EXTREMELY Annoyed.

[Velocitar64]

After buying the iPod, and disliking it very much, I decided to get my money back and get the Creative Zen X-Fi. I loved it.

Low and behold, 6 days after I bought it, the screen inside is completely broken after having no pressure whatsoever. I didn't drop it (Not even once), or use it badly. But the inside of the screen delaminated completely making it impossible to use.

So I take it back to Argos as a faulty product, and they tell me it's more than likely "Accidental Damage" from either dropping it or putting under pressure.

Me and my dad went mental.

One, A pocket cannot put something like that under pressure. It was a loose pocket on my black trench coat and I never used any other pocket. Second, I didn't drop it once. I just got it out of my pocket to find the inside shattered.

Bottom line, chances are I will have lost the money I saved a year for because of Creatives bad build of MP3 players and Argos' idiocy.

I have never, ever been more pissed off in my life.

Well, not literally. But this comes close. How the hell is a teenager supposed to come by that sort of money again?

[RedScar]

get a job? Not the easiest thing at this time since the economic times but still possible if you don't aim high (as all teenagers are).
Moral of the story, get a sony
or be like me and stick to CD's and be cheap

[SaturnReturn]

Did you sit on your coat at any point? Could someone else have sat on your coat at any point? Moral 1 here would be to never keep any expensive electrical items loose in a pocket of any kind. I have a creative zen. It hasn't taken huge abuse as I'm pretty careful with it. But I did once fling it hard when i accidentally trod on the earphone wire. It survived because I have it in a hard case for protection. Moral 2 would be always keep expensive electrical items in some kind of case.

Moral 3 relates to another story that I can't be bothered to tell because it's long. But basically, I'm pretty sure that staff in these big stores are trained to be arses. If it really is a faulty product then they should give you a full refund or at least a repair (depending mostly on timing and possibly store policy - I can't remember what the law says). So just keep at them and talk to the manager if necessary. You can probably take anything from a store back to any other store so if all else fails maybe try a different shop or even talking directly to Creative.

[slimjim]

Argos isnt the best place for electrical goods in the past i have had things break without neglecting them

[BulletWraith]

Sucks for you Velocitar, I've had a couple DAP's crap out on me but never that fast. I haven't heard many bad things about the X-Fi, pretty solid reviews but not the greatest

next time you could go for a Cowon, great sound but sometimes dodge firmware
Sonys always sound good, but if your kinda broke right now and you want a player with good SQ pick up a Sansa clip, I've tried against X-Fi you won't be disapointed + Rockbox for the Clip is showing quite a bit of promise


hope something good comes of your situation
-zer:donutshen

[stinkleroy]

My advice is next time, don't waste your money on overly expensive MP3 players and put it towards a PS3 instead :lol :D

[TheFrostE]

spoken like a pro stinkleroy

[SuperNova]

How about a PSP?
Ive had mine for about 3 years with Plently of abuse and Drops.
Plays games, music and Videos, only thing you need is a Large Memory Stick :S

[KGB]

are you sure all that black metal hasn't made it implode? :guitar

[archman]

Exactly, SuperNova, PSP ftw, definitely the best multimedia center. No sense in getting any sort of an mp3 player. ;)

[KIGO1987]

The event of cuntynsim is very common in this decade.

I bought a Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen NX back in 2003, 20gb a real good brick, its 2009 now and its still working. 5Stars Creative, this is the best electronic item ive purchased this decade. With Ipods and Itunes you get irritating cunty features in it which are beyond irrating at a point. With Creative, just rip you CDs, and copy it many as times you want with out stupid things stopping you. The only problem with my 6year old MP3 player is that the ****ing **** driver will not function properly on the ever so cleaver Windows Vista [Die Microsoft Die:pc].

There gotta be a point in time when you get good moments after a series of very shitty ones.

[GreenPhazon]

I swear by my Walkman. All the good bits of iPod, minus the crap of iTunes. Plus they sound great, iPods do not.

[Velocitar64]

Thanks for the meaningful... Replies...

PSP's won't hold enough songs.

I have 20GB of music. 16GB wasn't quite enough.

