Defective iPod Shuffle

Many owners of iPod Shuffles, 512MB and 1GB alike, have been plagued by "the green and amber blinking light problem". The sheer number of Shuffles that have stopped functioning indicates it may be prone to breaking down within the first year of use, regardless of the platform used as both Windows and Mac users have reported the problem.

For more information, please visit this website:

http://shufflersunite.blogspot.com/

Since Apple has made no gesture to explain this issue or to offer compensation to its users for a seemingly defective product, this petition aims to make the following demands out of Apple Computer, Inc. on behalf of The Undersigned:

- Apple makes no mention of the limited warranty (which explicitly states that any defective iPods purchased over 180 days from the service request will be replaced on the condition that the owner pay all shipping & handling fees) of the iPod Shuffle on any part of the packaging. In fact, it makes no mention of the warranty at all. The customer is therefore under the impression that the iPod falls under Apple's standard 1-year limited warranty for all other hardware products. We ask that Apple indicate clearly on the packaging of all iPods that this particular product is under a limited warranty that stipulates that fees may be applicable for defective units sent in for repair 180 days following the date of purchase.

- Apple look at the information and issue a recall for the affected iPod Shuffles so that future owners of the device do not have to go through this process of deception and disappointment.

- It seems fair that any product susceptible to being rendered useless within the first year of use should be replaced with a functional unit at the manufacturer's cost, not the user's, regardless of the limited warranty. The number of iPod Shuffles that have broken down and been subsequently replaced (at the user's request) by Apple seems to indicate that the device is, at best, a flimsy piece of electronics susceptible to abnormal wear in an amount of time that may not exceed its own warranty. Apple Computer, Inc. has always prided itself in the superiority of its products while users have paid a certain premium for these "higher-quality" products. We ask that any owner that has paid shipping and handling fees for a replacement iPod Shuffle under warranty be reimbursed for those fees. Furthermore, we ask that any owner of an iPod Shuffle that has been forced to buy an iPod AppleCare Protection Plan to circumvent the previously mentioned shipping and handling fees be reimbursed for their purchase of the AppleCare.