Apple's TERRIBLE consumer care plan

Recently, there have been numerous occasions where I have run into

various difficulties with Apple products. I have sent Paul from

Applecare SA an E-Mail, however, I have not heard back from him. My

iPod has now broken down for the 2nd time! The 1st time it was

replaced with a new (same generation) iPod photo, this was due to the

warranty. This time, however, my warranty has expired. (Apparently the

warranty only pertains to the purchased good, and not the replaced

good. Thus, if you get a replacement 11 months after purchase, you

only have 1 month warranty on the replacement. I had 2 months.)

All quotes from the E-Mail I have sent to Paul as well as Apple in the U.S.A.

"Believe it or not, today, out of the blue, my 60gb iPod photo packs

up, and dies on me. Once again. I took it down to Digicape (Again)

where I was told that the Hard-Drive had packed up (AGAIN). This is

the exact same problem as last time. However, there is one minor

difference. My iPod has now fallen out of warranty (by 2 months) and

it will cost 2900-00 to get it fixed. This is preposterous! I can

actually not believe that this is happening. I wonder if every person

who buys an iPod expects it to only work for a couple of months, where

after Apple will take it in, and replace it only once. After which the

consumer will have to carry the cost of R2900-00 to get his/her iPod

working which he/she paid between R4000 & R5000 for in the 1st place."

"…iMac upon purchase did not work

properly. I took it back to Digicape and they obviously fixed it

without any queries or hassles. It worked for several months. However,

after several months the Hard-Drive packed up and died. I lost all my

data and as you should know, this is a catastrophe. I went out, bought

a new Hard-Drive and had it put into the machine. Then about 1 week

ago, I switched my computer off for the 1st time in approximately 2

weeks before I went to bed. The next morning I woke up, and the 1st

thing I did was to try and switch my computer on. Guess what, nothing

happened. Turns out, my Motherboard has burnt out and it will now take

3-4 weeks to get it replaced. 3-4 WEEKS!!! How am I supposed to

complete projects and do some work without my computer for 3-4

WEEKS?!?! Luckily, this falls under apples extended warranty program

and I will not be charged for it. The point is that in the past 2

years I have acquired R16000-00 worth of Apple products and on this

specific day, I HAVE NOTHING THAT HAS ANY VALUE! I have a broken iMac

and a broken iPod."

All I want from Apple is to give me a new iPod for free. I am not

willing to pay R2900-00 for a new iPod just because of Apple's

incompetence. I think Apple software is awesome, I LOVE OSX, I just

think that Apple's Hardware is shite. It breaks, all the time.

"I love mac OSX but it is not worth using it on the b-grade hardware

that apple supplies."

If any of you are considering switching, please consider your options

again. As I said, I love Mac OSX and it is 300% better than windows.

It's just that Apple seems to put junk into the machines. I also doubt

that Microsoft's Zune will be riddled with latent defects.

http://sessa.wordpress.com - For full review of complaint.