ipod shuffle 3rd gen headphones problem

I bought my 1st piece of apple hardware in April this year after years of refusing to budge. I was disapointed that my Shuffle was tied to itunes but I got around this using MediaMonkey. So initially I was quite happy with the purchase but then when I attempted to take it to the Gym it got about 18mins in and stopped working. Dodgy song I thought. I'll reload some fresh tunes. Again 18mins in and it Died. Worked ok when sitting by the pool. What was going on; then I discovered this forum. It is a faulty product! A recall I hear some people say, well they are recalling the following:
Serial number ranges of the iPod shuffle with the covered headphones:
xx909xxxxxx to xx952xxxxxx
xx001xxxxxx to xx004xxxxxx

I have xx007xxxxxx. This will be by final Apple purchase. Starting to make Microsoft look good.

The purpose of both Scosche adapters is to allow use of other earphones
than the Apple ones with inline controls... depending on placement and position of the shuffle moisture in the controls should not be a problem anymore.

Just got the Belkin adapter at Best Buy this morning. Works great. You can use any headphones, use it in the car with a line-in and I will also be able to use my iPod Shuffle in the pool using a dry bag and waterproof headphones.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9316135&st=belkin+shuffle&lp=1&typ e=product&cp=1&id=1218083841083

They were $19.99.

I've had the same problem. Got this for christmas as I am an avid runner. First time I ran with it the controls started going nanners. Automatically running through playlists, volume going up and down on its own. I sweat when I run (This keeps the body from overheating) and this is when the controls go fubar. I'm thinking about taking the thing back as I pretty much bought it to workout with.........

Hello to All,

I am a newbie to this site although I have had iTunes since the creation of the 1st Shuffle; I have read this post several times as I have gone through 3 of the 1st generation Shuffles from sweat, and my brand new Shuffle 3G has lasted me all of 60 minutes on the elliptical trainer this morning, and I bought it LAST FRIGGIN' NIGHT. For the record, I have used the older iPods through 2 marathons and one 1/2 marathon, and at 225 lbs, yes, Mr. Jobs, I sweat. I was wearing sweats, and had the Shuffle in question on the OUTSIDE of said outfit this morning. Now I used the older shuffle with the new, $80 God-forsaken Dollar Apple Earbuds which sounded great, but literally fell apart within 8 months, and I used the controls from the older shuffle. Now, hear is where the rub comes-I have been reading these posts and you all have said that Apple denies all existence of the issue. The Apple Rep I spoke with at the PX(I'll get to that in a minute) disclosed to me that they have had a LOT of issues with 'crappy' headphones and the fact that the new shuffle requires external controls to work, and that if I had a problem there was a way to email or contact Apple through their Website, which I'm going to do;some of you have probably guessed that I am in the Military, and therefore a little more demanding of those things that I spend my money on. I am a 'PC' guy, but my wife SWORE by her MacBook ('til the video card/motherboard burned up); I do a LOT of P.T.-the nature of my job requires it; it requires the same of a LOT of other service members-if you totalled it up the numbers swell over a Million. Many many of us swear by our Shuffles, but are now starting to develop outright anger at a company that would charge such rates for such shoddy work. Look at the price I paid for a set of earbuds-eighty dollars for a product that only lasted 8 MONTHS!?! Now I'm out $75 for a Shuffle that $#!t the bed after 60 **** MINUTES of exercise. Instead of spending a little of their R&D money on fixing an obviously widespread issue, they create the iPad.......I can only ask; where is the long-term repeat customer satisfaction? Such support can only be created by a business that listens to their consumers, and addresses issues upfront, in the hopes that this will make those people comfortable doing business with them in the years to come. I am going to address this with Apple as soon as I finish with this post, and I hope something will come of it. I hope you find this blog rousing enough for you to either call Apple as well or even send them this post. Until next time, Goddspeed, Shuffle-sufferers.

Well, thank goodness I'm not the only one with this problem. I bought my 3rd gen shuffle just after Christmas, and I've been having the volume controls on the headphones stop working after 15 or so minutes of working out (running, treadmill). By chance, I unplugged the headphones and wiped the jack with a towel, and they started working again, but just for a minute or two. I have no doubt it's a moisture issue either with the remote itself, or the jack.

It's a shame I have to fix this myself either by placing some protection over the remote, or something else. It's pretty obvious this is a design flaw, and Apple needs to get on it right away.

Initially I had solved the problem of humidity in volume controls with wrapping film for food …(a bit crude but it worked very well) then I read this…
http://www.apple.com/support/headphones/replacementprogram/
since the number of my ipod shuffle belongs to the category, I decided to replace the headphones. I followed the whole procedure. In a couple of days the new headphones arrived via UPS. I congratulate them for speed. I sent the old headphones. I finished in about 4 days the whole operation.
I congratulate the shipping department of the Apple for the speed and professionalism, therefore I have a message also for Apple engineers,
before sending the new headphones in replacing, at least, make sure they work. Now I have a pair of new headphones that do not work instead of an old pair that malfunctioned. Thank you very much.

PS: What should I do?
-Try again with the support and hope to be lucky?
-Call them and explain to them that I'm regretting my old headphones malfunctioning?
Someone with some advice? Because I really don't know what to do.

