DO NOT USE: ipodmechanic.com problems

[pohatu771]

I'm not a lawyer (though I pretend to be one in person), but I'm pretty sure holding your iPod until you agree to pay for something you didn't ask to have done is illegal...

[paranoidxe]

This is exactly WHY you shouldn't do internet iPod repairs especially from untrusty 3rd parties.

If they are this shabby in simply delivering the iPod back, imagine how shaddy the work is.

[dgade]

I sent 2 ipods to this company. They quoted me 89 dollars to repair one and 179 dollars to repair the other. I suggested that they use the parts for one to repair the other, and they agreed to do so for 25 dollars labor. They then charged me for the $89 dollar parts as well as the 25 dollar labor fee, plus other charges (none of which I am disputing).

Via phone conversation, they say that I agreed to all these charges, which is false. Unfortunately, they have my credit card number and charged the card for 139 dollars, which is 89 dollars more than I authorized.

I really just want a refund, but they refused both by e-mail and phone. A Google search of their company name reveals that they are a bunch of crooks and have done this before.

The thing that really gets me about this is that when I floated the suggestion of using my own parts, they just said "Sure" and not "Sure but our company will charge you for the privelege in addition to using your own parts" or "Sure but it will cost extra beyond the normal 89 dollar fee".

Their customer service- Casey- has been rude, nasty, and downright unprofessional. I called the numbers listed in this forum and the guy who answered told me to call their local police department because Nicholas has been ripping people off since last summer. The police department number is 269-337-8120.

I've also told Nicholas and Casey that all they have to do is give me my money back and I go away! Amazing that his reputation isn't worth the money he stole from me.

OBTW, I called the ICC and filed a complaint and also called Google and filed a complaint since they are "featured" by Google. I also intend to have MasterCard decertify them as being able to charge. A bunch of crooks.


Oh by the way, if anyone from them wants to get in touch with me, Casey has my e-mail address and I've left like 5 messages.

[dgade]

Earlier this month, I sent two iPods to a company called iPod Mechanic. One was a 30 G Photo, and the other was a 60 G Photo. Many of the parts are compatible.

I received a repair quote of 89 dollars for the 30 G and 179 dollars for the 60 G. By e-mail, I proposed to them that they repair the 30 G by using parts from the 60 G, and asked how much that would be. They quoted 25 dollars labor for them to do that.

I received a charge on my card for 139 dollars, which I wrote an e-mail to them questioning. “Casey”, the repair tech, told me that he meant that the charges would be 89 dollars plus 25 dollars plus shipping and handling, when in fact all he said was “25 dollars additional”.

Not only was there no firm agreement, his interpretation of events is utterly nonsensical: it is analogous to a person walking into a car repair shop and saying that his tire is flat and can they please replace it with a tire he provides. They say “sure” and then charge him for a tire, plus a fee for using his own tire to repair the car.

In any case, the portion of the charge that I am disputing is the $89 dollar initial quote to buy a new part on the iPod. I have no problem paying the 25 dollar labor fee for them using my own parts, nor the shipping and taxes.

Finally, a “Google” search of this company turned up a huge number of other complaints of the same type- bad service, bait-and-switch, and over charging. I believe they deliberately do this sort of thing, hoping that customers either won’t notice, or won’t care.

[triviatta]

Has anyone purchased an iPod from them? Their new sale on Shuffles looks really tempting...maybe TOO tempting...

I have had a couple of iPODS break down and it was always difficut to send them anywhere because I did not know much about the company or if they were trustworthy. You never know with comanies, but when you have a probelm you need to report them so that they don't do it to others that may not have experienced them. Report them and then let the chips fall where they may. If you got your iPOD and it does not work, you should email other companies to see if they would work on them and maybe give you a discount. I was lucky that I found a good company and I trust them with my iPOD I would tell you the name but apparently i can't say their name even though we are using the name of another website. Anyways my ipod was fixed and it was returned back to me the people were great and when it was on its way back they called me. You should not have to put up with less service than that. As for money owed, report, sue, do what you have to do, don't let them get away with it.

[stom]

i wish i had read these posts before sending in my ipod. their 24 hour repair quote took 5 business days to get. Subsequently when the repair price was quoted, i felt it was too high and requested my ipod be sent back. the customer rep tried to negotiate a lower price but never quoted an amount and then told me that there would be "significant charges" to send it back. i finally got my ipod back for $25 in generic packing( i had sent it in the original packing from apple). Their website lists only positive comments and when i posted my negative feedback it was not listed. Furthermore the Better Business Bureau of Western Michigan has logged numerous complaints against this outfit. They also have a great deal of advertising on the web but dont be fooled . Stay away from iPod Mechanic

[pfifedog]

On their website, they say they will give you a free quote on the repair. They say they will either repair it if you agree to the quote, buy it from you, or return it. They gave me a quote that was more than I wanted to spend and they offered to buy it by giving $10 to a charity of their choice, but they did not offer me an opportunity to get it back until I emailed them. Then, they wanted to charge $25 to ship my Ipod back. Crooks!!!!! Give me my Ipod back you scumbags.

[iMechanic]

Originally Posted by pohatu771

I'm not a lawyer (though I pretend to be one in person), but I'm pretty sure holding your iPod until you agree to pay for something you didn't ask to have done is illegal...

Originally Posted by stom

"significant charges" to send it back. i finally got my ipod back for $25 in generic packing

Originally Posted by pfifedog

Then, they wanted to charge $25 to ship my Ipod back. Crooks!!!!! Give me my Ipod back you scumbags.

