Creative Labs and the Zen Micro mp3 player

On the 19th of this month, I attempted to contact Creative Lab's Technical support to fix a known issue with the Zen Micro and the Headset Jack. The headset jack is known to come loose from one of the solder points when the headset is accidentally yanked out from the plug. Well, the first time, I was able to RMA the Zen Micro This time, I knew that the Zen Micro is out of Warranty and I was willing to pay for repairs.

Well, I get an automated response to check the knowledge base, however upgrading the drivers or firmware will not fix the headset jack problem due to poor workmanship. I give them about a day or two to reply after responding to the automated email that non of the suggested resolutions are related to the headset jack on the 19th.

On the 21st, I still didn't hear anything from them and sent a follow up email inquiring if anyone is monitoring the emails coming in? Still no response, then finally on the 23, today, I sent this:

There was a time that I regarded CLI's customer
support really good, however recently it appears that
this is not correct.  No reply since my issue was
first mentioned and no replies to any of my replies to
the initial email that was automatically generated.

I was not looking to get the headset jack on the Zen
Micro fixed for free, but I was willing to pay for the
repair which is no longer needed.

I have been a creative labs customer since the late
80's and have continued to purchase creative labs
products without any issues, until now.

I would also like to mention that experience with
purchasing products within the past 2 years directly
from Creative Labs have been rather poor.  I get the
feeling that Creative Labs Attitude is "So what if you
have bought our stuff, go away and don't bother us."

At this time, I'm not really upset, but somewhat
frustrated because of the lack of response.  I hope
that this can be improved, I feel that Creative Labs
has the potential to come out on top and feel that you
have the best sound products out there.

Still no response...

I have since purchased another mp3 player, but not because of the headset jack, but because the new one (another Creative product) the Vision W in a 60 gig model. I wanted to get the headset jack issue repaired because I was giving away my Zen Micro to a friend and didn't want her to have to go through the trouble of the sound cutting out when the jack is moved...

If this is the way a company treats it's customers by ignoring them, then I think it's time to reconsider in future purchases of that company's products. I was pretty forgiving when I had made purchases directly from them and they got my order completely wrong, but I don't think I'll be as forgiving the next time, if there is a next time, which may not happen.

つづく ( To be continued... )