My Zen Micro MP3 player is a victim of the headphone connector flaw: after a few months of use, its headphone connector wears out. Typically, you hear just one channel; the music sounds weak.
On mine, the breakdown had to occur during our 3.500-km drive into northern Canada -- we made it as far as Hyder, the most southernly town in Alaska that can be reached by road. We had the Zen Micro hooked up to the rental car's stereo through the iRock fm transmitter. But it wasn't much fun reaching down every few minutes to readjust the connector; with each bump in the road, the connection would go bad.
I submitted my warranty claim to Creative, and they gave me the RMA number. Problem is, the nearest repair facility is located in the USA, and I'm in Canada. I didn't relish the thought of (1) paying to ship the faulty unit internationally; and (2) paying customs taxes and fees when it recrossed the boarder into Canada. The dreaded brown UPS organization charges $17 just to process the paperwork.
(I checked with the retailor who sold me the Micro, but they said they would charge me whatever it cost them. Whatever happened to free lunches?)
I complained about all this on the nomadness.net forums, but members told me that Creative ships it back pre-paid, and I wouldn't incur costs for the return trip. Now why wouldn't Creative have told me that? I shipped it off, and am tracking its repair progress on Creative's Warrenty and Repair Web page.
I'm hoping the Zen Micro returns to me before I leave for Europe in mid-October.
Updates
Mon 19 Sept -- unit arrives at Creative USA warranty location.
Wed 21 Sept -- unit tested: "Headphone Jack Non-Functional"
Sat 24 Sept -- unit replaced: "FG,CREATIVE ZEN MICRO 5GB SE CLI WH/BK"
Sat 24 Sept -- unit assigned UPS tracking number; not picked-up by UPS yet.
Mon 26 Sept -- (Afternoon) Creative emails me that the unit is on its way back to me, but the tracking number they provide does is unknown tp UPS: "UPS could not locate the shipment details for your request"
Mon 26 Sept -- (Evening) UPS finally has it in its system: "Sep 26, 2005 8:50 P.M. STILLWATER, OK, US ORIGIN SCAN"
Tues 27 Sept -- (4:10pm) UPS delivers the long-awaited box. Inside, Creative shipped a new Zen Micro package, which means I now have a spare battery, headphones, cloth holder, and USB cable.
I gotta say, though, it sure is kewl to be able to monitor the progress of repair!
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