And no, I was wearing the coat when it broke. The pocket was on the front, so I couldn't have sat on it.

As for a PS3, MY LIFE IS MUSIC. MY SANCTUARY IS MUSIC. IF I CAN'T LISTEN TO MUSIC ANYWHERE I DIE A LITTLE INSIDE. I'm being completely serious too.

PS3s are the last of my worries now.

[Lourio]

That sucks bro..

Is there some sort of manufacturer guarantee/warranty?

Maybe 'Creative' can send you a replacement/refurb unit? Just throwing ideas out there.

Good luck!

[KIGO1987]

It'll be cool if the next gen PSP, the PSP2 has a 60GB SSD in it. Put most of your songs on there, that'll be sweet. Sony better release something like that:D

[Harvai]

I'd definatley get on the horn to Creative, Velocitar. You should still be under manufacturer warranty if it was busted 6 days after purchase.

Speaking of good MP3 players, my 30gig Toshiba Gigabeat eats iPods for breakfast... then I have to recharge it. Seriously. The battery life on that thing is appaling, it and my PSP race to see who'll go flat first. The only thing that's wrong with it, pretty much

[Velocitar64]

Way ahead. It's been sent off and if Argos say it's accidental damage, I will seriously have creative on the phone. 6 friggin' days as well.

As for Toshiba, maybe. But Samsungs I believe are the best MP3 players. It's the only one to never let me down. The only reason I got rid of it was because it only had 2GB of memory.


It'll be cool if the next gen PSP, the PSP2 has a 60GB SSD in it. Put most of your songs on there, that'll be sweet. Sony better release something like that:D

If theres any truth to that, then I will most definately get one without any delay at all. Sony are good for sound quality, Sony are good for games :3

I've be surfing through the air on Wipeout Pulse =D

[Lance]

Truth? He's just skywriting.
In hope.

[Velocitar64]

Oh, I see.

Well I hope there is truth to ie either way ;)

[YouAreFubar]

I never go anywhere without my tunes, means wherever I am I can get my audio fix! Ive got an 8GB Sony Video Walkman which has most of my dance music collection on it, 2 seasons of Monkey Dust, and the Family Guy and Robot Chicken Star Wars specials. Plenty to keep me busy when bored! Relating to your issue though Velocitar, unfortunately, I may have some bad news.

I wouldnt hold your breath about getting a positive response from Argos or Creative. I work in customer services for a mobile company and this kind of fault is reported from time to time with mobile phone screens, and this is pretty much how the repair centre has explained it to me:

The way screens are on most portable electronic devices is youve got the outside protective screen (usually glass or stiff plastic) and then youve got the inner screen that actually creates the image. The inside screen is very fragile and what can happen is if the outside screen bends in too much (usually, but not always from being sat on) it can damage the inside screen while the outside screen remains intact. Unfortunately this is classed as accidental damage and isnt covered by any warranty whatsoever. Warranty only covers for faults that develop due to manufacturing defects. And no, the inside screen doesnt spontaneously shatter either.

Unfortuantely, the fact youve only had it a short time doesnt matter either. Because its been damaged by you (even if you didnt realise youd done it) any guarantee you had by the store is no longer valid. You could complain to their customer services but chances of getting something out of it are slim to none.

Let us know how it goes though, it would be nice to be proven wrong!

[mdhay]

I don't have an MP3 player, I just use my phone (Sony Erricson K610i befor anyone asks :D).

[KIGO1987]

My W890i Walkman phone is good (considering the speaker doesnt crap itself again). But its limit by the space and it nowhere near handling my entire music collection.

Sony im waiting, waiting for the PSP2. If you market it right it cold completely **** all over the DSi.

So just waiting quietly and peacefully for some news from Sony....:)

[stinkleroy]

I have music with me everywhere too. I have a little Creative Muvo 4GB which I bought 4 years ago, cost £50 and it still works perfectly. The space is small as my music collection is over 150GB and growing but I just change the playlist every other week. Damn Killing Joke and their massive back catalogue ;)

[Velocitar64]

I should get an answer by the end of this week. If I don't get my money back, i'm going straight to authorities. That is, the Tradings Officials Comittee.