Hiya, I purchased a 3rd gen ipod shuffle in feb 2010 ( 1st visit), just for use at the gym - A few weeks of use and the earphones were fine and then it all went wrong!!!! The volume on the remote stopped working, etc,etc. Took it back to the Apple store in Manchester (2nd Visit) and because i explained that I had travelled from Stoke on trent (70 mile round trip) they exchanged it and said there shouldn't be any more problems. However this new Shuffle with new earphones have started to skip tracks, voice over comes on in the middle of songs, etc, etc,. This will be my thrid visit to the store and this time i'm going to check the serial numbers, hopefully picking one in which the earphones aren't affected!!!!!! as on the apple website there is a page which says which ipod shuffles with the earphones with remotes are affected Feb 2009 - Feb 2010. Hope this helps

Apple already change my earphones by the recall and it works perfectly...

All, just to add to the string. Same issues, about 20 minutes into run, headphone volume sinks or shuts off completely; today it was bouncing all over the place, then finally settled on a really obnoxious song that I did not want to run to (but figured it's better than the sound of my feet hitting the pavement)...Initially I bought a new headset (dumb), that one went back to apple along with the shuffle (3rd gen) about a month ago. New set arrives, headset still funked up. Went into the store last week (after scheduling an appointment two days in advance, then waiting in the store for 20 minutes for the appointment itself). Got a free replacement. Great. Except issues are still ongoing. I was beginning to make the connection myself between sweat and the headphone mishaps, this forum confirms it. I suppose I'll try the duct tape solution, and take some photos and post them out on you tube of "running a marathon with my duct tape innovative apple product"...rather I'd like to see Apple do a few things: 1) educate their customer service and sales people with this info. Would have saved them two replacements and the manpower/energy of those transactions, 2) in the future, note the smaller you make digital music sources, you can anticipate that people who are doing active things and who might do things like sweat when they do them will be wearing those gadgets; as someone wrote more eloquently, "design with the end user/real life in mind". Then lastly, and most important to all of us on this forum, fix this issue by either designing a waterproof controller or at the very least, change the design out so it isn't right next to your head (where the sweat drips from, duh). In ear buds from some other manufacturer will probably the way I end up going, if I can find one that work with the 3rd gen. Or, just use other headsets and change the playlists before setting out. There's less ability to adjust volume (well, as in none) and also no ability to change the song...or maybe just scrap the whole thing and start with another digital player that is created for sports-minded people.

Had my headphones replaced at the Apple Store yesterday for the 2nd time. The guy at the Genius Bar could see that the headphones I was returning had the microphone (this is what they gave me when I brought it in the first time), so he asked if these had been replaced previously. I told him this was the second time I had been here to have them replaced.

The Apple employee denied knowing there was an issue with the headphones. I asked if there were any indications from Apple that they would be instituting a recall for these poorly designed headphones and he told me that any recalls would be posted on their website.

I walked out with a new set of headphones again (the ones without the microphone), but there has to be a solution from Apple on this issue. How can they think that an ipod designed for use when exercising would not encounter sweat?

I'm not sure where our concerns regarding the Shuffle earbuds have fallen. My second request for a replacement set has just been sent in and again, Apple have offered to send a new set.

The actual cause of the problem still remains somewhat of a mystery to me. I think we'd all agree that moisture is the cause of the root problem but previous email have suggested that it's moisture that makes contact with the volume switch. Like others, I generally don't carry the cord next to my skin when exercising and therefore I'm slightly more inclined to believe it's moisture that enters and possibly short circuits the earbuds themselves. Regardless, Apple's Customer Service folks need to find a permanent solution to this or risk losing a lot of customers!

Cheers.

I too have a new 3g shuffle that has the reported problem of randomly receiving signals and then losing any control from the headphones. After a couple of trips to the apple store they replaced the unit but the new unit has today exhibited the exact same problem.

One other bit of information is that when I run on the treadmill, I attach the shuffle to the treadmill itself ... it is not near my body but it still had the problem after about 45 minutes.

Got a shuffle v3 for Xmas. I figured there was no reason to keep the box it came in.....Apple....good products. Bad idea. I've had the unit replaced twice, on my fifth set of headphones.

Finally talked to Apple tech support, they said it was past the 14 day return policy...sorry. Went to the Apple store for the 400th time, told them I would be willing to pay retail for a nano, minus the cost of this wonderful shuffle and they said I had to have the box.

My take is the headphones, not the unit itself. This morning at the gym I went 18 minutes before it crapped out again. What a joke. Fix the flaw, recall or offer a refund, bottom line.

My two cents (rather $70 and 3 trips to the Apple store)...

I bought my shuffle in January and use it strictly for working out and have the exact problems posted in this discussion. I'm on my second pair of headphones and already one of the buttons is acting up about an hour into my run. I've even tried wrapping the controls with plastic wrap and scotch tape. Nope, it doesn't matter, moisture still gets in there and it starts to crap out.

Does Apple understand that 90% of shuffle customers use it for an exercise buddy? Let's think about it - light weight, clips to your shirt sleeve or shorts, holds enough music to run a marathon. What surprises me more than just the fact that Apple makes great products (we own a iMac 27, 5th generation nano, and 30 GB ipod - all have been great products) is the "lack of knowledge" on this issue when you speak to someone at their retail stores. Either Apple is telling their employees to flat out lie to their customers with no understanding of the issue at hand and keep giving us replacement headphones or they are truly hiring some very dense employees. I tend to think it's the former.

I thought Apple is known for their sophisticated engineering and "customer" focus. Please fix this problem!! Acknowledge there is a problem and either get a solution to your existing customers or inform us you are working towards a solution. Don't let some $70 product which is severely under-engineered ruin a reputable organization who has redefined the personal music industry from our "Walkman" days (just aged myself).

Maybe I should send my mileage report to Steve for reimbursement since I'll be making another 40 mile round trip drive to my nearest Apple retail store.