arantius.com

eBay Is Always an Adventure

2007-04-26 16:07 - Rants

So, I live in Brooklyn and work in Manhattan. I spend around 45-50 minutes each way on the subway each day. It's noisy in there, and annoying. For the past few years, I've covered it up with my iPod. It was used when I got it though, and it seems to be on its last legs. Battery life seems to be declining (though I never mentioned it) and I've had real trouble with it dying when transferring files to/from the computer.

For some time, though, the soon-to-be-released touchscreen iPod was all over the blogosphere, and I purposely waited to upgrade until it came out. There were even more legitimate leads, based on patent filings. A good deal of time has passed, though, and it seems less and less likely to really be happening.

So faced with a likely dying unit, I went searching for a replacement. I found on eBay one seller, with a lot of good feedback, and a lot of cheap iPods for sale. The catch? They're customer return units. Described to be tested, cleaned, and working perfectly, but not brand new. I'm fine with that! So I go for it, and end up spending $155 (plus shipping) for the 30gb black video iPod, which costs $250 new.

The seller, however, ships only to confirmed PayPal addresses. That's a big pain, but they also say they're shipping USPS. So, I expect a box small enough to fit into my mailbox, or worst case, a little pink form saying that they couldn't deliver it and it is back at the post office to be picked up. The auction ended Friday, and on a whim, I checked the tracking number e-mailed to me on Monday evening. It said "delivered". But, I had no box. I got worried.

Long story short, I worried and bothered who I could (at the post office), but got nothing, until Tuesday night. My neighbor knocked on my door and handed over the box which ended up in her mailbox instead of mine. Way to go, whoever delivered that one! Thank goodness it ended up in an honest person's hands. I greedily unpackage it and plug it in, ready to start playing. When I plug it into the computer, however, I get only a very faint "Please wait, very low battery power" message on the screen, and no more. Fine, I figure, it needs to charge. After a half hour, no change.

I plug it into the wall charger that I have only by virtue of owning another iPod, and it turns on immediately. And says that the battery is fully charged. But it's not, at all. Unplugging it makes it die, immediately. It's brokens! I envision an annoying and out-of-my-pocket extra round trip of mailing. (And, uh oh, needing to actually get the package again.)

So, I browse around the web a bit, feeling hopeful, when I manage to confirm that it is still covered under Apple's warranty. Within moments, I discover that there is an Apple store directly on the path I take between work and the subway. So, the next morning, I drop in. With only the slightest hesitation, for normal paperwork, I get a brand spankin' new iPod handed to me. Huzzah!

An annoying experience, but you know what they say, all's well that ends well. And, a brand new iPod for almost $100 less than it really costs? That ended well.