[BulletWraith]

where's the 'PSP sounds like ****' post?
the PSP is a great games playing device, wouldn't use it as my sole music playing device though

Cowon S9/Samsung P3 is where its at(if you like shiney good sounding/video playing things with great UI), though they both top out at 32GB
I've also heard good things about the Sony X1000(well other than its internet browser), also if rumours are true we should expect a Zune HD to be not to far off :D

right now I'm waiting for the Cowon D2+ to be released in NZ but if I had the cash I'd spring for a Kenwood Music Keg

good day and good luck with the retail/creative peeps Velocitar

-zer:donutshen

[MR-RICO84]

Velocitar, I would highly recommend you phoning consumer direct! I have had a few problems with faulty laptops and external hard drives. I phone these people up and they go full on legal advice mode for you. They will email template letters to you and follow you all the way through your situation until it is resolved. It is totally free service as well.

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Do not be bothered waiting for argos to sort you out get strait on to these guys today and you will have a firm idea on how to proceed with in 10 mins of that phone call, I promise.

[Velocitar64]

Velocitar, I would highly recommend you phoning consumer direct! I have had a few problems with faulty laptops and external hard drives. I phone these people up and they go full on legal advice mode for you. They will email template letters to you and follow you all the way through your situation until it is resolved. It is totally free service as well.

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Do not be bothered waiting for argos to sort you out get strait on to these guys today and you will have a firm idea on how to proceed with in 10 mins of that phone call, I promise.

Speaking of that:

Argos deemed it as accidental damage and I can't have my money back.

I already went to them, and i've sent them an official letter with Consumer Direct/Trading Standards Office ordering a replacement because the MP3 player wasn't up to satisfactory standards.

Also, a juicy little thing I picked, up, "By law, if accidental damage cannot be proven, then a replacement is mandatory". Since I havn't hit, bashed, or dropped it anywhere, they won't be able to prove it. And by law, they have to replace it.

It may be a rough ride.

In the meantime, I warn you not to buy a Creative product. Ever.

[Velocitar64]

Victory!

Sorry for the bump and double post guys, but some people wanted to know how this worked out.

A while ago, I bought an MP3 player called the Creative Zen X-Fi. I put this in my pocket (It was a very loose pocket on the front of my coat), I took it out 5 minutes later and the screen inside cracked. Since other people said that must have been faulty because they've dropped theirs on concrete and it's been fine, and I treated mine like goldust. I went back for a replacement or refund.

First time, after waiting 9 days, they said it was accidental damage. This was without proof or evidence. They didn't open it up nor even turn the thing on. I was angered beyond belief at this, and over the past month i've been through an absolute battle with the shop called Argos.

In the end, I contacted the Trading Standards Office and called Argos head office. From there, they contacted the people that deemed it accidental damage. They said it definately wasn't dropped on the floor. And insist pressure was put on it (Which it hadn't).

Nonetheless, the leader of Argos made the decision herself. She said that since it only lasted 6 days, the player must have had something wrong with it and under the circumstances, it must have been faulty. I have been offered a replacement, and i'm getting a check in the post in a few days.

The moral of the story, if you've been ripped off, never stop fighting for it. I was rewarded in the end

But damn, a month without my MP3 player was HELL.

Just some advice, we weary of Creative players. They sound and look great, but they are as fragile as glass less than a millimetre thick. Also, only go to specialist shops.

[Harvai]

That's great to hear Velocitar! With the check, what are you gonna get to replace it?

[Velocitar64]

That's great to hear Velocitar! With the check, what are you gonna get to replace it?

Hopefully i'll be getting a Sony 16GB.

But I may have no choice but to get a replacement.

[BulletWraith]

what sites have you done your research on???

DAP review (http://www.dapreview.net/news.php) and anything but ipod (http://www.anythingbutipod.com/) are pretty good places to start

good luck on your next purchase
-zer0shen

[Velocitar64]

Lots of places. Friends, Amazon, lol.

I know the Sony is a good player.