delivered to my headphones -- the connection was obviously flawed.
Once the Belkin adapter broke, I resorted to the original headphones, which worked for a couple weeks before going on the fritz. I used four different sets of headphones and had the same issues every time -- the controls would work for a while, and then would simply quit working. Then the voice control would announce the song repeatedly until I simply stopped using it. Since it happened with four sets of earphones, I assumed the unit was the problem. I received a replacement, and immediately experienced the same problems with each set of headphones; it was obviously an earbud problem. I then returned four sets of earbuds, and was given four new pair.
And the problem continues.
The 3rd generation shuffle is a defective product due to its reliance on earbuds for control, earbuds which cannot tolerate perspiration. And yet, this is the very reason 99% of shuffle owners bought it -- to use during exercise. The 3rd generation promotional video BEGINS with a woman jogging.
This product should be recalled completely, and Apple's abandonment of the 3rd generation shuffle format in today's reboot tacitly admits this very fact.
My question: what's the best way to get my money back and return this piece of junk? It's simply unusable. I love Apple and I'm happy to simply receive store credit, but something has to be done.
The cheaply-manufactured Belkin adapter broke three months later, and truth be told, never worked completely in the first place: if I would softly press on the adapter, a fuller sound would be delivered to my headphones -- the connection was obviously flawed.
Once the Belkin adapter broke, I resorted to the original headphones, which worked for a couple weeks before going on the fritz. I used four different sets of headphones and had the same issues every time -- the controls would work for a while, and then would simply quit working. Then the voice control would announce the song repeatedly until I simply stopped using it. Since it happened with four sets of earphones, I assumed the unit was the problem. I received a replacement, and immediately experienced the same problems with each set of headphones; it was obviously an earbud problem. I then returned four sets of earbuds, and was given four new pair.
And the problem continues.
The 3rd generation shuffle is a defective product due to its reliance on earbuds for control, earbuds which cannot tolerate perspiration. And yet, this is the very reason 99% of shuffle owners bought it -- to use during exercise. The 3rd generation promotional video BEGINS with a woman jogging.
This product should be recalled completely, and Apple's abandonment of the 3rd generation shuffle format in today's reboot tacitly admits this very fact.
My question: what's the best way to get my money back and return this piece of junk? It's simply unusable. I love Apple and I'm happy to simply receive store credit, but something has to be done.