1st Gen Nano Recall Notification

News from Italy: repair request entered on Nov. 12, box shipped on Nov. 19 (from Netherland Apple head office), arrived on Dec. 06. The box, that is not a box but a padded envelope, contains a booklet with the instructions (in 8 languages), an other padded box, a plastic UPS Express Pak bag and a UPS retun label. I have to call UPS to arrange the collection and return of the product.

News from Germany:

After laying around for 8 days in their halls, finally someone got around to scan in the serial number of my nano. Status says Problem identified on step 2 and "replacement pending" or something along those lines.

News from Sweden:

Same as for you, problem identified on step 2 and "replacement pending" on step 3. And other updates that can occur beyond these two?

I'm in the UK and you get the same thing... Padded envelope and instructions to send back using Royal Mail delivery all paid. It's not special delivery though, so there's no tracking number. Sent it 2 weeks ago and logged in to find the status still "empty box shipped" from apples side. It does say if they don't receive your iPod within 14 days they assume you would like to cancel and therefore close case on the recall for your product. So I hope they haven't done this as it took about 2 weeks to get the return bag, and just left my iPod lying around somewhere as I have no way of contacting them directly.

I'm also in the UK.

On the 13th November I followed the 1st Gen recall procedure, a couple of days later a box/padded bag turned up. I put the Nano in the padded bag, the padded bag in the box as instructed and then the box in the postal bag - went to my local post-office, handed it over and asked for "proof of posting" - this they printed out as they had to process the bag through the computer as it was a 'freepost' thing.

It arrived at Apple - no problem and here's a printout of what the repair screen says a couple of minutes ago:

1. Step 1 Request

   November 17, 2011: Product received

2. Step 2 Service

   November 17, 2011: Issue identified

3. Step 3 Return

   November 17, 2011: Product replacement pending

Now Apple did state that it could take upto 6 weeks to receive a replacement - and this is a 5/6year old piece of consumer electronics, like most 1st gen Nano's it was scratched/dinged up, battery had pretty much expired and it was flaky to say the least.

I'm glad I didn't throw it! It just sat in the bottom of my 'expired' phones/cameras/MP3/old phone chargers/broken earphones/redundant proprietary cables desk draw. So I'm looking forward too either a new one, or even just a refurbished 1st gen unit.

I can't believe any 'serious' ipod user out there still uses a 1st. gen Nano heavily, and I have to say I have NEVER heard of a recall this late for a consumer product. I'm not a fanboy, my family own a bunch of iphones (and they work really well - I've replaced a few digitisers after they got dropped), and I really appreciate their no-nonsense design.

As for the comments about their communications - the process seems to have worked well for me, I just followed their instructions (did you get a proof of posting???). Apple are very likely to have an extremely well structured procedure to deal with the returns of the Nano's - it's going to be like a military operation and they will have a plan for any foreseeable problems (such as hiring agency staff for the processing centre if they run short on labour) - Apple do this sort of planning better than anyone else! Your nanon won't just be 'lying around'!

Apple rightly deserve the success they have and I'm happy to enjoy the wait to see what pop's through my letter box in the next month or so.

I sent my request to Apple on Nov. 22nd (I know that is much later than everyone else sent theirs), and received a Product Repair Request email from them the next day confirming that they received my request. However it only said that they, again, received the request, confirmed my mailing address, and gave me the return address. I've seen posts from people that stated that their confirmation emails told them that their nano was eligible for the Replacement program and would receive a box within 2 days. I did assume that the fact that I was able to get through the request process successfully meant that I was eligible, but now I'm not sure. Also, those people said they were provided with a hotline in that email that they could use to contact Apple with any questions; I could not find a hotline anywhere. In fact, the only thing useful in my email was the link to "check your status". It's been 14 days and my status says "request received". I haven't gotten any other communications. Should I be concerned? Am I still going to be able to participate in this program?

You see my screen doesn't even say product recieved like yours does so I have no idea if they even got the iPod.

And to the people saying "who even uses an iPod Nana 1st Gen these days anyway" I do!! I use it as my Car iPod so I dont have to keep burning CD's everytime a new songs out. Try driving 2 hours with no music... boring!

Update:

I phoned Apple and they've told me that on their systems they have some iPods of peoples even though the side of the system we see doesn't show it as they've recieved it. So they said don't worry, it should be updated on our side within a week. That explains my problem, just glad it didn't get lost in transit.

I can only speculate but how about "replacement shipped"?

Just wait, it will be delivered sooner or later.

If you read my earlier post, mine lay around for 8 days, before someone added it to their system. Just wait, when in doubt check the ups status with the tracking number the driver gave you.

Has anyone actually gotten their materials to ship back their bad nano? I've been waiting almost a month for mine and still nothing

"I can't believe any 'serious' ipod user out there still uses a 1st. gen Nano heavily,"

lol. 'Serious' ipod user? What the heck does that mean? You make it sound like people use it just for the sake of using it. I returned my 1st gen nano because it was recalled, and they said the battery would explode - otherwise I would have continued using it until it died.

My 1st gen Nano worked perfectly before I sent it in for the replacement. It was pristine - it hardly came out of the iSkin I bought with it. I used it everyday, while I was house cleaning, out for a walk, at the gym, etc. It worked perfectly when I put it in the mailing box they sent me. It's been 4 weeks now. I hope I get the replacement soon - I'm gaining wieght because I hate exercising without my ipod!

That's amazing - wasn't battery life getting a bit short (considering you used it everyday for +5years)? You certainly sound like a 'serious' user :-)

Apple also never said the battery would explode...

Nope, battery was working fine. I could easily go a few days before I had to charge it (with moderate use). If I was listening to it constantly maybe I'd only get two days before having to plug it in.

Ok, Apple didn't say the battery *would* explode, they said it *could* explode, and that the chances of this happening increased over time. This was the only reason I sent in my perfectly good 4GB black face 1st gen Nano that I had become very attached to. I actually had the think really hard about whether I would send it in or not.

Maybe I am a serious ipod user - but my previous statement was referring to the statement that any "serious" user wouldn't be using a 1st gen Nano. Wouldn't a serious user look after their ipod and treat it well, and thus use it for as long as they could? I thought you were implying that a serious user would want to always have the latest greatest ipod, which would just be a waste of money and perfectly good electronics.

I guess your like one of those stories you hear: "married couple have same kitchen lightbulb for 60 years", in-so-much as it's rare for such a piece of consumer level electronics used so heavily to last so long.

Personally I like to wear things out prior to replacement - but I don't pay massive attention to protecting them with cases etc.. my iphone 3G works still (it's seen better days, but still functions - quite slow though), and I have a 2nd gen shuffle that's good (and has actually worn the best).

Perhaps you have those protective plastic covers on your sofa's? 😀