Actually due to the Terms & Conditions of iPod Mechanic there is a return handling fee when repairs are not approved and the customer wants the iPod returned.

Originally Posted by triviatta

Has anyone purchased an iPod from them? Their new sale on Shuffles looks really tempting...maybe TOO tempting...

Edited for advertising

[BlueRex]

Originally Posted by triviatta

Has anyone purchased an iPod from them? Their new sale on Shuffles looks really tempting...maybe TOO tempting...

I tried to buy a shuffle from them. They sent me an email immediately saying it had shipped, even giving a tracking number. The tracking number detail at USPS.com stated that the company had informed USPS that it had a package ready to ship. This remained the shipping detail for 5 days. No emails or calls to ipodmechanic were returned.
I called my credit card company and disputed the charge.
Then I held my nose and bought a shuffle from WalMart. So much closer, and I hadn't been running in a week since my ipod died, so I really need it!

[DarkWrench]

Originally Posted by iMechanic

Actually due to the Terms & Conditions of iPod Mechanic there is a return handling fee when repairs are not approved and the customer wants the iPod returned

So, in addition to the advertised claim of a free esitmate, why not add this important detail instead of burying it in T&C? Personally, advertising claims of "free" anything cause caution flags to go up. Everything costs money, and those costs have to be recouped.

In my own service business, I've found that being honest and informative to the customer, (especially when work is stacking up and I can't help them in a timely manner), is always appreciated.
IMO, it would be better to state a diagnostic fee of $25 which is applied to final repair costs.

[artmaltman]

Well, it seems most likely that I've also been burned by iPodMechanic.

I ordered an iPod Shuffle in early September from them, online. They charged my credit card Sept 5. After a few days of hearing nothing back I tried to reach them by email, and phone, and by their web contact template. I've been trying daily. No response. Nothing.

Finally today I sent a brief email today "cancel my order" in the title. They respond once, saying that it already shipped (without saying when) and they gave me the post office shipping number.

But low and behold, the post office has no record of this having shipped. Either the post office made a mistake, or iPodMechanic lied.

I'm just wondering how many more days to wait, to be fair, before I file a dispute. I'm thinking 5 business days to give it time to "ship".

And how to dispute it? I can dispute it via my credit card easily but this vendor apparently uses Google as an intermediary.

What a damn shame. IPodMechanic's web site makes them look so valuable. From now on I research a vendor before using them!!!!!

At the very least, even if the item eventually arrives, their customer communication is so bad that they are a non-starter as a vendor.

Yuk.

Art

ps: I called my credit card company and there is no rush to dispute the charge, within 90 days is fine. So I will wait two more weeks to see if the unit arrives. I'm just going to chill out. Their customer support finally got back to me and insists it shipped. Again, even if I receive the unit, their lack of communication is very troubling.

[sleepermaxima]

looks like I am due for some egg on my face here. I just ordered 2 shuffles from iPodmechanic on the 10th. I then landed in the condition of having a charge on the card but the USPS tracking info states that only the electronic shipping info has been sent but the physical package has not been recieved. This condition has not changed as of now.

I have dealt with tracking shipments with USPS before and I have not had to wait for 3-4 days for this hand-off to take place before. I called iPodmechanic's phone number and followed the tele-prompter to the sales queue... then I waited, and waited, and waited... until the call was mysterioulsy dropped after about 7 minutes.

Now, days after I have placed the order, I'm reading all this bad press on this outfit and I have to ask those people that have purchased shuffles from them if anyone has rec'd their products. Just wondering if I should bother being super patient before I start the CC dispute process and call my state's Attorney General Office - I have heard that the ND A.G. is fairly aggressive with fraud cases such as these. Strangely enough, I have never had an excuse to find out... maybe this is the time.

[artmaltman]

We all need to learn to research a new firm before trusting them. I was too complacent, alas. Thankfully it's only $49 at risk. I'm going to give them two more weeks and then strongly dispute the transaction with my credit card company. From my emails with the firm, either they really did mail it - and are just too overwhelmed to do any customer service - or, they are bluffing and will stall.

This is one time I'm glad I paid with a credit card. I think. We shall see.

Art

[honeybee1236]

Originally Posted by sleepermaxima

looks like I am due for some egg on my face here. I just ordered 2 shuffles from iPodmechanic on the 10th. I then landed in the condition of having a charge on the card but the USPS tracking info states that only the electronic shipping info has been sent but the physical package has not been recieved. This condition has not changed as of now.

I have dealt with tracking shipments with USPS before and I have not had to wait for 3-4 days for this hand-off to take place before. I called iPodmechanic's phone number and followed the tele-prompter to the sales queue... then I waited, and waited, and waited... until the call was mysterioulsy dropped after about 7 minutes.

Now, days after I have placed the order, I'm reading all this bad press on this outfit and I have to ask those people that have purchased shuffles from them if anyone has rec'd their products. Just wondering if I should bother being super patient before I start the CC dispute process and call my state's Attorney General Office - I have heard that the ND A.G. is fairly aggressive with fraud cases such as these. Strangely enough, I have never had an excuse to find out... maybe this is the time.

You need to read 'BlueRex's' post above:

I tried to buy a shuffle from them. They sent me an email immediately saying it had shipped, even giving a tracking number. The tracking number detail at USPS.com stated that the company had informed USPS that it had a package ready to ship. This remained the shipping detail for 5 days. No emails or calls to ipodmechanic were returned.
I called my credit card company and disputed the charge.
Then I held my nose and bought a shuffle from WalMart. So much closer, and I hadn't been running in a week since my ipod died, so I really need it!